Answering Objections to Islam · Theology & Doctrine
Q 4:157 and the Crucifixion
Handle with care. Do not argue the crucifixion is historically unattested. It is the mainstream historical position, and denying it costs credibility for no gain.
In short
- 1.The verse's grammatical subject is the boast 'we killed him' — it denies their claim of victory.
- 2.Shubbiha lahum is genuinely ambiguous in Arabic and has been read several ways classically.
- 3.Q 4:158 affirms Jesus was raised to God — vindication, not death in defeat.
The claim being examined
The Qur'an denies the crucifixion, which critics call the best-attested fact of ancient history, supported by Tacitus, Josephus and all four Gospels.
The Islamic position
Q 4:157 denies that the Jewish authorities accomplished the killing and states shubbiha lahum — it was made to appear so to them. Classical and modern Muslim readings differ on the mechanism, and the verse's emphasis falls on divine vindication over apparent defeat.
Analysis
Classical exegetes largely favoured a substitution reading; a minority tradition, and modern voices such as Ali Ataie and Todd Lawson, read the verse docetically-in-reverse: the crucifixion appeared to be a defeat, and it was that appearance which was false. On the historical side, the honest position is that the Qur'an makes a theological claim that overrides historical inference for a Muslim, in the same way the resurrection does for a Christian. The apologetic error is to argue the crucifixion is historically unattested; it is better to concede the attestation and locate the disagreement precisely where it sits — in what God did, not in what the Romans reported.
From the Qur'an
Qur'an 4:157
وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ
They did not kill him, nor crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them.
Qur'an 4:158
بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ
Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.
From the Bible
Galatians 3:13
Greek
Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree — the Qur'anic objection is to God abandoning His prophet to that curse.
Read it in their BibleSources
Ali Ataie · Todd Lawson · Al-Razi
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