Question and Answer Details Name of Questioner Peris - Peru Title: Jesus Between Islam and Christianity Date 25/Dec/2007 Question I am a Christian and have always wondered about the story of Jesus. My Mum says he died on the cross and then came back to live, which is very confusing. Islam says he never died but was raised up to heaven.
My question is: Did he die or not? Topic Islamic Creed, Interfaith Issues Name of Counselor
Shahul Hameed
Answer
Salam, Peris.
Thank you very much for your question.
The Christian belief about Jesus is that he is the only-begotten Son of God or God Himself, who died on the cross to save humans from Original Sin.
Muslims hold that there is no such thing as Original Sin. So, God had no reason to become a human and die on the cross. Even if there were something called Original Sin, Muslims do not see how God could be so helpless as to atone for that sin by dying on the cross.
The Christians would answer:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Did God really love the world so much… so much that He decided to sacrifice even His son, His only begotten son, to save the world from Original Sin? Christians would say, Yes.
On the other hand, Muslims would insist in the first place, that God is One and One Only, and, therefore, He did not have a son. Second, as God is Just, He would not punish the innocent to save the sinners. Third, the so-called Original Sin cannot be such a problem for the Almighty God that He is compelled to sacrifice "His own Son." He could very well cancel that sin or He could simply demand an atonement from the sinful or at least ask for sincere repentance from them.
Indeed, there was no need for God to subject His Son to the terrible torture he is said to have undergone, as portrayed in Mel Gibson’s
The Passion of the Christ, for instance.
In fact, there were early Christians who did not believe in the crucifixion of Jesus. For instance, the Basilidians believed that someone else was crucified in his place. The names of Simon of Cyrene and even Judas Iscariot are heard in this context.
As for the Quran, it speaks of how Allah cleared Jesus of the disbelief of his people. It says what means:
*{[And remember] when Allah said: O Jesus! I will take you and raise you to Myself, and cleanse you of those who disbelieve; and I will make those who follow [you] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to me you will [all] return, and I will judge between you as to that wherein you used to differ. And as for those who disbelieve I will punish them with severe torment in this world and the Hereafter; and they will have no helpers.}* (Aal `Imran 3:55-56)
Thus, Allah raised Jesus up to Heaven, and so he was saved from an accursed death on the cross, in contrast to what his enemies and even his self-styled "followers" alleged.
It was the plan of the enemies of Jesus to crucify him, but Allah foiled their plan. So, to believe in his death by crucifixion means to believe that those unbelievers were successful against God's plan. But assuredly they could not crucify Jesus the Messenger of Allah. The Quran says what means:
*{And their saying [is] 'we slew the Messiah, Jesus Son of Mary, Allah's messenger' – They slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them. And those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture. For of a surety they slew him not; but Allah took him up to Himself. Allah is Almighty [and] All-Wise.
And there is none of the people of the Book [the Jews and Christians] but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.}* (An-Nisaa' 4:157-159)
We Muslims believe in all the prophets of God and honor and respect them alike; we do not make any distinction between one and another of them. Muslims believe Jesus Christ to be one of the great prophets of God and hold that all prophets are brothers and that their religion is the same, namely, Islam (or unconditional submission to Allah). Allah says in the Quran what means:
*{He [Allah] has ordained for you the same religion as that which He ordained to Noah, and that which We inspired in you [Muhammad], and that which We ordained to Abraham and Moses and Jesus, saying: Establish the religion, and make no divisions therein. To those who worship other things than Allah, dreadful is that to which you call them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He will, and guides to Himself him who turns [in repentance to Him].}* (Az-Zukhruf 42:13)
I hope this answers your question. If you have any more inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Salam.
http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/...AskAboutIslamE
Name of Questioner Chevalnoir - Egypt Title: The Alleged Torture and Crucifixion of Jesus Date 20/Sep/2004 Question
- Why will Jesus come down to earth again?
- Was he really crucified and was he really tortured before the crucifixion?
Topic Interfaith Issues Name of Counselor
Shahul Hameed
Answer
Salam, Chevalnoir.
Thank you very much for your question.
Muslims believe that before the Last Day, Jesus will return to earth. The meaning of the relevant verse in the Qur’an is as follows:
*{And their saying, “We killed the Messiah, `Isa son of Maryam, Messenger of Allah.” … They did not kill him and they did not crucify him but it was made to seem so to them. Those who argue about him are in doubt about it. They have no real knowledge of it, just conjecture. But they certainly did not kill him. Allah raised him up to Himself. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.}* (An-Nisaa’ 4:157-158)
Note that the Arabic word used for “raised up” is
rafa`a. In one view, this need not mean a physical lifting up, so the word in this context may refer to the raising of Jesus to a lofty station, as one of the closest to God. That is to say, this does not necessarily mean that Jesus did not die, but only that he was spiritually elevated to a high status in divine presence.
But a careful reading of the above verse should make the following clear:
The Romans and the Jews
did not kill Jesus; they
did not crucify him; but
it appeared so.
The question is: what happened to Jesus, then?
And the answer is “Allah raised him up to Himself.” That is to say, Jesus was physically lifted up and thus was saved from the curse of a death on the cross.
Muslims reject the Christian claim that an innocent Son of God—or God Himself— had to die on the cross to save sinners from punishment. The Qur’an says that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. So he must be alive. Hence it is natural for the Muslims to believe that Jesus will return; and it is noteworthy that the Qur’an and the Hadith support that belief. Here is one hadith:
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah's Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my self, definitely the son of Maryam will soon descend among you as a just judge, and he will break the cross, kill the pig, and abolish the
jizyah and wealth will be so abundant that no one will accept it, until a single prostration will be better than the world and everything in it” (Al-Bukhari).
The above hadith essentially suggests that Jesus will return as a just judge between truth and falsehood. Breaking the cross, killing the pig, and so on simply mean that he will correct the false doctrines and beliefs spread about him and his teachings among his followers. Consequently many of them will follow him. And thus the followers of Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Jesus (peace and blessings be upon both of them) will be united into one Ummah (nation). This is the purpose of Jesus’ return to earth.
In brief, the Qur’an makes it clear that God saved Jesus from torture and death on the cross, and he will come back to earth as a just ruler. This is quite in keeping with the Biblical reference to Jesus’ prayer to God to save him, as well as to his second coming.
According to the Bible, death by crucifixion is an accursed one; so one cannot imagine a respectable prophet of God being subjected to a death described by the Bible as accursed. All this simply points to the fact that Jesus, who was a prophet of God, was saved by God from the pain of torture and the shame of a death on the cross.
And Allah knows best.
I hope this is informative. Thank you and please keep in touch.
Salam.
Useful Links:
Any Proofs for Jesus’ Divinity?
Did Jesus Die to Bring Eternal Life to Man?