Personal Blog Can the Crucifixion Account in the Bible Be Compatible with Islam?

Scriptual References that Jesus Christ traveled this pathway alone and there were no substitutes:

Matthew 16 : 21 - 23
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Matthew 17 : 22 - 23
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.
23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.

Matthew 20 : 17 - 19
17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them,
18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death
19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Matthew 26 : 1 - 2, 12, 26 - 29
1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,
2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

Forshadowing his upcoming suffering
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Predicing Peter will Deny Him Three Times
31 Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
33 Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
35 But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Garden of Gethsemane - Jesus Realized This Was in God's Plan
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.
41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”
43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.
44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.
46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

John 33 : 13
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
John 33 : 36
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Allah does not abandon his prophets even though it may seem that way from a human perspective

Divine Reassurance in the Quran: The Quran explicitly addresses and refutes the idea that Allah ever forsakes His messengers. When the pagans of Mecca mocked Prophet Muhammad ﷺ during a temporary break in revelation, saying that his Lord had abandoned him.

Allah revealed Surah Ad-Dhuhaa (93:3): “Your Lord has not abandoned you, nor does He hate you.” Allah reinforces this protection and care, promising that the final outcome belongs to the righteous and His messengers, even when they face severe rejection, hardship, or persecution from their communities.

AI Generated: If Allah has determined a certain pathway for a prophet, will that pathway be carried out even if the prophet strongly objects?

• Divine Will Always Prevails: Yes, Allah's divine plan will always happen because His power and will cannot be stopped or changed by anyone. Nobody not even a prophet can block Allah's final decrees
• Prophets are Fully Human and Subject To The Same Human Emotions as Anyone Else. Prophets feel fear, sadness, or heavy stress because they are human. While a prophet might feel overwhelmed or hesitant, they do not rebel against Allah. They always return to submission and trust His wisdom.

Example: Jesus suffered delirium from the extreme pain and stress on the cross
Matthew 27:46: Jesus cries out on the cross in a loud voice. He says, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mark 15:34: Jesus shouts at the ninth hour (about three in the afternoon). He says, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” This translates to the same phrase.

And for boasting, “We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah”—But they neither killed nor crucified him—it was only made to appear so. Even those who argue for this ˹crucifixion˺ are in doubt. They have no knowledge whatsoever—only making assumptions. They certainly did not kill him.

Where does this verse fit in? The perception was that the enemies of Jesus thought they had finally done him in for good. They did not. Jesus knew that his restoration from the tomb was part of God's divine plan. He knew he would be restored on the third day.

In classical Islamic commentary (tafsir), scholars have put forward a few primary explanations to interpret the phrase shubbiha lahum ("it was made to appear so to them") in Surah An-Nisa (4:157).
However, there are errors in the classical commentary that are obvious

1. The Voluntary Substitute (The Loyal Disciple)
A prominent narration cited by Ibn Kathir (sourcing a report from Ibn Abbas) suggests a loyal disciple volunteered to take Jesus’ place.

• The Event: When Roman soldiers and Jewish elders surrounded the house where Jesus and his close companions were staying, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who among you will have my likeness cast upon him, be killed in my place, and be my companion in Paradise?"
• The Outcome: The youngest man in the room volunteered. Jesus asked again, and the same young man volunteered. Finally, Jesus accepted, and God cast the exact likeness of Jesus onto the youth. Jesus was then raised to heaven through an opening in the roof. The soldiers entered, arrested the young man, and crucified him, believing him to be Jesus.

Why this is incorrect: When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane he asked that God take this cup of suffering away from him but said not my will but your will be done. Jesus could not change the outcome that God had planned for him. God's plan was specifically set for Jesus and could not be transferred onto someone else which would have thrown God's plan into chaos.

Jesus was not arrested in a room. He was arrested in the Garden with his disciples by the temple police and brought before the Sanhedrin at night. He was interrogated and struck in the face. He was interrogated by Pontius Pilate, King Herod, violently flogged and mocked before being crucified. Another person who volunteered would not have survived this ordeal up to the very end.

2. The Involuntary Substitute (The Betrayer)
Another widely cited classical narrative suggests that the person who betrayed Jesus (often associated with Judas Iscariot in parallel traditions, or a guard named Titanus) was punished by God with the physical appearance of Jesus.

• The Event: According to accounts recorded by Al-Tabari and Al-Baghawi, a man entered the house to arrest Jesus or lead the soldiers to him.
• The Outcome: Before the soldiers reached him, Jesus was raised to heaven. When the betrayer or guard stepped back out to the crowd, God transformed his face and voice to exactly match Jesus. The other soldiers mistakenly arrested their own companion and crucified him while he desperately claimed he was not Jesus.

Why This Is Incorrect: Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) committed suicide over his actions of betraying Jesus. This happened before the crucifixion. There is no record of a Roman guard named Titanus in the canonical gospels, historical texts, or recognized Christian traditions regarding the arrest or custody of Jesus.

3. Collective Confusion (No Specific Substitute)
Some classical commentators leaned toward a more psychological or general visual confusion rather than a single specific substitute.

• The Event: A crowd gathered in darkness or chaos, and the soldiers grabbed a man in the commotion.
• The Outcome: Because it was dark and chaotic, they simply executed the wrong person. The phrase shubbiha lahum is interpreted here as a state of deep doubt and uncertainty hitting the crowd. This aligns with the end of verse 4:157, which notes that "those who argue for this are in doubt... only making assumptions."

Why this is Incorrect: Jesus was arrested in a chaoatic crowd, he was arrested while praying in the Garden and was specifically pointed out by Judas Iscariot.

4. The Spiritual/Metaphorical View (Alternative Classical Minority)
A few early and classical thinkers, including some Mu'tazilite commentators and later scholars like Al-Razi, raised theological questions about the literal substitution theories. They argued that if God could change someone's physical identity so completely to deceive onlookers, it could open the door to doubting the reliability of human senses and historical transmission.
While Al-Razi ultimately accepted the mainstream view that Jesus was saved, he and others noted that the "appearance" could mean that the report or the belief of his death was what became widespread and confused, rather than a magical physical transformation of a bystander.

Onion Null said:

I'm Muslim so I am doing this from kind of a Muslim perspective. Christians will always connect the crucifixion of Christ with the forgiveness of sin. What I am looking at is this: Can Christ draw us closer together even though we will never agree on religious doctrine?

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