Yes, everyone but Allah is mortal, and in fact, Imam al-Mahdi will pass away too. But the difference is the length of life in this world. The holy Qur’an and the prophetic traditions inform us that some people have had/have long life in this world. Thus the possibility of the occurrence of such phenomena is confirmed by the religion of Islam.
Are you aware that according to the Qur’an (see 29:14); Prophet Noah has just been prophet for 950 years? His age should have been even more than that because we should add his age before prophet hood to the above number.
Do you agree that Prophet Jesus (A.S) is still alive? He is, in fact, 1995 years old by now. Of course, he is not living on the earth. He is rather in the heavens, and according to the Muslim’s belief, he will come back to the earth, and will pray behind Imam al-Mahdi (A.S).
Do you agree that al-Khidr (A.S) is still alive? Qur’an mentions the story of his meeting with Prophet Moses (A.S). He existed before the time of the Prophet Moses (A.S), and as such, al-Khidr (A.S) is now more than 3000 years old! He lives right here on the earth, but we cannot recognize him (fairly similar to the case of Imam al-Mahdi). He serves Allah (S.W.T) as one of His agents.
The Hanafi scholar, Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, in his book "Tathkirat al-Khawas al-Ummah", pp. 325-328 gives the names of 22 people believed by Muslims to have lived various ages from 3,000 down to 300 years! No doubt! Allah has the ability to give a very long life to His servants, but He also has assigned a death time for everyone (including the above mentioned individuals) which can be very soon or very late.
Moreover, scientifically speaking, there are no objections whatsoever to the extended life span assertion. A group of scientists conducted a series of experiments at the Rockefeller Institute in New York in 1912 on certain “parts” of plants, animals, and humans. These scientists included Dr. Alex Carl, Dr. Jack Lope, and Dr. Warren Lewis and his wife, among others. Among the experiments conducted was one that directly treated the nerves, muscles, hearts, skin, and kidneys of human beings.
These organs were not connected to a human body; they were independent organs that were perhaps donated for the experiment. It was concluded by the scientists that these "parts or organs “can continue to live almost indefinitely as long as they are nourished properly, and as long as they are shielded from external negative interactions like microbes and other obstacles that might inhibit the growth of these organs; furthermore, the assertion was made that the cells would continue to grow normally under the above conditions, and that the growth is directly related to the nourishment provided.
Again, aging had no effect on these organs, and they grew every year without any signs of deterioration. The scientists concluded that these organs will continue to grow as long as the patience of the scientists themselves is not exhausted, causing them to abandon the nourishment process.
Derived from: Al-Islam.org
Jesus (A.S) - Islam Guidance
