Is Islam Confused Regarding the Crucifixion?
Sami Zaatari
The Quran makes it very clear that Isa (AS) was neither killed nor crucified:
And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of 'Iesa (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not [i.e. 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary)] 4:157
So the Quran makes it very clear that Isa (AS) was neither killed, nor crucified, and there is nothing confusing or strange about the above verse.
Now there are certain missionaries who like to contend that Islam is confused and unsure as to what happened regarding this event, one such missionary is Derik Adams of the Answering-Islam team, who has written an article trying to show that Islam is confused regarding this matter, his article can be read here:
http://answeringislam.net/authors/adams/crucifixion_confusion.html
The missionary writes:
A Summary of the Problems:
- Muslims who accept the substitution theory cannot agree on "who" was substituted. Some Muslim exegetes who accept the substitution theory are silent on who substituted Jesus (reminds me of "no certain knowledge")
RESPONSE
As usual the missionaries have to grasp at straws to try and make an argument. For starters it doesn't matter as to who was substituted in the place of Jesus, all that does matter is that it was not Jesus! Did this crucial and important point evade the missionary?
The question of who was put on the cross instead of Jesus is quite irrelevant, it doesn't matter who it was, the main essence and importance is knowing that Isa (AS) was not on the cross, nor was he killed.
So with that said I have a counter question to Derik which will silence his weak argument, and the question is:
-You say that Muslims who believe in the substitution theory cannot agree on who the substitute was, and some don't even delve into who it was, yet my question is this, do all of these scholars agree that it was NOT Jesus who was placed and killed on the Cross? Yes, or No?
Derik continues:
2- The substitution stories are not all unanimous; there details have variations there appears to be no consensus of the exact facts of these stories among the exegetes.
RESPONSE
This goes back to the main point, who cares? It is not a matter of faith for the Muslim to know WHO was put in the place of Jesus, it doesn't matter at all, what DOES matter is that we know that Jesus was NOT on the cross, it seems that Derik is quite conscious of this point but for some strange reason wants to ignore it.
Furthermore the Quran nor the Hadiths say anything about who was put in the place of Jesus, hence any scholars who delve into this topic and disagree with one another as to who was substituted onto the cross are going by their own ideas in this specific area and this has nothing to do with the Quran, because the Quran is silent on this issue. Now if the Quran mentioned a substitute, and said who was put in the place of Jesus, and then these scholars couldn't agree on that person, then Derik would have a case, yet the Quran doesn't mention anything about this. So Derik should make his beef with the scholarship regarding the substitution, not with the Quran.
In fact notice the irony, Derik himself says the following: ?The substitution stories', Notice he has a problem with the SUBSTITUTION STORIES put forward by scholars, yet the substitution stories do not have a basis from the Quran or Hadiths.
Derik continues:
4- Some Muslims believe Jesus was crucified but he survived the crucifixion and was raised into heaven by Allah i.e. the Swoon Theory.
RESPONSE
These ?some' Muslims are indeed some Muslims as Derik mentions; they are a very small minority who believe in the swoon theory that is neither backed by the Quran or by the majority of scholars. This doesn't make Islam confused if a minority breaks away and make opinions of their own which go against the majority of Muslims and the very clear text of the Quran.
Derik continues:
5- Some Muslims believe Jesus was not crucified at all but died a natural death, someone else however died in his place.
RESPONSE
This is the same response as above. Furthermore Derik seems to be slightly confused, Derik should be making his argument AGAINST what the Quran actually says, which is that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, yet in the above he does no such thing! Why is it the problem of the Quran if some people come up with a theory that Jesus died a natural death later on if the Quran never makes such a point? The Quran is clear, Jesus was not on the cross, nor did he die.
The Hadiths also make it quite clear that Jesus is alive in heaven, and will return, and neither the Quran nor the Hadiths say anything about Jesus dying a natural death as of yet, hence Derik's argument again is not against what the sources actually say, but his argument is what ?some' Muslims say!
Derik continues:
6- Some Muslims believe there was no specific individual crucified, either Jesus or his alleged clone, they believe this story was later invented by the Jews.
RESPONSE
Then these Muslims aren't even Muslims because they are obviously going against the text of the Quran! Does Derik even read what he writes? The Quran makes it clear that this event happened, but Derik's argument is that certain Muslims believe this story was invented by Jews! How in the world is that a problem for Islam when these people are going against the very clear text of Islam?
Derik himself knows that these people form a tiny miniscule opinion, in fact I myself have never met a Muslim with such views, and Derik himself knows that he is grasping at straws because he only quotes ONE Muslim who supposedly holds this belief!!!!
So Derik should change his sentence, he should change it from some Muslims to ONE MUSLIM.
Lastly Derik writes:
7- Islamic Scholarship in the past and present has been divided on this issue. To this day there is no unanimous view held by Allah's Ummah.
RESPONSE
There is a unanimous view amongst the Ummah, even Derik knows there is a unanimous view, which is that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. The majority of Islamic scholarship affirm that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, only a few minority believe in the swoon theory, and another minority who aren't even Muslims (Qadianis) believe he survived and then went off into India and died a natural death.
Furthermore if Derik has a problem with a minority of Muslims having a difference of opinion on the crucifixion, then what would he say about a large bulk of Christians who reject the Trinity, a core fundamental doctrine of Christianity?! Talk about confusion!!! Christians can't even agree on their main doctrine concerning God, three, or one, or even two! God is not the author of confusion, correct Mr. Derik? Hence why so much confusion on whether it's a Trinity or not a Trinity? Your very main doctrine!
So before Derik wants to talk about confusion in Islam let him go fix the confusion about the main doctrine of his own religion, indeed how intellectually bankrupt is it to attack Islam for supposed confusion when the very faith of the attacker suffers from this real problem concerning his own MAIN doctrine.
So in conclusion Islam is not confused about the Crucifixion of Jesus, it is clear and concise, Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, anything beyond that is at the pen of others, and they are either right, or wrong, only Allah knows, and it isn't an issue that Muslims should be concerned with.
And Allah Knows Best!
http://www.muslim-responses.com/
