What happened to Jesus (as) after the crucifixion? Four beliefs compared

About two thousand years ago, on a hill outside Jerusalem, a prophet was hung on a cross. He was Hazrat Jesus, son of Mary (as).

What happened that afternoon, and what became of him afterwards? Over this one question, the people of the world are divided today into four groups. Each group tells a different story. Let us hear the four stories one by one, and then go to the Quran.

Four groups, four stories

The first group: the Jews. The Torah says that a man who is hanged on a tree is accursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23). So the Jews claim that they killed Jesus (as) on the cross. In their view, this proved that he was not a true prophet, God forbid.

The second group: the Christians. They too accept that he died on the cross. But their explanation is different. In their belief he was the Son of God. He took the burden of mankind’s sins on his own shoulders and gave his life on the cross. Three days later he came back to life and went up to heaven.

The third group: most Muslims. In their view, the Jews were never able to put Jesus (as) on the cross at all. Allah gave the face of Jesus (as) to another man, and that man was crucified by mistake. The real Jesus (as) was lifted by Allah, alive and in his body, to heaven. He is still there today, and he will come down in the last days.

The fourth group: Ahmadi Muslims. They believe that the Jews could neither kill Jesus (as) nor kill him on the cross. He was indeed hung on the cross, but Allah brought him down alive, in a deathlike faint. After recovering, he migrated eastwards in search of the lost tribes of the Children of Israel. In the end he reached Kashmir, lived a long life there and died a natural death. His tomb is in Srinagar.

What does the Quran say?

The safest yardstick for checking which of the four stories is true is the Word of Allah. The Quran quotes the claim of the Jews and then answers it:

Notice that the Quran does not say he was never hung on the cross. It says they could not kill him by crucifixion. It only appeared to the Jews that he had died on the cross. And those who differ about it are in doubt; they have no certain knowledge.

This breaks the main claim of the first two groups. Jesus (as) did not die on the cross. So the Jewish charge of an “accursed death” does not stand, and the Christian belief of “giving his life on the cross to wash away sins” has no foundation.

Then Allah says:

The Jews wanted to prove him accursed, that is, pushed far away from Allah. Allah did the opposite: He exalted him to Himself and honoured him. Allah does not sit in some particular sky; He is everywhere. So “exalted to Allah” means raised in rank, not lifted up with his body.

Where is the problem with the third story?

The story told by most Muslims has two parts: someone else’s face being changed, and a bodily lifting to heaven. Neither of them is mentioned in the verse of the Quran.

The verse says “he was made to appear to them like one crucified”. Here “he” naturally means Jesus (as), the one the verse is talking about. No other person is named or hinted at. Besides, giving an innocent man another man’s face and killing him in his place does not fit with the justice of Allah.

Research shows that this story of a “changed face” did not come from the Quran or from authentic hadith. It came from the accounts of some Jews and Christians who accepted Islam in later times. Among some ancient Christian sects there was already a belief that it was not the real Jesus on the cross, but someone who looked like him.

So which story fits the Quran completely? The one that says: he did not die on the cross; Allah saved him and honoured him; and later, like all the other prophets, he died a natural death. In another verse of the Quran, Allah Himself had promised Jesus (as): “O Jesus, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee to Myself” (Surah Al-e-Imran 3:56).

All four groups agree on one thing: a Messiah will come in the last days. The only difference is that the first three groups are waiting for the same old Jesus (as) to come down from the sky. Ahmadi Muslims believe that since the earlier Jesus (as) has died, the one whose coming the Holy Prophet (sa) foretold is a member of this very Ummah: a Messiah who comes with the qualities and character of Jesus (as).

Questions people ask

Doesn’t “rafa‘ahu” mean being lifted to heaven with the body?

Some say that the words “bal rafa‘ahullahu ilaihi” are themselves proof that he was lifted up bodily. Let us see how the Quran itself uses this word. About Hazrat Idris (as), Allah says:

About the believers and those given knowledge, it says that Allah “will raise” them “to degrees of rank” (Surah Al-Mujadilah 58:12), and the same word, yarfa‘, is used there. Between the two prostrations, the Holy Prophet (sa) used to pray warfa‘ni, “raise my rank” (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 898). No one takes this to mean that he wanted to go up into the sky. When Allah raises a person “to Himself”, it means honour and nearness. The same is true of Jesus (as).

If he died, what about the hadith that speak of Jesus son of Mary coming down?

That is a very natural question. The answer lies within the hadith itself. The Holy Prophet (sa) said, “How will you be when the son of Mary descends among you, and your Imam will be from among yourselves?” (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab Ahadith al-Anbiya, Hadith 3449). Notice that the words “from the sky” are not in the hadith. And in the Quran, “sending down” (nuzul) is used for the Holy Prophet (sa), for iron and for cattle too; it means sent by Allah.

Notice too that in Sahih Bukhari itself, the Holy Prophet (sa) described two different appearances for two Jesuses. The Jesus (as) he saw during the Mi‘raj was reddish, with curly hair (Hadith 3438). And the Messiah he saw circling the Ka‘bah in a vision of the last days was brown-skinned, with straight hair (Hadith 3441). Different appearances mean different people. The one who is to come is from this very Ummah: a Messiah who comes with the qualities of Jesus (as).

Is it possible to survive being hung on a cross?

Some ask: if someone is hung on a cross, surely he dies. But the Quran’s words ma salabuhu do not deny that he was hung on the cross; they deny that he was killed on it. This is why the Ahmadiyya Bangla translation renders it: “nor did they kill him by nailing him to the cross.” To be taken down in a deathlike state after a few hours on the cross, and to recover with care and treatment, is not at all impossible for the power of Allah. That is exactly why the Quran says the Jews themselves were not sure about it; they were “in a state of doubt”.