Evidence for the return of Jesus from the Quran

Question

I'm aware that hadith mention Jesus's return to earth in the end-times. However is there any evidence for this in the Quran?

Answer 1

Among the verses used as an evidence you may often find quoted (4:159):

And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness.

as this verse indicates that the people of the book will no more be in dispute about 'Isa as they still are actually. You may find in Tafsir ibn Kathir the following quote:

(And there is none of the People of the Scripture, but must believe in him, before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them.) Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn `Abbas commented,

(And there is none of the People of the Scripture, but must believe in him, before his death.) before the death of 'Isa, son of Maryam, peace be upon him. Al-'Awfi reported similar from Ibn 'Abbas. Abu Malik commented;

(but must believe in him, before his death.) "This occurs after 'Isa returns and before he dies, as then, all of the People of the Scriptures will believe in him.'' (source: qtafsir)

Also read Whose death in Surat An-Nisa' 4/159? , even if the answer there seems to disagree with the above quote: As the verse doesn't seem clear on who's that is actually meant, it could be the death of every person from among people of the book or the death of 'Isa:

• the later possibility indeed is an indication that 'Isa has not died and will be known as death. And is the one supported by scholars of tafsir:

  "His death" refers to 'Isa, and the Ayah means that the People of the Book will believe in 'Isa, before 'Isa dies. This will occur when 'Isa comes back to this world before the Day of Resurrection, as we will explain. By that time, all the People of the Book will believe in 'Isa, for he will annul the Jizyah and he will only accept Islam from people. (source qtafsir a summary of tafsir ibn Kathir)

• the first also shows that as long as the people of the book are in dispute about 'Isa judgement day will not come and the fact that this dispute needs to be resolved seems to indicate a return of 'Isa (as this would be the best way for a resolution).

An other used evidence comes from the verses in (43:57-61):

And when the son of Mary was presented as an example, immediately your people laughed aloud. (57)
...
And indeed, Jesus will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour, so be not in doubt of it, and follow Me. This is a straight path. (61)

However the English translation here is clearly based on a common interpretation, which doesn't appear in this crystal clear manner in the Arabic text:

"Jesus will be" ...
vs. in Arabic "وإنه"
"He -whom ever this might be- will be"

Note that in Arabic "إنه" could also be "It" instead of "He"

So strictly speaking if you ask whether the qur'an clearly quotes (without the need of secondary sources or information or at least interpretation) the return of 'Isa than the answer seems more likely to be "no", but these two evidences are the best ones that point at this fact, but they might need more or less interpretation or secondary sources.

Answer 2

ALL classical Mu’tazilite scholars believed in the return of Jesus pbuh. They also believed that the wall of Dhul Qarnayn is yet to fall, and they believed Dhul Qarnayn in the Qur’an was Alexander the Great, and this is evident from the story of the Mu’tazilite Caliph Al-Wathiq when he had that terrifying dream about Gog and Magog. The story is also narrated by Al-Tusi. As for Zamakshari, he wasn’t a classical Mu’tazilite and yet he also believed in the return of Jesus pbuh.