The eternal nature of the Son of God

The Nicene Creed uses the term “begotten” not “made” to clarify Jesus’ origin. This means that He was not created as the angels were. Here we have the eternal nature of the Sonship of Christ. He was the Son of God before time began. “No-one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known,” writes John (John 1:18). Jesus himself prays in His High Priestly prayer, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). Also in 1 John 4:9 we read: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” In John 1:1,14, the terms “Logos” or “Word” and “only Son” are applied to the same person.

Isa was not crucified or raised from the dead

Only one verse in the Quran explicitly addresses Isa’s crucifixion, and even that verse is ambiguous as to whether Isa suffered death by crucifixion or not. According to sura 4:157-158, “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.”

The traditional Muslim interpretation of this verse is that the Jews tried to kill Isa but were unable to do so. Quranic translator Yusuf Ali explains in a footnote: “The Quranic teaching is that Christ was not crucified nor killed by the Jews, notwithstanding certain apparent circumstances which produced that illusion in the minds of some of his enemies⁷¹”. Muhammad would not have understood the meaning of the crucifixion: that Jesus died on the cross to provide salvation so that a person’s sins might be forgiven, reconciling us to God and giving us the assurance of eternal life.

A hadith says that God substituted someone else in Isa’s place who appeared to be Isa. A detail of the story recounts Isa hiding in a niche in a wall and one of his companions being killed in his place.”⁷² Instead of being crucified, they claim, Isa was eventually taken up to heaven. It is not clear whom they believe God substituted, but there are many theories, such as Judas, one of the disciples, Simon of Cyrene, a criminal, etc. The so-called “Gospel of Barnabas” (see appendix), which is an Islamic apologetic document, claims that Judas Iscariot was crucified in place of Jesus. The Ahmadiyya movement believes that Isa survived the crucifixion, migrated to India and eventually died a natural death.

It is possible that the ancient Christian heresy of Docetism has influenced Islam. The Docetics believed that Jesus only “seemed” to be physical and to suffer in His body. His suffering was only an illusion. Such tendencies find echoes in some of the apocryphal gospels. According to the second century Gospel of Peter, on the cross Jesus “was silent, since he felt no pain”, and at the end “the Lord cried out, saying, ‘My power, my power, you have left me’. And when he spoke he was taken up”. The Biblical Gospels however emphatically affirm that Jesus “gave up his spirit” and died.

The Acts of John, dating from about the middle of the second century, claims that Jesus appeared to John in a cave during the crucifixion and said, “John, unto the multitude below in Jerusalem I am being crucified and pierced with lances and reeds, and gall and vinegar is given me to drink. But unto thee I speak”. And later it says, “Nothing, therefore of the things which they will say of me have I suffered … I was pierced, yet I was not smitten; hanged, and I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me, and it flowed not”. The ambiguity as to whether Jesus was slain on the cross and died in these heretical and sectarian writings bears a close resemblance to the Quranic ambiguity regarding the crucifixion and death of Jesus, even though the Quran states explicitly only that the Jews did not kill Jesus.

Muslims view the crucifixion as a defeat. If they believed Isa was crucified it would mean that he established no earthly kingdom and achieved no success; he would have no followers and no legacy. Muslims also see crucifixion – to be nailed to the cross – as worthy only of a criminal, a disgrace which could never have happened to an honoured prophet.

Isa ascended into heaven

Even though the Quran denies Isa to be the Son of God, it does concede that Isa ascended into heaven. “Allah raised him up unto himself” (sura 4:158). In the context of this verse, it apparently makes this claim to support its own view of Isa escaping his crucifixion. In another verse from the Quran, “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’” (sura 3:55). Here, God raises Isa to heaven, but only after first causing him to die.

According to the Muslim commentator al-Tabari, Isa did not die but ascended body and soul to heaven while someone else died in his place. Tabari reports a story from tradition recounting a day when Isa was together with seventeen disciples and the Jews came to the house where they were gathered. The Jews were intent on killing him but Isa’s image was implanted on all his disciples. The Jews were bewildered and demanded, “Show us which one is Isa or we will kill all of you”. Isa asked his disciples, “Which one of you will win paradise for his soul today?” The faithful disciple who responded to Isa’s appeal retained the image of Isa, while the rest were restored to their original appearance. This faithful disciple was crucified by the Jews, while God took Isa to heaven. ⁷³

Isa will come again

One day Isa will come again (sura 43:61): “A Sign for the coming of the Hour of Judgement: therefore have no doubt about the Hour but follow ye Me: this is a Straight Way.” In Islam the coming again of Isa will be one of the main signs of the last days. He is presented as an eschatological figure who has an important role to play in the end times.

Muslims believe that Isa will descend to earth to the Isa minaret of the large Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. This was originally the Christian Cathedral in Damascus, which was demolished and rebuilt as a mosque by a Muslim caliph in 709-715. Isa will come as a Muslim warrior to destroy Christianity and Judaism and will establish Islam as the only religion in the world. He will fight all its enemies (including the Antichrist al-Dajjal).

A hadith says, “Narrated Abu Hurayrah: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is Isa (peace be upon him). He will descend (to the earth). When you see him, recognise him: a man of medium height, reddish fair, wearing two light yellow garments, looking as if drops were falling down from his head though it will not be wet. He will fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill swine, and abolish jizya. Allah will perish all religions except Islam. He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray over him.” ⁷⁴

To “break the cross” means to destroy Christianity. Pigs are associated with Christians, as both Muslims and Jews consider them unclean, and the killing of the pigs also refers to the destruction of Christianity. Under Islamic law the humiliating poll-tax (jizya) is paid by subjugated Christians and Jews to protect them from jihad. The abolition of the poll-tax signifies the revival of jihad against Christians and Jews, who will face the choice of converting to Islam or being killed.