Shabir Ally’s argument that Jesus was put on the cross but didn’t die doesn’t seem to be attracting many supporters. He seems to be the only Muslim apologist arguing like this these days. However, there are some new slick Muslim arguments against the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. For those Christians out there who don’t know, Muslims deny the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Even atheist, agnostic, and Jewish historians and scholars will say that Jesus died by crucifixion. Even better, we have the entire New Testament narrative from the first century which gives us a clear unambiguous testimony to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Give the Muslims credit though, they’ve come up with a new set of arguments. They aren’t good arguments but they’re clever arguments. Zakir Hussain used them in his debate against James White and I’ve heard other Muslims use them recently. They’re getting around.
It goes like this:
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed to the Father to save him from death. According to Hebrews 5:7 his prayer to save himself from death was heard. Therefore, the Father saved Jesus from death and he didn’t die on the cross.
I’m obviously paraphrasing the argument. If a Muslim wants to rephrase the argument, he’s welcome to do so in the comments section, but I think this is a pretty good summary of this new argument.
Let’s look at Hebrews 5:7 first. The verse reads:
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Jesus offered up prayers and was heard. The thing that most people overlook is that it doesn’t identify what the prayers of Jesus were. God is the one who was able to save Him from death. That is obvious, but the prayers are never identified. Christians and Muslims pray to the one who can save us from death every day, although we don’t necessarily pray to be saved from death. It should also be pointed out that Hebrews mentions the death of Jesus in several places. One such place that mentions the death and resurrection is Hebrews 13:20 which reads:
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
I actually have an entire post on this one verse.
But there is still the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane recorded in the synoptic Gospels. What do we do with that? The prayer is mentioned in all three Gospels so I will use Matthew for the sake of simplicity. Matthew 26:39 reads:
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Is Jesus praying to be saved from death? Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him if possible. In other words, only if it was within the Father’s plan for Him not to die. Even at the end of the prayer it finishes with “not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus wants the will of the Father to be done over His own, whether that includes Him dying or not. That is made clear by Jesus in this prayer.
However, one last anticipated objection remains. As Christians or Muslims, how do we know the Father willed for Jesus to die and not be saved from death? Fortunately, the Apostle Peter gives us the clear answer in the book of Acts. In Acts 2:22-23, we read the words of Peter:
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Peter clearly tells us the plan of God, which was that Jesus was never to be saved from death. He died by crucifixion and there is no way out of this. Saying that Jesus didn’t die on the cross is as historical as saying that Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo.
Christians always make the mistake to defend the Biblical account without questioning the Quranic one.
First, does the Quran really denies the Crucifixion? It says “THEY slew him not, nor crucified him…”, not “HE wasn’t slain nor crucified…”. And something quite curious, there is not a single “authentic” saying of Muhammad or any of his companions on the matter of the Crucifixion. Why? Muslims will respond “Our scholars are unanimous that the meaning of Sura 4:157 is that Jesus escaped death and crucifixion, so your argument doesn’t hold water!” But there’s another problem- if you look at the commentaries of Islamic scholars on the Quran (Ibn Kathir, Al Qurtubi, Al Jalalayn, Ibn Abbas, etc.), they all give different accounts of what exactly happened. And they don’t mention their sources. And none of these stories could be traced to a period, earlier than the 8th century.
Second, what about Sura 3:169, which says “Think not of those who are slain in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are living!”, meaning that the intended effect of those who killed people in God’s way was not achieved, as martyrs were remembered more as a result of their death than for their life. Sura 8:17 says that “…It was not you Muslims who slew them, but Allah did it”, referring to a battle the Muslims fought and reminding them that Allah was fully in control of the victory.
The most consistent explanation of Sura 4:157 in the light of these other verses is that the Jews were unable to boast that they had killed Jesus because Allah had a divinely sovereign control.
*really deny the Crucifixion
Hi,
Here’s a post that I have on this.
http://allanruhl.com/the-great-irony-of-surah-4157/
I have another one but I’m having trouble finding it. I have quite a few posts on this issue, lol.