The
biblical account of the
crucifixion, death, and
resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
(''
ʿĪsā'') recorded in the
Christian New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
is rejected by most
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
,
but like
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
they believe that Jesus
ascended to heaven and he will, according to
Islamic literary sources,
[ ]
return before the
end of time.
The
various sects of Islam have different views regarding this topic;
traditionally, mainstream Muslims believe that
Jesus was not crucified but was bodily raised up to
heaven by
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
,
while
Ahmadi Muslims reject this belief
and instead contend that
Jesus survived the crucifixion,
was taken off the cross alive and
continued to preach in India until his
natural death
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
.
Depending on the interpretation of the following Quranic verses (-),
Islamic scholars and
commentators of the Quran have abstracted different opinions and conflicting conclusions regarding the death of Jesus.
Some believe that in the Biblical account, Jesus' crucifixion did not last long enough for him to die, while others opine that God gave Jesus' appearance to the one who revealed his location to those persecuting him. He was replaced as Jesus and the executioners thought the victim was Jesus, causing everyone to believe that Jesus was crucified. A third explanation could be that Jesus was nailed to a cross, but as his soul is immortal he did not "die" or was not "crucified"
o death it only appeared so. In opposition to the second and third foregoing proposals, yet others maintain that God does not use deceit and therefore they contend that the crucifixion just did not happen:
Jesus' death in the Quran
Jesus' death
is mentioned in the future sense (on the Day of Resurrection) in the Quran, and his attempted death and his ascension into Heaven in the past sense. Below are the verses which mention the death and ascension of Jesus.
By "they did not kill him," "before his death," and "the day I die" it can be assumed, based on a cursory reading of the plain text, that Jesus did not die. By "God raised him up to himself" and "You took me to Yourself" it can be assumed, based on a cursory reading of the plain text, that Jesus ascended to Heaven rather than dying. Despite Quran 5:117 only speaking of Jesus' ascension and 19:33 only speaking of Jesus' future death, Muslim scholars like
Mahmoud M. Ayoub
Mahmoud M. Ayoub (June 1, 1935 – October 31, 2021) was a Lebanese Islamic scholar and professor of religious and inter-faith studies.
Early life
Mahmoud was born into a devout Muslim family on June 1, 1935 at Ain Qana (South Lebanon), a sm ...
claim the aforesaid verses "assert" Jesus' death.
Past sense
In the past sense it is said that
the Jews did not kill or crucify Jesus but it only appeared to them as if they had,
because Jesus had been raised up by God according to the Quranic narrative.
Given the
historicity of Jesus' death and the
Islamic theological doctrine on the supposed
inerrancy of the Quran, most mainstream Muslims and Islamic scholars deny the crucifixion and death of Jesus,
deny the
historical reliability of the Gospels
The historical reliability of the Gospels is the reliability and historic character of the four New Testament gospels as historical documents. While all four canonical gospels contain some sayings and events which may meet one or more of the five ...
,
claim that the
canonical Gospels are corruptions of the true Gospel of Jesus for their portrayal of Jesus dying, and they also claim that
extra-Biblical evidence for Jesus' death is a Christian forgery.
Quran 3:55 and
Quran 5:117 are interpreted by most mainstream Muslims as referring to Jesus entering heaven alive at the end of his life, like
Enoch
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
. According to the Islamic scholar
Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad, ( ar, محمد أسد , ur, , born Leopold Weiss; 2 July 1900 – 20 February 1992) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Pakistani journalist, traveler, writer, linguist, political theorist and diplomat. He was a Jew but, later conve ...
the crucifixion of Jesus did not take place, nor was there any substitution "for Jesus, a person closely resembling him", thus among many Asad also rejects the theory of substitution mentioned with the words "none of these legends finds the slightest support in the Qur'an or in authentic Traditions, and the stories produced in this connection by the classical commentators must be summarily rejected".
Future sense
In the future sense it is said that Jesus will not die until the
day of resurrection
In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgment Day ( ar, یوم القيامة, Yawm al-qiyāmah, Day of Resurrection or ar, یوم الدین, italic=no, Yawm ad-din, Day of Judgement),
when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, ...
. Given that, according to the Quran, Jesus had not died before going up to God, nor will he die before the day of resurrection, the interpretation by most Muslims is that Jesus
entered heaven alive.
Jesus' words "the day I die" in are interpreted by most Muslims in the future sense (Jesus will die on the day of resurrection).
Possible Gnostic influences
![POxy405](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/POxy405.jpg)
The belief that Jesus only appeared to be crucified and did not actually die predates Islam and is found in several
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
and
Gnostic Gospels
The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Thirteen leather-bound papyru ...
.
Although most
contemporary scholars argue that the Islamic portrayal of Jesus himself is not
docetic
In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the grc-koi, δοκεῖν/δόκησις ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, an ...
, his crucifixion narrative in the Quran could be.
The Greek
Father of the Church
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...
and bishop
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
in his heresiological treatise ''
Against Heresies'' (180 CE) described
early Gnostic beliefs regarding the crucifixion and death of Jesus that bear remarkable resemblance with the Islamic views, expounding on the
hypothesis of substitution:
One of the Christian Gnostic writings found in the
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...
, the ''
Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Second Treatise of the Great Seth is an apocryphal Gnostic writing discovered in the Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi codices and dates to around the third century. The author is unknown, and the Seth referenced in the title appears nowhere in the te ...
'', has a similar substitutionist interpretation of Jesus' death:
The ''
Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter'', likewise, holds the same substitutionist interpretation of Jesus' death:
The ''
Gospel of Peter
The Gospel of Peter ( grc, κατά Πέτρον ευαγγέλιον, kata Petron euangelion), or the Gospel according to Peter, is an ancient text concerning Jesus Christ, only partially known today. It is considered a non-canonical gospel and ...
'' is a
docetic
In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the grc-koi, δοκεῖν/δόκησις ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, an ...
Apocryphal Gospel
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cit ...
. The British
biblical scholar F. F. Bruce
Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990), usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was a Scottish biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament. His first book, ''New Testament Documents: Are They ...
, who served as
Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis
The Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis is a professorship or chair in the Department of Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester, England. Formerly in the Faculty of Theology, the chair resides now in the School of A ...
at the
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...
, wrote in a commentary about this text:
John of Damascus, a Syrian
Eastern Orthodox monk,
Christian theologian
Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis ...
, and
apologist
Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...
that lived under the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
, reported in his heresiological treatise ''
De Haeresibus'' (8th century) the Islamic denial of Jesus' crucifixion and his alleged substitution on the cross, attributing the origin of these doctrines to
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
:
In his scholarly monograph ''Gott ist Christus, der Sohn der Maria. Eine Studie zum Christusbild im Koran'' (1989, ), the German
Roman Catholic theologian
Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on Biblical canon, canonical Catholic Bible, scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by ...
and
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of
Religious studies states that Muhammad's distorted understanding of Jesus and the Christian faith,
along with the misrepresentation of Christian beliefs about Jesus in the Quran and the ''hadith'',
were influenced by the
non-Chalcedonian (heretical) Monophysite Christianity
Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the "Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' (''physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian positio ...
that prevailed at the time in the
pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula and further in
Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, and
Syria.
A similar hypothesis regarding the Gnostic Christian influence on Muhammad's beliefs about the crucifixion of Jesus has been proposed by Neal Robinson,
senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...
of Religious studies at the
College of St. Paul and St. Mary, in his scholarly monograph ''Christ in Islam and Christianity'' (1991, ).
This docetic interpretation regarding Jesus' crucifixion was also shared by
Manichaeans
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...
. Since
Manichaeism was still prevailing in Arabia during the 6th century, just alike prohibition against wine and fasting rules, Islamic views on Jesus' death might have been influenced by it.
However, while
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
existed only in the eastern and southern Arabia, the existence of Manichaeism in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
in the 6th-7th century is denied as lacking historical support. Similar reservations regarding the appearance of Manichaeism, Gnosticism, and
Mazdakism in pre-Islamic Mecca are offered by Trompf & Mikkelsen et al. in their latest work (2018).
Islamic interpretation of events
Some Islamic scholars like
Sheikh Mohammed al-Ghazali
Sheikh Mohammed al-Ghazali al-Saqqa (1917–1996) ( ar, الشيخ محمد الغزالي السقا ), was an Islamic scholar whose writings "have influenced generations of Egyptians". The author of 94 books, he attracted a broad following with ...
and
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi ( ur, , translit=Jāvēd Aḥmad Ghāmidī; April 7, 1952) is a Pakistani philosopher, educationist, and scholar of Islam. He is also the founding President of Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences and its sister organisat ...
argue that Jesus was rescued but was given death by God before he was ascended bodily as God never allows His messengers to be dishonored, even their dead bodies.
Thomas McElwain states that the context of the verse is clearly within the discussion of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ridicule of Christians, not in context of whether or not Jesus died. He continues that the text could be interpreted as denying the death of Jesus at the hands of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
rather than denying his death. He adds, however, "the expressions against the crucifixion are strong, so that to interpret the meaning for Romans rather than Jews to have committed the act is also suspect" and that if this meaning is correct, "it would have been more effective to state that the Romans killed Jesus, rather than to emphasise that the Jews were not in possession of the facts."
According to some translations, Jesus says in the Qur'an:
The majority of Muslims translate the verb "mutawafik" (متوفيك) "to terminate after a period of time" while others translate it "to die of natural causes". Islamic scholars like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi consider it as the physical death of Jesus, and hence question the return of Jesus.
Geoffrey Parrinder
Edward Geoffrey Simons Parrinder (April 10, 1910 – June 16, 2005) — known as E.G. Parrinder or Geoffrey Parrinder — was a professor of Comparative Religion at King's College London, a Methodist minister, and the author of over 30 books. A ...
discusses different interpretations of the Qur'anic chapter 19, verse 33 and writes in his conclusion that "the cumulative effect of the Qur'anic verse is strongly in favor of a real death". This verse could also refer to the Second Coming of Jesus.
Translators that favour "to die" have included
Muhammad Asad
Muhammad Asad, ( ar, محمد أسد , ur, , born Leopold Weiss; 2 July 1900 – 20 February 1992) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Pakistani journalist, traveler, writer, linguist, political theorist and diplomat. He was a Jew but, later conve ...
,
George Sale,
Maulana Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; ar, محمد علي; 1874 – 13 October 1951) was an Indian writer, scholar, and leading figure of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.
Biography
Ali was born in Murar, Kapurthala State (now in Ludhiana district, Punja ...
,
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Wahiduddin Khan (1 January 1925 – 21 April 2021), known with the honorific "Maulana", was an Indian Islamic scholar and peace activist and author known for having written a commentary on the Quran and having translated it into contemporary ...
,
Maulvi Sher Ali
Maulvi Sher Ali Ranjha (24 November 1875 – 13 November 1947) was a prominent Ahmadi scholar and a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the Promised Messiah and the awaited mahdi.
Early life
Sher Ali was born to a well off and ed ...
,
John Medows Rodwell
John Medows Rodwell (1808–1900) was a friend of Charles Darwin while both matriculated at Cambridge. He became an English clergyman of the Church of England and an Islamic studies scholar. He served as Rector of St.Peter's, Saffron Hill, Londo ...
,
Abdul Majid Daryabadi
Abdul Majid Daryabadi (16 March 1892 – 6 January 1977) was an Islamic scholar, philosopher, writer, critic, researcher, journalist and exegete of the Quran in Indian subcontinent in 20th century. He was as one of the most influential Indian Mus ...
and
Ghulam Ahmed Pervez
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez ( pa, ; 1903–1985), widely known as Allama Parwez, was a pioneer of Quranic doctrine from pre-Independence India and later Pakistan. He attempted to rationally interpret Quranic themes, by challenging the established Sun ...
, but the majority of Qur'anic translators, including
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, MA, LL.M, FRSA, FRSL (; ur, عبداللہ یوسف علی; 14 April 1872 – 10 December 1953) was an Indian-British barrister who wrote a number of books about Islam including an exegesis of the Qur'an. A sup ...
,
Muhammad Habib Shakir
Muhammad Habib Shakir (1866 in Cairo – 1939 in Cairo) ( ar, محمد حبيب شاكر) was an Egyptian judge, born in Cairo and a graduate from Al-Azhar University.
Life
Sheikh Mohammed Shakir b. Ahmad b. ‘Abd al-Qadir was born in 1866 ...
and
Marmaduke Pickthall
Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (born Marmaduke William Pickthall; 7 April 187519 May 1936) was an English Islamic scholar noted for his 1930 English translation of the Quran, called ''The Meaning of the Glorious Koran''. His translation of the Qur ...
, do not.
David Marshall Lang
David Marshall Lang (6 May 1924 – 20 March 1991), was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and ...
stated in his 1957 book ''The Wisdom of Balahvar'' that confusion in
diacritical markings in Arabic documents resulted in confusing Kashmir and
Kushinara
Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''.
Etymo ...
(the place of Buddha's death) with the place of the death of Jesus.
[ Lang has stated that the term Budhasaf (Buddha-to-be) became Yudasaf, Iodasaph, and then Yuzasaf, and resulted in the assertions of Jesus being buried in Srinagar.][In '']The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
''The Journal of Ecclesiastical History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. It was established in 1950 and covers all aspects of the history of the Christian Church. It deals with the church b ...
'' Volume 18, Issue 02, October 1967
pp 247-248
John Rippon summarizes the work of David Marshall Lang
David Marshall Lang (6 May 1924 – 20 March 1991), was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and ...
on the subject as follows: "In ''The Wisdom of Balahvar'' Professor Lang assembled the evidence for the Buddhist origins of the legends of the Christian saints Barlaam and Josephat. He suggested the importance of Arabic intermediaries, showing that confusion of diacritical markings turned Budhasaf (Bodhisattva, the Buddha-to-be) into Yudasaf, Iodasaph, Yuzasaf and Josaphat. By a curious roundabout journey this error reappears in once Buddhist Kashmir where the modern Ahmadiyya Muslims, well known for their Woking mosque, claim that a tomb of Yus Asad was the tomb of Jesus who died in Kashmir, after having been taken down live from the cross; though the Bombay Arabic edition of the book Balahvar makes its hero die in Kashmir, by confusion with Kushinara the traditional place of the Buddha's death." In 1981 (in ''Jesus i Kashmir: Historien om en legend'') and then in 2011, Per Beskow
Per Erik Beskow (23 December 1926 in Stockholm − 3 March 2016 in Visby) was a Swedish biblical scholar, theologian, church historian, patrologist and associate professor at Lund University.
Biography
Per Beskow was born on December 23, 1926 as ...
also stated that confusion about the traditions regarding Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
in the Bilawhar wa-Yudasaf legend had resulted in the confused assumption that Jesus was Yuzasaf and was buried in Kashmir.
Literal interpretation
Earliest reports
Most Islamic traditions, save for a few, categorically deny that Jesus physically died, either on a cross or another manner. The contention is found within the Islamic traditions themselves, with the earliest Hadith reports quoting the companions of Muhammad stating Jesus having died, while the majority of subsequent Hadith and Tafsir have elaborated an argument in favor of the denial through exegesis and apologetics, becoming the popular (orthodox) view.
Professor and Muslim scholar Mahmoud M. Ayoub
Mahmoud M. Ayoub (June 1, 1935 – October 31, 2021) was a Lebanese Islamic scholar and professor of religious and inter-faith studies.
Early life
Mahmoud was born into a devout Muslim family on June 1, 1935 at Ain Qana (South Lebanon), a sm ...
sums up what the Quran states despite interpretative Islamic arguments:
Some disagreement and discord can be seen beginning with Ibn Ishaq's (d. 761 CE/130 AH) report of a brief accounting of events leading up to the crucifixion, firstly stating that Jesus was replaced by someone named Sergius, while secondly reporting an account of Jesus' tomb being located at Medina and thirdly citing the places in and that God took Jesus up to himself.
An early interpretation of verse 3:55 (specifically "I will cause you to die and raise you to myself"), al-Tabari (d. 923 CE/310 AH) records an interpretation attributed to Ibn 'Abbas
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās ( ar, عَبْد ٱللَّٰه ٱبْن عَبَّاس; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest mufassir of the Qur'a ...
, who used the literal "I will cause you to die" (''mumayyitu-ka'') in place of the metaphorical "Jesus died" (''mutawaffi-ka''), while Wahb ibn Munabbih
Wahb ibn Munabbih ( ar, وهب بن منبه) was a Yemenite Muslim traditionist of Dhimar (two days' journey from Sana'a) in Yemen; died at the age of ninety, in a year variously given by Arabic authorities as 725, 728, 732, and 737 C.E. He was ...
, an early Jewish convert, is reported to have said: "God caused Jesus, son of Mary, to die for three hours during the day, then took him up to himself". Tabari further transmits from Ibn Ishaq Bishr: "God caused Jesus to die for seven hours", while at another place reported that a person called Sergius was crucified in place of Jesus. Ibn al-Athir
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...
forwarded the report that it was Judas
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...
, the betrayer, while also mentioning the possibility it was a man named Natlianus. Al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
(d. 956 CE/343 AH) reported the death of Christ under Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
.
charging Islam with the denial of his death. Although it is not clear if it was known to John that the Muslims denied the crucifixion or not, rather this is his own take on it as he presented these ideas to his own followers in Greek so the Muslims could not understand it and therefore he could say as he pleased. Lawson states that the interpretation of John of Damascus is unjustifiable as the Qur'an's assertion that the Jews did not crucify Jesus being very different from saying that Jesus was not crucified, explaining that it is the varied Quranic exegetes in Tafsir, and not the Qur'an itself, that denies the crucifixion, further stating that the message in the 4:157 verse simply affirms the historicity of the event, and Christian understanding of the Muslim point of view never advanced past that of John[Lawson 2009]
page 12
10th and 11th-century Ismaili Shia
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
scholars Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yaman
Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yaman ( ar, جعفر بن منصور اليمن) was an Isma'ili missionary () and theological writer of the 10th century. Originally born and raised in Yemen, where his father Ibn Hawshab had established the Isma'ili in the ...
, Abu Hatim Ahmad ibn Hamdan al-Razi
Abū Ḥātim Aḥmad ibn Ḥamdān al-Rāzī ( fa, ابو حاتم احمد بن حمدان الرازی) was a Persian Ismaili philosopher of the 9th century, who died in 322 AH (935 CE). He was also the Da'i al-du'at ''(chief missionary)'' o ...
, Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani
Abu Ya'qub Ishaq ibn Ahmad al-Sijistani ( ar, أبو يعقوب إسحاق بن أحمد السجستاني) or al-Sijzi () was a 10th-century Persian Ismaili missionary active in the northern and eastern Iranian lands. His life is obscure, but ...
, Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi
Al-Mu'ayyad fid-din Abu Nasr Hibat Allah b. Abi 'Imran Musa b. Da'ud ash-Shirazi (c. 1000 CE/390 AH – 1078 CE/470 AH) was an 11th-century Isma'ili scholar, philosopher-poet, preacher and theologian of Persian origin. He served the Fatimid C ...
and the group Ikhwan al-Safa
The Brethren of Purity ( ar, إخوان الصفا, Ikhwān Al-Ṣafā; also The Brethren of Sincerity) were a secret society of Muslim philosophers in Basra, Iraq, in the 9th or 10th century CE.
The structure of the organization and the id ...
affirm the historicity of the crucifixion, reporting Jesus was crucified and not substituted by another man as maintained by many other popular Qur'anic commentators and Tafsir.
Jesus lives
Discussing the interpretation of those scholars who deny the crucifixion, the '' Encyclopaedia of Islam'' writes:
Substitution interpretation
Unlike the Christian view of the death of Jesus, most Muslims believe he was raised to Heaven without being put on the cross and God created a resemblance to appear exactly like Jesus who was crucified instead of Jesus, and he ascended bodily to Heaven, there to remain until his Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
in the End days.
The identity of the substitute has been a source of great interest. One proposal is that God used one of Jesus' enemies. Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
, Jesus' betrayer, is often cited, and is mentioned in the Gospel of Barnabas
The Gospel of Barnabas is a non-canonical, pseudepigraphical gospel reportedly written by the early Christian disciple Barnabas, who (in this work) is one of the apostles of Jesus. It is about the same length as the four canonical gospels comb ...
. The second proposal is that Jesus asked for someone to volunteer to be crucified instead of him. Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene (, Standard Hebrew ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian Hebrew ''Šimʿôn''; , ''Simōn Kyrēnaios''; ) was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus of Nazareth as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three ...
is the person most commonly accepted to have done it, perhaps because according to the Synoptic Gospels he was compelled by the Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
to carry Jesus' cross for him. Al-Baidawi writes that Jesus told his disciples in advance that whoever volunteered would go to heaven.
=Tabari's versions of events
=
Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
(d. 839–923/ 224–310 AH) divided the early reports regarding Jesus crucifixion into two groups. According to the first, one of Jesus disciples volunteers to take the form of his master and is crucified. According to the other, the Jew mistakenly carried only an empty resemblance to the cross.
Tabari narrated the first strand as follows:
The second strand is narrated as follows:
=Ibn Kathir's version of events
=
Ibn Kathir (d. 1373 CE/760 AH) follows traditions which suggest that a crucifixion did occur, but not with Jesus. After the event, Ibn Kathir reports the people were divided into three groups following three different narratives; The Jacobites
Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to:
Religion
* Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include:
** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...
believing 'God remained with us as long as He willed and then He ascended to Heaven;' The Nestorians
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...
believing 'The son of God was with us as long as he willed until God raised him to heaven;' and the third group of Christians who believing; 'The servant and messenger of God, Jesus, remained with us as long as God willed until God raised him to Himself.'
The following narration
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
recorded in the Qur'anic exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...
of Ibn Kathir verse is related to the substitution of Jesus:
At another place in his Quranic exegesis, Ibn Kathir narrates the story as follows:
=Barnabas' version of events
=
The apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas
The Gospel of Barnabas is a non-canonical, pseudepigraphical gospel reportedly written by the early Christian disciple Barnabas, who (in this work) is one of the apostles of Jesus. It is about the same length as the four canonical gospels comb ...
(the known manuscripts dated to the late 16th or early 17th centuries), also promotes a non-death narrative. The work claims itself to be by the biblical Barnabas
Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
, who in this work is one of the twelve apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
; however, text of this Gospel is late and pseudepigraphical
Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...
. Nonetheless, some scholars suggest that it may contain some remnants of an earlier, apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
l work (perhaps Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
, Ebionite
Ebionites ( grc-gre, Ἐβιωναῖοι, ''Ebionaioi'', derived from Hebrew (or ) ''ebyonim'', ''ebionim'', meaning 'the poor' or 'poor ones') as a term refers to a Jewish Christian sect, which viewed poverty as a blessing, that existed durin ...
, or Diatessaronic), redacted to bring it more in line with Islamic doctrine. Some Muslims consider the surviving versions as transmitting a suppressed apostolic
Apostolic may refer to:
The Apostles
An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission:
*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles
*Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...
original.
According to the Gospel of Barnabas it was Judas
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...
, not Jesus, who was crucified on the cross. This work states that when Judas led the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus in an effort to betray him, angels appeared to take Jesus out a window and up to the heavens. As Judas entered the room, his appearance was transformed to that of Jesus, and the Romans arrested him and brought him to be crucified. The narrative states this transformation of appearance not only fooled the Romans, but the Pharisees, the High Priest, the followers of Christ, and his mother Mary.
The Gospel of Barnabas then mentions that after three days since burial, Judas' body was stolen from his grave with rumors spreading of Jesus being risen from the dead. In following with Islamic lore, when Jesus was informed in the third heaven about what happened he prayed to God to be sent back to the earth, and later descended and gathered his mother, disciples, and followers and told them the truth of what happened. He then ascended back to the heavens, with the narrative continuing Islamic legend mirroring Christian doctrine of returning at the end of times as a just king.
Docetism theory
A less common opinion among scholars hold that the crucifixion of Jesus was just an illusion. Accordingly, Jesus' body was really put on the cross, but his spirit did not die, but ascended to heaven. Thus the Jew erred because they did not recognized the "Messiah", the spiritual form of Jesus.Docetist
In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the grc-koi, δοκεῖν/δόκησις ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, an ...
s are Christians or Gnostics who believed that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion; that is, Jesus only seemed to have a physical body and to physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die.[Todd Lawson ''The Crucifixion and the Qur'an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought'' Oneworld Publications 2014 p. 13] A docetic interpretation regarding Jesus' death is provided by Ghazali Ghazali is an international surname and given name with different spellings (e.g. Gazali, Gazzali, Gazzaly, Gassaly, Garzali), it may refer to:
* Ahmad Ghazali (c. 1061–1123 or 1126), Persian mystic
* Lynda Ghazzali, Malaysian porcelain painter
...
, who states Mansur Al-Hallaj
Al-Hallaj ( ar, ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج, Abū 'l-Muġīth Al-Ḥusayn bin Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj) or Mansour Hallaj ( fa, منصور حلاج, Mansūr-e Hallāj) ( 26 March 922) ( Hijri 309 AH) was a Pe ...
quoted the Quranic verse about Jesus' death being merely an illusion, referring to both himself and Jesus as something, whose bodies could be killed but not their divine element. Other Docetic interpretations might also be found in Ismaili beliefs.
Swoon theory
Some modern Muslim scholars believe that Jesus was actually crucified on the cross but didn't die, instead pretending to be dead, or that he fell unconscious ("swooned") and was later revived in the tomb in the same mortal body. Accordingly, His appearances after three days in the tomb were merely perceived to be resurrection appearances. These types of theories are also known as swoon theory
The swoon hypothesis is any of a number of ideas that aim to explain the resurrection of Jesus, proposing that Jesus did not die on the cross, but merely fell unconscious ("swooned"), and was later revived in the tomb in the same mortal body. Thi ...
. These theories were first proposed by 17th or 18th century western scholars.
Muslim preacher Ahmed Deedat
Ahmed Husein Deedat ( gu, અહમદ હુસેન દીદત; ur, Arabic: احمد حسين ديدات), also known as Ahmed Deedat (1 July 1918 – 8 August 2005), was a self-taught Muslim thinker, author, and orator on Comparative ...
of South Africa wrote several books, one particularly entitled ''Crucifixion or Cruci-fiction'' along with many video lectures widely printed and distributed all over the Muslim World. He takes a critical look at the events from the canonial four Gospels and theorizes an alternative scenario of what really happened, a scenario very similar to the swoon theory.
Another Muslim Scholar Zakir Naik
Zakir Abdul Karim Naik (born 18 October 1965) is an Indian Islamic televangelist and public orator who focuses on comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and the Peace TV Network.
In 2 ...
also uses these theories in a debate with Pastor Ruknuddin Henry Pio.
Jesus lives after having died
In regard to the interpretation of the Muslims who accept the historicity of Jesus' crucifixion, Mahmoud M. Ayoub
Mahmoud M. Ayoub (June 1, 1935 – October 31, 2021) was a Lebanese Islamic scholar and professor of religious and inter-faith studies.
Early life
Mahmoud was born into a devout Muslim family on June 1, 1935 at Ain Qana (South Lebanon), a sm ...
states:
Ahmadiyya view
In contrast to the mainstream Islamic views, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
rejects the interpretation of Jesus being lifted alive to Heaven, and instead contend that Jesus survived the crucifixion, and go further to describe Jesus as a mortal man who was taken off the cross alive, and continued to preach in India until his natural death
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
in Kashmir. Ahmadis believe that Jesus, having survived the crucifixion, later migrated to India to escape persecution in Judea and to further spread his message to the Lost Tribes of Israel
The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, As ...
.
The viewpoint of Jesus's migration to India had also been independently researched in the literature of authors prior to the foundation of the movement, for example most notably by the Russian historian Nicolas Notovitch
Shulim or Nikolai Aleksandrovich Notovich (russian: Николай Александрович Нотович) (August 13, 1858 – after 1916), known in the West as Nicolas Notovitch, was a Crimean Jewish adventurer who claimed to be a Russian ar ...
in 1894. Ibn Babawayh
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Babawayh al-Qummi (Persian: ar, أَبُو جَعْفَر مُحَمَّد ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱبْن بَابَوَيْه ٱلْقُمِيّ; –991), commonly referred to as Ibn Babawayh (Persian: ar, ...
(d.991 CE) in ''Ikhmal ad Din'' recounts that Jesus went to a far country. This was adapted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as the basis of their theory regarding the voyage of Jesus in India.[.]
The claim of Jesus is buried at the Roza Bal
The Roza Bal, Rouza Bal, or Rozabal is a shrine located in the Khanyar quarter in downtown area of Srinagar in Kashmir, India. The word ''roza'' means tomb, the word ''bal'' mean place. Locals believe a sage is buried here, Yuz Asaf, alon ...
shrine in Srinagar was promoted also by writers such as Holger Kersten
Holger Kersten (born 1951) is a German writer on myth, legend, religion, and esoteric subjects. He is best known for speculative books about time Jesus spent in India. Kersten's views have received no support from mainstream scholarship.
''Jesu ...
(1981). Sunni Muslim authorities at the shrine however consider this as heretical and say that it is a Muslim saint buried there. The claims of the theory have been examined in various documentaries, and have generated tourist visits to the site. Some scholars, such as Norbert Klatt (1988),[Norbert Klatt, ''Lebte Jesus in Indien?'', Göttingen: Wallstein 1988.] and Indologist Günter Grönbold
Günter Grönbold (Munich, 18 September 1943) is a German Indologist and Tibetologist. He was head of the Oriental Section at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munich. He is an authority on the Pāli Canon and the Buddhist art of the Silk Road and ha ...
(1985), have critically dismissed the speculations of Jesus in India.
Adherents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community regard the prophecies in the Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
and ''hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
'' relating to the Second advent
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on mess ...
of Jesus were fulfilled in the likeness and personality of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphori ...
, who initiated the foundation of the Ahmadiyya movement. This view however is considered blasphemous
Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...
by Sunni Muslim authorities and subsequently has led to the religious persecution against Ahmadi Muslims, especially in Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
.
Allegorical interpretation
In reference to the Quranic quote "We have surely killed Jesus the Christ, son of Mary, the apostle of God", Ayoub asserts this boast not as the repeating of a historical lie or the perpetuating of a false report, but an example of human arrogance and folly with an attitude of contempt towards God and His messenger(s). Ayoub furthers what modern scholars of Islam interpret regarding the historical death of Jesus, the man, as man's inability to kill off God's Word and the Spirit of God, which the Quran testifies were embodied in Jesus Christ. Ayoub continues highlighting the denial of the killing of Jesus as God denying men such power to vanquish and destroy the divine Word. The words, "they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him" speaks to the profound events of ephemeral human history, exposing mankind's heart and conscience towards God's will. The claim of humanity to have this power against God is illusory. "They did not slay him...but it seemed so to them" speaks to the imaginations of mankind, not the denial of the actual event of Jesus dying physically on the cross.
See also
*Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...
*Resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...
* Swoon hypothesis
*Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene (, Standard Hebrew ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian Hebrew ''Šimʿôn''; , ''Simōn Kyrēnaios''; ) was the man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus of Nazareth as Jesus was taken to his crucifixion, according to all three ...
*Unknown years of Jesus
The unknown years of Jesus (also called his silent years, lost years, or missing years) generally refers to the period of Jesus's life between his childhood and the beginning of his ministry, a period not described in the New Testament.
The " ...
*Basilideans
The Basilidians or Basilideans were a Gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria in the 2nd century. Basilides claimed to have been taught his doctrines by Glaucus, a disciple of St. Peter, though others stated he was a disciple of the S ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic View Of Jesus' Death
Jesus in Islam
Crucifixion of Jesus
Christianity and Islam
Denial of the crucifixion of Jesus
Islam-related controversies