Somebody may argue that if Jesus was neither crucified nor killed as
claimed by Muslims, what happened to him? Somebody else may also allege
that there are pieces of evidence from the Qur’an indicating that Jesus was killed. What is the truth behind Jesus’ fate?
There is no denying that there are Qur’anic verses which may be
misunderstood as indicating the killing of Jesus Christ. We read the
following verses in the Qur’an:
[Mention] when Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take (mutawafika)
you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve
and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to
those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your
return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used
to differ. (Aal `Imran 3:55)
And [beware
the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the
people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?'” He will say,
“Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no
right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is
within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is
You who is Knower of the unseen.
I said not to them except what You commanded me – to worship Allah, my
Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among
them; but when You took me back (tawafaytani), You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness. (Al-Ma’idah 5:116-117)
Many people may misunderstand the Arabic words “mutawafika” and “tawafaytani” used in the above verses. They may misinterpret them as standing for death.
Let’s see what Muslim exegetes said about the above verses,
especially the two misinterpreted words, to know what really happened to
Jesus according to Islam.
The Muslim exegetes disagree over what is meant by the Arabic root “tawafy”
of the above two words. The majority of Muslim exegetes are of the
opinion that it stands for “taking or receiving back” rather than death.
According to them, such “tawafy” was something like sleep. A few Muslim
commentators opine that it refers to “death” but not “killing”.
However, both groups of scholars believe that Jesus was neither killed
nor crucified.
Jesus was neither killed nor crucified but another person was made to resemble him.
In particular, Al-Hassan, Al-Kalby and Ibn Jurayj believe that Jesus was taken up while awake. According to them, “tawafy” means just “receiving back”. Al-Rabi bin Anas think that Jesus was taken up while asleep. According to him, “tawafy” means “causing to sleep”. The proponents of both opinions offer as evidence the following verse:
And it is He who takes your souls (yatawaffakum) by night and knows what you have committed by day.” (Al-An`am 6:60)
In this verse, the Arabic root “tawafy” means “causing to sleep”.
According to those two groups, “tawafy” in Arabic means “taking upon
satisfaction”. It does not necessarily stand for death, though it is
still one of its meanings. Every act of taking upon satisfaction can be
called tawafy. Accordingly, they argue that Jesus was subject to
“tawafy”, i.e. was taken up upon the satisfaction of the initial time he
was to live before interruption (Ascension) and return (Second Coming).
However, it is reported that Ibn Abbas opines that Jesus’ “tawafy”
means his death. Wahb stated that Allah caused Jesus to die for three
hours and then He took him up. In support of their opinion, this group
of scholars offers as evidence the following verse:
Say, ‘the angel of death who has been entrusted with you will take you (tatawaffakum). Then to your Lord you will be returned.’ (As-Sajdah 32:11)
They argue that Jesus’ tawafy refers to his death given the
meaning of Tawafy in this verse. Still, this group believes that it is
Allah Who caused Jesus to die and he was neither crucified nor killed.
After all, the majority of Muslim scholars believe that Jesus was
taken up, either awake or asleep, and he was neither crucified nor
killed nor even caused to die. According to them, though “tawafy” may mean “causing to die”, Jesus was not caused to die for “tawafy” may or may not stand for death. The probability of death is explicitly negated by the following verse:
And there is
none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe
in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be
against them a witness. (An-Nisaa’ 4:159)
The above verse confirms that the People of the Book will believe in
Jesus upon his coming back and before his death. Jesus has yet to come
back. His comeback is a sign of the end of the world and this will take
place before the advent of the Day of Judgment.
According to Ibn Al-Qayyim, Ibn Taymiyah confirmed that both Jesus’
body and soul were taken up rather than caused to die and that he will
come back with both of them.
Finally, the mainstream Islam believes that Jesus was neither
crucified nor killed. He was rather taken up to Heaven alive, either
awake or asleep, after spending the first part of his lifetime on earth.
He is now alive in Heaven with Allah in some way or the other. He will
come back, with both of his body and soul, to spend the second part of
his lifetime in which he will complement his mission of preaching
monotheism.
No wonder, Jesus was born without a father in the first place. He has
a miraculous life with two earthly lifetimes and one interval of an
unusually heavenly life in between. If one already believes in Jesus,
let him believe in his survival, ascension and second coming as he
believed in him as a fatherless human being. If he is willing to believe
in him as a fatherless human being only, this sounds much stranger and
wonderful than anything else ever believed in.
Somebody may argue that if Jesus was neither crucified nor killed as
claimed by Muslims, what happened to him? Somebody else may also allege
that there are pieces of evidence from the Qur’an indicating that Jesus was killed. What is the truth behind Jesus’ fate?
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