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 (PBUH) 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
Most classical scholars read the verse as saying someone else was made to look like Jesus (PBUH). A smaller group, including modern voices like Ali Ataie and Todd Lawson, read it the other way round: the crucifixion looked like a defeat for Jesus (PBUH), and it was that appearance that was false. Historically, be honest. The Qur'an is making a claim about what God did, and for a Muslim that settles it — exactly as the resurrection settles things for a Christian. The mistake to avoid is arguing that nobody ever recorded a crucifixion. That argument loses. Accept what the Romans reported and put the disagreement where it really is: not in what people saw, but in what God did.
From the Qur'an
وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ
wamā qatalūhu wamā ṣalabūhu walākin shubbiha lahum
They did not kill him, nor crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them.
بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ ۚ
bal rafaʿahu l-lahu ilayhi
Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.
From the Bible
Greek
Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree — the Qur'anic objection is to God abandoning His prophet to that curse.
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