02/04/2024
WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED?
According to Islam, the Jews tried to kill Jesus by conspiring to defame him and crucify him, and complained about him to the king who was a disbeliever. They claimed he misguided people, discouraged them from obeying the king, caused division, and falsely accused him of being an illegitimate son. The king became furious and sent his men to capture, torture and crucify him. When they surrounded his home to capture him, Allah saved him from them, raising him up from the house to heaven. Allah put his image on a man who was sent to fetch him; when the unjust people went in the house while it was still dark, they thought that he was Jesus. They captured that man, humiliated and crucified him. Muslims believe Jesus was raised up to heaven by Allah and he will come back to earth before the Day of Judgement.
Indeed, in the Bible too, the Messiah said his enemies (the Jews) will look for him and not find him, and would never be able to reach him as Allah was with him and not let him face his enemies alone and that he had overcome the world. (John 7: 32-34, 8:21-29, 16:32-33). Neither John, Mark, Luke or Mathew who wrote the Gospels nor any of his Disciples, or his followers witnessed his crucifixion. Only a handful of Jews said they witnessed it and they were also in doubt as to who was crucified.
And as the plot to kill Jesus thickened, his Disciples stood firm with him according to the Quran. In the Bible, ‘they all forsook and fled’. (Mark 14:50)
Quran 3:52-54: “Then when Jesus came to know that they were adamant in their disbelief, he said: ‘Who will be my helpers in Allah's cause' The Disciples said: ‘We are the helpers of Allah; we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are Muslims. Our Lord! We believe in what You have sent down, and we follow the Messenger. Jesus, so write us down among those who bear witness.' And they (disbelievers) plotted and Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of those who plot.”
The Quran states explicitly that Jesus was raised up to Heaven in this verse:
Quran 3:55-58: “And (remember) when Allah said: ‘O Jesus, I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve, and I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve till the Day of Resurrection. Then you will return to Me and I will judge between you in the matters in which you used to dispute. As to those who disbelieve, I will punish them with severe torment in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers. And as for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, Allah will pay them their reward in full. And Allah does not like the wrongdoers. This is what We recite to you (O Muhammad) of the verses and the Wise Reminder.”
Quran 4:157-159: “And because of their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah,' but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared as that to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not. But Allah raised him up unto Himself. And Allah is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise. 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.”
According to the Bible, Jesus tried to explain to his Disciples that he did not resurrect but his pleas fell on deaf ears as seen in the verses from the Bible below:
"..Jesus himself stood in their midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you...But they were terrified, and supposing that they were seeing a spirit... And he said unto them,.. 'Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit has no flesh and bones, as you see me have'... And showed them his hands and feet... And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, 'Have ye here any meat?'.. And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of a honeycomb... And he took it, and did eat before them." (Luke 24:36-43)
The crucifixion of Jesus is mentioned only in the above verse in Quran and is not considered a major issue. The matter of the false claim to divinity of Jesus is however described in many verses in the Quran which emphasizes that Jesus was merely Messenger of God, and he will dispel all their claims as expounded in the verse below:
Quran 6:116-118: “And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): ‘O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: `Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah'. He will say: ‘Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the Knower of all that is hidden and unseen. Never did I say to them ought except what You (Allah) did command me to say: `Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them while I dwelled amongst them, but when You took me up, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things. If You punish them, they are Your servants, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the Almighty, the All-Wise.'’
But in the Bible too, Jesus reiterates the same position.
“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father (Almighty God) which hath sent me.”
The Holy Bible - Gospel of John 5:30
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