Who died instead of Jesus?
A Brief Description of the Question:
Who died instead of Jesus?
The Answer:
Chapter an-Nisa, verse 157:
"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.
According to the Gospel of Barnabas and some Christians, Jesus was not killed by crucifixion. Allah made someone, probably Judas, who informed against him, resemble Jesus; and the Jews crucified him. (Najjar, Qisasu'l-Anbiya, p. 403,448 ff.; Ibn Ashur, V, 22)
The Gospel of Barnabas, which contains one of the most important resources containing the knowledge about the issue, belongs to Saint Barnabas, the cousin of Mark, one of the disciples of Jesus. This gospel was forbidden because it was contrary to the official Christianity formed by councils and affected by St Paul; it was kept secretly by some priests of high rank and was given to Vienna Library in 1738; then, it was translated into several languages.
According to the explicit and definite expression of the Quran, Jesus is a prophet (4/171); and he was not killed by crucifixion by his enemies. Allah protected His prophet from them; He removed Jesus and raised him to His presence. One of the meanings of the expression "so it was made to appear to them and those who differ therein are full of doubts" in verse 157 of the chapter of an-Nisa is to make them doubt.
According to the first meaning, the informer was made to appear to them as Jesus and was killed by crucifixion. According to the second meaning, they did not kill Jesus by crucifixion; they themselves disagreed about it and doubted whether they killed him or not. It is possible to understand the expression "for of a surety they killed him not" at the end of verse 157 of the chapter of an-Nisa in two ways:
1. "Those who claimed to have killed him do not have definite information regarding the issue."This meaning confirms the second meaning of the simile.
2,"It is certain that they could not kill him." This meaning confirms the meaning of the simile as"to resemble, to mistake somebody for somebody."
(See Diyanet Tefsiri, Kur’an Yolu, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Yayınları: II/136-137)
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