View source for Islamic views on Jesus's death

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[[File:Berlin,_Pertsch_Persisch_1016_fol_207v_execution_of_Isa-like_man.jpg|thumb|Islamic illustration of a man outwardly appearing as Isa to the Jews being hanged by them from a Persian [[Qisas al-Anbiya|''Stories of the Prophets'']] manuscript.]]
The [[Bible|biblical account]] of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion, death]], and [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]] of [[Jesus]] (''[[Jesus in Islam|ʿĪsā]]'') recorded in the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[New Testament]] is traditionally rejected by the [[Islamic schools and branches|major branches of Islam]],<ref name="Bulliet 2015">{{cite book |editor1-last=Blidstein |editor1-first=Moshe |editor2-last=Silverstein |editor2-first=Adam J. |editor3-last=Stroumsa |editor3-first=Guy G. |editor3-link=Guy Stroumsa |year=2015 |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions |last=Bulliet |first=Richard W. |author-link=Richard Bulliet |chapter=Islamo-Christian Civilization |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_B2DCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=111 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199697762.013.6 |isbn=978-0-19-969776-2 |lccn=2014960132 |s2cid=170430270 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hughes 2013">{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Aaron W. |author-link=Aaron W. Hughes |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmGrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |chapter=The Quran: The Base Narrative |title=Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam |page=85 |year=2013 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-53192-4 |jstor=10.7312/hugh16146.8 |s2cid=169663918 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Reynolds 2009">{{cite journal |last=Reynolds |first=Gabriel S. |author-link=Gabriel Said Reynolds |date=May 2009 |title=The Muslim Jesus: Dead or Alive? |url=https://www3.nd.edu/~reynolds/index_files/jesus%20dead%20or%20alive.pdf |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=237–258 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X09000500 |jstor=40379003 |s2cid=27268737 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617010816/https://www3.nd.edu/~reynolds/index_files/jesus%20dead%20or%20alive.pdf |archive-date=17 June 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Lanier 2016">{{cite journal |last=Lanier |first=Gregory R. |date=May 2016 |title="It Was Made to Appear Like that to Them:" Islam's Denial of Jesus' Crucifixion |url=https://journal.rts.edu/article/it-was-made-to-appear-like-that-to-them-islams-denial-of-jesus-crucifixion-in-the-quran-and-dogmatic-tradition/ |journal=Reformed Faith & Practice: The Journal of Reformed Theological Seminary |publisher=[[Reformed Theological Seminary]] |location=[[Orlando, Florida]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=[https://journal.rts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1.1-Final.pdf 39-55] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630042518/https://journal.rts.edu/article/it-was-made-to-appear-like-that-to-them-islams-denial-of-jesus-crucifixion-in-the-quran-and-dogmatic-tradition/ |archive-date=30 June 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="Neely 2017">{{cite journal |last=Neely |first=Brent |date=July 2017 |title=At Cross Purposes: Islam and the Crucifixion of Christ, a theological response |journal=[[Transformation (journal)|Transformation]] |location=[[Newbury Park, California]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=176–213 |doi=10.1177/0265378816631552 |jstor=90010414 |s2cid=171352591}}</ref> but like [[Christians]] they believe that Jesus [[Ascension of Jesus|ascended to heaven]] and he will, according to [[Islamic holy books|Islamic literary sources]],<ref name="alislam.org">{{•}} {{cite web |url=https://www.alislam.org/articles/jesus-son-of-mary-islamic-beliefs/ |title=Jesus Son of Mary – Islamic Beliefs |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2020 |website=www.alislam.org |publisher=[[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}<br />{{•}} {{cite web |last=Goraya |first=Azhar Ahmad |date=2020 |url=https://www.alislam.org/articles/jesus-christ-died-natural-death/ |title=Jesus Christ died a Natural Death |website=www.alislam.org |publisher=[[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}<br />{{•}} {{cite web |last=Iqbal |first=Farhan |date=2020 |url=https://www.alislam.org/articles/30-verses-of-holy-quran-which-prove-natural-death-of-jesus-christ/ |title=30 Verses of the Holy Quran which prove the Natural Death of Jesus Christ |website=www.alislam.org |publisher=[[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] |access-date=21 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="Ahmad 2012">{{cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Khwaja Nazir |date=2012 |title=Jesus in Heaven on Earth: Journey of Jesus to Kashmir, his preaching to the Lost Tribes of Israel, and death and burial in Srinagar |url=https://aaiil.org/text/books/others/khwajanazirahmad/jesusinheavenonearth/jesusinheavenonearth.shtml |website=www.aaiil.org |publisher=[[Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement]] |location=[[London]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117072237/https://www.aaiil.org/text/books/others/khwajanazirahmad/jesusinheavenonearth/jesusinheavenonearth.shtml |archive-date=17 January 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="Khalidi 2001">{{cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Tarif |author-link=Tarif Khalidi |year=2001 |title=The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pE57rmPaM58C&pg=PA9 |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |pages=9–32 |isbn=9780674011151 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|9–25}} return before the [[Islamic eschatology|end of time]].<ref name="Bulliet 2015" /><ref name="Reynolds 2009" /><ref name="Lanier 2016" /><ref name="Neely 2017" /><ref name="alislam.org" /><ref name="Khalidi 2001" />{{rp|14–15, 25}} The [[Islamic schools and branches|various sects of Islam]] have different views regarding this topic;<ref name="Reynolds 2009" /><ref name="Lanier 2016" /><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016">{{cite book |last1=Korbel |first1=Jonathan |last2=Preckel |first2=Claudia |year=2016 |chapter=Ghulām Aḥmad al-Qādiyānī: The Messiah of the Christians—Peace upon Him—in India (India, 1908) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtY6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA426 |editor1-last=Bentlage |editor1-first=Björn |editor2-last=Eggert |editor2-first=Marion |editor3-last=Krämer |editor3-first=Hans-Martin |editor4-last=Reichmuth |editor4-first=Stefan |editor4-link=Stefan Reichmuth (academic) |title=Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism |series=Numen Book Series |volume=154 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=426–442 |doi=10.1163/9789004329003_034 |isbn=978-90-04-32511-1 |access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|430–431}} traditionally, mainstream Muslims believe that [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus was not crucified]] but was bodily raised up to [[heaven]] by [[God in Islam|God]],<ref name="Hughes 2013" /><ref name="Reynolds 2009" /><ref name="Lanier 2016" /><ref name="Neely 2017" /><ref name="Khalidi 2001" />{{rp|14–15}}<ref name="gil1992">{{cite book |editor-last=Kraemer |editor-first=Joel L. |year=1992 |title=Israel Oriental Studies |last=Gil |first=Moshe |author-link=Moshe Gil |chapter=The Creed of Abū 'Āmir |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0h9JiLDEncYC&pg=PA9 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=12 |pages=9–58 |isbn=978-90-04-09584-7 |issn=0334-4401 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|41}} while [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadi Muslims]] reject this belief<ref name="Reynolds 2009" /><ref name="alislam.org" /><ref name="Ahmad 2012" /><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016" />{{rp|430–431}} and instead contend that [[Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam|Jesus survived the crucifixion]],<ref name="alislam.org" /><ref name="Ahmad 2012" /><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016" />{{rp|430–431}}<ref name="Leirvik 2010">{{cite book |last=Leirvik |first=Oddbjørn |year=2010 |title=Images of Jesus Christ in Islam |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gzd_I2AFswwC&pg=PA34 |chapter=Christ in the Qurʾān and in Ḥadīth |location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum International]] |edition=2nd |doi=10.5040/9781472548528.ch-002 |pages=34–36, 129–132 |isbn=978-1-4411-7739-1 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|129–132}} was taken off the cross alive and [[Jesus in India|continued to preach in India]] until his [[natural death]].<ref name="alislam.org" /><ref name="Ahmad 2012" /><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016" />{{rp|431–436}}
{{Jesus|expanded=in Islam}}

==Jesus' death in the Quran==
{{Main|Biblical and Quranic narratives}}
{{Further|Criticism of the Quran|Historical reliability of the Quran|History of the Quran}}
Jesus' death is mentioned in the future sense (on the Day of Resurrection) in the Quran, and his attempted death and his ascension into Heaven in the past sense.

===Past sense===
Depending on the interpretation of the following Quranic verses ({{Cite Quran|4|157|style=nosup}}-{{Cite Quran|4|158|expand=no|style=nosup}}), [[Ulama|Islamic scholars]] and [[Tafsir|commentators of the Quran]] have abstracted different opinions and conflicting conclusions regarding the death of Jesus.<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/><ref name="Lanier 2016"/><ref name="alislam.org"/><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016"/>{{rp|430–431}} He was replaced as Jesus and the executioners thought the victim was Jesus, causing everyone to believe that Jesus was crucified. A third explanation could be that Jesus was nailed to a cross, but as his soul is immortal he did not "die" or was not "crucified" [to death]; it only appeared so. In opposition to the second and third foregoing proposals, yet others maintain that God does not use deceit and therefore they contend that the crucifixion just did not happen:<ref name="Lawson p12"/>

{{blockquote|That they (The Jews) said (in boast), "We killed [[Christ]] [[Jesus]] the son of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]], the [[Messengers of Islam|Messenger]] of [God in Islam|God]]" ([[Allah]]); but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not.<br />Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise.|[[Quran 4:157–158]]<ref name="Lawson p12">{{cite book|last=Lawson|first=Todd|date=1 March 2009|title=The Crucifixion and the Quran: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C1cQBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12|publisher=Oneworld Publications|page=12|isbn=978-1851686353}}</ref>}}

In the past sense it is said that [[Jewish deicide|the Jews did not kill or crucify Jesus]] but it only appeared to them as if they had,<ref name="Lanier 2016"/><ref name="Cole 2021">{{cite journal |author-last=Cole |author-first=Juan |author-link=Juan Cole |date=March 2021 |title='It was made to appear to them so': the Crucifixion, Jews, and Sasanian war propaganda in the Qur'ān |editor1-last=Stausberg |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-link=Michael Stausberg |editor2-last=Engler |editor2-first=Steven |editor2-link=Steven Engler |journal=[[Religion (journal)|Religion]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=404–422 |doi=10.1080/0048721X.2021.1909170 |issn=1096-1151 |lccn=76615899 |oclc=186359943 |s2cid=233646869}}</ref> because Jesus had been raised up by God according to the Quranic narrative.<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/><ref name="Lanier 2016"/> Given the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|historicity of Jesus' death]] and the [[Islamic theology|Islamic theological doctrine]] on the [[Quranic inerrancy|inerrancy of the Quran]], most mainstream Muslims and Islamic scholars deny the crucifixion and death of Jesus,<ref name="Bulliet 2015"/><ref name="Reynolds 2009"/><ref name="Lanier 2016"/><ref name="Neely 2017"/><ref name="Cole 2021"/> deny the [[historical reliability of the Gospels]],<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/><ref name="Lanier 2016"/><ref name="Neely 2017"/> claim that the [[Islamic view of the Bible|canonical Gospels are corruptions of the true Gospel of Jesus for their portrayal of Jesus dying]], and they also claim that [[Sources for the historicity of Jesus|extra-Biblical evidence for Jesus' death]] is an alleged Christian forgery.<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/><ref name="Lanier 2016"/><ref name="Neely 2017"/><ref name="Ayoub 1980">{{cite journal |last=Ayoub |first=Mahmoud M. |author-link=Mahmoud M. Ayoub |date=April 1980 |title=Towards an Islamic Christology II: The Death of Jesus, Reality or Delusion (A Study of the Death of Jesus in ''Tafsīr'' Literature) |journal=The Muslim World |location=[[Chichester|Chichester, West Sussex]] |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=91–121 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1980.tb03405.x |s2cid=170580811 |issn=1478-1913}}</ref>

===Future sense===
In the future sense it is said that Jesus will not die until the [[Islamic eschatology|day of resurrection]]. Given that, according to the Quran, Jesus had not died before going up to God, nor will he die before the day of resurrection, the interpretation by most Muslims is that Jesus [[Entering heaven alive|entered heaven alive]].<ref name="Khalidi 2001"/>{{rp|14–15}}<ref>Shafaat, Dr. Ahmad, [http://www.islamicperspectives.com/ReturnOfJesus.htm Islamic View of the Coming/Return of Jesus"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923170110/http://www.islamicperspectives.com/ReturnOfJesus.htm |date=2015-09-23 }} article dated May 2003, at the ''Islamic Perspectives'' Web site: "In 4:159, after denying that the Jews killed or crucified Jesus and after stating that God raised him to Himself, the Qur'an says ...". Retrieved March 29, 2007.</ref> Jesus' words "the day I die" in {{Cite Quran|19|33|style=nosup}} are interpreted by most Muslims in the future sense (Jesus will die on the day of resurrection):<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/>

{{blockquote|There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.|[[Quran 4:159]]<ref name="Cite Quran|4|159|style=nosup">{{Cite Quran|4|159|style=nosup}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|I only told them what You commanded me: that you shall worship God, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them while I was among them; but when You took me to Yourself, You became the Watcher over them—You are Witness over everything.|{{Cite Quran|5|117|style=nosup}}}}

{{blockquote|So Peace is upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!.|{{Cite Quran|19|33|style=nosup}}}}

By "they did not kill him," "before his death," and "the day I die" it can be assumed, based on a cursory reading of the plain text, that Jesus did not die. By "God raised him up to himself" and "You took me to Yourself" it can be assumed, based on a cursory reading of the plain text, that Jesus ascended to Heaven rather than dying. Despite Quran 5:117 only speaking of Jesus' ascension and 19:33 only speaking of Jesus' future death, Muslim scholars like [[Mahmoud M. Ayoub]] claim the aforesaid verses "assert" Jesus' death.<ref name="Ayoub 1980"/>{{rp|106}}

==Possible Gnostic influences==
{{Main|Christology|Diversity in early Christian theology|Gnosticism|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia}}
[[File:POxy405.jpg|thumb|right|Papyrus of [[Irenaeus|Irenaeus']] treatise ''[[Against Heresies (Irenaeus)|Against Heresies]]'', which describes [[Gnosticism|early Gnostic beliefs about Jesus' death]] that predated and influenced Islam.<ref name="gil1992"/><ref name="Robinson 1991"/><ref name="Ehrman 2003"/><ref name="Logan 2002"/>]]

The belief that Jesus only appeared to be crucified and did not actually die predates Islam and is found in several [[New Testament apocrypha]] and [[Gnostic texts|Gnostic Gospels]].<ref name="gil1992"/>{{rp|41}}<ref name="Robinson 1991">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Neal |year=1991 |chapter=The Crucifixion – Non-Muslim Approaches |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht1hpisBQF0C&pg=PA106 |title=Christ in Islam and Christianity: The Representation of Jesus in the Qur'an and the Classical Muslim Commentaries |location=[[Albany, New York]] |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |pages=106–140 |isbn=978-0-7914-0558-1 |s2cid=169122179 |access-date=5 January 2021}}</ref>{{rp|110–111}}<ref name="Ehrman 2003">{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |year=2003 |title=Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsmSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=82–86 |isbn=0-19-514182-2 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|82–86}}<ref name="Logan 2002">{{cite book |author-last=Logan |author-first=Alastair H. B. |year=2002 |orig-date=2000 |chapter=Part IX: Internal Challenges – Gnosticism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fyCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA918 |editor-last=Esler |editor-first=Philip F. |title=The Early Christian World |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Worlds |page=918 |isbn=9781032199344}}</ref>{{rp|918}} Although most [[Islamic studies|contemporary scholars]] argue that the Islamic portrayal of Jesus himself is not [[Docetism|docetic]], his crucifixion narrative in the Quran could be.<ref name="Khalidi 2001"/>{{rp|12}} The Greek [[Church Fathers|Father of the Church]] and bishop [[Irenaeus]] in his heresiological treatise ''[[Against Heresies (Irenaeus)|Against Heresies]]'' (180 CE) described [[Gnosticism|early Gnostic beliefs regarding the crucifixion and death of Jesus]]<ref name="Logan 2002"/>{{rp|918}} that bear remarkable resemblance with the Islamic views, expounding on the [[Substitution hypothesis|hypothesis of substitution]]:<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|111}}

{{blockquote|He [Christ] appeared on earth as a man and performed miracles (''apparuisse eum ... virtutes perfecisse''). Thus, he himself did not suffer. Rather, a certain Simon of Cyrene was compelled (''Simonem quendam Cyrenaeum angariatum'') to carry his cross for him. It was he [Simon] who was ignorantly and erroneously crucified (''et hunc ... crucifixum''), being transfigured by him [Jesus], so that (''ut'') he [Simon] might be thought to be Jesus. Moreover, Jesus assumed the form of Simon and stood by, laughing at them.|Irenaeus, ''[[Against Heresies (Irenaeus)|Against Heresies]]'', Book I, Chapter 24, Section 40.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kelhoffer |first=James A. |year=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pN5gqU5A9noC&pg=PA80 |title=Conceptions of "Gospel" and Legitimacy in Early Christianity |location=[[Tübingen]] |publisher=[[Mohr Siebeck]] |series=Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament |volume=324 |page=80 |doi=10.1628/978-3-16-152993-1 |isbn=978-3-16-152636-7 |access-date=24 October 2020}}</ref>{{rp|80}}}}

One of the Christian Gnostic writings found in the [[Nag Hammadi library]], the [[Second Treatise of the Great Seth]], has a similar substitutionist interpretation of Jesus' death:<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|111}}<ref name="Ehrman 2003"/>{{rp|82–86}}

{{blockquote|I was not afflicted at all. Those there punished me, yet I did not die in solid reality but in what appears, in order that I not be put to shame by them [...] For my death which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness. They nailed their man up to their death. [...] Another, their father, was the one who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They were hitting me with the reed; another was the one who lifted up the cross on his shoulder, who was Simon. Another was the one on whom they put the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height over all the riches of the archons and the offspring of their error and their conceit, and I was laughing at their ignorance.<ref name="Ehrman 2003"/>{{rp|82–84}}}}

The [[Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter]] also holds a substitutionist interpretation of Jesus' death.<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|111}}  It does differ in that it seems to think that Jesus's physical body was crucified (rather than saying it was Simon of Cyrene), just that his physical body was unimportant and the real Christ was a purely spiritual being:<ref>{{cite book |last=Luttikhuizen |first=Gerard P. |author-link=Gerard Luttikhuizen |editor1-last=Bremmer |editor1-first=Jan N. |editor1-link=Jan N. Bremmer |editor2-last=Czachesz |editor2-first=István |year=2003 |title=The Apocalypse of Peter |chapter=The Suffering Jesus and The Invulnerable Christ in the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter |location=Leuven |publisher=[[Peeters (publishing company)|Peeters Publishers]] |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/10421078/c12.pdf |pages=187–200 |isbn=90-429-1375-4 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|I saw him (Jesus) seemingly being seized by them. And I said 'What do I see, O Lord? That it is you yourself whom they take, and that you are grasping me? Or who is this one, glad and laughing on the tree? And is it another one whose feet and hands they are striking?' The Savior said to me, 'He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me.' But I, when I had looked, said 'Lord, no one is looking at you. Let us flee this place.' But he said to me, 'I have told you, 'Leave the blind alone!'. And you, see how they do not know what they are saying. For the son of their glory instead of my servant, they have put to shame.' And I saw someone about to approach us resembling him, even him who was laughing on the tree. And he was with a Holy Spirit, and he is the Savior. And there was a great, ineffable light around them, and the multitude of ineffable and invisible angels blessing them. And when I looked at him, the one who gives praise was revealed.}}

The [[Gospel of Peter]] is an [[apocryphal gospel]] that could be read as [[docetic]]. The British biblical scholar [[F. F. Bruce]] wrote in a commentary about this text:<ref name="Bruce 1974">{{cite book |last=Bruce |first=F. F. |author-link=F. F. Bruce |year=1974 |title=Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans]] |page=93 |isbn=0340158689}}</ref>{{rp|93}}

{{blockquote|The docetic note in this narrative appears in the statement that Jesus, while being crucified, 'remained silent, as though he felt no pain', and in the account of his death. It carefully avoids saying that he died, preferring to say that he 'was taken up', as though he - or at least his soul or spiritual self - was 'assumed' direct from the cross to the presence of God. (We shall see an echo of this idea in the Qur'an.) Then the cry of dereliction is reproduced in a form which suggests that, at that moment, his divine power left the bodily shell in which it had taken up temporary residence.<ref name="Bruce 1974"/>{{rp|93}}}}

[[John of Damascus]], a Syrian [[Christian monasticism#Eastern Orthodox tradition|Eastern Orthodox monk]], [[Christian theology|Christian theologian]], and [[Christian apologetics|apologist]] that lived under the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], reported in his heresiological treatise ''[[John of Damascus#List of works|De Haeresibus]]'' (8th century) the Islamic denial of Jesus' crucifixion and his alleged substitution on the cross, attributing the origin of these doctrines to [[Muhammad]]:<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|106–107}}<ref name="Schadler 2017">{{cite book |last=Schadler |first=Peter |year=2017 |title=John of Damascus and Islam: Christian Heresiology and the Intellectual Background to Earliest Christian-Muslim Relations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NBCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=The History of Christian-Muslim Relations |volume=34 |pages=97–140 |doi=10.1163/9789004356054 |isbn=978-90-04-34965-0 |lccn=2017044207 |s2cid=165610770}}</ref>{{rp|115–116}}

{{blockquote|And the Jews, having themselves violated the Law, wanted to crucify him, but having arrested him they crucified his shadow. But Christ, it is said, was not crucified, nor did he die; for God took him up to himself because of his love for him. And he [Muhammad] says this, that when Christ went up to heaven God questioned him saying "O Jesus, did you say that 'I am Son of God, and God'?" And Jesus, they say, answered: "Be merciful to me, Lord; you know that I did not say so, nor will I boast that I am your servant; but men who have gone astray wrote that I said this and they said lies concerning me and they have been in error". And although there are included in this scripture many more absurdities worthy of laughter, he insists that this was brought down to him by God.<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|107}}<ref name="Schadler 2017"/>{{rp|115–116}}}}

In his scholarly monograph ''Gott ist Christus, der Sohn der Maria. Eine Studie zum Christusbild im Koran'' (1989, {{isbn|3-923946-17-1}}), the German Catholic theologian and professor of religious studies {{ill|Günther Risse|de|Günter Riße}} states that Muhammad's distorted understanding of Jesus and the Christian faith,<ref name="Leirvik 2010"/>{{rp|34–36}} along with the misrepresentation of Christian beliefs about Jesus in the Quran and the ''hadith'',<ref name="Leirvik 2010"/>{{rp|34–36}} were influenced by the [[Heresy in Christianity|non-Chalcedonian (heretical)]] [[Monophysitism|Monophysite Christianity]] that prevailed at the time in the [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula]] and further in [[Kingdom of Aksum|Abyssinia]], [[Sasanian Egypt|Egypt]], and [[Byzantine Syria|Syria]].<ref name="Leirvik 2010"/>{{rp|34–36}} A similar hypothesis regarding the Gnostic Christian influence on Muhammad's beliefs about the crucifixion of Jesus has been proposed by Neal Robinson, [[senior lecturer]] of Religious studies at the [[College of St. Paul and St. Mary]], in his scholarly monograph ''Christ in Islam and Christianity'' (1991, {{isbn|978-0-7914-0558-1}}).<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|110–111}}

{{blockquote|If the substitutionist interpretation of {{Cite Quran|4|157|expand=no|style=nosup}} (that Christ was replaced on the cross) is taken as a valid reading of the Qurʾānic text, the question arises of whether this idea is represented in Christian sources. According to [[Irenaeus]]' ''[[Against Heresies (Irenaeus)|Adversus Haereses]]'', the Egyptian Gnostic Christian [[Basilides]] (of the second century) held the view that Christ (the divine ''[[nous]]'', intelligence) was not crucified, but was replaced by Simon of Cyrene. However, both [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] denied that Basilides held this view. But the substitutionist idea in a general form is quite clearly expressed in the [[Nag Hammadi library|Gnostic Nag Hammadi documents]] ''[[Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter|Apocalypse of Peter]]'' and ''[[Second Treatise of the Great Seth|The Second Treatise of the Great Seth]]''.<ref name="Leirvik 2010"/>{{rp|34}}}}

This docetic interpretation regarding Jesus' crucifixion was also shared by [[Manichaeism|Manichaeans]]. Since [[Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia|Manichaeism was still prevailing in Arabia during the 6th century]], just alike prohibition against wine and fasting rules, Islamic views on Jesus' death might have been influenced by it.<ref name="gil1992"/>{{rp|41}} However, while [[Zoroastrianism]] existed only in the eastern and southern Arabia, the existence of Manichaeism in [[Mecca]] in the 6th-7th century is denied as lacking historical support.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tardieu |first=Michel |author-link=Michel Tardieu |translator-last=DeBevoise |translator-first=M. B. |year=2008 |orig-date=1997 |title=Manichaeism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9wk7DQRoPoC |location=[[Urbana, Illinois]] |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-252-03278-3 |lccn=2008002232}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-iv-missionary-activity-and-technique-|title=MANICHEISM v. MISSIONARY ACTIVITY AND TECHNIQUE|quote=That Manicheism went further on to the Arabian peninsula, up to the Hejaz and Mecca, where it could have possibly contributed to the formation of the doctrine of Islam, could not be proven. A detailed description of Manichean traces in the Arabian-speaking regions is given by Tardieu (1994).}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Tardieu |first=Michel |date=1982 |title=Les Manichéens en Égypte |journal=Bulletin de la Société Française d'Égyptologie |volume=94 |pages=5–37 |issn=0037-9379 |language=fr}}</ref> Similar reservations regarding the appearance of Manichaeism, Gnosticism, and [[Mazdakism]] in pre-Islamic Mecca are offered by Trompf & Mikkelsen et al. in their latest work (2018).<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Trompf |editor1-first=Garry W. |editor2-last=Mikkelsen |editor2-first=Gunner B. |editor3-last=Johnston |editor3-first=Jay |year=2018 |title=The Gnostic World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6txDwAAQBAJ |location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=unpaginated |isbn=978-1-138-67393-9}}</ref>

==Literal interpretation==
=== Earliest reports ===
Professor and Muslim scholar [[Mahmoud M. Ayoub]] sums up what the Quran states despite interpretative Islamic arguments:

{{blockquote|The Quran, as we have already argued, does not deny the death of Christ. Rather, it challenges human beings who in their folly have deluded themselves into believing that they would vanquish the divine Word, Jesus Christ the Messenger of God. The death of Jesus is asserted several times and in various contexts ({{Cite Quran|3|55|style=nosup}}; {{Cite Quran|5|117|expand=no|style=nosup}}; {{Cite Quran|19|33|expand=no|style=nosup}}).<ref name="Ayoub 1980"/>{{rp|106}}}}

Some disagreement and discord can be seen beginning with [[Ibn Ishaq]]'s (d. 761 CE/130 AH) report of a brief accounting of events leading up to the crucifixion, firstly stating that Jesus was replaced by someone named Sergius, while secondly reporting an account of Jesus' tomb being located at Medina and thirdly citing the places in {{Cite Quran|3|55|style=nosup}} and {{Cite Quran|4|158|expand=no|style=nosup}} that God took Jesus up to himself.<ref name="Watt 1991">{{cite book |last=Watt |first=William Montgomery |author-link=W. Montgomery Watt |year=2015 |orig-date=1991 |title=Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions |chapter=The elaboration of Qurʾānic perceptions |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qxlAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 |location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |series=Routledge Revivals |pages=30–51 |isbn=978-0-415-73463-9 |lccn=90045261}}</ref>{{rp|39}}

Muslim historian [[al-Tabari]] (d. 923 CE/310 AH) records an interpretation transmitted from Ibn Ishaq Bishr: "God caused Jesus to die for seven hours".<ref>{{cite book|last=Zahniser|first=A. H. Mathias|date=30 October 2008|title=The Mission and Death of Jesus in Islam and Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Cw2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|location=Maryknoll, New York|publisher=[[Orbis Books]]|page=34|isbn=978-1570758072}}</ref> [[Ali ibn al-Athir|Ibn al-Athir]] forwarded the report that it was [[Judas]], the betrayer, while also mentioning the possibility it was a man named Natlianus.<ref name="Watt 1991"/>{{rp|47}}<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|122}}<ref>Ayoub 1980, page 108. [Muhammad b. 'Ali b. Muhammad al-Shawkani, ''Fath al-Qadir al-Jami bayn Fannay al-Riwaya wa 'l Diraya min 'Ilm al-Tqfsir'' (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, n.d.), I, 346, citing Ibn Asakir, who reports on the authority of Ibn Munabbih.]</ref> [[Al-Masudi]] (d. 956 CE/343 AH) reported the death of Christ under [[Tiberius]].<ref name="Watt 1991"/>{{rp|47}}

10th and 11th-century [[Ismaili Shia]] scholars [[The Book of the Sage and Disciple|Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yaman]], [[Abu Hatim Ahmad ibn Hamdan al-Razi]], [[Abu Yaqub al-Sijistani]], [[Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi]] and the group [[Ikhwan al-Safa]] affirm the historicity of the crucifixion, reporting Jesus was crucified and not substituted by another man as maintained by many other popular Qur'anic commentators and Tafsir.<ref name="auto">Lawson 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=C1cQBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 page 12].</ref>

=== Substitution interpretation ===
{{Death of Jesus}}
{{see also|Gospel of Basilides|Gospel of Barnabas|Substitution hypothesis|Swoon hypothesis|
Unknown years of Jesus|
}}
Unlike the Christian view of the death of Jesus, most Muslims believe he was raised to Heaven without being put on the cross and God created a resemblance to appear exactly like Jesus who was crucified instead of Jesus, and he ascended bodily to Heaven, there to remain until his [[Second Coming of Christ|Second Coming]] in the [[Eschatology|End days]].<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/>

The identity of the substitute has been a source of great interest. One proposal is that God used one of Jesus' enemies.<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/> [[Judas Iscariot]], Jesus' betrayer, is often cited, and is mentioned in the [[Gospel of Barnabas]]. The second proposal is that Jesus asked for someone to volunteer to be crucified instead of him.<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/> [[Simon of Cyrene]] is the person most commonly accepted to have done it, perhaps because according to the [[Synoptic Gospels]] he was compelled by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] to carry Jesus' cross for him. [[Baidawi|Al-Baidawi]] writes that Jesus told his [[Disciples of Jesus in Islam|disciples]] in advance that whoever volunteered would go to [[Jannah|heaven]].<ref>Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman ''The Meaning and Explanation of the Glorious Qur'an (Vol 10)'' MSA Publication Limited 2009 {{ISBN|978-1-861-79670-7}} page 93</ref>

==== Tabari's versions of events ====
[[Tabari]] (d. 839–923/ 224–310 AH) divided the early reports regarding Jesus crucifixion into two groups. According to the first, one of Jesus disciples volunteers to take the form of his master and is crucified. According to the other, the Jew mistakenly carried only an empty resemblance to the cross.<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|127}}

Tabari narrated the first strand as follows:

{{blockquote| Jesus went into a house together with seventeen of his companions. The Jew surrounded them but when they burst in God made all the disciples look like Jesus. The pursuers, supposing that they had bewitched them, threatened to kill them all if they did not expose him. Then Jesus asked his companions which of them would purchase paradise for himself thath day. One man volunteered and went out saying that he was Jesus and as God had made him look like Jesus they took him, killed him and crucified him. Thereupon "a semblance was made to them" and they thought that they had killed Jesus. The Christians likewise thought that it was Jesus who had been killed. And God raised Jesus right away.<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|128}}}}

The second strand is narrated as follows:

{{blockquote|The Jews were looking for Jesus. They took hold of Simon, one of the disciples, and they said, "This is one of his companions." And he denied it and said, "I am not one of his disciples." So they left him. Others took hold of him and he likewise denied it. Then he heard the sound of the cock and he wept and it grieved him. 'On the morning of the next day one of his disciples went to the Jew and said, "What will you give me if I lead you to the Messiah?" He accepted their offer of thirty dirhams and led them to him. And a semblance had been made for them before that, and they took him and made certain of him and bound him with a cord and began to lead him and to say to him "You used to bring the dead to life and to drive away [[Satan#Islam|Satan]] and heal the [[Exorcism in Islam|jinn-possessed]] so why not deliver yourself from this cord?" And they spat on him and cast thorns on him until they brought him to the wood upon which they wanted to crucify him. And God raised Jesus to Himself. And they crucified the semblance which was made to them. And [Jesus] tarried seven [hours]. 'Then his mother, and the woman whom God had freed from jinn-possession when Jesus treated her, came weeping to where the crucified [semblance] was. And Jesus came to them both and said, "Why are you weeping?" They said, "Because of You." He said, "God raised me to Himself and I came to no harm. This [corpse] is something which was "made a semblance to them". Order the disciples to meet me at such and such place." Eleven met him at the place. Jesus missed the one who had sold him. They said, "Because he regretted what he had done he committed suicide by strangling himself." Jesus replied, "If he had turned towards God, God would have turned toward him".<ref name="Robinson 1991"/>{{rp|129}}}}

==== Ibn Kathir's version of events ====
[[Ibn Kathir]] (d. 1373 CE/760 AH) follows traditions which suggest that a crucifixion did occur, but not with Jesus.<ref>Gregg, Stephen; Barker, Gregory 2010, p. 119.</ref> After the event, Ibn Kathir reports the people were divided into three groups following three different narratives; The [[Jacob Baradaeus|Jacobites]] believing 'God remained with us as long as He willed and then He ascended to Heaven;' The [[Nestorianism|Nestorians]] believing 'The son of God was with us as long as he willed until God raised him to heaven;' and the third group of Christians who believing; 'The servant and messenger of God, Jesus, remained with us as long as God willed until God raised him to Himself.'<ref>Gregg, Stephen; Barker, Gregory 2010, p. 121.</ref>

==== Barnabas' version of events ====
The apocryphal [[Gospel of Barnabas]] (the known manuscripts dated to the late 16th or early 17th centuries), also promotes a non-death narrative. The work claims itself to be by the biblical [[Barnabas]], who in this work is one of the [[twelve apostles]]; however, text of this Gospel is late and [[pseudepigrapha|pseudepigraphical]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Joosten |first=Jan |author-link=Jan Joosten (biblical scholar) |date=January 2002 |title=The Gospel of Barnabas and the Diatessaron |journal=Harvard Theological Review |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=73–96}}</ref> Nonetheless, some scholars suggest that it may contain some remnants of an earlier, [[apocrypha]]l work (perhaps [[Gnostic]],<ref name="Raggxiv">{{Cite book|last=Ragg |first=L & L |title=The Gospel of Barnabas |year=1907 |publisher=Oxford |pages=xiv |no-pp=true|isbn=1-881316-15-7}}</ref> [[Ebionite]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cirillo |first=Luigi |author2=Fremaux, Michel |title=Évangile de Barnabé |year=1977 |publisher=Beauchesne |pages=202}}</ref> or [[Diatessaron]]ic<ref name="Joosten 2002 73–96">{{Cite journal|last=Joosten |first=Jan |date=January 2002 |title=The Gospel of Barnabas and the Diatessaron |journal=Harvard Theological Review |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=73–96}}</ref>), redacted to bring it more in line with Islamic doctrine. Some Muslims consider the surviving versions as transmitting a suppressed [[twelve apostles|apostolic]] original.

According to the Gospel of Barnabas it was [[Judas]], not Jesus, who was crucified on the cross. This work states that when Judas led the Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus in an effort to betray him, angels appeared to take Jesus out a window and up to the heavens. As Judas entered the room, his appearance was transformed to that of Jesus, and the Romans arrested him and brought him to be crucified. The narrative states this transformation of appearance not only fooled the Romans, but the [[Pharisees]], the [[Kohen Gadol|High Priest]], the followers of Christ, and his mother Mary.

The Gospel of Barnabas then mentions that after three days since burial, Judas' body was stolen from his grave with rumors spreading of Jesus being risen from the dead. In following with Islamic lore, when Jesus was informed in the third heaven about what happened he prayed to God to be sent back to the earth, and later descended and gathered his mother, disciples, and followers and told them the truth of what happened. He then ascended back to the heavens, with the narrative continuing Islamic legend mirroring Christian doctrine of returning at the end of times as a just king.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Anawati |first=G. C. |title=ʿĪsā |orig-date=1993 |year=2012 |editor1-last=Bearman |editor1-first=P. J. |editor1-link=Peri Bearman |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor2-link=Thierry Bianquis |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C. E. |editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. J. |editor4-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W. P. |editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |edition=2nd |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0378 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref>

=== Docetism theory ===
A less common opinion among  scholars hold that the crucifixion of Jesus was just an illusion.<ref>Cenap Çakmak ''Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia [4 volumes]'' ABC-CLIO 2017 {{ISBN|978-1-610-69217-5}} page 871</ref> Accordingly, Jesus' body was really put on the cross, but his spirit did not die, but ascended to heaven. Thus the Jew erred because they did not recognize the "Messiah", the spiritual form of Jesus.<ref>Union européenne des arabisants et islamisants. Congress ''Authority, Privacy and Public Order in Islam: Proceedings of the 22nd Congress of L'Union Européenne Des Arabisants Et Islamisants'' Peeters Publishers 2006 {{ISBN|978-9-042-91736-1}} page 97</ref> [[Docetism|Docetist]]s are Christians or Gnostics who believed that Jesus' physical body was an illusion, as was his crucifixion; that is, Jesus only seemed to have a physical body and to physically die, but in reality he was incorporeal, a pure spirit, and hence could not physically die.<ref name="ReferenceA">Todd Lawson ''The Crucifixion and the Qur'an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought'' Oneworld Publications 2014 {{ISBN|9781780746753}} p. 13</ref> A docetic interpretation regarding Jesus' death is provided by [[Al-Ghazali|Ghazali]], who states [[Mansur Al-Hallaj]] quoted the Quranic verse about Jesus' death being merely an illusion, referring to both himself and Jesus as something, whose bodies could be killed but not their divine element.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Other Docetic interpretations might also be found in [[Ismailism|Ismaili beliefs]].<ref>Todd Lawson ''The Crucifixion and the Qur'an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought'' Oneworld Publications 2014 {{ISBN|9781780746753}} p. 13-14</ref>

=== Swoon hypothesis ===
According to the proponents of the [[swoon hypothesis]], the [[Resurrection of Jesus#Biblical accounts|appearances of the risen Jesus to his disciples]] following [[Resurrection of Jesus|his physical resurrection from the dead]] three days in the [[Empty tomb|tomb]] were merely perceived to be resurrection appearances by his followers; proponents of the swoon hypothesis believe that Jesus allegedly fell [[Unconsciousness|unconscious]] ("swooned") on the cross, survived [[Crucifixion of Jesus|the crucifixion]], and then regained enough strength to appear before them while he was still alive.<ref name="Stevens 2010"/> This and other similar theories about the [[resurrection of Jesus]] and witnesses to his resurrection became popular in the [[Western world]] after they were first proposed by some 18th–19th century Western authors and philosophers, including [[Oscar Wilde]] and [[Friedrich Schleiermacher]]; however, since the last decade of the 19th century all of them have been discarded as baseless and unacceptable by the majority of [[Biblical studies|biblical scholars and academics]].<ref name="Stevens 2010">{{cite book |author-last=Stevens |author-first=Jennifer |year=2010 |title=The Historical Jesus and the Literary Imagination, 1860–1920 |chapter=The Fifth Gospel of Oscar Wilde |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1OSTV4olmAC&pg=PA160 |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[Liverpool]] |publisher=[[Liverpool University Press]] |page=160 |doi=10.5949/UPO9781846316159.006 |isbn=9781846316159 |jstor=j.ctt5vjbx8.9 |quote=Theories proposing that Christ survived the crucifixion and regained enough strength to appear before his disciples were several and varied. [...] While by the last decade of the century such theories were no longer regarded as academically respectable by the theological establishment, those set on discrediting the Gospels continued to exploit them with some abandon.}}</ref> This 200-year-old hypothesis continues to be the subject of debate in popular circles, but the scholarly literature considers it uncontroversial that [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus died during the process of crucifixion]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergeron |first=Joseph W. |date=April 2012 |title=The crucifixion of Jesus: Review of hypothesized mechanisms of death and implications of shock and trauma-induced coagulopathy |journal=[[Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine]] |publisher=[[Elsevier]] on behalf of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=113–116 |doi=10.1016/j.jflm.2011.06.001 |issn=1878-7487 |oclc=612913525 |pmid=22390994 |s2cid=8094030 }}</ref>

=== Jesus lives after having died ===
In regard to the interpretation of the Muslims who accept the historicity of Jesus' crucifixion, [[Mahmoud M. Ayoub]] states:

{{Blockquote|The Qur'an is not here speaking about a man, righteous and wronged though he may be, but about the Word of God who was sent to earth and returned to God. Thus the denial of killing of Jesus is a denial of the power of men to vanquish and destroy the divine Word, which is for ever victorious.<ref name="Ayoub 1980"/>{{rp|91–121}}}}

=== Ahmadiyya view ===
{{Main|Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam}}
[[File:Rozabal.JPG|thumbnail|The [[Roza Bal]] shrine in [[Srinagar]], [[Kashmir]], believed by [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadi Muslims]] to be the tomb of Jesus.<ref name="alislam.org"/><ref name="Ahmad 2012"/><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016"/><ref name="Leirvik 2010"/>]]

In contrast to the mainstream Islamic views, the [[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] rejects the interpretation of Jesus being lifted alive to Heaven,<ref name="Reynolds 2009"/><ref name="alislam.org"/><ref name="Ahmad 2012"/><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016"/>{{rp|430–431}} and instead contend that [[Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam|Jesus survived the crucifixion]],<ref name="alislam.org"/><ref name="Ahmad 2012"/><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016"/>{{rp|430–431}}<ref name="Leirvik 2010"/>{{rp|129–132}}<ref name="Upal 2021">{{cite book |author-last=Upal |author-first=M. Afzal |author-link=Afzal Upal |year=2021 |chapter=The Cultural Genetics of the Aḥmadiyya Muslim Jamāʿat |editor1-last=Cusack |editor1-first=Carole M. |editor1-link=Carole M. Cusack |editor2-last=Upal |editor2-first=M. Afzal |title=Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion |volume=21 |doi=10.1163/9789004435544_034 |doi-access=free |isbn=978-90-04-43554-4 |issn=1874-6691 |pages=637–657}}</ref> and go further to describe Jesus as a mortal man who was taken off the cross alive, and [[Jesus in India|continued to preach in India]] until his [[natural death]] in [[Kashmir]].<ref name="alislam.org"/><ref name="Ahmad 2012"/><ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016"/>{{rp|431–436}}<ref name="Upal 2021"/> Ahmadis believe that Jesus, having survived the crucifixion, later migrated to India to escape persecution in Judea and to further spread his message to the [[Ten Lost Tribes|Lost Tribes of Israel]].<ref name="alislam.org"/><ref name="Ahmad 2012"/>

The viewpoint of Jesus's migration to India had also been independently researched in the literature of authors prior to the foundation of the movement, for example most notably by the Russian historian [[Nicolas Notovitch]] in 1894. [[Ibn Babawayh]] (d.991 CE) in ''Ikhmal ad Din'' recounts that Jesus went to a far country. This was adapted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as the basis of their theory regarding the [[Lost years of Jesus|voyage of Jesus in India]].<ref name="ShaeferCohen">{{Cite book|last1=Schäfer|first1=Peter|last2=Cohen|first2=Mark R.|title=Toward the Millennium: Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco|year=1998|location=Leiden/Princeton|publisher=Brill/Princeton UP|isbn=90-04-11037-2|page=306}}.</ref>

The claim of Jesus is buried at the [[Roza Bal]] shrine in Srinagar was promoted also by writers such as [[Holger Kersten]] (1981). Sunni Muslim authorities at the shrine however consider this as heretical and say that it is a Muslim saint buried there. The claims of the theory have been examined in various documentaries,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/did-jesus-die-interview.shtml|title=BBC iPlayer - Error|website=BBC iPlayer}}</ref> and have generated tourist visits to the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8587838.stm|title=Tourists flock to 'Jesus's tomb' in Kashmir|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 November 2010|first=Sam|last=Miller|date=27 March 2010}}</ref> Some scholars, such as Norbert Klatt (1988),<ref>Norbert Klatt, ''Lebte Jesus in Indien?'', Göttingen: Wallstein 1988.</ref> and Indologist [[Günter Grönbold]] (1985), have critically dismissed the speculations of Jesus in India.

Adherents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community regard the prophecies in the [[Bible]] and ''[[hadith]]'' relating to the [[Second advent]] of Jesus were fulfilled in the likeness and personality of [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]], who initiated the foundation of the Ahmadiyya movement.<ref name="Korbel-Preckel 2016"/><ref name="Upal 2021"/> This view however is considered [[Islam and blasphemy|blasphemous]] by Sunni Muslim authorities and subsequently has led to the [[Persecution of Ahmadis|religious persecution against Ahmadi Muslims]],<ref name="Uddin 2014">{{cite book |author-last=Uddin |author-first=Asma T. |year=2014 |chapter=A Legal Analysis of Ahmadi Persecution in Pakistan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9TVCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |editor-last=Kirkham |editor-first=David M. |title=State Responses to Minority Religions |location=[[Farnham|Farnham, U.K.]] and [[Burlington, Vermont]] |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]]/[[Routledge]] |series=Ashgate Inform Series on Minority Religions and Spiritual Movements |pages=81–98 |isbn=978-1-4724-1647-6 |lccn=2013019344}}</ref> especially in [[Ahmadiyya in Pakistan|Pakistan]].<ref name="Uddin 2014"/>

===Allegorical interpretation===
In reference to the Quranic quote "We have surely killed Jesus the Christ, son of Mary, the apostle of God", Ayoub asserts this boast not as the repeating of a historical lie or the perpetuating of a false report, but an example of human arrogance and folly with an attitude of contempt towards God and His messenger(s). Ayoub furthers what modern scholars of Islam interpret regarding the historical death of Jesus, the man, as man's inability to kill off God's Word and the Spirit of God, which the Quran testifies were embodied in Jesus Christ. Ayoub continues highlighting the denial of the killing of Jesus as God denying men such power to vanquish and destroy the divine Word. The words, "they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him" speaks to the profound events of ephemeral human history, exposing mankind's heart and conscience towards God's will. The claim of humanity to have this power against God is illusory. "They did not slay him...but it seemed so to them" speaks to the imaginations of mankind, not the denial of the actual event of Jesus dying physically on the cross.<ref name="Ayoub 1980"/>{{rp|117}}

==See also==
*[[Historical Jesus]]
*[[Historicity of Jesus]]
*[[Crucifixion of Jesus]]
*[[Resurrection of Jesus]]
*[[Swoon hypothesis]]
*[[Simon of Cyrene]]
*[[Unknown years of Jesus]] 
*[[Basilideans]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
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*{{cite book |last=Bruce |first=F. F. |author-link=F. F. Bruce |year=1974 |title=Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans]] |page=93 |isbn=0340158689}}
*{{cite journal |author-last=Cole |author-first=Juan |author-link=Juan Cole |date=March 2021 |title='It was made to appear to them so': the Crucifixion, Jews, and Sasanian war propaganda in the Qur'ān |editor1-last=Stausberg |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-link=Michael Stausberg |editor2-last=Engler |editor2-first=Steven |editor2-link=Steven Engler |journal=[[Religion (journal)|Religion]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=404–422 |doi=10.1080/0048721X.2021.1909170 |issn=1096-1151 |lccn=76615899 |oclc=186359943 |s2cid=233646869}}
*{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |year=2003 |title=Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsmSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=82–86 |isbn=0-19-514182-2 |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Kraemer |editor-first=Joel L. |year=1992 |title=Israel Oriental Studies |last=Gil |first=Moshe |author-link=Moshe Gil |chapter=The Creed of Abū 'Āmir |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0h9JiLDEncYC&pg=PA9 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=12 |pages=9–58 |isbn=978-90-04-09584-7 |issn=0334-4401 |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Aaron W. |author-link=Aaron W. Hughes |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmGrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |chapter=The Quran: The Base Narrative |title=Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam |page=85 |year=2013 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-53192-4 |jstor=10.7312/hugh16146.8 |s2cid=169663918 |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last=Kelhoffer |first=James A. |year=2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pN5gqU5A9noC&pg=PA80 |title=Conceptions of "Gospel" and Legitimacy in Early Christianity |location=[[Tübingen]] |publisher=[[Mohr Siebeck]] |series=Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament |volume=324 |page=80 |doi=10.1628/978-3-16-152993-1 |isbn=978-3-16-152636-7 |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Tarif |author-link=Tarif Khalidi |year=2001 |title=The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pE57rmPaM58C&pg=PA9 |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |pages=9–32 |isbn=9780674011151 |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last1=Korbel |first1=Jonathan |last2=Preckel |first2=Claudia |year=2016 |chapter=Ghulām Aḥmad al-Qādiyānī: The Messiah of the Christians—Peace upon Him—in India (India, 1908) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtY6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA426 |editor1-last=Bentlage |editor1-first=Björn |editor2-last=Eggert |editor2-first=Marion |editor3-last=Krämer |editor3-first=Hans-Martin |editor4-last=Reichmuth |editor4-first=Stefan |title=Religious Dynamics under the Impact of Imperialism and Colonialism |series=Numen Book Series |volume=154 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=426–442 |doi=10.1163/9789004329003_034 |isbn=978-90-04-32511-1 |access-date=25 October 2020}}
*{{cite journal |last=Lanier |first=Gregory R. |date=May 2016 |title="It Was Made to Appear Like that to Them:" Islam's Denial of Jesus' Crucifixion |url=https://journal.rts.edu/article/it-was-made-to-appear-like-that-to-them-islams-denial-of-jesus-crucifixion-in-the-quran-and-dogmatic-tradition/ |journal=Reformed Faith & Practice: The Journal of Reformed Theological Seminary |publisher=[[Reformed Theological Seminary]] |location=[[Orlando, Florida]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=[https://journal.rts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1.1-Final.pdf 39-55] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630042518/https://journal.rts.edu/article/it-was-made-to-appear-like-that-to-them-islams-denial-of-jesus-crucifixion-in-the-quran-and-dogmatic-tradition/ |archive-date=30 June 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last=Leirvik |first=Oddbjørn |year=2010 |title=Images of Jesus Christ in Islam |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gzd_I2AFswwC&pg=PA34 |chapter=Christ in the Qurʾān and in Ḥadīth |location=[[London]] |publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum International]] |edition=2nd |doi=10.5040/9781472548528.ch-002 |pages=34–36, 129–132 |isbn=978-1-4411-7739-1 |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last=Luttikhuizen |first=Gerard P. |author-link=Gerard Luttikhuizen |editor1-last=Bremmer |editor1-first=Jan N. |editor1-link=Jan N. Bremmer |editor2-last=Czachesz |editor2-first=István |year=2003 |title=The Apocalypse of Peter |chapter=The Suffering Jesus and The Invulnerable Christ in the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter |location=Leuven |publisher=[[Peeters (publishing company)|Peeters Publishers]] |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/10421078/c12.pdf |pages=187–200 |isbn=90-429-1375-4 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Neely |first=Brent |date=July 2017 |title=At Cross Purposes: Islam and the Crucifixion of Christ, a theological response |journal=[[Transformation (journal)|Transformation]] |location=[[Newbury Park, California]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=176–213 |doi=10.1177/0265378816631552 |jstor=90010414 |s2cid=171352591}}
*{{cite journal |last=Reynolds |first=Gabriel S. |author-link=Gabriel Said Reynolds |date=May 2009 |title=The Muslim Jesus: Dead or Alive? |url=https://www3.nd.edu/~reynolds/index_files/jesus%20dead%20or%20alive.pdf |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=237–258 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X09000500 |jstor=40379003 |s2cid=27268737 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617010816/https://www3.nd.edu/~reynolds/index_files/jesus%20dead%20or%20alive.pdf |archive-date=17 June 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=24 October 2020}}
*{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Neal |year=1991 |chapter=The Crucifixion – Non-Muslim Approaches |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht1hpisBQF0C&pg=PA106 |title=Christ in Islam and Christianity: The Representation of Jesus in the Qur'an and the Classical Muslim Commentaries |location=[[Albany, New York]] |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |pages=106–140 |isbn=978-0-7914-0558-1 |s2cid=169122179 |access-date=5 January 2021}}
*{{cite book |last=Waardenburg |first=Jean Jacques |year=2003 |title=Muslims and Others: Relations in Context |chapter=The Earliest Relations of Islam with Other Religions: The Christians in Northern Arabia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZaTKpS-9DoC&pg=PA94 |location=[[Berlin]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |series=Religion and Reason |volume=41 |pages=94–109 |doi=10.1515/9783110200959 |isbn=978-3-11-017627-8 |access-date=8 December 2020}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Khwaja Nazir |date=2012 |title=Jesus in Heaven on Earth: Journey of Jesus to Kashmir, his preaching to the Lost Tribes of Israel, and death and burial in Srinagar |url=https://aaiil.org/text/books/others/khwajanazirahmad/jesusinheavenonearth/jesusinheavenonearth.shtml |website=www.aaiil.org |publisher=[[Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement]] |location=[[London]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117072237/https://www.aaiil.org/text/books/others/khwajanazirahmad/jesusinheavenonearth/jesusinheavenonearth.shtml |archive-date=17 January 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}
*{{cite web |last=Goraya |first=Azhar Ahmad |date=2020 |url=https://www.alislam.org/articles/jesus-christ-died-natural-death/ |title=Jesus Christ died a Natural Death |website=www.alislam.org |publisher=[[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505132912/https://www.alislam.org/articles/jesus-christ-died-natural-death/ |archive-date=5 May 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}
*{{cite journal |last=Lanier |first=Gregory R. |date=May 2016 |title="It Was Made to Appear Like that to Them:" Islam's Denial of Jesus' Crucifixion |url=https://journal.rts.edu/article/it-was-made-to-appear-like-that-to-them-islams-denial-of-jesus-crucifixion-in-the-quran-and-dogmatic-tradition/ |journal=Reformed Faith & Practice: The Journal of Reformed Theological Seminary |publisher=[[Reformed Theological Seminary]] |location=[[Orlando, Florida]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=[https://journal.rts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1.1-Final.pdf 39-55] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630042518/https://journal.rts.edu/article/it-was-made-to-appear-like-that-to-them-islams-denial-of-jesus-crucifixion-in-the-quran-and-dogmatic-tradition/ |archive-date=30 June 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2021}}
*{{cite web |last1=Mordillat |first1=Gérard |last2=Prieur |first2=Jérôme |date=2015 |title=Jesus and Islam: The Crucifixion According to the Qur'an |url=https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/048641-003-A/the-crucifixion-according-to-the-qur-an/ |website=www.arte.tv |publisher=[[Arte]] |location=[[Strasbourg]] |access-date=4 November 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925044456/https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/048641-003-A/the-crucifixion-according-to-the-qur-an/ |url-status=dead }}

[[Category:Jesus in Islam]]
[[Category:Crucifixion of Jesus]]
[[Category:Christianity and Islam]]
[[Category:Denial of the crucifixion of Jesus]]
[[Category:Islam-related controversies]]
[[Category:Islamic views by topic]]
[[Category:Ascension of Jesus]]