“’Qad khalat’: means separation from their communities, either though death or ascension to the heavens. And what is meant by “they parted with them” (khalaw minhum) is that they were there sometimes in the past time (fi b'adh al-zaman al-madhi).” (Nazam al-Dorar fi Tanasib al-Ayat wal Saur vol.5 p.82 Da’ira al-Ma’rif al-Uthmania, Hyderabad, 1973)

Now the point to note here that (khalaw bil-mawt) is clear evidence that (khalaw) itself does not mean death. If it is taken so (khalaw bil-mawt) would mean "died through death." The fact simply remains that "khalaw" means "to part with/to depart" and this can be any way, death or ascension to the heavens as we consider the case of the Prophets- may Allah bless them all.

Wama muhammadun illarasoolun qad khalat min qablihi arrusulu afa-in mataaw qutila inqalabtum AAala aAAqabikum wamanyanqalib AAala AAaqibayhi falan yadurra Allahashay-an wasayajzee Allahu ashshakireen

Paris-Love:
The word used for messengers here is al-russul, which means THEmessengers (al = the, russul = messengers), indicating that this verse refers to all the messengers. In other words it is definite even though most translators are trying to make it indefinite. So it's still saying the same thing, all messengers has already died including Jesus which contradicts Quran claim of raising him alive

UNDERSTANDING ARABIC IS VERY IMPORTANT...THANKS FOR NOTHING THIS...I WILL GIVE YOU THE ANSWER IN SHA'A ALLAH SHORTLY..

Lets suppose for a while that "qad khalat" has no other meaning than death (only suppose don't get carried away ), even then the case that JESUS PBUH passed away remains invalid. Consider the following verse:

And (remember) when Allah took the Covenant of THE PROPHETS saying: "Take whatever I gave you from the Book and Hikmah (understanding of the Laws of Allah, etc.), and afterwards there will come to you a Messenger (Muhammad SAW) confirming what is with you; you must, then, believe in him and help him." Allah said: "Do you agree (to it) and will you take up My Covenant (which I conclude with you)?" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness; and I am with you among the witnesses (for this)."
Wa-ith akhatha Allahumeethaqa alnabiyyeena

Before Nabiyyeen (Prophets), we find "Al" and if we use the logic of the death theorists, "Al" here refers to ALL Prophets including our beloved Prophet Muhammad saw. So that would mean that Allah took covenant from Prophet Muhammad that when he would come, he would believe in himself. This does not make sense and here "All Prophets" excludes Prophet Muhammad saw.

Also take the example of Iblis. The Angels were told to bow down to Syyedna Aadam عليه سلام and Iblis didn't bow down. We know that Iblis is a Jinn (18:50). Now building upon the twisted logic of the death theorists, Iblis could argue that Angels were ordered and he wasn't and so he is spared. Zakir Naik explains this as follows:

[[[ The English translation of the first part of the verse - We said to the angels bow down to Adam: they bowed down except Iblis, gives us the impression that Iblis was an angel.

Similarly in the Qur'an, when Allah addressed the angels, even Iblis was present, but it is not required that he be mentioned separately. Therefore according to that sentence Iblis may be an angel or may not be an angel, but we come to know from Surah Al Kahf chapter 18 verse 50 that Iblis was a Jinn. No where does the Qur'an say Iblis was an angel. Therefore there is no contradiction in the Qur'an. ]]]

So if Iblis is a part of "All Angels" while being a Jinn, then Syyedna Issa عليه سلام can be a part of all those "passed away" (still assuming) without actually passing away.

Indeed, Allah knows best.

Paris-Love:
The word used for messengers here is al-russul, which means THEmessengers (al = the, russul = messengers), indicating that this verse refers to all the messengers. In other words it is definite even though most translators are trying to make it indefinite. So it's still saying the same thing, all messengers has already died including Jesus which contradicts Quran claim of raising him alive

eldoradoxx:
He said,"The last time Church paid my salary was December 1987, nobody heared it, not even the Ministers in the church until 1997 and church members didn't hear this until 2007".

FROM THIS,WE CAN GATHER THAT HE WAS NOT RICH B4 HE STARTED THE CHURCH, HENCE HIS NEED FOR THE CHURCH SALARY B4 1987
HE MAY NOT HAVE GOTTEN RICH FROM THE TITHES BUT TO SAY THAT THE CHURCH DID NOT PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN HIS WEALTH IS A LIE!!
HE STARTED A CHURCH
HE HAD A LOT OF MEMBERS
HE GAINED THEIR TRUST
HE STOP COLLECTING SALARY
AMONG HIS MEMBERS ARE RICH AND POOR PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING FOR HIM..INCLUDING GIVING HIM MONEY AND/OR VALUABLE GOODS...
HE WROTE BOOKS...TO SELL BOOKS,U NEED A AUDIENCE..(HIS CHURCH GAVE THAT TO HIM)....
SIMPLY PUT...HIS ESTABLISHMENT (THE CHURCH) LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR HIS WEALTH...
EVEN IF HE STOP DOING BUSINESS TODAY,HE WILL STILL BE RICH SO AS LONG AS HE STILL HAS THE CHURCH AND THEIR MEMBERS..

THESE VERSES WERE NOT CHECKING FOR WHO THE FIRST MUSLIMS WERE, BUT CONFIRMING THAT THEY WERE MUSLIMS DURING THEIR TIME...
LOOK AT THOSE VERSES AGAIN, WHY DID IT SAY FIRST THAT ABRAHAM PBUH WAS NEITHER A XTIAN NOR A JEW?
Abraham, Jesus pbut lived in different times from Muhammad pbuh..
During Abraham pbuh time, he was among the muslims.(he was not one of the polytheist but a muslim)
During the time of Jesus pbuh, weren't the disciples the people who were first to help him in his mission?...during their time, they were muslims..
Muhammad pbuh was also the first muslim during his time..
THEY ALL LIVED AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND THEY WERE ALL BELIEVERS DURING THEIR TIME...

THE QURAN IS NOT LIKE THE BIBLE...WE DO NOT SAY THAT THE BIBLE IS NOT A WORD OF GOD BUT THROUGH TIME, IT HAS BEEN CORRUPTED AND REVISED FOR REASONS ONLY GOD KNOWS.. WHO CARRIED THE CROSS OF JESUS? SIMON OR JESUS HIMSELF
WHAT WAS THE LAST WORD OF JESUS?? AND MANY MORE THAT CAN NEVER BE EXPLAINED BECAUSE IT NEVER HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE

honeychild:

WAS MUHAMMED THE FIRST MUSLIM OR NOT?

Answer 1: No
Sura 3:52 - But when Jesus perceived disbelief on their part, he said: Who will be my helpers in Allah's way? The disciples said: we are Allah's helpers. We believe in Allah and bear witness that we are submitting ones
Sura 3:62 - Abraham was not a jew nor a christian, but he was an upright (man) a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists.

Answer 2: Yes
Sura 6:14- Say: shall I take for a friend other than Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth and He feeds and is not fed? S[b]ay: I am commanded to be the first of those who submit
[/b]
Sura 6:162,163 - Say: My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are surely for Allah - the Lord of the worlds, No associate has he. And thus I am commanded, and I am the first of those who submit.

So Muslim brethren, please turn out en-masse to defend your Holy Book.

Sahih International
Muhammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him.
Muhsin Khan
Muhammad (SAW) is no more than a Messenger, and indeed (many) Messengers have passed away before him.
Pickthall
Muhammad is but a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) have passed away before him.
Yusuf Ali
Muhammad is no more than a messenger: MANY[b][/b] Were the messenger that passed away before him.

IN SHORT, IT DID NOT SAY ''ALL'' IT IS AN ADDITION IN WHICH MANY TRANSLATORS USE ''MANY''...
IF YOU TRANSLATE DIRECTLY FROM ARABIC, IT WILL BE ''MESSENGERS HAVE PASSED AWAY BEFORE HIM''

Paris-Love:
Don't derail the topic. From the OP's post
It's obvious from this verse, Jesus didn't die.

3:144 And Muhammad is but a
Messenger. Verily all Messengers have passed away before him ...
Does 3:144 not not imply that Jesus has died?

IN SHORT, YOU ARE A ''QURAN ONLY MUSLIM'' ...HOW DO YOU PRAY IF I MAY ASK.

And We have sent down to you (MUHAMMAD) the Message, that you may explain clearly to the people what is sent for them",
DID YOU MEET THE PROPHET s.a.w? IF YOU DID, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE A NEED FOR ''HADITH AND SUNNAH'' BUT SINCE YOU DID NOT....YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LEARN OF THE SAYINGS AND DEEDS OF THE PROPHET..

Anvaller:

U are likely not a muslim from ur post but it's ok I just wanna refer to ur comment to clarify some things. The point is that virtually all the ills that are associated with Islam stoning to death and so on is established through sharia. And so the question is what is the basis for Sharia in the Quran? The bulk of all the rules are formulated from Hadiths and Sunnah and the very least of the rules aligns with God's instructions in the Quran. Did God establish any bases for an overbearing rule which will be "sharia" apart from the laws that are embedded in the Quran? The answer is No. Anyone who wants to challenge this should come up with proves to substantiate it. Sadly, we Muslims of today pay the most attention to Hadith, Sunnah, and accept Fatwah from scholars that have arrogated status of a partner of God to themselves. This scholars prohibit what God have not prohibited and allows what God have dissallowed, arrogating partnership to God is a big sin. Then when a muslim criticize certain logics in Sharia as against commonsense and even the logic of the Quran, they would say u have criticized the Law of God. How can it be a Law of God when in fact it is not written by God and in reality, it contradicts severally the laws which is actually written by God? I would advice muslims to rediscover their faith in Islam before it's too late.

Bismillah
IN ADDITION TO WHAT ''TBABA'' POSTED PREVIOUSLY
In other to answer this question, we must know the meaning of the following; WALI; MARRIAGE CONTRACT (nikah); SHARIAH court.
For a marriage to be valid, there has to be a WALI (guardian i.e. male member of the family...NOT FEMALE..starting from the father)
NIKKAH IS THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT...A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE HUSBAND AND WIFE...(you do not need a civil court to prevent your husband from marrying more than one if he agrees....you just have to indicate it in your contract)
“O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a fixed period, write it down”
“And get two witnesses out of your own men.”
“But take witnesses whenever you make a commercial contract”
[al-Baqarah 2:282]
There are several interests to be served by documenting marriage, such as the following:

1 – Preserving the wife’s rights, such as proof of the delayed portion of the mahr, recording the conditions stipulated by her, and allowing her to take her share of inheritance from her husband and children.

2 – Proof of her children’s parentage from her and their father.

3 – Prevention of another marriage contract being done for her when she is married to another husband.

4 – Preserving the husband’s rights, as the mahr that the wife received is recorded.

5 – Preventing the husband from marrying more than four women.

IN NIGERIA,THERE ARE RECOGNIZED SHARIAH COURT THAT CAN OVERSEE YOUR NIKKAH ACCORDING TO SHARIAH...

2 YEAR OLD STORY...NO WONDER IT NEVER CIRCULATED....ITS OLD!!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1269165/Noahs-Ark-remains-discovered-mountain-Turkey.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100428-noahs-ark-found-in-turkey-science-religion-culture/
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/27/noahs-ark-found-turkey-ararat/

dr stone:


Sheer Barbarism!!!! May be we should also advocate for Public SLICING of the Throat with Jack Knives [/b]for those who collect Bribes!!! those who force in to trafficking or are found to patronise [b]LovePeddlers SHould Have their "ABUNNA" sliced or scraped in public [/b]while the Women found carrying Drugs inserted in their"MMMMH" should have barbed wire poked into the "Abunna" in public. That is the Kind of LAW we need.
[b]Mtscheeew!! Welcome to BOKO Kingdom!!
I hope when he finally comes to KANO Or SOkoto He wont end up in LAGOS begging for Alms ...and pray fake prayers like we hear: MAy GOd bless for giving me alms.....I SHAKE MY HEAD again when i See the dangerous effect of blind religious fanatism.

I'd rather live with the so called ''barbaric law''(as some apologetic xtians call it) so as long as it guarantee my safety than live in a xtian setting no law exist at all just because there would be no body to exercise the law since only the non sinner ''must cast the first stone'' and ''every body is a sinner''
Thank God for the western xtians who made compromises to establish a law...since i have heard that in xtianity, the only punnishment is eternal damnation...(something like that)

I DONT KNOW WHY PEOPLE FEEL PITY FOR A THIEF(it shows how corrupted we are as a society)..EVERY LAW THAT AS EVER BEEN CREATED SERVES AS A DETERRENT!THAT IS WHY NOT EVERY NIGERIA IS PUSHING DRUGS COS HE DOES NOT WANT TO WASTE 20 YRS OF HIS LIFE...IT IS NOT STRANGE TO FIND BIG PENALTIES FOR BIG CRIMES SO THAT PEOPLE WILL BE AFRAID TO EVEN THINK OF IT LET ALONE COMMITTING THE CRIME...
IF WE WERE TO FOLLOW THIS SAYING OF JESUS LITERALLY ''LET HIM WITHOUT A SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE'' THEN THERE WOULD BE NO LAW AND HENCE NO POLICE OFFICERS BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, EVERY BODY IS A SINNER! (murderers and thief will walk free..the world will not no more be safe for the believers)...
SAUDI ARABIA DOES NOT FOLLOW STRICT SHARIAH (i wish they do)...I AM YET TO FIND ANY MUSLIM MAJORITY COUNTRY THAT FOLLOW STRICT SHARIAH LAW (sadly so). THEY ONLY FOLLOW THE PART THAT SUITS THEIR AGENDA OF THE LAW..
IN ISLAM, STEALING IS A MAJOR SIN HENCE THE BIG DETERRENT..

A lot of misinformation!!! where are the Doctors? you can not say a sperm cell contain both X and Y chromosome and a egg cell contain both XX....
a sperm drop contain millions of X and Y chrom...a sperm cell can either be X or Y and not both!!...an egg cell is only X chromosome!! that is why a sperm cell determine the sex of a child....
There is no proven method using genetics to determine the sex of a child...BEFORE CONCEPTION...
all the stories about one cell been stronger than the other and one faster than the other are just cock and bull story provided over 40 years ago...new science research suggest a diff scenario!!!
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/science-behind-gender-swaying/1562-what-real-differences-between-x-sperm-y-sperm.html
FLUID SELECTION IS POSSIBLE BUT NOT AVAILABLE TO EVERY BODY AS IT ALLOWS GENDER SELECTION THERE BY PREFERRING ONE GENDER TO THE OTHER!!!