The death of Hadhrat Jesusas in Islamic
Christology is a complex and controversial subject. In some Islamic circles,
the crucifixion of Hadhrat Jesusas was denied altogether.
Instead, according to some Muslim scholars, Allah miraculously transformed a
disciple of Hadhrat Jesusas into the physical image of
Hadhrat Jesusas, and the Jews crucified the disciple, thinking him
to be Hadhrat Jesusas. This concept may be called the
"Substitution theory." Hadhrat Jesusas, having been
saved from such suffering and death, ascended to God in Heaven.
As mentioned in the previous articles, the substitution
theory and eventual physical ascension of Hadhrat Jesusas is
not substantiated by the Quran and Hadith. Rather, the Quran and Hadith is
clear that Hadhrat Jesusas died a natural death. However, the
theory of substitution has figured prominently in Islamic tafsir literature.
The purpose of this final part is to explain how the substitution theory was
introduced into Islam. I will show that the belief of Hadhrat Jesusasnot
being nailed to the cross and a Jesus-look-alike replacing him was introduced
into Islam from the teachings of certain Gnostic Christian sects. These teachings
were brought into Islam through conversion of the "People of the
Book."
1. Different Versions of
Substitution Story in IslamicLiterature.
The belief that someone substituted for Hadhrat Jesusas on
the cross has been mentioned by various Muslim commentators of the Quran over
the past centuries. Most of the traditions relating the details of the story
of Hadhrat Jesusasare told on the authority of Jewish or un-named
Christian converts (reference: "Towards an Islamic Christology: The
Death of Jesus, Reality or Delusion" in The Muslim World vol
70, No. 2, page 96). The commentary of Tabari (d. 923 A.D) relates on the
authority of Wahb (a Jewish convert) that when the Jews were seeking Hadhrat
Jesusas to crucify him, God cast the likeness of Hadhrat
Jesusas on seventeen disciples. The Jews threatened to kill
them all, but instead took just one in the group and killed him, believing
him to be Hadhrat Jesusas.
In the next stage of development of the substitution theory,
one of the disciples of Hadhrat Jesusas voluntarily accepts
to die on the cross for the purpose of saving his master. Such a story may
have originated to avoid a major problem associated with the idea of
substitution: WHY WOULD GOD FORCE AN INNOCENT PERSON TO SUFFER AND DIE TO
SAVE ANOTHER? Tabari relates on the authority of Qatada: "It has been
related to us that Jesus, son of Mary, the prophet of God, said to his
companions, Who among you would consent to have my likeness cast upon him, and
be killed? One of them answered, I would, O Prophet of God. Thus that man was
killed and God protected His Prophet and took him up to Himself." A
similar account is mentioned in the traditions of Ibn Ishaq. His source was
an unnamed Christian convert. In this story, the person who offered to bear
the likeness of Hadhrat Jesusas was not one of the twelve
disciples, but a man named Sergus.
In other versions, the miracle of transforming a person into
the likeness of Hadhrat Jesusas was a form of Divine punishment
for that persons' persecution and betrayal of Hadhrat Jesusas. For
instance, it is said that the enemies of Hadhrat Jesusas sent
a man named Tityanus to kill him. However, God foiled the plan by raising
Hadhrat Jesusas to Himself and miraculously causing Tityanus
to resemble Hadhrat Jesusas. Tityanus was subsequently put to
death on the cross by the Jews. BUT, God cast the likeness of Hadhrat Jesusas only
on the man's face and not the body. Thus the people were confused as to the
identity of the man killed. This is added to explain the Quranic verse 4:158
which states that those who differed concerning him followed only their
conjecture. (reference, The Muslim World same issue as
quoted above).
2. Origin of
Substitution Theory in Islamic Thought.
The substitution of Hadhrat Jesusas on the
cross for someone else has no basis in the Quran or Hadith, as mentioned
earlier. This concept likely originated from the influence of Gnostic
Christianity on Islam. Several Gnostic Christian sects were known to flourish
from the third to the ninth centuries A.D. They were regarded as heretical by
the Roman Church. These sects eventually disappeared, both as a result of
persecution and gradual conversion of their followers to the fastest growing
faith at the time, namely, Islam. Most of the persecution was at the hands of
the Roman Church. In the 1940s, documents and writings of these sects were
discovered in Egypt, and they became known as the Nag Hammadi documents.
These documents are valuable in understanding Gnostic Christian theology.
It is not my purpose here to go into details of Gnosticism.
Only the philosophy of docetism will be discussed here. Docetism was a
prominent feature of Gnosticism, which held that matter and spirit are
antagonistic; matter was considered evil, and spirit considered good and
holy. Docetism proposed that Christ only "appeared" to have a real
human body, and that Christ only "appeared" to suffer and die on
the cross: it was either an illusion or someone else was substituted for him.
This tendency to deny or at least diminish the reality of the humanity and
suffering of Hadhrat Jesusas was central to the docetic view.
It is believed that docetism had its roots in the difficulties some felt in
the notion of the Incarnation of God in the person of Christ - it was
difficult to associate a Divine-incarnate Son (spirit) with a human being
(matter) subject to suffering and death (reference: "Gnosis"
by Geddes MacGregor).
A reference from the Nag Hammadi documents demonstrates the
docetic view of Hadhrat Jesusas. The book "Apocalypse of
Peter" relates a vision of the disciple Peter. He sees Hadhrat Jesusas apparently
nailed to the cross and another Jesus floating above the cross. Hadhrat Jesusas explains
to Peter: "He whom you see above the tree (cross), glad and laughing, is
the living Jesus. But the one whose hands and feet they drive the nails is
his fleshy part, which is the substitute...one made in his likeness."
(Reference: "The Laughing Savior", by John Dart, Page 107).
In summary, the death of Hadhrat Jesusas in
Islamic thought has been that of controversy and debate. It is clear that
belief in the ascension of Hadhrat Jesusas and death of a
Jesus-look-alike did not exist in the original teachings of Islam. The
existence of such speculations in the Quranic exegesis appear to have
resulted from the influence of certain Gnostic Christian philosophies such as
docetism.
Source:http://www.alislam.org/library/links/Jesus_death/4_Christianity.html *This blog is completely unofficial and in no way represents Islam Ahmadiyya or the views of anyone except the author themself.*
