Islam3 'Crucifixion' [Abdessalami]

" They neither killed him, nor crucified him; but he was resembled for them (Sorat: Women, Ayat:155) "

Introduction

It is perfectly normal that the Christians believed in the "fact" that Jesus had been crucified. I would have done the same if I were living before the age of the prophet Mohammad (May peace of Allah be upon him). After the Holy Qur'an has revealed the whole truth, nobody has the right, any more, to keep believing in crucifixion. It turned to be a total heretical belief. Jesus himself will break the Cross and urge people to believe in the authentic religion of God which is but ISLAM because he, himself, is a Muslim. This page will talk about the story from the appropriate beginning and how things develop in people's brains to think that Jesus was unquestionably crucified. I admit that it is not easy for a Christian, who was breast-fed the idea of crucifixion, to suddenly cease to believe in it unless she or he is persuaded and convinced that what the church thought and taught is not exact. In order to understand why the Christians believed in crucifixion in the very far past and why they should give up believing in that now, the story should begin from a very far back point in time. I hope, if you are seeking the truth, to be patient and go on until the end. If eventually you were not convinced, you'd at least have an idea about how things could be seen from a different perspective and perhaps the entire issue incites you to more research.

Prelude

To tackle this subject in the most accurate way, let's first have a look at the history faith in relation to Jews. I think the miracles which happened preparing the coming of Jesus Christ are worth studying. Jesus (May peace be on him) is the son of Mary the daughter of Imran. Mary's mother was from a family which for long ago used to take care of the Temple where people performed their prayers as they were revealed to them by Moses. She was born after her mother implored and beseeched God to give her offspring who could take care of the temple after her dead. She had in mind a male baby. At those days only men could carry out that job. But when God answered her request, she was a bit dissatisfied for the baby was not a male and the female is not like the male in bearing the tough duty of the Temple. God, who knows everything, did that on purpose?

Miracles Vs Materialism

The Jews at those days were already far away from the original teachings of Moses because they had broken up with God and forgot about their spirituality. They turned out to be more materialists for the Jews are materialistic by nature. They used to believe that everything has got a logical cause to exist. "Two" is only the result of the addition of "one" to "one". They couldn't trust in the things which happen without a clear obvious cause. The coming of Mary was on purpose. God just wanted to show the Jews that their logic is sometimes out of point. The male is not necessarily the only one able to care about the worshipping matters. Girls could do the same and sometimes better. Another message sent to the Jews in general and the Imran family, in particular, is that the female will bear their salvation. Through her, God intended to show them that only God could do things that nobody else can do or even explain. They didn't understand that but later when Mary gave birth to Jesus things began to get clearer for the wisest of them. But generally speaking the coming of Jesus in that miraculous way may convince those materialist oriented brains of the people of Israel. Unfortunately the Jews as always were cursed so they didn't believe just like their ancestors who used to contradict Moses (May peace of Allah be on him) every time he showed them the power of God through a multitude of miracles.

Moses had been assisted by lots of miracles which manifestly showed that only God could do those things and for the Jews to spurn their arrogance to eventually believe in God but they didn't. Moses' hand could turn white and his stick could change into a snake (a real one). He also could make a dead man wake up to talk about his assassin and he could punish the Pharaoh with nine more powers God had given him. The Jews were present when all these things happened. The most important miracle, however, was when Moses saved them from the Egyptians by making a way through the red sea when he hit it with its stick. They also witnessed the angel coming down with a horse to drag the Pharaoh into the sea to be chastised. (Samiri* at least saw the horse and used the earth of Her foot steps for their Calf)
The other miracle which the Jews eye witnessed is when Moses hit the stone with his stick and twelve sources (after the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel) of water sprang. Every tribe could have their own spring where from they could drink.
Immediately after they had been saved they passed by some people worshiping a doll. At that time they asked Moses to make them a doll of their own to worship. Of course Moses refused but they made one (the calf) in his absence.
When Moses was summoned to climb up the mountain for forty days to bring them the written boards, the Jews chose the calf, they made of the Gold stolen from the Egyptians, for worship. They couldn't bear in mind to worship a God they couldn't see.
When Moses used to supply them with the Manna, they couldn't bear it for a long time, so they alerted him that they were fed up with that sort of food (which origin they didn't know) and longed for what the soil provided.

What these people couldn't bear in mind is to worship a God they couldn't see. One day they even asked Moses that they want to see God. It was not possible; Moses himself asked if he could see God, just to stop the Jews from claiming seeing God now and then. God the almighty showed that it was impossible. When God "approached" a huge mountain, the latter was smashed. The idea is that the obstinate Jews were eager to see God properly but because this is impossible God gave them hints or miracles which manifest indirectly his existence. In other words, the Jews could see God through those miracles. Nevertheless, these stubborn people are not satisfied because their materialistic view to things around them is so rooted in them to the extent that those miracles strange as they were, they were not enough to convince him. The messengers of God always come to them with miracles or proofs that God exists and he is able to do the things that don't obey the law of nature. Despite all those miracles, they didn't believe and they said: "Our hearts are hardened" (Qur'an). So they began a war against the messengers of God, They disbelieved some and they murdered the others. I mentioned these events briefly just to arrive at the conclusion that the coming of Jesus should be a shock to them to wake them from the purely materialistic mode of life they had chosen for themselves.

Zachariah is given John.

The story of God's education of the people of Israel resumes again and again. God the almighty wants to give these people all the grounds to believe or else they will have no justifications or evidence that they were not warned and shown the right way (which they every time reject deliberately) once they go to Hell in the Hereafter. Because of their 'hardened hearts', their punishment will be reasonable and attested. All the messengers, then, will take witnesses over them of their phony pride and absolute blind arrogance.

The beginning, in this phase, was with Mary who was born after her mother was almost ninety years old. This, in the mentality of materialists, is impossible. The next is when Zachariah adopted her; he used to find that she was receiving food, the origin of which is unknown to him. He got astounded and asked her where she got that food from. When she answered that God "feed" people without expense, he began to think seriously that spirituality and purity from sins surely pays off. Hence he skeptically implored God, the most Gracious, to give him a baby to evaluate if it is true that God "can" do things that don't obey the laws of cause and effect. God, at his astonishment, answered his request positively and sent him the glad tiding that he surely would have a new born baby called "John". Because it was hard for him to absorb that, he tried to "remind" God that he, Zachariah, is very old and his wife is barren; so how?!... God's orders are beyond the laws of nature and beyond what people can realize. If He wants something done, He just says to it, "Be" and it IS. Despite all, these people carry on with their stubbornness and refused to admit that there's only one God they had to worship. Zachariah, at least, was an honorable man that God had praised because he was not like the others, wrong-doers. They not only killed and slain the messengers of God but they also hated Gabriel who is an angel.

"Who is an enemy to Allah, and His angels and his messengers and Gabriel and Michael! Then, Lo! Allah (Himself) is an enemy to the disbelievers" (Qur'an)

Afterwards, and when the time of Jesus came, God sent his messenger to bring her the glad tidings that she was having a baby soon, a word of God, and his name would be Jesus the Messiah. This son would be the climax. Zachariah's case would be accepted, but how these hard-headed people could believe that a woman could give birth to a baby without a man?! It was very hard for them to assimilate and it was harder for Mary to explain to them. So the baby talked to them and told them that he was sent by God to remind them of all the things the previous messengers brought unto them and they have destroyed and forgot. As always, the things they couldn't explain materially are not acceptable so they accused the saint Mary of adultery. They said that it was Joseph the carpenter who was the father. Christians long after that did worse when they said that Jesus was God's son:

"And they say: Allah hath taken unto Himself a son. Be He glorified! Nay, but whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth is His. All are subservient unto Him. The originator of the Heavens and the earth! When He decreeth a thing He saith unto it only: Be! And it is."(Qur'an)

This is a testimony against the Christians who still believe that Jesus is God's unique son. Before the Qur'an was delivered, it was almost normal to believe in that. Why does Allah send messengers from time to time?! It is simply to correct the false beliefs. But now that God, the almighty, explains everything, it would be pure deviation to think in the same way. While hard hearted Jews couldn't bear in mind that things could happen without a logical explanation when it is a matter of miracles. The Christians on the other hand believe in miracles without even making between what is a real miracle and what is simple heresy and foolishness. Crucifixion which the Christians insist on its being the most important miracle is not so at all because Jesus at the end was not the crucified. It was another person who resembles him. The semblance was so indistinguishable that it was impossible for the disciples to make the difference. That's why they thought Jesus was crucified, whereas at that time of crucifixion Jesus was somewhere else safe and sound.

As we can see here the miracles of God had created two opposite extremist attitudes. The first is that of the disbelievers who the Jews are. They never accepted the sign of the existence of God through the extraordinary miracles they had witnessed. They insisted on seeing God. Because of their negative response to miracles, it is clear that they would hardly believe even in case they saw God (Jahratan). Their materialistic nature impedes them from believing. The other type of attitude is that of Christians who never bother questioning if the miracle is a true one or it is fabricated by their own imagination and beliefs. These people exaggerate in creating the miracles even from those normal events that could happen to any one of us. Some of them endeavour to extract from the Bible prophecies of futile events that happen nowadays.

What about Crucifixion?

"And when there cometh unto them that which they know (to be the truth), they disbelieve therein. The curse of Allah is on disbelievers"(Qur'an)

From what has been stated before, I guess there is no need to tell the story but to just talk about it. The Jews who used to disbelieve some of God's messengers and kill the others didn't really appreciate what Jesus preached. As they were hard-headed with Abraham, David, Solomon, and Moses to name only but a few, they were worse with Jesus. The latter showed them the miracles of God first through his birth and afterwards by healing many diseases as well as waking up the dead all with God's permission. The Jews, who refused miracles before, still persist in refusing all that connected to God's teachings. Finally they decided to kill Jesus so they informed on him. The Romans followed him where he was but they didn't find him. They found another one, instead. This one resembled him very much. They mistook him for Jesus and crucified him. The Jews were happy they witnessed the crucifixion of their enemy. Whereas his disciples were really very sad and they scattered in the earth telling people the story. The disciples themselves couldn't make the difference. That's why they believed in the crucifixion. Any one else present would swear it was Jesus who was crucified. But Jesus had been removed from earth. Years after the event people still believed that Jesus was crucified because nobody explained them what had really happened. They continued believing without even making some thinking efforts. Could a father, according to their beliefs, let his son down in those trying moments? Why God didn't save his "son"?!

All in all, because they only believed in what they see, it was difficult for Jews to reject the concrete for abstract assumptions. After this incident the Christians came out of the web of Judaism. They believed in the "fact" that Jesus was crucified which the Jewish people reject firmly in order not to be accused of treason. But they are converging on all the other details. Both are going astray. I think that there are pure Jewish people who are true to themselves and believe in God and the same thing can be said about the Christians. This category of people meets with Muslims on all sides. In the Qur'an these people are talked about. God likes them very well and appraises them.

To close, Jesus (May peace be on him) has never been crucified. This is the truth that God the Almighty tells in the Qur'an transmitted to us all through the prophet that all the previous messengers of God respect and venerate even before his birth. Mohammad (May peace of Allah be upon him and all the other prophets) is the last messenger through whom we eventually get to know the truth. Muslims thus couldn't tell but the truth because they MUST believe in all the prophets without exception. They have nothing against the Jews or the Christians except for what they say about the messengers of God Moses and Jesus. Muslims like both more than the Jews and Christians do. They have been taught to believe in them and respect them if they want that Allah absolve their sins.

"And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided. Say (O Mohammad): Nay, but (we follow) the religion of Abraham the up right and he was not of the idolaters. Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes. And that which Moses and Jesus received and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered. And if they believe in the like of that which ye believe, then are they rightly guided."(Qur'an)

Therefore, the only way for people, to be rightly guided, is to respect all the prophets of Allah, without exception, and follow them. Muslims from all the corners of the planet go once a year to where Abraham had first established the house of God in Mecca as a resort for mankind. Abraham is the forefather of all the prophets of the monotheist religions in the world nowadays...

" It is they who have taken error in exchange for guidance and pinishment for forgiveness. How great is their endurance of the Fire! "