Āl-‘Imrān 3:55

The issue

Allah is addressing Jesus, telling him that Allah will deliver him from those who rejected him (Jews). Allah also promises Jesus that Allah will make Jesus’ followers (Christians) above the disbelievers and that Allah will judge between the Christians and their enemies on the Day of Judgment.

At the beginning of this verse, Allah states, “I will make Thee die and take Thee up again to me.” The scholars have offered a variety of different suggestions regarding the meaning of this phrase.

Some state, “I will make Thee die” means “I will put you to death” and is explained as “I will complete your lifetime and then make you die, so as not to leave you until they kill you.” It was also said, “It was the sleep of death; as if to say: I will cause you to sleep, then I will raise you from your sleep.” They also give the phrase an allegorical meaning, saying, “I will make you like a dead person, because when Jesus was raised to heaven and ceased to be on earth, he would be like a dead person.”

Another suggestion explains the statement in its correct context: “make you die” literally means “cause you to die.” Supporters of this suggestion explain this statement by saying that Jesus died for three hours and then was raised, or that he died for seven hours and then Allah made him come back to life when Allah raised him up to heaven. Another commentary states, “Allah made him die for three days, then raised him from the dead and then ascended him up to heaven.”

The conjunction and in this phrase, “I will make Thee die and take Thee up again to me…” indicates a sequence of events, which seems to agree with al-Rāzī’s suggested meaning. According to Islāmic doctrine, Christ was raised to heaven without being crucified. However, this verse records the occurrence of death first and then ascension. This sequence of death, then ascension, was a source of embarrassment among Islāmic scholars. A Mu‘tazilite scholar tried to defend the Islāmic doctrine by ignoring all opinions of the other scholars on the topic of Jesus’ death and ascension. He stated, “The word [and ] does not necessitate a sequence; Allah could have raised him, then caused him to die. Another possibility could have been that he made him dead without him feeling it, then ascended him and returned him to life.” The first part of this explanation states that Jesus died after his ascension into heaven. Even more humorous is the further suggestion that, “[Allah] made him dead without him feeling it.”

The opinion concerning (first) the death and (second) the resurrection of Jesus, which is supported by a group of Islāmic scholars, coincides with the Christian belief on this topic. Therefore, this verse supports Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. There is a gap in the verse concerning the death of Jesus. The scholars who suggested his death (for three hours, seven hours, or three days) do not address when or how death occurred. Their reluctance to explain the details is probably due to their realization that this verse implies supporting testimony for the crucifixion of Jesus, which Islāmic doctrine clearly denies.

It is noteworthy that the Qur’ān testifies to the death and the resurrection of Jesus in other verses as well: “and peace upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised up alive,” and “when Thou didst take me away to thyself…” (Q 19.33; Q 5.117).

Despite the clarity of this implicit testimony to the death (crucifixion) and resurrection of Jesus as mentioned in the Qur’ān (Q 3.55; Q 5.117; Q 19.33), what is demonstrated by these Qur’ānic verses is in direct contradiction with Q 4.157: “...but they did not kill him, and they did not crucify him, but a similitude [resemblance] was made for them….”