Short answer
No. The Qur'an says his enemies did not kill him and did not crucify him. It was only made to appear so to them. God (﷾) raised him up to Himself, and he will return before the Last Day. The Bible, read closely, does not prove otherwise. On the night of his arrest, Jesus prayed three times that the cup might pass from him. The Bible says he prayed to the One able to save him from death, and he was heard. The Law of Moses calls a hanged man cursed by God (﷾), but the Qur'an says Jesus is honoured in this world and the next. The four Gospels also disagree on the hour and the last words. His disciples had fled, and only John puts one of them near the cross. Islam's answer is the Qur'an's: God (﷾) raised Jesus up alive.
Full explanation
What the Qur'an says happened
The Qur'an says his enemies boasted of killing the Messiah. But they did not kill him and did not crucify him. It was made to appear so to them, and those who argue about it follow guesswork. God (﷾) raised him up to Himself, as He had promised him. The Qur'an does not deny that people saw a crucifixion. It says that what they saw was not what they thought.
“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;-”
“Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.”
What Christians believe
Christians believe something different. They hold that Jesus was put to death on the cross for the sins of the world, was buried, and rose on the third day. Paul, a Christian missionary of the first century, calls this the first thing he handed on. The Gospels narrate the death.
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he 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.”
Who wrote the accounts
So how reliable are the Gospel accounts? None of the four Gospels names its writer. Luke says he wrote from what the eyewitnesses (people who saw it) handed down, so he was not one of them. Mark says that at the arrest all the disciples left him and fled. Mark, Matthew and Luke put his followers far off at the cross. Only John puts a disciple beside it. Most critical scholars (scholars who study the Bible as history) hold that none of the Gospels was written by an eyewitness.
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,”
“And they all forsook him, and fled.”
Sets out the view held by most critical scholars: the four Gospels were written anonymously, decades after Jesus, by people who were not eyewitnesses, and the names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were attached later.
The Gospels disagree about the day itself
The four accounts also differ on the day itself. Mark puts the crucifixion at the third hour. John has Jesus still before Pilate (the Roman governor), not yet sentenced, at about the sixth hour. In Mark the women only ever watch from far away, and his mother is not there. John alone has her standing by the cross with the other women, close enough to be spoken to. Matthew, Luke and John give three different last words.
“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 they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.”
“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;”
“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 about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he 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.”
| Gospel | Where they stood | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Mark 15:40 | “looking on afar off” | Women, among them Mary Magdalene |
| Matthew 27:55 | “beholding afar off” | Many women |
| Luke 23:49 | “stood afar off” | All who knew him, and the women from Galilee |
| John 19:25-26 | “by the cross”, close enough to be spoken to | His mother, Mary Magdalene and the disciple he loved |
In Mark, all the disciples had fled when he was arrested.
Even on the Gospels' own account
The Qur'an has already said what happened: he was neither killed nor crucified. But grant the Gospels their own story for argument's sake. Pilate marvelled that he was already dead after a few hours. The soldiers did not break his legs. So even on their own details, the Gospels cannot prove that the man on the cross died.
“And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.”
“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:”
“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:-”
He prayed to be saved, and he was heard
On the night of his arrest, in a place called Gethsemane, Jesus asked that the cup pass from him, if it were possible. The cup meant the suffering ahead of him. He returned to pray three times. Before the tomb of his friend Lazarus he had said that God (﷾) hears him always. The Letter to the Hebrews says he prayed with tears to the One who could save him from death, and that he was heard. He asked to be spared the cup, not to be raised after it, and his prayer was heard.
“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”
“And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”
“And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”
Cursed by the Law, or honoured by God (﷾)
The Law of Moses says that a man hanged on a tree is accursed of God (﷾). Paul does not deny it. He says Christ was made a curse. The Qur'an says the opposite of Jesus. He is held in honour in this world and the Hereafter (the life after death), and is among those nearest to God (﷾).
“His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.”
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
“Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;”
He is alive, and he will return
The Qur'an calls Jesus a sign of the coming of the Hour (the Last Day). The Prophet (ﷺ) swore that the son of Mary will come down again as a just ruler, and that he will break the cross. Islam's answer is the Qur'an's: God (﷾) raised Jesus up alive, and he will return.
“And (Jesus) shall be a Sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of Judgment): therefore have no doubt about the (Hour), but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way.”
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) swore that the son of Mary will soon descend among the Muslims as a just ruler. He will break the cross, kill the swine and end the jizya, and wealth will be so plentiful that no one will accept it. Abu Huraira then recited Qur'an 4:159: none of the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death.
“Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise;-”
Verse by verse
Hebrews 5:7 — Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 7
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;”
Cited for
Christians read "was heard" as God answering Jesus by raising him after he had died.
The response
In Gethsemane Jesus asked that the cup pass from him, and he returned to pray three times. John records him saying that God (﷾) hears him always. Hebrews says he prayed to the One able to save him from death, and was heard. What he asked for was to be spared the cup, not to be raised after drinking it. That is the prayer Hebrews says was heard.
Where it lands — The words of Hebrews 5:7 describe a prayer to be saved from death that God (﷾) heard. The Qur'an says how it was answered: God (﷾) raised him to Himself.
Matthew 12:39-40 — Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, verses 39-40
“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.”
Cited for
Christians read the sign of Jonah as the time Jesus would spend in the tomb before he rose.
The response
Jesus told his critics that the only sign they would be given was the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah was alive when he was swallowed, alive when he prayed inside the fish, and alive when he came out. Christians hold that Jesus was dead in the tomb. The sign Jesus chose is a man who stays alive.
Where it lands — On its own terms, the sign of Jonah points to a living Jesus, not a dead one.
Galatians 3:13 — Epistle to the Galatians, chapter 3, verse 13
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
Cited for
Christians read this as Christ willingly taking the curse of the Law on himself, so that others would be freed from it.
The response
Paul accepts that the Law names the man hanged on a tree accursed of God (﷾). The Qur'an says God (﷾) honoured Jesus in this world and the Hereafter. The Christian account needs God's (﷾) own Law to curse His Messiah. The Qur'an's account does not.
Where it lands — The curse belongs to the Christian account of the cross. The Qur'an's Jesus was never under it.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
Christians believe that Jesus was put to death on the cross as a sacrifice for sin, and rose bodily on the third day. This is the centre of the Christian faith.
Paul writes that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.
Rebuttal
Granted: Paul wrote this, and it is the heart of Christian belief. But Paul says he passed on what he had "received", and he never says he saw the crucifixion. The Qur'an says it was made to appear so to them, and God (﷾) raised Jesus up to Himself.
The Gospels narrate the death of Jesus on the cross and record his last words.
Rebuttal
Granted: the Gospels tell of a crucifixion, and the Qur'an does not deny that people saw one. But his disciples had fled, the women watched from far off, and the Gospels disagree on the hour and the last words. What people saw was not what they thought.
The Islamic perspective
Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. It was made to appear so, and God (﷾) raised him alive to Himself. He will return before the Last Day. Even the Gospels' own details cannot prove that the man on the cross died.
The Qur'an states that they did not kill him and did not crucify him. God (﷾) raised him up to Himself.
The classical commentators report that the likeness of Jesus was cast on another man, who was crucified in his place.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that the son of Mary will descend again and break the cross.
Jesus prayed in Gethsemane for the cup to pass from him. Hebrews says his prayer to the One able to save him from death was heard.
The Law calls a hanged man accursed of God (﷾). The Qur'an calls Jesus honoured and near to God (﷾).
Even on the Gospels' own story, Pilate marvelled that the man on the cross was dead so soon, and his legs were not broken. So their details cannot prove that he died.
The Gospels disagree on the hour of the crucifixion and on where the women stood. They disagree on the last words of the man on the cross.
Luke was not an eyewitness, and the disciples fled at the arrest. Only John places one at the cross. Most critical scholars hold that no Gospel was written by an eyewitness.