The Qur'an, however,
says otherwise. The reality revealed in
the verses is clear. The Romans, abetted
by some Jews' agitation, attempted to kill
Jesus but did not succeed. The expression
"but it was made to seem so to them" reveals
this fact. God showed them a look-alike
and raised Jesus up to His presence. Our
Lord also reveals that those who made that
claim had no knowledge of the truth.
In the early years of
Christianity, several views on Jesus' fate
emerged. In the subsequent centuries and
until the articles of faith were fully formulated
at the Council of Nicea (325), these ideological
differences continued to persist, and movements
that claimed that Jesus had not been crucified
were accused of heresy and its members were
persecuted.
The Qur'anic
Account of Jesus' Ascent to God's Presence
Examining the words used
in the narratives relating how the Prophets
died and the verses dealing with Jesus'
ascent to God's presence reveals an important
fact: Jesus did not die like the other prophets
did, nor was he murdered by the unbelievers.
Rather, our Lord took him up to His presence.
In this chapter, we will examine the Arabic
words used to express how the Prophets died
and how Jesus was raised up to God's presence,
and investigate how the Qur'an uses them.
As we will see in greater
detail later on, the Qur'an uses qataloohu
(to kill), maata (to die), halaka
(to perish), salaboohu (they crucified
him), or some other special expressions
to describe the death or murder of the Prophets.
In the case of Jesus, the Qur'an clearly
states that he was not killed in any of
those ways, for: "They
did not kill him [wa ma qataloohu]
and did not crucify him [wa ma salaboohu]."
God reveals that people were shown a look-alike
and that Jesus was raised up to His presence,
as follows:
When God said: "Jesus,
I will take you back [mutawaffeeka]
and raise you up [wa raafi`uka] to Me
and purify you of those who are unbelievers.
And I will place the people who follow
you above those who are unbelievers until
the Day of Rising..." (Surah Al 'Imran,
3: 55)
The following are the ways in which the
words referring to death in the Qur'an and
the word tawaffa in Surah Al `Imran are
used:
 (1)
Tawaffa: To Cause To Die, To Take in One's
Sleep, or To Take Back
The word tawaffa used in Surah Al `Imran
3 and translated as "taking back" here and
"causing to die" in some Qur'an translations,
has various connotations. Examining the
Arabic verses clearly reveals that these
connotations of the word should be considered
while applying it to Jesus' situation. The
Qur'an describes his being taken back to
God in the words that Jesus will say on
the Day of Judgment:
[Jesus said], "I said
to them nothing but what You ordered me
to say: 'Worship God, my Lord and your
Lord.' I was a witness against them as
long as I remained among them, but when
You took me back to You [tawaffa], You
were the One watching over them. You are
the Witness of all things." (Surat al-Ma'ida,
5:117)
In Arabic the word that
is translated in some translations of this
verse as "You have caused me to die" is
tawaffa and comes from the root
wafa - to fulfil. Tawaffa
does not actually mean "death" but the act
of "taking the self back" either in sleep,
in death or as in the case of Jesus being
taken back into the presence of God. From
the Qur'an again, we understand that "taking
the self back" does not necessarily mean
death. For instance, it can mean "taking
back the self while one is asleep," as indicated
in the following verse:
It is He Who takes you
back to Himself [yatawaffaakum]
at night, while knowing the things you
perpetrate by day, and then wakes you
up again, so that a specified term may
be fulfilled. (Surat al-An'am, 6:60)
The word used for "take
back" in this verse is the same as the one
used in Surah Al 'Imran 55. In other words,
in the verse above, the word tawaffa
is used and it is obvious that one does
not die in one's sleep. Therefore, what
is meant here is, again, "taking the self
back." In the following verse, the same
word is used like this:
God takes back people's
selves [yatawaffaa] when their
death [mawtihaa] arrives and
those who have not yet died, while they
are asleep [lam tamut]. He keeps
hold of those whose death [mawt]
has been decreed and sends the others
back for a specified term. (Surat Az-Zumar,
39:42)
As this
verse clarifies, God takes back the self
of the one who is asleep, yet He sends back
the selves of those whose deaths have yet
not been decreed. In this context, in one's
sleep one does not die, in the sense in
which we perceive death. Only for a temporary
period, the self leaves the body and remains
in another dimension. When we wake up, the
self returns to the body.1
Imam al-Qurtubi makes
clear that there are three meanings to the
term wafat which is from the same root as
tawaffa:the wafat of death, the wafat of
sleep, and last, the wafat of being raised
up to God, as in the case of Jesus.
(2)
Qatala: To Kill
The Qur'an uses qatala to mean "to kill,"
as in the following verse:
Pharaoh said: "Let me
kill [aqtulu] Moses and let him call upon
his Lord! I am afraid that he may change
your religion and bring about corruption
in the land." (Surah Ghafir, 40:26)
In Arabic, "let me kill Moses" is aqtulu
Musa, a phrase that is derived from
the verb qatala. In another verse,
the same word is used in the following way:
... [That was because
they] killed [yaqtuloona] the Prophets
without any right to do so. (Surat al-Baqara,
2:61)
The expression yaqtuloona (they
killed) is also derived from qatala. The
translation is clearly "to kill."
The verses below speak of the deaths of
the Prophets, and the usage of the verb
qatala is marked. All words in
brackets are derivatives of this verb.
We will write down what they
said and their killing [wa qatlahum]
of the Prophets without any right to do
so. (Surah Al 'Imran, 3:181)
Say: "Why, then, if you are believers, did
you previously kill [taqtuloona]
the Prophets of God?" (Surat al-Baqara,
2:91)
As for those who reject God's Signs, and
kill [yaqtuloona] the Prophets
without any right to do so, and kill [yaqtuloona]
those who command justice... (Surah Al 'Imran,
3:21)
"Kill [uqtuloo]
Joseph or expel him to some land." (Surah
Yusuf, 12:9)
..."Moses, the Council is conspiring to
kill you [li yaqtulooka]." (Surat
al-Qasas, 28:20)
The only answer of his [Abraham's] people
was to say: "Kill [uqtuloohu] him
or burn him!" (Surat al-'Ankabut, 29:24)
(3)
Halaka: To Perish
Another word used to denote the act of
killing is halaka. It also is used to mean
"to perish, to be destroyed, or to die,"
as in the verse given below:
... when he [Joseph]
died [halaka], you said: "God
will never send another Messenger after
him."(Surah Ghafir, 40:34)
The phrase idha halaka is translated
as "when he died." meaning "to die."
(4)
Mawt: Death
Another word used to relate a Prophet's
death is mawt, a noun derived from
the verb maata (to die), as follows:
Then when We decreed
that he [Prophet Solomon] should die [mawt],
nothing divulged his death [mawtihi] to
them except the worm that ate his staff.
(Surah Saba', 34:14)
In the following verse, another form of
the verb is used:
Peace be upon him [Prophet
John] the day he was born, the day he
dies [yamootu], and the day he
is raised up again alive. (Surah Maryam,
19:15)
The word yamootu is translated
here as "they day he dies," and the same
word is used (in the form of a noun) to
relate Jacob's death:
Or were you present
when death [mawt] came to Jacob? (Surat
al-Baqara, 2:133)
In another verse, the verbs qatala
(in the passive form qutila) and maata
are used together:
Mohammed is only a Messenger,
and he has been preceded by other Messengers.
If he were to die [maata] or be killed
[qutila], would you turn on your heels?
(Surah Al 'Imran, 3:144)
Other forms of the verb are used in other
verses to denote the death of Prophets:
She exclaimed: "Oh if only
I had died [mittu] before this
time and was something discarded and forgotten!"
(Surah Maryam, 19:23)
We did not give any human being before you
immortality [khuld]. And if you
die [mitta], will they then be
immortal? (Surat al-Anbiya', 21: 34)
"He Who will cause my death [yumeetunee],
then give me life." (Surat ash-Shu'ara',
26: 81)
(5)
Khalid: Immortal
The word khalid means immortality, permanence,
and continued existence, as in the following
verse:
We did not give them bodies
that did not eat food, nor were they immortal
[khalideena]. (Surat al-Anbiya',
21:8)
(6)
Salaba: To Crucify
Another word used in the Qur'an to relate
death is salaba (to crucify). This
verb has various meanings (e.g., to hang,
to crucify, to execute) and is used in the
following ways:
They did not kill him and
they did not crucify him [wa maa salaboohu].
(Surat An-Nisa', 4:157)
[Joseph said:] "One of you will serve his
lord with wine, the other of you will be
crucified [yuslabu]." (Surah Yusuf,
12:41)
They should be killed or crucified [yusallaboo].
(Surat al-Ma'ida, 5:33)
[Pharaoh said:] "I will cut off your alternate
hands and feet, and then I will crucify
[la usallibannakum] every one of
you." (Surat al-A'raf, 7:124)
As the verses show, the
words used to express Jesus' situation are
altogether different to those used to describe
the deaths of the other Prophets. God states
that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified,
that a look-alike was killed in his place,
and that he was taken back (in other words
that his soul was taken) and raised up to
His presence. When talking of Jesus', the
Qur'an uses tawaffa (to take the
soul) whereas when talking of the other
Prophets, it uses qataloohu or maata (and
its derivatives) to mean "death" in the
conventional sense. This information shows
us yet again that Jesus' situation was extraordinary.
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1.
Yuce Kuran'in Cagdas Tefsiri (The Contemporary
Tafsir of the Holy Qur'an) by Professor
Suleyman Ates, Head of Department of Basic
Islamic Sciences at Istanbul University's
Faculty of Divinity, Vol. 2, 49-50. 
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