Transliteration:( Wa im min Ahlil Kitaabi illaa layu'minanna bihee qabla mawtihee wa Yawmal Qiyaamati yakoonu 'alaihim shaheedaa )
"And there is none among the People of the Book who will not believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Judgement he will be a witness against them." [456]
This verse affirms several key points:
Isa (عليه السلام) has not yet passed away:
He is alive and has not experienced physical death. Every person from the People of the Book will believe in him before his death.
His return before Qiyamah:
Near the end of times, Isa (عليه السلام) will descend to earth once again, just before the Day of Judgement.
Belief from the People of the Book:
At that time, the Jews and Christians will recognize and believe in him as the true Prophet and servant of Allah, thus becoming Muslim.
On the Day of Judgement, Isa (عليه السلام) will testify against those who denied him and in favor of those who accepted him.
He will affirm that he preached pure Tawheed and never claimed divinity.
His testimony will be decisive against the Yahud, who denied him, and the Nasara, who deified him.
✨ Additional Note from Tafseer Roohul Bayaan:
Four Prophets are alive: Two are on earth (Khidr and Ilyas عليهما السلام) and two in the heavens (Isa and Idris عليهما السلام).
Isa (عليه السلام) will:
Return to serve the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
Be supported by Imam Mahdi and the Companions of the Cave.
Marry, have children, and live for forty years.
Eventually be buried at the Roza Mubarak of the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
The tafsir of Surah Nisa verse 159 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Nisa ayat 155 which provides the complete commentary from verse 155 through 159.
(4:159) There are none among the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death,[196] and he will be a witness against them on the Day of Resurrection.[197]
196. The death mentioned here could refer either to the death of Jesus or to the death of each and every person among ‘the People of the Book’. The text lends itself to both meanings. We have adopted the first in our translation. If we accept the alternative meaning, the verse would mean: “There is no one among the People of the Book who, before his death, will not believe in Jesus.’ The expression, ‘People of the Book’ here refers to the Jews and possibly even to the Christians. In the light of this latter meaning, the purpose of the verse would be to affirm that at the time when the physical death of Jesus takes place, all the living ‘People of the Book’ would have come to believe in him (i.e. in his prophethood). Alternatively, the verse would mean that the prophethood of Jesus will become manifest to every person among the People of the Book just before he dies so that they will believe in him, but at a time when believing would be of no avail. Both these views have been supported by several Companions, Successors and outstanding scholars of Qur’anic exegesis. The truth of the matter is best known to God alone.
197. This means that on the Day of Judgement Jesus will stand in the court of the Almighty and testify to the treatment meted out to him and to the message he brought. For the nature of this testimony see (Surah Al-Maidah, ayat 109).
[234]- One interpretation is that "his death" refers to that of Jesus after his return to earth. Or it can mean "the death of every individual from among the People of the Scripture."
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