The Holy Qur’an, the scripture Muslims believe to be from God, mentions Jesus (peace be upon him) 28 times (عِیۡسَی) compared to Muhammad (peace be upon him) 4 times (مُحَمَّدٌ). This leads one to wonder, what exactly do Muslims believe about the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him)? As we dive into the Holy Qur’an and look at some of the verses that mention him by name, we find the following verse:
وَّقَوۡلِہِمۡ اِنَّا قَتَلۡنَا الۡمَسِیۡحَ عِیۡسَی ابۡنَ مَرۡیَمَ رَسُوۡلَ اللّٰہِ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوۡہُ وَمَا صَلَبُوۡہُ وَلٰکِنۡ شُبِّہَ لَہُمۡ ؕ وَاِنَّ الَّذِیۡنَ اخۡتَلَفُوۡا فِیۡہِ لَفِیۡ شَکٍّ مِّنۡہُ ؕ مَا لَہُمۡ بِہٖ مِنۡ عِلۡمٍ اِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوۡہُ یَقِیۡنًۢا ﴿۱۵
And their saying, ‘We did kill the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah;’ whereas they slew him not, nor crucified him, but he was made to appear to them like one crucified; and those who differ therein are certainly in a state of doubt about it; they have no definite knowledge thereof, but only follow a conjecture; and they did not convert this conjecture into a certainty; (Holy Qur’an 4:158)
This verse clearly indicated that the claim that Jesus (peace be upon him) was killed by the Jews on the cross is utterly false. So that begs the question, if he wasn’t killed, what actually happened to him? Was he revived from the dead? Was he even put on the cross? Or did he survive it?
Analyzing the Scriptures
Ahmadi Muslims, a sect in Islam which believes that Jesus (peace be upon him) survived being on the cross, answer this question head on from many different angles to address the curious mind as this event causes many disputes amongst people as to what actually happened to Jesus (peace be upon him).
They claim that Jesus (peace be upon him) was in fact the one put on the cross, however he was not killed on it, rather, he survived. Not only that, he lived a long life thereafter. This begs many questions like how? Where did he go? What even is the evidence of this claim if any?
While there is evidence from many different angles, let’s focus on the evidence that the Gospels provide. It is written in Matthew chapter 12 verse 40:
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
In this parable given by Jesus (peace be upon him) it is clear that he compares what is about to happen to him to that which happened to Prophet Jonah (peace be upon him). Just as he entered alive, remained alive, and came out alive of the belly of the whale – he too would face a trial in a similar sequence – that is, go on the cross alive, remain on the cross alive, and then come off the cross alive.
This may surprise some readers, but further reading the Gospel only makes it more clear. We read in the Bible that Jesus (peace be upon him was sent only “to the lost sheep of the House of Israel” (Matthew 15:24) and that he had come … “to seek and save that which was lost”. (Luke 19:10).
Whereabouts of a Shepherd
It is a historical fact that the Israelites were divided into 12 tribes of which two were in the country where Jesus taught his Gospel and was put on the cross and the other 10 were scattered in other lands.
Mir Muhammad Khawand Shah Ibn-i-Muhammad wrote in his famous book “Rauza-tus-Safa fi Sirat-ul-Ambia wal Muluk wal Khulafa” (The Gardens of Purity concerning the biography of the Prophets and Kings and Caliphs) that the Jews turned Jesus out of the city and Jesus (peace be upon him) and Mary set out and went to Syria. From Syria Jesus travelled to Mosul and then to Aleppo.
It is stated during his journey Jesus (peace be upon him) travelled incognito under the name of Yuz Asaf, the word Yuz stands for Yusu (meaning Jesus) and Asaf in Hebrew means gatherer, namely, one who was to collect the lost sheep of Israel.
Next we hear of Jesus (peace be upon him) in Iran. It is said that Yuz Asaf came to this country from the West and preached there and many believed him. The sayings of Yuz Asaf as recorded in Iranian traditions are similar to those of Jesus (peace be upon him) (Agha Mustafai, Ahwali Ahalian-i-Para, 219).
We can then trace Jesus (peace be upon him) in Afghanistan: In Ghazni (Western Afghanistan) and in Jalabad (in the extreme south-east of Afghanistan) there are two platforms which bear the name of Yuz Asaf, for he sat and preached there.
We then find a quotation from Acta Thomae which records the presence of Jesus (peace be upon him) and Thomas at Taxila, in present day Pakistan.
Jesus (peace be upon him), his mother Mary, and Thomas proceeded towards Murree also in Pakistan. Mary died there and was buried at a hill top known as Pindi-Point. The town Murree was until 1875 called Mari and, was named after her. Her tomb adjoining the Defense Tower is even today called: Mai Mari da Asthan – the resting place of Mother Mary.
We can almost with certainty trace the entry of Jesus (peace be upon him) into Kashmir through a valley called Yusu Margh, which is named after him and where the race of Yudu (Jews) is still to be found. It lies on the bridle route followed by merchants coming, generally on foot, from Kaghan and Afghanistan. The Kaghan valley on one side touches Kashmir and on the other the Murree hills. Aish Muqam (about 47 miles from Srinagar) is not far from Yusu Margh. In fact it lies on the same route. Aish or Ashush is a perversion of Issa (Jesus).
Based on the proofs mentioned above, it is evident that Jesus (peace be upon him) was not killed on the cross. Furthermore, it also shows how the journey happened. It then becomes evident that the journey of Jesus (peace be upon him) led him to India.
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