Short answer
No. The Qur'an says Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. It was only made to appear so, and Allah (﷾) raised him up to Himself. Even the Gospels give weaker proof of who was on the cross than Christians suppose. The men who arrested him needed Judas's kiss to know which man he was, and his disciples ran away. Granting the New Testament Gospel story, its details leave his death in doubt. He hung only a few hours, though crucifixion was slow. Pilate was surprised to hear he was dead, and asked the centurion. The two men beside him were still alive, and his legs were not broken. Only John's Gospel, in the standard text, mentions a spear, after the soldiers had judged him dead. So even on the Gospels' own details, no one can be certain he died, and Christian faith rests on that death. Islam's answer is the Qur'an's.
Full explanation
What the Gospels say about his death
Christians hold that Jesus truly died on the cross. Mark and John say he gave up the ghost. Mark says the centurion, the Roman officer in charge of the soldiers, confirmed the death to Pilate before the body was released. John also says that a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, says that if Christ is not risen, Christian preaching and faith are in vain.
“And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.”
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”
“And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.”
“But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”
“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”
Who was on the cross?
Christians say everyone could see it was Jesus on the cross. The Gospels tell a less certain story. The men who came to arrest him at night needed a sign to know which man he was. Judas told them, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he". In Mark, his disciples all ran away, and the women watched the cross from far away. In Luke, all who knew him stood far off. Only John, the latest Gospel, puts a disciple by the cross, and he never names him. In the Gospels' account, the man on the cross had been beaten, spat on and crowned with thorns. Christians apply Isaiah's words to him: "his visage was so marred more than any man". That means his face was disfigured beyond any man's. And Luke tells of two disciples who, he says, later walked with Jesus, and "their eyes were holden that they should not know him": they were kept from knowing him. So on the Gospels' own terms, God (﷾) can keep people from knowing who is in front of them.
“And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.”
“And they all forsook him, and fled.”
“There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;”
“And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.”
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!”
“And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,”
“And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.”
“As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:”
“But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.”
God (﷾) has made people see what was not there
The Bible itself tells of God (﷾) making people see and hear what was not there. In the second book of Kings, the Lord made the Syrian army hear "a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host". They thought the king of Israel had hired the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians against them. So they fled for their lives and left their camp as it was. No such army was there. When the Syrians came for the prophet Elisha, God (﷾) struck them with blindness at his prayer. Elisha told them, "This is not the way, neither is this the city", and led them into Samaria before their eyes were opened. In Genesis, the men at Lot's door were struck with blindness, "so that they wearied themselves to find the door". So when the Qur'an says it was made to appear so to them (4:157), it describes something the Bible says God (﷾) has done before. People can be misled for a long time even without a miracle. In 1912 a skull and jaw were reported from Piltdown in England. For some forty years scholars argued over them as genuine fossils. In 1953, scientists from Oxford and the British Museum showed that the jaw came from a modern ape, stained and filed to look ancient, and that the distinguished scholars at the dig had been the victims of an elaborate hoax. If learned men can be misled for forty years by what is put before their eyes, God (﷾) can make a thing appear to people as He wills.
“For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.”
“And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.”
“And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.”
“That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of 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:-”
Shows that the Piltdown jaw is a modern ape's jaw, stained and filed to look ancient, and that the find was a deliberate forgery. It notes that the remains, reported some forty years before, had been debated all that time as genuine fossils, and that the distinguished palaeontologists and archaeologists who took part in the excavations were the victims of a most elaborate and carefully prepared hoax.
How long crucifixion took
Crucifixion was built to be a slow death. Mark has Jesus on the cross from the third hour to the ninth, about six hours. Josephus was a Jewish historian of the first century. He records three men he knew who were taken down from their crosses alive on the order of Titus, the Roman general. One of them recovered.
Gathers the ancient Greek and Latin evidence on crucifixion and shows that it was a deliberately cruel and drawn-out way to die, used above all for slaves, rebels and violent criminals.
“And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.”
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Josephus writes that, sent by Titus to a village called Thekoa, he saw many captives crucified on his way back and recognised three men he knew. He asked Titus for them, and Titus ordered them taken down and given the greatest care. Two died under the physicians' hands; the third recovered.
Taken down early, legs unbroken
In Mark, Pilate, the Roman governor, was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He had to ask the centurion. In John, the soldiers broke the legs of the two men crucified with him, which shows those men were still alive. They did not break his legs, because they judged him dead already.
“And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.”
“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:”
The spear
Only John tells of the spear. Mark, Matthew and Luke describe the same hour and say nothing of it. A few early copies of Matthew also have a spear thrust. Textual scholars, who compare the old copies of the Gospels, judge that it was copied in from John. In John, the spear comes after the soldiers had already decided that Jesus was dead. So it does not show how they reached that judgement.
“But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”
“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:”
Even on the Gospels' own account
- The Qur'an says Jesus was neither killed nor crucified: it was only made to appear so. The points that follow grant the Gospel story just for the sake of argument.
- Crucifixion was a slow death, yet Mark has him on the cross for only about six hours.
- Pilate “marvelled if he were already dead”, and had to ask the centurion.
- The two men crucified with him were still alive, so the soldiers broke their legs. They did not break his.
- Only John tells of the spear, and in John it comes after the soldiers had already judged him dead.
- The historian Josephus records three men taken down from their crosses alive. One of them recovered.
What the Qur'an says
The Qur'an says Jesus was neither killed nor crucified, and that it was made to appear so. It says those who differ over it are full of doubts, following only conjecture, which means guesswork. Allah (﷾) raised him up to Himself. The Qur'an does not deny that people believed he was crucified. It says it was made to appear so to them. So the belief itself is what the verse describes, and it cannot disprove the verse. The Gospels' own uncertain evidence, on who was on the cross and on whether he died, fits that verse. They do not even agree on the hour. Mark says he was crucified at the third hour. But John has him still before Pilate about the sixth hour. Jesus' own sign, the sign of Jonah, was of a man who did not die. The Qur'an says the same of Jesus: he was neither killed nor crucified, and Allah (﷾) raised him up. See the page on the sign of Jonah.
“That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of 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:-”
“Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-”
“And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.”
“And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!”
“But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Verse by verse
Mark 14:49 — Gospel of Mark, chapter 14, verse 49
“I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.”
Cited for
Jesus taught in the temple every day, so the priests and the crowds knew his face. No one could have taken another man for him.
The response
Then why did the men sent to arrest him need Judas's kiss to point him out? They still needed a sign to be sure of the right man. The Qur'an does not say people made a careless mistake. It says Allah (﷾) made it appear so to them. Against that, knowing his face would not settle it.
Where it lands — The men who arrested him still needed a sign, and knowing a face cannot settle what Allah (﷾) made to appear.
John 19:25-26 — Gospel of John, chapter 19, verses 25-26
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!”
Cited for
John says his mother and the disciple he loved stood by the cross, so those closest to him saw that it was Jesus.
The response
In Mark, the disciples all ran away when he was arrested, and the women watched from far away. Luke says all who knew him stood far off. Only John, the latest of the four Gospels, puts his mother, other women and one disciple by the cross. He never names that disciple. And the Qur'an's answer covers those near and far alike: it was made to appear so to them.
Where it lands — One late Gospel puts an unnamed disciple by the cross; in the earlier ones his followers fled or watched from far away.
Mark 15:44-45 — Gospel of Mark, chapter 15, verses 44-45
“And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.”
Cited for
A Roman centurion, who knew death when he saw it, confirmed that Jesus was dead, and only then did Pilate release the body.
The response
Mark records first that Pilate was surprised. A death after a few hours was not what a governor expected from a cross. The same soldiers judged Jesus dead while the two men beside him were still alive enough to need their legs broken.
Where it lands — Mark's Gospel itself records that the governor was surprised Jesus was dead so soon, and the only check was one soldier's word.
John 19:34 — Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 34
“But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”
Cited for
The spear thrust made his death certain.
The response
Only John's Gospel, in the standard text, records the spear. Mark and Luke describe the same hour and say nothing of it. In Mark, the governor himself marvelled that Jesus was dead so soon. John says the soldiers had already judged him dead before the thrust.
Where it lands — One Gospel's report of a spear, after the soldiers had already judged him dead, adds nothing to a death that surprised the governor.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians believe Jesus died on the cross on the Friday and rose in his body on the Sunday. They say the Gospels and Paul teach both, and that Christian faith rests on them.
The Gospels state that Jesus gave up the ghost on the cross.
Rebuttal
The Qur'an says it was only made to appear so. The Gospels record what people believed they saw. Even on their own account, the governor was surprised he was dead so soon.
A Roman centurion confirmed the death to Pilate before the body was given to Joseph.
Rebuttal
In Mark, the governor was surprised to hear he was dead so soon. Mark gives only the centurion's word. In John, the soldiers found the two men beside him still alive.
John records that a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out.
Rebuttal
Only John records the spear. Mark and Luke say nothing of it. The soldiers had already judged him dead before it came, so it is not how they decided he was dead.
Paul teaches that the Christian faith is vain if Christ did not rise from the dead.
Rebuttal
Paul makes everything rest on the rising, and a rising needs a death. Yet the Gospels' own details leave that death in doubt, and the Qur'an denies it.
The Gospels read on their own terms
The Islamic position is that Jesus was not crucified. This argument grants the New Testament Gospel story for argument's sake. Even then, the Gospels' own details leave it uncertain that he died. Ahmed Deedat, a Muslim preacher, pressed this case in a public debate in Durban in 1981.
In Mark, Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was dead after a few hours. He had to ask the centurion.
In John, the two men crucified with him were still alive, since the soldiers broke their legs. Jesus' legs were not broken.
Crucifixion was a slow death, and at least one man taken down from a cross is recorded as having survived.
Only John records the spear, and in John it comes after the soldiers had already judged him dead.
Taken together, the Gospels' own details leave it uncertain that Jesus died on the cross.
The Islamic perspective
Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. It was made to appear so, and Allah (﷾) raised him up to Himself. The doubts in the Gospels' own record are what the Qur'an describes.
The Qur'an teaches that Jesus was not killed or crucified, and that Allah (﷾) raised him to Himself.
The Qur'an does not deny that people believed Jesus was crucified. It says it was made to appear so to them. So the belief is what the verse describes, not evidence against it.
The men who arrested Jesus needed Judas's kiss to know which man he was. In Mark his disciples all ran away. In Luke all who knew him watched from far away.
The Bible says God (﷾) made the Syrian army hear a great host that was not there. He struck men with blindness, so that they did not see what was in front of them.
The Qur'an says those who differ over his death are full of doubts and follow only conjecture.