Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 457
Laying to Rest Some Doubts 457 necessary that the statement that God Almighty cited from the Jews should itself be refuted first. This is why God Almighty gave prece- dence to the words ‘they killed’ over ‘they crucified’, because, that is the claim of the Jews that has been stated here: 1. اَّنِا اَنْلَتَق َحْيِسَمْلا ىَسْيِع َنْبا َمَيْرَم Then, after this, it also needs to be made known that regarding the kill- ing of Hadrat ‘ I s a , as to the manner in which he was killed, there have been two schools of thought among the Jews since antiquity. One of them says that he was first killed with the sword and then his corpse was put on the cross or a tree to serve as a warning to the people. The second school of thought says that he was first placed on the cross, and then after he was put on the cross he was killed. Both of these groups were present at the time of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and are present even to this day. Thus, since there was a difference of opinion among the Jews with regard to the manner of killing, and while one sect believed that he was killed first and then put on the cross, and the other hoisting upon the cross first, and the killing afterwards; therefore, God resolved to refute both of them. But since the sect on account of which these verses were revealed was the one that believed in the killing of ‘ I s a before he was placed on the cross, the conjecture about killing was refuted first, and the thinking regarding the crucifixion was refuted afterwards. Sadly, these doubts are born in the hearts only because—gener- ally speaking—most Muslims are neither fully aware of the beliefs of the Jewish sects, nor are they well versed in the Christian beliefs. It is, therefore, befitting at this point that I quote from an ancient Jewish book on the beliefs of one of its sects regarding the killing of ‘ I s a. This book was written about 1,900 years ago, and I have a copy here with me. The name of this Hebrewbook is Toledot Yeshu and it was written 1. We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary ( S u rah an-Nis a ’, 4:158). [Publisher]