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This second part of the series is concerned with the verse "Indeed I will do tawaffa with you and raise you towards me" (3:55). It will show how-:
1) Regardless of which translation is preferred, the classical muslim belief that Jesus is still alive in the heavens is justified. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2) How the infamous "reverse chronological order" in fact provides proof for the 2nd coming of Jesus (peace be upon him).

In the first part of this series (Tawaffa for Beginners), I wrote that 'tawaffa' in this verse 1 does not mean 'death' 2 but 'taken up (alive)'. It is true that the majority opinion amongst scholars is that it means 'taken up (alive)', but the opinion that it mans 'death' is also held quite validly by a minority of authentic muslim scholars 3. Both, however, assert that the verse ultimately supports the belief that Jesus is alive. Below I explain the significance of the second interpretation, since it is that which causes most confusion.

If Mutawaffika means "We will cause you to die"
It is as if Allah is saying-:
"O Jesus, it is true that you too must one day die, but first I want to raise you up to Me"

The objection 4 that is usually raised when this translation is offered - and yet the proponent 5 still asserts that it does not mean that Jesus is dead - is that the verse mentions death before any raising, and yet the muslim belief is that Jesus was raised and will die sometime in the future. It seems as if the chronological order of the muslim belief is contrary to the order of text offered in the Quran.

Quranic order: Death --> Raising to God
Muslim belief: Raising to God --> Death

This objection is quite correct. However, there is a reason for death being mentioned before raising. By mentioning death first-:

1) it implies that the place of Jesus' death will be other than where he will be raised up to. If the raising had been mentioned first, it could have given the impression that the dying would occur once Jesus has finished ascending 6. Thus the reverse chronological order is necessary to convey the idea that, and makes it clear that, his death will not be in the same place that he is to be raised up to. Thus his second coming has been implicitly proved 7. This explanation was alluded to by Mufti Muhammad Shaafi in his tafseer.

2) it gives Jesus a hint that there are still plenty of things left in his life that God wants him to do. This is because, again, if raising was mentioned first then it could give the impression that he will die as soon as he is raised - or, at least, that he will never have any role in this world again. But by reversing the order, it makes it clear that he must be coming to this world again in the future - and this would only be the case if there was a purpose behind doing so.

3) it avoids giving the impression that the purpose of raising was simply for him to die there rather than in the hands of his enemies.

So, in summary, regardless of the exact meaning of the word tawaffa, the non-ahmadi position regarding Jesus is totally consistant and justified in the light of the evidences. It is our belief that Jesus is still alive and that following MGA is a grave mistake.

BONUS ON HEAVENLY ZAKAT
One verse that Ahmadies try to use to prove the death of Jesus is 19:31 ("..and He has made obligatory on me Prayer and Zakat as long as i am alive". An obvious response is-:
1) The verse only imposes a general obligation, dependant on the ability to pay and there being someone to accept the payment.
2) In heaven, there is neither ability to pay nor anyone to accept, thus no zakat needs to be given.
3) The proof that this verse only imposes a conditional obligation (aside from the obvious general rule in islam that nobody is burdened with a burden they cannot bear) is that when Jesus made this statement he was obviously not at that point giving anyone any zakat, even though he was alive, as he was too young and had no possesions.

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Footnotes
1 The word 'mutawaffika' occurs in the verse, but this is simply a conjugation of the verb tawaffa. The latter has been preferred for this work to avoid confusing the reader with the technicalities of Arabic grammer.
2 Or more accurately, 'we will cause you to die'.
3 I did not mention this in Tawaffa for Beginners as I felt omitting it at that stage would aid the learning process.
4 Usually, if not virtually always, by an Ahmadi. Though not an Ahmadi, I, too, wondered the same thing.
5 A non-Ahmadi, by necessity
6 It has not escaped my attention that what I have said is dependant on the literal translation of rafa'a. However, I have deliberately not covered this as my primary intended audience is the non-Ahmadi who probably already accepts the literal meaning.
7 This is by no means the only proof for the second coming of Jesus - there are more from both the Quran and books of ahadeth.