A tradition says Jesus (as) will marry, have children and be buried with the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). How should this be understood?

Taken literally, this tradition cancels itself out, for no one would ever allow a rejected claimant to be buried in the grave of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). Such prophecies are meant figuratively, just as the awaited return of Elijah (as) was fulfilled spiritually.

This tradition is often quoted inaccurately. Strictly speaking, it says that the one who comes will be buried with the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) in his grave. It is precisely this part that is the key to understanding it.

Taken literally, the prophecy cancels itself out. Many say they will only believe a claimant once all the signs have been fulfilled. But then whoever comes would remain rejected all his life. And no Muslim would ever allow the grave of the Holy Prophet (saw) to be opened in order to bury a rejected man there. The sign people are waiting for could therefore never take place.

The rest does not fit a literal reading either. If the same Jesus (as) were meant, a man who lived some two thousand years ago would have had to wait somewhere in the heavens all that time, only to marry and have children. Yet the Holy Qur’an says in the verses above that God caused him to die, and that all the messengers before the Holy Prophet (saw) have passed away.

The history of religion shows how such promises are meant. It was said of Elijah (as) that he had ascended to heaven and would return before the Messiah. When Jesus (as) came, the scholars of his people asked where Elijah was. The answer was that Elijah had come in spirit, in the person of John the Baptist (as). No human being has ever returned bodily from heaven.

So this tradition, too, is to be understood figuratively. To lie in one grave with the Holy Prophet (saw) describes the greatest closeness. The one who comes belongs wholly to him, in his life as in his end.