The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 259
The Messiah and his Second Coming 259 themselves whether Jesus had really died or what exactly his condition was. All this was part of God's design to save Jesus, and to which this verse refers: وَ لكِنْ شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ 194 This means that the Jews did not kill Jesus, but it was God Who made them believe that they had killed him. It is these circumstances which encourage the righteous to place great trust in God and to believe that He can save His servants as He pleases. [Masīḥ Hindustan Meiń, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 15, pp. 51-52] Some people may be troubled by the notion that the Gos- pels repeatedly mention that Jesus (peace be on him) died on the cross and that after resurrection he ascended to heaven. I have already answered such objections briefly, but I find it appropriate to repeat that Jesus (peace be on him) met his disciples after the crucifixion, journeyed to Galilee, ate bread and broiled meat, showed them his wounds, spent the night with his disciples at Emmaus, escaped secretly from Pilate's territory, and, like Proph- ets before him, migrated from the country and travelled under the shadow of fear. All these facts indicate that he did not die on the cross, that he retained the functions of his mortal body and underwent no visible change. The Gospels do not contain any eyewitness account of ascension to heaven. Even if there had been such evi- dence, it would have lacked credibility, for the evangel- ists seemed to be in the habit of making mountains out of a molehill. To illustrate, one of them may have said that Jesus was the son of God, whereupon another became anxious to make him God and a third invested him with 194 Al-Nisa', 4:158 [Publisher]