Abdul Aziz.

 Muslims in general think that Jesus, Son of Mary, (Nabi Isa) peace be on him, was not put on the cross, instead some one was put in his place and raised him bodily into sky.

This is absolutely incorrect in accordance with the verse of the Holy Quran repeatedly quoted on this issue. This is the only Quranic verse that states the incident of crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

God says in the Holy Quran, And for their saying, ‘We did slay the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’ whereas they slew him not, nor did they bring about his death on the cross, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified; and those who differ therein are certainly in a state of doubt about it; they have no certain knowledge thereof, but only pursue a conjecture; and they did not arrive at a certainty concerning it’ (4: 158).

In this verse, the word ‘Ma Salabu-hu’ means, they did not cause his death on the cross. Salab being a well-known manner of killing. They say Salaba al-Lissa i.e. he put the thief to death by putting him on the cross. The verse does not deny the fact of Jesus’ being nailed to the cross, but denies his having death on it. According to the Arabic lexicon, the words Shubbiha Lahum means Jesus was made to appear like one crucified, or the matter of the death of Jesus became obscure or dubious to them (Lane).

In this verse it is said that Jesus was made to appear like, or was made to resemble.  Now the question arises, who is the person who was made to appear like one crucified.”  Clearly it was Jesus whom the Jews tried to crucify or slay.  Nobody else can be meant here, for there is absolutely no reference to any other person in the context.  Hence, the theory invented by certain Commentators that Judas or somebody else was made to appear like Jesus and was then crucified in his place is simply absurd.  The context cannot be so twisted as to make room for somebody else or whom no mention at all is made in the verse.

To what then was Jesus made like?  The context provides a clear answer to that question.  The Jews did not kill him by crucifixion, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified”, and thus it was that they wrongly took him for dead.  It was thus Jesus who was made to resemble one crucified”.  The interpretation is not only in perfect harmony with the context but is also clearly borne out by all relevant facts of history.

Two different views prevail among the Jews regarding Jesus’ alleged death by Crucifixion.  Some of them hold that he was first killed and then his dead body was hung on the cross, while others are of the view that he was put to death by being fixed to the cross.  The former view is reflected in The Acts 5:30 where we read which ye slew and hanged on a tree.”  The Qur’an refutes both these views by saying, they slew him not, nor did they bring about his death on the cross.  The Qur’an first rejects the slaying of Jesus in any form, and then proceeds to deny the particular way of killing by hanging on the cross.  It does not deny that Jesus was hung on the cross; it only denies his death on it.

In these verses God Almighty further clarifies that though it is true that Jesus was apparently placed on the Cross, and that the intention was to kill him, yet it was wrong for the Jews and Christians to suppose that Jesus actually died on the cross. What happened was that God caused things to happen which saved Jesus from death on the cross. Justice demands that we acknowledge the truth of what the Holy Quran has said, as opposed to Jewish and Christian beliefs. Highly qualified modern researches have proved that Jesus had actually been saved from death on the cross. A study of the records show that the Jews have never been able to answer the question as to how Jesus died within two or three hours of being put on the cross even when his bones had not been broken? This had led the Jews to invent another plea: that they killed Jesus by the sword, but the ancient history of the Jews does not show that Jesus was killed by sword. In order to save Jesus, divine power and majesty intervened and causes darkness to prevail, which followed by an earthquake. Pilate’s wife saw a dream. The Sabbath night during which it was illegal to let a crucified body remain on the cross was drawing close. The magistrate, because of the terrible dream, became disposed towards the release of Jesus. All this was simultaneously brought about by God to save Jesus, and Jesus himself was made to go into a swoon so that he might be taken for dead. Through terrible signs like the earthquake, the Jews panicked and became fearful of heavenly punishment. They were also afraid lest the corpses should remain on their crosses during night of Sabbath. They thought that Jesus was dead when, in fact, he was in a coma. It was dark and there was an earthquake and great turmoil. They also became anxious about their homes and what their children must be passing through in the darkness and the earthquake. There was terror in their hearts that if this man was a liar and an apostate, as they thought he was, why were mighty signs manifested at the moment of the suffering, signs which had not been manifested before? They were so upset that they were no longer in a position to find out for themselves whether Jesus had really died, or what exactly his condition was? What had come about, however, was a Divine design to save Jesus, to which the verse               that is, ‘the Jews did not kill Jesus; but it was God made them believe that they had killed him; refers. It is these circumstances which encourage the righteous to place great trust in God, and to believe that God can save His servants as He pleases.    

Bible also support the views of Holy Quran as below:-

1. Being a Divine Prophet Jesus could not have died on the cross because according to the Bible he that is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut. 21:23).

2. He had prayed to God in great agony to take away this cup (of death on the cross) from me” (Mark, 14:36; Matt. 26:39;  Luke, 22:42); and his prayer was heard (Heb. 5:7).

3. He had predicted that like Jonah who had gone into the belly of the whale alive and had come out of it alive (Matt. 12:40) he would remain in an excavated sepulcher for three days and would come out of it alive.

4. He had also prophesied that he would go to seek out the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel (John 10:16).  Even Jews in Jesus’ time believed that the Lost Tribes of Israel had become dispersed in different lands(John, 7:34.35).

Holy Quran also says: Jesus was a Messenger to the Children of Israel (3:50). This verse makes it clear that Jesus’ Mission was confined to the House of Israel. He was not a World-Messenger.

He had to fulfill his mission commissioned by God. If he died on the Cross and had ascended to heaven could not have fulfilled his duty to the Children of Israel.

5. Jesus had remained hung on the cross only for about three hours (John, 19:14) and being a person of normal constitution he could not have died in such a short time.

6. Immediately after he had been taken down from the cross his side was pierced and blood and water flowed out of it which was a certain sign of life (John, 19:34).

7. The Jews themselves were not sure of Jesus’ death because they had asked Pilate to have a guard posted at his sepulchre lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people, ‘He is risen from the dead’  (Matt. 27:64).

8. There is not to be found in all the Gospels a single recorded statement of an eye-witness to the effect that Jesus was dead when he was taken down from the cross or when he was placed in the tomb.  Moreover, none of the disciples was present at the scene of Crucifixion, all having fled when Jesus was taken to Calvary.  The fact of the case seems to be that, presumably due to the dream of his wife to have nothing to do with that just man.”  Pilate had believed Jesus to be innocent and had, therefore, conspired with Joseph of Arimaethia, a respected member of the Essene Order to which Jesus himself belonged before he was commissioned as a Prophet, to save his life. The trial of Jesus took place on Friday; Pilate having purposely prolonged it, knowing that the next day being the Sabbath Day the condemned persons could not be left on the cross after sunset.  When at last he found himself compelled to condemn Jesus, Pilate gave his judgment only three hours before sunset, thus making himself sure that no person of normal health could die in such a short time by remaining on the cross.  He took additional care to see that Jesus was given wine or vinegar mingled with myrrh to render him less sensitive to pain.  When after three hours’ suspension he was taken down from the cross in an unconscious state (probably under the influence of vinegar which was administered to him).  Pilate readily granted Joseph of Arimaethia’s request and handed over his body to him.  Unlike those of the two malefactors who were hung along with Jesus, his bones were not broken and Joseph had him placed in a spacious room hewn in the side of a rock.  There was no medical autopsy, no strethoscopic test, no inquest with the aid of the evidence of those who were last with him (Mystical life of Jesus” by H. Spencer Lewis).

9. An ointment, the famous Marham ‘Isa, (Ointment of Jesus) was prepared and applied to Jesus’s wounds and he was tended and looked after by Joseph of Arimaethia and Naicodemus, also a very learned and highly respected member of the Essene Brotherhood.

10. After his wounds had been sufficiently healed, Jesus left the tomb and met some of his disciples and had his food with them and walked the whole distance from Jerusalem to Galilee on foot (Luke, 24:50).

11. The Crucifixion by an Eye Witness,” a book, which was at first published in 1873 in U.S.A. and which is an English translation of an ancient Latin copy of a letter written seven years after the Crucifixion by an Essene Brother in Jerusalem to a member of this Brotherhood in Alexandria, lends powerful support to the view that Jesus had been taken down from the cross alive.  The book narrates in detail all the events leading to the Crucifixion, the scenes at the Calvary and also the incidents that took place afterwards.

Holy Quran went on to say:

On the contrary, Allah exalted him to Himself. And Allah is Mighty, Wise.” (4: 159).

The Jews exultingly claimed to have killed Jesus on the cross and thus to have proved that his claim to be a Divine Prophet was not true.  The verse earlier quoted along with the above one contains a strong refutation of the charge and clears him of the insinuated blemish and speaks of his spiritual elevation and of his having been honoured in the presence of God.  There is absolutely no reference in the verse to his physical ascension to heavens/skies. It only says that God exalted him towards Himself which clearly signifies a spiritual exaltation, because no fixed abode can be assigned to God.

Holy Quran says:  And we made the son of Mary and his mother a sign, and We have them, refuge on an elevated land having meadows and springs of running water.” (23:50) According to Arabic Lexicons, the description of a place mentioned in this verse fully fits on the valley of Kashmir where a part of the ten tribes of Israel had settled.

So, he set out for the regions of the east in which the lost tribes were settled all the way from Syria through Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and north western India to Kashmir.  The very name of Kashmir is reminiscent of Syria and some of the place names are identical with Syrian place names.  The people of Kashmir to this day bear a striking resemblance to the Children of Israel (Bani Israel).  Jesus was welcomed and accepted by the Jewish tribes of the diaspora among whom he became known as Yuz Asaf, the prince prophet

He spent his last years in Kashmir.  He lived to the ripe old age of over 120 years and when he died he was buried in the Khanyar street in Srinagar, Kashmir.  His tomb is still preserved and is a place of pilgrimage.

Holy Quran further confirms the death of Jesus before the advent of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It says:

And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Verily all Messengers before him had passed away” (3:145).

There are so many verses in the Holy Qran which confirms the death of Jesus, peace be on him in various position i.e. Jesus as a man, as an assumed divine, as a Messenger of God.