I Will Take You in Full

Idh qāla Allāhu yā ʿĪsā innī mutawaffīka: Allah (swt) said, O ʿĪsā, I will take you — mutawaffīka. Many who read this ayah think that ʿĪsā ibn Maryam died. Why? Because the word wafāh in Arabic means death: tuwuffiya means he died; wafāh is death. So when Allah says innī mutawaffīka, when people read this, they think that Allah is saying: I will make you die.

But that is caused by not knowing the meanings of words, and not knowing the original meaning of a word. It is true that in the Arabic language of today, and the Arabic language of yesterday, the word mutawaffīka can mean death; but it also has other meanings. Allah (swt) referred to sleep as wafāh. So what does it mean — does it mean death, or does it mean sleep?

The word wafāh also has another, third meaning, and that is to take something completely. Waffihi al-ajr: when you say waffihi al-ajr, it means pay him in full. Over here, the word wafāh means that Allah is telling ʿĪsā ibn Maryam: I am going to take you in full, without any single injury. You are going to be taken entirely; you're not going to be harmed at all. So Allah (swt) isn't going to take your soul alone, nor is Allah (swt) going to take your body alone: Allah is going to take your soul and your body, intact, without any injury or harm. That is what the word mutawaffīka means in this ayah.

And this is actually the original meaning of the word wafāh. When we use wafāh for death, or when we use it for sleeping, we are using secondary meanings of the word; but the original meaning is entirety, or completeness. And that's why the word completely fits — absolutely fits — the meaning which we want to get from the ayah: that the Yahūd were not able to harm Sayyidunā ʿĪsā ibn Maryam.

Wa rāfiʿuka ilayya: and I will elevate you to Me. Wa muṭahhiruka min alladhīna kafarū: and I will purify you, and clear you, of those who disbelieve. I will clear you and purify you; take you away from all of this impurity — all of this najāsah, all of this rijs, this environment that you're living in. I will take you away from it.