Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 208
? 208 Latter Days, became so prevalent in the Muslim world, that to speak against it was considered heresy. The verse in which Jesus’ death on the cross is denied runs thus: And their (i. e. , Jews) saying, Surely we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, Son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, while in fact they did not kill him, but it was made dubi- ous to them, (i. e. ,) he appeared to them as one dead. . . and they surely did not kill him. Nay! Allah exalted him and bestowed upon him the gift of nearness to Him, and Allah is Mighty, Wise. 1 In view of this clear statement that the Jews did not kill Jesus, no Muslim could possibly say that Jesus died on the cross. The Muslims, therefore, on the one hand accepted the report of their co-believers converted from Christianity, that the person who was fixed to the cross actually died and on the other, denied that this person was Jesus Christ. They said that when Jesus was detained in a room by the Jews, God sent His angel who lifted him up to Heaven through a skylight, and the guard was made as the like of Jesus, and the crucifiers took this substitute and crucified him. Some of the Muslim commentators have gone so far as to say that Jesus died a natural death for three days and then ascended to Heaven. The idea that another man was made to resemble Christ is not found in the Holy Quran nor is it supported by a single say- ing of the Holy Prophet. All the legends concerning it are unau- thorised and unreliable. 1. Jarir, At-Tabari, p. 1058–59. Brill 1890.