Jews planned to crucify Jesus

Some influential Jews in the time of Jesus raised strong objections concerning his prophethood. They wanted to see him die an accursed death on a cross. We are told:

وَمَكَرُوا وَمَكَرَ اللَّهُ ۖ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ

“And they [the persecutors of Jesus] planned (to crucify him) and Allâh planned (to save him) and Allâh is the best of the planners” (3:54).

The belief that Jews were the driving force behind putting Jesus on a cross has been found in Christian foundational literature from the earliest days of the Jesus movement, and this story has not been easily debunked just because of the arguments of modern historians. Some Jews of today (al-Yahûd- with the prefix al) have hoped that the Christian Church might say that the Jews had in fact played no role in Jesus death. According to the Holy Qur’ân, though, those Jews bear the primary responsibility for putting Jesus on the cross with the help of the Romans. Killing a person by nailing him on a cross, according to the laws of the Torah, was considered an accursed death; therefore, by having Jesus killed on the cross, the Jews wanted to prove that Jesus was a false Prophet according to their traditions. Moreover, a person of illegitimate birth was also considered accursed (on this issue, see the section “The Notion of Jesus Virgin Birth,” below). The Holy Qur’ân has refuted both these charges and has pinpointed the Jews as being the main players in the attempt to kill Jesus through crucifixion (4:157–159). You are told:

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَاقَهُمْ وَكُفْرِهِم بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَقَتْلِهِمُ الْأَنبِيَاءَ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ وَقَوْلِهِمْ قُلُوبُنَا غُلْفٌ ۚ بَلْ طَبَعَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهَا بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا وَبِكُفْرِهِمْ وَقَوْلِهِمْ عَلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ بُهْتَانًا عَظِيمًا وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا الْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا بَل رَّفَعَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ ۚ

“Then because of their breaking their covenant and their denial of the Messages of Allâh and their antagonizing the Prophets without a just cause and their saying Our hearts are uncircumcised (and so cannot hear). Nay, (the truth however is) Allâh has set a seal upon their hearts (thus the Truth cannot enter their hearts) because of their disbelief so that they believe but a little. And (The Lord has done this) because of their denying (Jesus) and because of their uttering a great calumny against Mary, And because of their (falsely) claiming, We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the (false) Messenger of Allâh (on the cross), whereas they killed him not, nor did they cause his death by crucifixion, but he was made to them to resemble (one crucified to death, and they mistakenly believed that he died on the cross, and thus died an accursed death). Verily, those who differ therein are certainly in (a state of) confusion about it. They have no definite knowledge of the matter but are only following a conjecture. They did not kill him; this much is certain (and thus could not prove the Christ as accursed). Rather Allâh exalted him with all honour to His presence” (4:155–158).

A very clear statement is repeated in the Holy Qur’ân: “They did not kill him, this much is certain” (4:157). Since Jesus did not die on the cross, there cannot be any resurrection or a new descent in later ages. Mary was given a divine promise that her son “will speak to the people when in the cradle [as a child] and when of old age, and shall be of the righteous” (3:46). There is very little written about Jesus early life. In the Bible, the Gospel of Luke (2:41–52) recounts that a twelve-year-old Jesus had accompanied his parents on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was found in a temple, discussing affairs with some of Jerusalem’s elders. There are no trace references in the Gospels of Jesus speaking in his old age. He began his ministry at age thirty, and there is no mentioning of what happened to him after the incident of his supposed crucifixion about three years later. Killing a person by nailing him on a cross was considered an accursed death (Deut. 21.23), a similarly a person of illegitimate birth was also considered accursed (Deut. 23.2). The Holy Qur’ân says, “They did not kill him, this much is certain” (4:157), in other words he did not die an accursed death as claimed by those Jews, but Allâh exalted him in ranks and freed him of these accusation. The promise given to Mary in the Holy Qur’ân states that he will also speak to people in his old age. You are told after this incident “We gave them both refuge [rabwah] upon a worth-living lofty plateau abounding in (green and fruitful) valleys and springs of running water” (23:50; for Rabwah see the Arabic-English Lexicon by William Edward Lane [London, 1863], Tâj al-‘Arûs and Lisân al-‘Arab).

ذَ‌ٰلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ ۚ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ الَّذِي فِيهِ يَمْتَرُونَ

“Such was Jesus, son of Mary. (This is) a statement of true facts (about him), concerning which they so deeply disagree” (19:34).