Dear Altara - On the topic of Jesus' crucifixion and death in the Quran, I recommend you reading the studies by the following scholars: Gabriel Said Reynolds, Suleiman A. Mourad, Christoph Luxenberg, and Florence Mraizika. There are probably others who adhere to their views on this matter as well, but these are the ones coming to mind at the moment.
Out of interest, have you read any of them?
I read the Reynolds one. Not convincing at all (for me...)
"In the present paper I contend that the Quran rather accepts that Jesus died"
Yes,
but not on the cross! The Jesus of the Gospels is died on the
cross. End of story. Reynolds can say whatever he wants.
Meanwhile, most Western scholars of Islam agree that the Quran denies the death of Jesus. Not infrequently they assume that this denial reflects the influence of Christian docetism.
1/On the CROSS, not the normal death.
2/Nor docetismNothing to see with the theological reason why gnostics of the 2nd c. have invented that.
On the other hand, the Quran itself never denies the death of Jesus but rather
alludes to it in several passages. In one passage the Quran has Jesus himself
declare, “Peace upon me on the day I was born, on the day I die, and on the
day I will be sent forth alive” (Q 19.33).
Of course lol!
Here the Quran implies that the death of Jesus – like all deaths – was the
act of God “I was a witness to them as long as I remained among them.
You became the watcher of them when you made me die.
Yes but NOT on the CROSS!
In verse 158(a) the Quran insists that instead rafaʿahu Allāhu ilayhi, “God raised
him to Himself”.
Yes but NOT on the CROSS!
Exegetical debates...
They know nothing of the text.
“Those who dispute over it are covered in doubt”.
Of course! (Hahaha!)
If tafsīr indeed provides an accurate explanation of the Quran’s original, intended meaning, then nowhere should the explanation be clearer than in the case of the Crucifixion. If the Prophet Muhammad announced to his companions that Jesus never died, but rather someone who was made miraculously to look like him died in his place, i.e.if he gave a historical account of the crucifixion which fundamentally contradicts that which Jews and Christians had been reporting for hundreds of
years, then certainly such a revolutionary account – if any – would be well
remembered and well preserved.
1/It is not the "Prophet Muhammad "who announce that Jesus never died,, it is the Quran and he speaks only about the ... death on the CROSS.
Therefore there is no " he gave a historical account of the crucifixion which fundamentally contradicts that which Jews and Christians had been reporting for hundreds of years," etc.
This strikes me as reason enough for critical scholars to read this quranic passage in light of earlier (i.e. Jewish and Christian) and not later (i.e. Islamic exegesis)
literature.When the Quran is read in this light, it quickly becomes apparent
that the passage on the crucifixion is fully in line with Christian anti-Jewish
rhetoric.
Yes
but Christians never said that there was no crucifixion and that the Jews were lying when they claim they crucified him! Hahaha!
When the Quran then alludes to the crucifixion just two verses later, it means to give the cardinal example of just such a murder.
Yes, but the Quran says that it NEVER happened.
Reynolds is lost on this one. I think the reason is that he thinks (at that time...) that the Quran is Christian (layered text, Segovia, Dye, etc). And, of course, a "Christian text" cannot deny that Jesus is not died on the cross.
Topic: Qur'anic studies today