MUSLIM WOMEN'S DRESS CODE IN ISLAM

Quranic guidelines for women's dress

 The Best Garment

"O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some of God's signs, that they may take heed." 7:26

Righteousness is the basic rule of dress code in the Quran. Any woman knows quite well what is decent and what is revealing. Women do not need to be told, they know how to maintain righteousness and how not to. God created the woman and therefore He knows that she can make that distinction, and that is why God set this rule of righteousness as the first rule.

  Cover your Bosoms

The second rule can be found in 24:31. Here God commands women to cover their bosoms. But before quoting 24:31 let us review some crucial words that are always mentioned with this topic, namely 'hijab' and 'khimar'.

The word 'hijab' in the Quran

Hijab is the term used by many Muslim women to describe their head cover that may or may not include covering their face except their eyes, and sometimes covering also one eye. The Arabic word 'hijab' can be translated into veil or yashmak. Other meanings for the word 'hijab' include, screen, cover(ing), mantle, curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider.

Can we find the word 'hijab' in the Quran?

The word 'hijab' appeared in the Quran 7 times, five of them as 'hijab' and two times as 'hijaban', these are 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45 & 19:17.

  Not to reveal any of their beauty spots

The third rule can also be found in 24:31. Here God commands women not to reveal their beauty spots except what is normally apparent (face, hair, lower arms and lower legs .. etc).

"They shall not reveal any of their 'zeenatahhunna' (beauty spots), except that which is normally apparent."

  Lengthen your Garments

"O prophet, tell your wives, your daughters, and the wives of the believers that they shall lengthen their garments. Thus, they will be recognised and avoid being insulted. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful." 33:59

When we reflect on the above words, we would understand the great wisdom of God. In this verse, God, deliberately said that women should lengthen their garments, but did not say how long is long. God could have said tell them to lengthen their garments to their ankles or to their mid-calf or to their knees, but He did not. God knows that we will be living in different communities and have different cultures and insists that the minor details of this dress code will be left for the people of every community to decide for themselves, as long as righteousness is always maintained.

Conditions  for women’s dress

1.  Clothing must cover the entire body ,only the hands and face may remain visible.

2.  The material must not be so thin that one can see through it.

3.  The clothing must hang loose so that the shape of the body is not apperent.

4.  The female clothing must not resemble the man’s clothing.

5.  The design of the clothing must not resemble the clothing of the non believing women.

6.  The design must not consist of bold designs which attract attention.

7.  Clothing should not be worn for the sole purpose of gaining reputation or increasing one’s status in society.

I hope that with this article Muslim women will be able to decide for themselves what sort of life they want in this world, and how they want to be treated on the day of judgement. 

KHADEEJA BINTH kHUWAILID

Khadija, Binth Khuwailid the Perfect Woman

There have been many women in the history of the world who have become great and famous because of their great deeds. Mankind can justly be proud of them.
But in the entire history of the world, there are only four women who could measure up to the high standards of true greatness and perfection set by Islam. They measured up to these standards by dint of their great services to Allah. Muhammed Mustafa, the Prophet of Islam, the Recipient of Revelation from Heaven, and its Interpreter, identified them. They are:
1. Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh
2. Maryam (Mary), the mother of Isa (Jesus)
3. Khadija, the daughter of Khuwayled, and
4. Fatima Zahra, the daughter of Muhammed Mustafa (S)
Muhammed  (sal) found only four perfect women in the entire human race. Out of these four, the last two belong to the same house; they are Khadija, the mother, and Fatima, her daughter.
Khadija was the image of the perfect soul.
In the rest of mankind, the only other women who might qualify as perfect, would be the other wives of Muhammed Mustafa. But he himself gave the verdict in this matter, and his verdict remains irrevocable. He mentioned only Khadija out of all his wives as the perfect woman, and thus excluded - by a fiat  his other wives from the group of perfect women

One of the characteristic weaknesses of women is said to be jealousy. Khadija was untouched by jealousy of any kind. She was a woman who found fulfillment, pleasure and satisfaction in giving. She was a munificent patron of the poor. She was at her very best when she was feeding the hungry and comforting the cheerless. The acts of feeding and comforting the hungry and the cheerless did not call for a conscious effort on her part; for her they had become a reflex.
Just as Khadija was free from jealousy, she was also free from cynicism. One thing she never did, was to hurt anyone. She never made fun of any woman; she never tried to belittle anyone; she never despised anyone; she was never angry and never spiteful; and she was strictly nonjudgmental. She never uttered an ugly or a pejorative word against anyone. So true to the dimensions of the understanding heart, she was solicitous of the feelings of even the humblest and the poorest of women, and she was distressed by the distress of other people.

Khadija was an "eye-witness" of the birth of Islam. She nursed it through its infancy, through its most difficult, and through its most formative years. Islam was given shape and design in her home. If any home can be called the cradle of
Islam, it was her home. She "reared" Islam. If any home can be called the "axis" of Islam, it was her home; Islam revolved around her home. Her home was the "home" of Quran Majid the Book of Allah, and the religious and political code of Islam.
It was in her home that Gabriel was bringing Revelations from Heaven for ten years.

Khadija has collected more "firsts" in the history of nascent Islam than anyone else. She was the first wife of the last messenger of Allah. She was the first Believer. She was the very first mortal to declare that the Creator was only One, and that Muhammed was His messenger. Next to her husband, she was the very first individual who heard the Voice of Revelation. She was the first person who offered prayers to Allah with her husband. Whenever he went into the presence of Allah, she was his constant companion. She was the first Mother of Believers. She was the only wife of Muhammed Mustafa who did not have to co-exist with a co-wife. All the love, all the affection and all the friendship of her husband, were hers and hers alone exclusively

When Islam came under mounting pressure from its enemies, Khadija sacrificed her comfort, her wealth and her home for it; and now it would appear that she sacrificed her life also. Without a doubt, if she had lived in her palatial house in Makka, surrounded by her maid-servants, she might have lived for many more years. But she preferred to stand by her husband and his clan, and to share the bitters of life with them. During the siege, she had to endure not only the pangs of hunger and thirst but also the extremes of heat in summer and cold in winter; yet she never complained to her husband about them. Whether times were good or bad, whether she had plenty or she had nothing, she was always cheerful.

Muhammed forever remembered Khadija with affection, gratitude and love. During her illness, he kept a nightlong vigil nursing her, comforting her and praying for her. He told her that Allah had promised Eternal Bliss to her, and had built for her a palace of pearls in Paradise. Toward morning her frail frame could not endure the attack of fever any more and her sanctified and noble soul left this earth for its destination in Heaven where it entered the company of the immortals. Her death filled Muhammed's heart with sorrow. Peace on Khadija(rali)  to whom Allah Ta'ala sent His greetings and salutations.

ULTIMATE GOAL: VIRTUES OF THE MONTH OF MUHARRAM

ULTIMATE GOAL: VIRTUES OF THE MONTH OF MUHARRAM: Virtues of the Month of Muharram The month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, holds many virtues. Fasting, ...

 

 

ශුද්ධවූ අල් කුර්ආනයෙහි අඩංගු පරිච්ඡේදයන්ට සමාන වන එක් පරිච්ඡේදයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීම සඳහා පවතින විශාල අභියෝගය.

අල් කුර්ආනයෙහි දෙවියන්වහන්සේ මෙසේ පවසා ඇත:

අපගේ ගැත්තා ( මුහම්මද් නම් ධර්මදුතයාණන්) ට අප පහළ කළ දෑ (අල් කුර්ආනය) සම්බන්ධයෙන් (එය දෙවියන්වහන්සේ විසින් පහළ කළ බවට) නුඹලා සැකයේ සිටී නම් එවැනි පරිච්ඡේදයක් ඉදිරිපත් කරනු!. තවද නුඹලා සත්‍යවාදීහු නම්, එය (සාක්ෂාත් කරනු වස්) දෙවියන්වහන්සේ හැර නුඹලාගේ ආධාරකරුවන් කැඳවාගනු. එහෙත් නුඹලා එසේ නොකරන්නේ නම් නුඹලාට කිසි කලෙකත් එසේ කිරීමට නොපුළුවන. එබැවින් දේව විශ්වාසය නොමැති අය සඳහා පිළියෙළ කරන ලද ඉන්දන ලෙස මිනිසුන්වද, ගල්ද දවාලන ගින්නට බියවනු. (මුහම්මද් ! මෙම අල් කුර්ආනය) විශ්වාස කරන්නා වූත් (ඒ අනුව) යහපත් ලෙස ක්‍රියාකරන අයට ගලා බසින ගංගාවන්ගෙන් යුතු ස්වර්ගය ඇතැයි ශුභාරංචි දන්වනු……(අල් කුර්ආනය 2:23-25)

අල් කුර්ආනයෙහි සඳහන්ව ඇති එක් පරිච්ඡේදයක් මෙන් එනම් ඒ හා සමානව අලංකාරය, ව්‍යක්තභාවය, ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨභාවය, බුද්ධිමත් නීති පැනවිම්, සත්‍ය තොරතුරු, සත්‍ය අනාවැකි සහ අඩු ලුහුඩුකම් වලින් තොරවූ අනෙකුත් ගුණාංගයන්ගෙන් සමන්විත එකම එක පරිච්ඡේදයක්වත් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට, ශත වර්ෂ දහ හතරකට පෙර කුර්ආනය පහළ කළදා සිට මේ දක්වාම කිසිවෙකුටත් නොහැකි වී තිබේ. තවද කුර්ආනයෙහි සඳහන්ව ඇති ඉතාමත් කුඩා, වචන දහයකින් පමණක් සමන්විත (108 වන) පරිච්ඡේදයක්වත් තවමත් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට හා එම අභියෝගය ජය ගැනීමටඑදා සිට අද දක්වාම1 කිසිම කිසිවෙකුටත් නොහැකි වී තිබේ.

අල් කුර්ආනයෙහි පවතින කුඩාම පරිච්ඡේදය (108 වන පරිච්ඡේදය) සමන්විත වන්නේ වචන දහයකින් පමණි. නමුත්, මේ දක්වාම කිසිඳු කෙනෙකු අල් කුර්ආනයෙහි අඩංගු පරිච්ඡේදයන්ට සමාන වු තවත් එක් පරිච්ඡේදයක් නිපදවීමේ අභියෝගය ජය ගැනීමට සමත්වී නැත.

වක්තෘ මුහම්මද් තුමාගේ සතුරන් වූ දේව විශ්වාසය නොකරන්නාවූ අරාබිවරුන් සමහරෙක් මෙම අභියෝගය ජය ගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරමින් වක්තෘ මුහම්මද් තුමාණන් සත්‍යවු වක්තෘවරයෙකු නොවන බව ඔප්පු කිරීමට උත්සාහ කළද, ඔවුන්ගේ උත්සාහය අසාර්ථක විය2. මෙම උත්සාහය අසාර්ථක වුයේ කුර්ආනය ඔවුන්ගේම භාෂාව වන දේශිය භාෂාවෙන් හෙළි දරවු වී තිබියදීත් හා වක්තෘ මුහම්මද් තුමාගේ කාලයෙහි සිටි ආරබිවරුන් අද දක්වා වර්ණනා කළ හැකි ආකාරයේ ඉතාමත් මනහර හා විශිෂ්ඨ වූ කාව්‍යයන් රචනා කිරීමේ දක්ෂයන්ව  සිටියදිත් ය.

මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ට ගවමස් කෑම අනිවාර්යද?

 

මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ට මස් කෑම අනිවාර්ය නොවූවකි. එමනිසා “ගව මස් ” මුවාවෙන් මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ට ඇඟිල්ල දික් කිරීම විහිළුවකි. “ගව මස් නොකනු” ව්‍යාපාරය සංඝයා වහන්සේලාත් බෞද්ධ බැතිමතුන් පිරිසකුත් මෙරටෙහි පවත්වාගෙන යන්නේ මෙරටේ තිබෙන එකම පවත් (අකුසලයත්), එකම ප්‍රශ්නයත් එයයි යන හැඟීම ඇතිව දෝ යි සිතේ. එයට එතරම් ප්‍රමුඛ ස්ථානයක් ලබා දී ඇත.එසේම ඒ අයවළුන් විසින් එම ව්‍යාපාරය කරගෙන යාම පිලිබඳව අපගේ කිසිදු විරුද්ධත්වයක් නොමැත. එහෙත් එතුලින් මෙරට වෙසෙන මුස්ලිම් සමාජයට රූපවාහිනියෙන්, පුවත්පත් වලින්, අත් පත්‍රිකවලින් හා අන්තර්ජාලය තුලින් බැන වැදීම, චෝදනා නැගීම පිළිගත නොහැකිය.

ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ මස් මාංශ වෙළඳාම කරන්නේ මුස්ලිම් වරුන් පමණක් නොවේ. මුස්ලිම් නොවන බෞද්ධ, හින්දු හා ක්‍රිස්තියානි අයත් මෙම වෙළඳාම කරති. මෙම මාංශ වෙළඳාමට අනුමැතිය දී ඇත්තේ රජයයි. ඊට කඩවල් ටෙන්ඩර් මාර්ගයෙන් වෙළඳුන්ට පවරා දෙන්නේද රජයට අනුබද්ධ ආයතන වේ. කරුණු කාරණා මෙසේ තිබියදී මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ට බැන වැදීමෙහි තේරුමක් නැත. එපමණක් නොව, මුස්ලිම් වරුන් මස් කඩ දාපු පලියට බෞද්ධ ජනතාවට බලෙන් මස් කවන්නට ගියේද නැත. මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ගේ මස් කඩ නැති නිසාම බෞද්ධ ජනතාව මස් නොකා සිටින බව තර්ක කල හැකිද? මුස්ලිම් නොවන විශාල පිරිසක් මස් කඩ පවත්වාගෙන යනවා නොවේද?

එබැවින් මුස්ලිම් සමාජයට මෙය අරභයා බැන වැදීම මෝඩ කමකි.

බුදුරජාණන් වහන්සේ එකම එක සතෙක් (ගවයෙක්) මුල් කරගෙන “මස් නොකනු” යනුවෙන් දේශනා කලේ නැත. උන්වහන්සේගේ දේශනාව ඊට වඩා පුළුල් විය.

“ලොව ඇති කිසිම සතෙක් නසන්න එපා ” යන්න “පානාතිපාත වේරමණී සික්ඛා පදං සමාදියාමි ” යන සිල් පදයෙන් දේශනා කල සේක.

උන් වහන්සේ එසේ දේශනා කර තිබියදී සතුන් නොමැරීමේ ව්‍යාපාරය ගවයාට පමණක් සිමා කර ගැනීමේ අයිතිය ඇත්තේ කාටද? එය උන් වහන්සේට කරන අගෞරවයක් නොවේද?

අප රටේ ධිවර අමාත්‍යංශයක් තිබේ. රට වටේටම තිබෙන්නේ මහ මුහුදයි. වෙරළාසන්නයේ මාළු අල්ලන්නෝ බොහෝ දෙනෙකු සිටිති. අපේ රටේ මාළු, කරවල, උම්බලකඩ, ආහාර වශයෙන් ගන්නා බෞද්ධයන් එමටය. මේ හැර කුකුල් මස්, බිත්තර, එළු මස්, උරු මස්, අනුභව කරන්නෝද අති විශාල පිරිසකි.

කුඹුරේ වැඩ ආරම්භ කල දින පටන් හාල් ටික ගෙදර ගේන කම්, කෙතරම් කුඩා කෘමීන්, සතුන්, පනුවන් මැරෙනවද? මරනවද?

මේවා ගැන කිසිවක් කතා කරන්නේ නැත්තේ ඇයි? එළදෙන “කිරි අම්මා ” කියමින් සැවොම එළදෙනගේ කිරි බොති. පිටි කිරි හෝ වේවා එළදෙනගේ කිරි වලින් නිපදවුවකි. ඇත්තෙන්ම කිරි අම්මගේ කිරි ටික අයිති ඒ අම්මගේ පැටියටයි. එය පැහැර ගැනීමත් වරදක් නොවේද ?

මෙසේ බොහෝ කරුණු තිබියදී අප ඒ ගැන කතා නොකළේ බෞද්ධයන්ගේ සිත් රිදෙයිදෝ යන සැකයිනි. එහෙත් දැන් දැන් ගවමස් වලට එරෙහි ප්‍රචාරය කරන විලාසය නුදුරු දවසක සිංහල-මුස්ලිම් ජාතිවාදී ගැටුමකට මුල් වෙයිදෝ යන තත්වයක් අති වූ හෙයින් කතා කරමු. යම් කෙනෙක් හෝ සමාජයක් යම් දෙයක්, පිලිබඳව දරන මතය එළිදරව් කිරීමෙහි කිසිදු වරදක් නැත. එය ඒ අයගේ අයිතියකි. එය සමාජය අතර ගැටුමක් ඇති කරයි නම්, එවැනි ගැටුම් ඇති කරන චේතනාවෙන්ම ප්‍රචාරය කෙරේ නම්, වන්නේ කුමක්ද? ගවයින් මරනවා වෙනුවට මිනිසුන් මැරීම නොවේද? එසේ කිරීම නිවැරදි බව කව්රුන් හෝ සිතනවාද?

පන්සිල් පද තුල ප්‍රාණ ඝාතනය පමණක් නොව තවත් ද කියවේ.”කාමේසු මිච්ජාචාර වේරමණී සික්ඛා පදං සමාදියාමි” “සුරාමේරය මජ්ජ පමාදට්ඨාන වේරමණී සික්ඛා පදං සමාදියාමි.” යන ප්‍රධාන කරුණු දෙකකි.

මෙරටේ කාමය වරදවා හැසිරීමේ සෑම දොරක්ම විවෘතව ඇත. මේවා නිසා කුඩා දරුවන් සංචාරක ව්‍යාපාරය නමින් විකිණෙති. සමාජ ශාලා, ගනිකා මඩම්, කැසිනෝ හල් තුලින් තරුණ/තරුණියෝ වැනසෙයි. සමහර තරුණ/තරුණියන්ගේ ඇඳුම් පැළඳුම් මිනිසාව නොයෙකුත් අතින් වැරදි කිරීමට පොලඹවන සුළුය. මෑතකදී අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් ජනප්‍රිය නිළියන්ද ගණිකාවන් ලෙස විකිණෙන බව රහසක් නොවේ.

මෙරට මත්පැනට රාජ්‍ය අනුමැතිය ලබා දී ඇත. රටේ අස්සක් මුල්ලක් නෑර, අරක්කු කඩ, රා තැබෑරුම් ඇත. මත්පැන් පානය කිරීමෙන් පවුල් දහස් ගණනක් විනාශ වී ඇත. මිනී මැරුම් ද සැමතැනම දක්නට ඇත.

මගුල් ගෙදරටත්, මල ගෙදරටත්, දියණියගේ කොටහළු මංගල්‍යටත් මත්පැන් නැතිවම බැරිය. එපමණක් නොව පිරිත් කියන විට තවත් තැනක අරක්කු බෝතල් විවෘත වේ. එසේම අරක්කු සප්පායම් වන්නන් හට උරු මස්, ගව මස් කටගැස්ම සාදා දීමටත් පිරිත් ගෙදර කාන්තාවන්ට සිදු වී තිබේ. අප අසන්නේ “ගව මස් නොකනු ” ව්‍යාපාරයේ නියමුවන්ට පන්සිල් වල ඇති මෙම කරුණු නොපෙනෙන්නේ ඇයි ?

“ගව මස් නොකනු” ව්‍යාපාරයට සහය වෙනවා මෙන්ම මේවාටද විරුද්ධත්වයක්, මහා ව්‍යාපාරයක් ගොඩ නගන්නට තැත් නොකරන්නේ ඇයි ?

එම වෙළඳ ව්‍යාපාර සිංහල බෞද්ධ අය කරන නිසාද?

එසේත් නැතිනම්, “බුදු හාමුදුරුවෝ ඒ ගැන කිව්වට අපි ඒවා වැඩියෙන් තකන්නේ නෑ” යන අදහස නිසාද?

ඇත්තෙන්ම, මෙම ගව මස් නොකනු ව්‍යාපාරය බොලඳ වුවකි. මෙම ව්‍යාපාරය තුලින් මුස්ලිමුන්ට බැන වදින අය කල යුත්තේ එය නොවේ. පළමුව, තමන් ගව මස් ගැනීමෙන් වැලකී, අනෙක් සම ප්‍රාණ ඝාතන ක්‍රියා එනම් ධිවර අමාත්‍යංශ ද නැවත්වීමට රජයට බල කල යුතුය. මන්ද රජයේ බහුතර බලය ඇත්තේ බෞද්ධ මැති ඇමතිවරුන් හා ජනාධිපති තුමා අතෙහිය.

බෞද්ධ ජනයා මස් මාංශ නොකන කල මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ගේ මස් කඩ ඉබේටම වැසී යනු ඇත. ධීවරයිනුත් මුහුදට නොයනු ඇත. කුකුළු ගොවිපලවල්ද වැසී යනු ඇත. ඌරු කොටුද නැති වනු ඇත.

මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ට මස් කෑම අනිවාර්ය නොවූවකි. අනුමත කල එකක් පමණි. එය කෑවත්, නොකැවත් ඔවුන්ට ප්‍රශ්නයක් නොවේ. මස්කඩ පවත්වාගෙන යෑමත් ඔවුන්ට අනිවාර්ය වුවක් නොවේ. එසේ තිබියදී “ගව මස් ” මුවාවෙන් මුස්ලිම් වරුන්ට ඇඟිල්ල දික් කිරීම විහිළුවකි. එයින් නුදුර දිනක ජාති වාදී ගැටුමක් ඇති වුවහොත් ඊට වගකිව යුත්තේද, එම ප්‍රචාරණ කටයුතු වල නියැලී සිටි ඔවුන්ම බව වටහාගත යුතුය.

Jesus (Isa) A.S. in Islam, and his Second Coming - IslamCan.com

Jesus (IsJesus (A.S.) In IslamMuslims do believe that Isa (A.S.) was sent down as a Prophet of Allah (God), but he (Jesus) is not God or Lord, nor the son of God. Muslims do not believe that Isa (A.S.), also known as Jesus by Christians and others, is dead or was ever crucified. We believe that he was raised to heaven and is there, and will descend at the appointed time, end all wars, and bring peace to the world. Like Jesus (A.S.), Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is also a Prophet and Messenger. Muhammed (P.B.U.H.) is the last Prophet, though, and there is none after him. Hence, Islam is the last religion, complete, with the Holy Qur'an as the unchanged and perfect word of God for over 1400 years, as God promised to preserve it till the last day for all of humankind, unlike sacred texts of other religions which have mulitple versions and are "revised" periodically. God, or Allah in Arabic, is Divine and Supreme Being and Creator.

What the Holy Qur'an says about Jesus:

They slew him not, nor did they crucify him but it was made dubious to them.
(Holy Qur'an, Surah Nisaa, Verse 157)

Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) himself told of the coming of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). In the Bible, Jesus (A.S.) says,

If you love me, Keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father and He shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever.
(Bible, John 14-15/16)

But when the comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, and he also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
(Bible, John 15-26/27)

I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the spirit of Truth will come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall speak not of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that he shall speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and he shall show it unto you.
(Bible, John 16-12/14)

Ulema (learned scholars in Islam) have said that the person who is described by Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) to come after him - in the above verse - does not comply with any other person but Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

In this case, the "comforter" he mentions is none other than Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his laws and way of life (Shariah) and Book (Holy Qur'an) are those that Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) asks his followers to abide by.

The "person" whom Jesus (A.S.) prophecised will come after him, is called Pargaleeta in the Bible . This word was deleted by interpreters and translators and changed at times to "Spirit of Truth" and at other times, to "comforter" and sometimes "Holy Spirit." The original Greek and its meaning is "one whom people praise exceedingly." The sense of the word, then, is applicable to the word Muhammad in Arabic, since Muhammad means "the praised one."

Jesus (A.S.) also says in the Bible,

... and a little while and you shall not see me; and again a little while, you shall see me because I go to the Father.
(Bible, John 16:16)

... and the Holy Qur'an says,

And surely they slew him not. But Allah (God) raised him unto Himself.
(Holy Qur'an, Surah Nisaa, Verse 157-158)

As such, Muslims believe that Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) was raised to heaven. According to Hadith, he is on the second heaven. Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam=Peace be upon him) mentioned, "During the Meraj (Ascension), I met Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) on the second heaven. I found him of medium stature, reddish white. His body was so clean and clear, that it appeared as though he had just performed ghusal (ablution, cleansing of the entire body) and come." In another Hadith, Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) mentioned to the Jews that, " Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) is not dead, he will most surely return to you before Qiyamat (the Day of Judgement)."

May Allah Guide all people to the Truth. Aameen.

II. Hadhrat Isa's (A.S.) Descension - The Physical Features of Hadhrat Isa (A.S.)

He will resemble the famous Sahabi (A.S.) Hadhrat Urwa bin Masoodi (R.A.). He will be of average height and red and white in colour. His hair spread to the shoulders, straight, neat and shining as after a bath. On bending his head, it will seem as if pearls are falling. He will have an armour on his body. He will be wearing two pieces of cloth light yellow in color.

His Descension

He will descend on a Jamaat (group) that will be righteous at the time and comprising of 800 men and 400 women. The people will be preparing for war at the time against Dajjal (the anti-Christ). It will be time for Fajr prayers, and Imam Mahdi will be the Amir (leader). From the darkness of the dawn, a sound will suddenly be heard that "one who listens to your pleas has come" -- the righteous people will look everywhere and their eyes will fall on Isa (A.S.). Briefly, at the time of Fajr, Isa (A.S.) will descend. When descending, Isa (A.S.)'s hands will be on the shoulders of two angels (according to another source (Kab Abrar), a cloud will carry him). On their insistence Hadhrat Isa will introduce himself. He will inquire about their enthusiasm and thoughts on Jihad against Dajjal. Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will descend on the eastern side near the Minaret in Damascus (or in Baitul-Muqaddus by Imam Mahdi). At the time Imam Mahdi will have proceeded forward to lead the Fajr Salaat. The Iqamat of the Salaat would have been said (already recited) and Imam Mahdi will call Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) for Imamat (to lead the prayer), but he (Hadhrat Isa (A.S.)) will instead tell Imam Mahdi to lead the prayer since the Iqamat of that Salaat has already been said for him. Thus Imam Mahdi will lead the prayer, and Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will follow him. After the ruku, he will make this statement: "Allah has killed Dajjal and the Muslims have appeared."

The Killing of Dajjal (anti-Christ) and the Victory of the Muslims

After the completion of Fajr Salaat (congregational dawn prayers), Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will open the door behind him where Dajjal accompanied by 70,000 Yahudis (Jews) will be. He will indicate with his hand to move away between him (Hadhrat Isa (A.S.)) and Dajjal. Dajjal will then see Hadhrat Isa (A.S.). At that time every Kafir on whom the breath of Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will reach, will die. His breath will reach up to the distance of his eyesight. The Muslims will then come down from the mountains and break loose on the army of Dajjal. There will be war, Dajjal will retreat, and Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will pursue Dajjal. Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will have two flexible swords and one shield with him and with these he will kill Dajjal at the Gate of Hudd. He willl show the Muslims the blood of Dajjal which will get on his shield. Eventually the Yahudis will be selected and killed. The swine will be killed and the cross broken. People will revert to Islam. Wars will end, and people will return to their respective countries. One Jamaat (group) of Muslims will remain in his service and companionship.

Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will go to Fajr Rawha and perform Haj or Umrah (or both) from there. He will also go to the grave of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) and present his greetings and Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) will reply. People will live comfortable lives. The wall of Yajooj and Majooj (Gog and Magog) will then break.

III. The Blessings of Hadhrat Isa (Jesus) (A.S.)

1 Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will descend and stay on earth.
2 His descension will be in the last era of the Ummat.
3 He will be a just ruler and a fair judge.
4 His ummat will be the Khalifa (deputies) of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam).
5 He will act himself and instruct others on the Qur'an and Hadith (Shariat/Tradition of Islam).
6 He will lead people in Salaat (Prayer).
7 He will stay on earth for a period of 40 years after descending. The will be the best era of the Ummat after the first era of Islam.
8 Allah will protect his companions from Jahannam.
9 Those who will save the Deen of Islam by associating themselves with Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will be amongst the most loved by Allah Ta'ala.
10 During this period all other religions and mazhabs besides Islam will perish, hence there will be no kuffaars (non-believers) in the world.
11 Jihad will be stopped.
12 No Khiraaj will be taken.
13 Nor Jizya (protection tax) money from the kafirs (non-believers)
14 Wealth and property will be in surplus to such an extent that there will be no one to accept the wealth of the other (everyone will be independent).
15 Receiving Zakaat (Alms-giving, Charity to poor) and Saadaqa will be discarded (as there will be no poor to receive them!).
16 The people will love the sajda (prostration to God) more than the world and what it consists of.
17 All types of Deeni (religious) and worldly blessings will descend on earth (many halaal (lawful) things will be created).
18 There will be peace, harmony and tranquility during the time of Hadhrat Isa (A.S.)'s stay in the world.
19 There will be no animosity for a period of seven years, even between two persons.
20 All hearts will be free from miserliness, envy, hatred, malice and jealousy.
21 For a period of forty years no one will fall ill or die.
22 Venom will be taken out of all venomous animals.
23 Snakes and scorpions will not harm anyone to the extent that if a child put his hand in its mouth, he will not be harmed.
24 Will animals will not harm anyone.
25 If a man will pass a lion, he will not be troubled or harmed, or even if any girl will open its mouth to test if it will do anything.
26 The camels will graze among lions, cheetahs with cattle and the jackals with goats.
27 The fertility of the land will increase to such an extent that even if a seed is planted in a hard rock, it will sprout.
28 A pomegranate will be so huge that a jamaat will be able to eat it and the people will use its peel as shade.
29 There will be so much barakaat (blessing) in milk that a camel will suffice for a huge jamaat, a cow for a tribe and a goat for a family.
30 In short, life will be most pleasant after the descension of Jesus (A.S.).

His Marriage, Death and Deputies

After his descension on earth, Hadhrat Isa (A.S.) will marry. He will have children, and he will remain on earth 19 years after marriage. He will pass away and Muslims will perform his Janaza Salaat and bury him next to Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam). (Tirmidhi)

from: Hadhrat Esa (Alaihis Salaam): The Truth Revealed
and Major Signs of Qiyamat
by Mufti Afzal Hoosein Elias (May Allah reward him for his work in producing these kitaabs, aameen.)
from the original (with references): "Aalalaat-e-Qiyyamat aur Nuzul-e-Eesa."

 a) A.S. in Islam, and his Second Coming - 

Jesus (Isa) A.S. in Islam, and his Second Coming -

Jesus (Isa) A.S. in Islam, and his Second Coming -