Was Jesus Crucified? The Islamic View Explained

For Christians, the cross is the centre of everything. The apostle Paul summed up the message he had received “first of all”: “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3, KJV). So when Christians learn that the Qur’an says something different, they rightly want to know exactly what it says — and why. This article looks closely at the Qur’an’s words, at how Muslim scholars have understood them, and at the questions that remain open.

What Muslims and Christians share

Before the difference, the common ground. Both faiths agree that Jesus (peace be upon him) was a righteous man sent by God, that he was opposed by powerful people of his time, and that a plot was made against his life. Both believe that God did not abandon him, and that he is alive today with God. And both await his return. The Qur’an describes the plot and God’s response in a single verse:

وَمَكَرُوا۟ وَمَكَرَ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيْرُ ٱلْمَٰكِرِينَ ﴿٥٤﴾ إِذْ قَالَ ٱللَّهُ يَٰعِيسَىٰٓ إِنِّى مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَىَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَجَاعِلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوكَ فَوْقَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَىَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ فِيمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ ﴿٥٥﴾

⁵⁴And the disbelievers planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners. ⁵⁵[Mention] when Allah said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.

The difference lies in how God vindicated Jesus. Christians believe God raised him from the dead after he died on the cross. Muslims believe God rescued him before he could be killed.

The key passage: Qur’an 4:157-158

The Qur’an’s words come in the middle of a passage about claims made against Jesus and his mother:

وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ فِيهِ لَفِى شَكٍّۢ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا ﴿١٥٧﴾ بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًۭا ﴿١٥٨﴾

¹⁵⁷And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. ¹⁵⁸Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise.

Three points are clear in the text itself, and all Muslims agree on them. First, Jesus was not killed. Second, he was not crucified. Third, God raised him up to Himself.

Then comes a phrase that needs care: wa lakin shubbiha lahum. Literally it means “but it was made to appear so to them” or “it was made to seem like that to them”. The translation shown above adds the words [another] was made to resemble him, in brackets, because that is how many classical scholars understood it — but the brackets mark an interpretation, not the Arabic wording itself.

How classical scholars explained it

The Qur’an does not describe in detail what happened that day, and there is no well-known authentic hadith in which the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ describes it in detail. So scholars did what careful readers do: they weighed the Arabic, the context and the reports that had reached them, and they did not all reach the same conclusion.

• Someone else was made to look like Jesus. This is the best-known view, recorded by early commentators such as al-Tabari and later by Ibn Kathir. Reports differ about who this person was: some say a disciple who volunteered, others say the man who betrayed Jesus, others someone else. These reports come from early Muslims and from stories circulating at the time, not from the Prophet ﷺ himself.
• The matter itself was made unclear to them. Other scholars noted that the phrase can mean that the event was confused or obscured for those who claimed to have killed him, without saying exactly how. Some commentators, such as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, discussed the questions raised by the substitution view at length.

Scholars also discussed the word mutawaffika in 3:55, translated above as I will take you. Some understood it as God taking Jesus in sleep, and others as taking him fully, body and soul. An early report from Ibn Abbas explains it as death; many scholars understood that as a death still to come after his return, noting that the verse lists God’s promises without saying they happen in that order. Likewise, some read 4:159 as saying that the People of the Scripture will believe in Jesus before his death, after his return, while others understood his death as the death of each person.

The great majority of scholars, past and present, conclude that Jesus was raised alive, body and soul, and that he will die a natural death only after he returns. A small number of modern writers have proposed other readings, but they remain outside the mainstream. As with other details on which scholars have differed, Muslims hold firmly to what the Qur’an states and treat the rest with humility (see Where Muslims Differ, and Why It’s Okay).

His return

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spoke of Jesus coming back, and of Muslims praying alongside him:

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said "How will you be when the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you and your imam is among you

This is why Muslims read Jesus’ words in the Qur’an — peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive (Qur’an 19:33) — as including a death that is still to come.

No collective blame

The Qur’an’s words answer a particular claim. They give no licence to blame any people, then or now. The Qur’an repeats that no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another (Qur’an 6:164). Many churches have likewise rejected the old accusation that the Jewish people as a whole were guilty of Jesus’ death — a sad chapter of history that both Muslims and Christians should be glad to leave behind.

An honest difference

Some Muslims are moved by the Gospel scene in Gethsemane, where Jesus “fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39, KJV). Muslims believe God answered him with rescue. Christians read the same scene as Jesus accepting suffering for the sake of the world. Each reading flows from a whole way of understanding God and salvation.

We do not expect Christians to agree with us here, and we do not wish to wound anyone’s faith. But we hope that, by explaining what the Qur’an actually says — no more and no less — we can talk about this deep difference honestly. For the wider picture, see Who Is Jesus in Islam? and Salvation in Islam and Christianity.