A Discussion of the Narrations

1. Refutation of the Jewish and Christian Belief About the Messiah

From Abū ʿAbd Allāh: As for the occultation (ghayba) of Jesus, the Jews and Christians agreed that he was killed; so God refuted them by His saying: “though they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but so it was made to appear to them” (4:157).(16)

Note: The negation of killing and also the denial of crucifixion does not necessarily entail the actual life of the Messiah, and the final investigation of this is the responsibility of another study.

2. The Real Fate of Jesus

The Messenger of God said: Gabriel descended to me with a book containing news of the kings; the kings of the earth before me and news of those who were sent before me from among the prophets and messengers… So he came to Jerusalem and remained calling them and encouraging them toward what is with God for thirty-three years until the Jews sought him and claimed that they tortured him and buried him in the earth alive; and some of them claimed that they killed him and crucified him; but God would not give them power over him and it was only made to appear to them; and they were not able to torture him and bury him, nor to kill him and crucify him; His saying: “O Jesus, I shall take you [your soul], and I shall raise you up toward Myself, and I shall clear you of [the calumnies of] the faithless” (3:55) So they were not able to kill him and crucify him, because if they were able to do that, it would be a denial of His saying: “Rather God raised him up toward Himself” (4:158) after He took his soul.(17)

From Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.): Jesus promised his companions on the night God raised him up, so they gathered to him in the evening and they were twelve men. He brought them into a house, then he came out to them from a spring in the corner of the house, shaking(18) his head from the water. He said: “God has revealed to me that He is raising me up to Him this hour and purifying me from the Jews. Which of you will have my likeness (shabḥ) cast upon him, so he will be killed and crucified and will be with me in my rank?” A young man among them said: “I will, O Spirit of God!” He said: “Then it is you.” Jesus said to them: “Indeed, one among you will deny me before morning twelve times.” A man among them said to him: “It is I, O Prophet of God!” Jesus said: “If you sense that in yourself, then let it be so.” Then Jesus said to them: “Indeed, you will split into three groups after me: two groups will fabricate lies about God and will be in the Fire, and one group will follow Simon (Shamʿūn), truthful about God, and will be in Paradise.” Then God raised Jesus up to Him from the corner of the house while they were looking at him.

Then Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.) said: The Jews came seeking Jesus that very night, so they took the man to whom Jesus had said “One among you will deny me before morning twelve times,” and they took the young man upon whom the likeness of Jesus was cast. So he was killed and crucified, and the one to whom Jesus had said “You will deny before morning twelve times” denied.(19)

Note:

a. The reports are not consistent with the views of the Jews and Christians, but according to some exegetes (mufassirān), the aspects mentioned in this regard are contradictory and conflicting.(20)

b. It is not known who was killed, but the Messiah was neither killed nor crucified.

c. Establishing the details of the event of Jesus through a single report (khabar wāḥid), especially an unreliable one, is not possible.