For Christians the Qur'an is not from God and therefore not authoritative, so strictly speaking what it claims would change nothing. However, Muslims claim it is from God and that it denies the death of Jesus. I would like to ask them whether that is necessarily the case.
Surah An-Nisa' 4:157-158
Ninety percent of the time, my Muslim friends will immediately quote, “They killed him not, they crucified him not, but it was likened unto them [or it appeared into them]. They killed him not knowingly, but God raised him and God is the most merciful of merciful.” (Qur’an, Surah 4:157-158) In their minds, this verse says that God would never have allowed a great prophet like Jesus to be crucified by His enemies.
But does this verse really say that Jesus did not die? Is that how most Muslim scholars themselves interpret it? What does, “They killed him not knowingly,” mean? The fact of the matter is that there are different contradicting interpretations of this verse amongst Muslim scholars.
There are various ways of interpreting Surah 4:157-158. One of them would be to remember the Jews’ attitude toward Christ. When Jesus was taken to the Roman governor, they did not believe He was the Messiah. They wanted to get rid of Him. By saying, “They killed him not knowingly,” the Qur’an simply states that they killed Jesus without knowing He was the Messiah.
Another possible way to interpret the passage (Surah 4:157-158) is that the unbelieving Jews intended by the crucifixion of Jesus to shame Him in the eyes of the world. The death He would suffer would then destroy and invalidate His mission in the eyes of the world. However, the Jews failed to accomplish their goal. In fact, by the crucifixion, Jesus was glorified when God raised Him up to be with Him. He became the key figure of human history. Throughout the years countless people have turned to Jesus Christ. Jews, Arabs, Asians, Europeans and people from all other nationalities and classes of society have experienced the life changing power of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Conclusion? It is not possible – despite what people usually think – to reach a definite conclusion based on this single and ambiguous verse. Muslim scholars are unsure about the end of the life of Jesus on earth. They disagree about whether He died or was raised alive to heaven without dying. Any conclusion from Surah 4:157-158 asserting that Jesus did not die involves speculation and theory. In fact, there are other verses in the Qur’an which say Jesus was killed.
Surah Maryam 19:33
In this verse, Jesus is reported to say: “Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)!” (Qur’an, Surah Maryam 19:33).
وَالسلامُ عَلَيَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا.
Muslim scholars, who believe that Jesus did not die, find themselves in a dilemma at verses like this one. Many of them attempt to respond by saying that this is a future event. Jesus will come back to this world some day to do many great and wonderful things, and then He will die.
However, we read almost an identical passage in Surah Maryam 19:15 about Yahya (John the Baptist): “So Peace on him [Yahya] the day he was born, the day that he dies, and the day that he will be raised up to life (again)!”
وَسلامٌ عَلَيْهِ (يَحْيَىٰ) يَوْمَ وُلِدَ وَيَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ يُبْعَثُ حَيًّا.
Muslims recognize the fact that Yahya died and was buried. Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments on this passage: “This is spoken as in the lifetime of Yahya. Peace of Allah’s blessings were on him when he was born; they continue when he is about to die an unjust death at the hands of the tyrant; and they will be especially manifest at the Day of Judgement.” (Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Footnote 2469)
I don’t know of any Muslim who would shift the death of Yahya (John the Baptist) to the future! All know that Yahya died. Therefore, following the plain meaning of the parallel verse, no one should shift the death of Jesus to the future. In fact there isn’t a single verse in the Qur’an showing that Jesus will return to die. Yahya who died; the parallel statement clearly shows that Jesus also died.
Surah Al-Imran 3:55 and Surah Al-Maida 5:116-117
Another Qur’anic passage that speaks of the death of Jesus is Surah Al-Imran 3:55: “Behold! Allah said: ‘O Jesus! I will take thee to Me [Arabic: mutawaffeeka, meaning ‘I will cause you to die’] and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection.’”
إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَىٰ إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْق الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ.
Still another is: “I (Son of Mary) was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up [Arabic: tawaffaitani, meaning, ‘caused me to die’] Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-Maida 5: 117).
فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنتَ أَنتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنتَ عَلَىٰ كُلّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيد
The Arabic expression tawaffaitani (translated: take me up) is explained by Dr. Mahmud Shaltut, one of the previous presidents of Al-Azhar University: “(It) is entitled in this verse to bear the meaning of ordinary death … there is no way to interpret ‘death’ as occurring after his [Jesus] return from heaven…because the verse very clearly limits the connection of Jesus … to his own people of his own day and the connection is not with the people living at the time when he returns.” (Muslim World, xxxiv, pp. 214 ff; as quoted by Parrinder. Geoffery, Jesus in the Qur'an, pp.115-116; Sheldon Press, London, 1965.)
These Qur’anic texts show that Christ died, even though they do not discuss how His death took place. Were the Biblical and other historic records of Jesus’ crucifixion untrue, we would expect the Qur’an to have many verses stating that Jesus did not die on the cross. The truth is that, in more than 6,000 Qur’anic verses, there is not a single one that clearly refutes Jesus’ crucifixion.
What do many Islamic scholars say?
Let us see how some Islamic scholars explain the above verses.
Al-Razy
Concerning the expression, “It appeared so to them,” (Surah 4:157-159) the great jurisprudent Imam Al-Razy wrote in his book Al-Razy exegesis [Tafsir], part 3, page 350:
“If it is permissible to say that Almighty God put the resemblance of a man on another, this will open the door for confusion, so if we see (Zaied), he may not be (Zaied), but the resemblance of (Zaied) was put on someone else!!! If a man married to (Fatima), he might not marry Fatima, but the resemblance of (Khadija) was put on Fatima, so he would marry Khadija instead of Fatima, thinking that she is Fatima.”
Imam Al-Razy concluded by saying:
“If it is possible to put the resemblance of someone upon someone else, so neither marriage, nor divorce, nor ownership is authenticated anymore.”
So Imam Al-Razy denies that the expression, “It appeared so to
them,” means that someone else was made to resemble Christ.
بخصوص
تعبير "شبه لهم" يقول الإمام الرازي في
كتابه (تفسير الرازى جزء3 ص 350):
"إن
جاز أن يقال إن الله تعالى يلقى شبه إنسان على آخر فهذا يفتح باب السفسطة. فلربما
إذا رأينا (زيداً) فلعله ليس (بزيد) ولكن ألقى شبه "زيد" علي شخص آخر!!
وإذا تزوج رجل (فاطمة)، فلعله لم يتزوج (فاطمة) ولكن ألقي على (خديجة) شبه (فاطمة)
فيتزوج خديجة وهو يظن أنها فاطمة".
وخلص الإمام الرازي إلى حقيقة خطيرة فقال:
"لو جاز إلقاء شبه أحد على شخص آخر فعندئذ لا يبقى الزواج ولا الطلاق ولا التملك موثوقاً به".
فالإمام الرازي يستبعد أن يكون المقصود من هذا التعبير "شبه لهم" هو إلقاء شبه المسيح على إنسان آخر!!
Moreover, commenting on Surah Al-Imran 3:55, Imam Al-Razy said, “Narrated ibn Abbas and Mohammed ibn Ishak: the meaning of ‘tawaffaitani - take you to me’ is to let you die.” (Al-Razy exegesis [Tafsir] part 2 page 457)
Al-Razy also said, “Narrated Wahb: the Christ died for three hours.” (Al-Razy exegesis [Tafsir] part 2 page 457)
And he continued, “Narrated ibn Ishak: he [Jesus] died for seven hours.” (Al-Razy exegesis [Tafsir] part 2 page 457)
Al-Syouty
Al-Syouty is another Muslim scholar who explained that, when Surah 3:55 refers to Jesus’s death. it means a real one. He said in his book Al-Itqan (The Perfection) part 1, page 116: “Take you to me [mutawaffeeka] means put you to death”
Ibn Kathir
Another famous Islamic annotator is Ibn Kathir. He wrote in his exegesis of the Qur’an (tafsir al Qur’an) that there are two different views of Surah Al-Imran 3:55 amongst Muslim scholars. One of the two interpretations is that Jesus died a physical death.
Ibn Kathir said, “Narrated Ali ibn Abi Talha, narrated Ibn Abbas: the meaning of take you to me [mutawaffeeka] is to let you die.”
He also said, “Narrated Mohammad ibn Ishak, Narrated Wahb: Allah let him die for three hours and then raised him.”
Again he said, “Narrated ibn Ishak: Christians claim that Allah let him die for seven hours then he brought him to life again.”
And again, “Narrated Ishak ibn Bashr, narrated Idriss, narrated Wahb: Allah let him die for three days and then he raised him up.”
(Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Al Qur’an (Arabic text), Volume I, Part II, page 27-28 (my own English translation))
تفسير ابن كثير للآية ” : "إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ وَمُطَهِّرُك“َ (آل عمران 55) :
اختلف المفسرون في قوله: ( إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَيَّ ) فقال قتادة وغيره: هذا من المقدم والمؤخر، تقديره: إني رافعك إلي ومتوفيك، يعني بعد ذلك.
وقال علي بن أبي طلحة عن ابن عباس: ( إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ ) أي: مميتك.
وقال محمد بن إسحاق، عمن لا يتهم، عن وَهْب بن مُنَبِّه، قال: توفاه الله ثلاث ساعات من النهار حين رفعه الله إليه.
قال ابن إسحاق: والنصارى يزعمون أن الله توفاه سبع ساعات ثم أحياه.
وقال إسحاق بن بشر عن إدريس، عن وهب: أماته الله ثلاثة أيام، ثم بعثه، ثم رفعه.
Although Arabic is my mother language and though I have read the Qur’an many times, I am not an expert in the interpretation of the Qur'an. However, I have tried to show that not all Muslim scholars deny the death of Jesus (as you may think)! The Qur'an contains very little material about what actually happened. There are quite a few question marks over the real meaning of the above verses. So, there is extensive contradiction and confusion in what Muslim scholars have to say about the death of Christ. Some have denied the death completely, and explained it as sleeping or death from having lusts; others have accepted the death but differed in their understanding of its duration: three hours, seven hours or three days! Therefore, if you are to know the truth, you need to be open-minded and look somewhere else – at extra-Qur’anic evidence. That is precisely the reason for this website!