4. Sura an-Nisa
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَقَوْلِهِمْ
إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا
الْمَسِيحَ
عِيسَى ابْنَ
مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ
اللّهِ...
4: 157. That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah;"
... وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ...
but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them,
C663. The end of the life of Jesus on earth is as much involved in mystery as his birth, and indeed the greater part of his private life, except the three main years of his ministry.
It is not profitable to discuss the many doubts and conjectures among the early Christian sects and among Muslim theologians. The Orthodox Christian Churches make it a cardinal point of their doctrine that his life was taken on the Cross, that he died and was buried, that on the third day he rose in the body with his wounds intact, and walked about and conversed, and ate with his disciples, and was afterwards taken up bodily to heaven. This is necessary for the theological doctrine of blood sacrifice and vicarious atonement for sins, which is rejected by Islam.
But some of the early Christian sects did not believe that Christ was killed on the Cross.
- The Basilidans believed that some one else was substituted for him.
- The Docetae held that Christ never had a real physical or natural body, but only an apparent or phantom body, and that his Crucifixion was only apparent, not real.
- The Marcionite Gospel (about A.D. 138) denied that Jesus was born, and merely said that he appeared in human form.
The Gospel of St. Barnabas supported the theory of substitution on the, Cross.
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 enemies: that disputations, doubts, and conjectures on such matters are vain; and that he was taken up to Allah (see next verse and note).
... وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ...
and those who differ therein are full of doubts,
... مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلاَّ اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا ﴿١٥٧﴾
with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow for of a surety they killed him not.
بَل
رَّفَعَهُ
اللّهُ إِلَيْهِ
وَكَانَ اللّهُ
عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا
﴿١٥٨﴾
4: 158. Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
C664. There is difference of opinion as to the exact interpretation of this verse. The words are:
The Jews did not kill Jesus, but Allah raised him up (rafau) to Himself.
One school holds that Jesus did not die the usual human death, but still lives in the body in heaven, which is the generally accepted Muslim view.
Another holds that he did die but not when he was supposed to be crucified, and that his being "raised up" unto Allah means that instead of being disgraced as a malefactor, as the Jews intended, he was on the contrary honoured by Allah as His Messenger:
see also next verse.
The same word rafa'a is used in association with honour in connection with Mustafa in 94:4. (R).
وَإِن
مِّنْ أَهْلِ
الْكِتَابِ
إِلاَّ لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ
بِهِ قَبْلَ
مَوْتِهِ...
4: 159. And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death;
C665. Before his death: Interpreters are not agreed as to the exact meaning.
Those who hold that Jesus did not die refer the pronoun "his" to Jesus. They say that Jesus is still living in the body and that he will appear just before the Final Day, after the coming of the Mahdi, when the world will be purified of sin and unbelief. There will be a final death before the final Resurrection, but all will have believed before that final death.
Others think that "his" is better referred, to "none of the People of the Book", and that the emphatic form "must believe" (layu 'minanna) denotes more a question of duty than of fact. (R).
... وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا ﴿١٥٩﴾
and on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness against them.
C666. Cf. 4:41
Other versions:
[ an-Nisa, Medina 92]
4: 157
Yusuf Ali That they said (in boast) "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary the Apostle 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.
Pickthall And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture ; they slew him not for certain,
Transliteration Wa qaulihim inna_ qatalnal masiha 'isabna maryama rasu_lalla_h(i), wa ma_ qatala_hu wa ma_ salabu_hu wa la_kin syubbiha lahum, wa innal lazinakhtalafu_ fihi lafi syakkim minh(u), ma_ lahum bihi min 'ilmin illattiba_'az zanni wa ma_ qatalu_hu yaqina_(m),
4: 158
Asad nay, God exalted him unto Himself [note 172] –and God is indeed almighty, wise.
Yusuf Ali Nay Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power Wise.
Pickthall But Allah took him up unto Himself. Allah was ever Mighty, wise.
Unal But God raised him to Himself……….
Transliteration Bar rafa'ahulla_hu ilaih(i), wa ka_na_lla_hu 'azizan hakima_(n).
4: 159
Yusuf Ali And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness against them.
Pickthall There is not one of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them
Wa im min ahlil kita_bi illa_ layu'minanna bihi qabla mautih(i), wa yaumal qiya_mati yaku_nu 'alaihim syahida_(n).
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[[ Asad’s notes -
172 Cf 3:55, where God says to Jesus, "Verily, I shall cause thee to die, and shall exalt thee unto Me." The verb rafa ahu (lit., "he raised him" or "elevated him") has always, whenever the act of raf ("elevating") of a human being is attributed to God, the meaning of "honouring" or "exalting". Nowhere in the Qur'an is there any warrant for the popular belief that God has "taken up" Jesus bodily, in his lifetime, into heaven. The expression "God exalted him unto Himself" in the above verse denotes the elevation of Jesus to the realm of God's special grace - a blessing in which all prophets partake, as is evident from 19:57, where the verb rafa nahu ("We exalted him") is used with regard to the Prophet Idris. (See also Muhammad 'Abduh in Manar III, 316 f, and VI, 20f) The "nay" (bal) at the beginning of the sentence is meant to stress the contrast between the belief of the Jews that they had put Jesus to a shameful death on the cross and the fact of God's having "exalted him unto Himself".
[[ Ali’s notes - 662 The false charge against Mary was that she was unchaste. Cf. xix. 27-28. Such a charge is bad enough to make against any woman, but to make it against Mary, the mother of Jesus, was to bring into ridicule Allah's power itself. Islam is specially strong in guarding the reputation of women. Slanderers of women are bound to bring four witnesses in support of their accusations, and if they fail to produce four witnesses, they are to be flogged with eighty stripes and debarred from being competent witnesses: xxiv. 4. (4.156)
663 The end of the life of Jesus on earth is as much involved in mystery as his birth, and indeed the greater part of his private life, except the three main years of his ministry. It is not profitable to discuss the many doubts and conjectures among the early Christian sects and among Muslim theologians. The Orthodox Christian Churches make it a cardinal point of their doctrine that his life was taken on the Cross, that he died and was buried, that on the third day he rose in the body with his wounds intact, and walked about and conversed, and ate with his disciples, and was afterwards taken up bodily to heaven. This is necessary for the theological doctrine of blood sacrifice and vicarious atonement for sins, which is rejected by Islam. But some of the early Christian sects did not believe that Christ was killed on the Cross. The Basilidans believed that some one else was substituted for him. The Docetae held that Christ never had a real physical or natural body, but only an apparent or phantom body, and that his Crucifixion was only apparent, not real. The Marcionite Gospel (about A.D. 138) denied that Jesus was born, and merely said that he appeared in human form. The Gospel of St. Barnabas supported the theory of substitution on the Cross. 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 enemies: that disputations, doubts, and conjectures on such matters are vain; and that he was taken up to Allah (see next verse and note). (4.157)
664 There is difference of opinion as to the exact interpretation of this verse. The words are: The Jews did not kill Jesus, but Allah raised him up (rafa'u) to Himself. One school holds that Jesus did not die the usual human death, but still lives in the body in heaven, which is the generally accepted Muslim view. (4.158) ]]