This belief is based on the traditional interpretation of the most interesting of the four passages, 4:156. It is argued—-somewhat in the spirit of Peter's rebuke to Jesus, "Be it far from Thee, Lord, this shall never be unto Thee ", Matthew. 16:22—that God would never have permitted Jesus to die so shameful a death, otherwise He would have been "accursed of God", Deuteronomy 21: 23; an impossible fate for a prophet of God. Support for this view is found in Surah 3:48, where it is stated that God will "deliver" Jesus from those who believe not; that is, He will frustrate the plans of the Jews to cause Jesus to die upon a cross. What actually happened was that "they had only his likeness" or, more literally, "one was made to appear to them like (Jesus)"- That is how Rodwell translates the phrase walakin shubbiha lahum; Palmer has "but a similitude was made for them'', and Yusuf Ali, "but so it was made to appear to them".

The latter goes on to say, "The Quranic teaching is that Christ was not crucified nor killed by the Jews, notwithstanding certain apparent circumstances which produced the illusion in the minds of some of his enemies; that disputations, doubts, and conjectures on such matters are vain; and that he was taken up to God".

The context, however, suggests, not that "disputations, doubts, and conjectures on such matters are vain", but that there was confusion at the time as to who was really crucified. Thus the Qur'an says that

“they who differed about him were in doubt concerning him no sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion".

The phrase just quoted has provoked amongst Muslim writers the most remarkable speculations. Baidawi, for instance, remarks that while some Jews maintained that Jesus was justly crucified, others said that it was not he who suffered, but another who resembled him in features. Much is said about the identity of the person mistakenly crucified in place of Jesus; thus Baidawi mentions Titanus as the individual. (#Vol 1, p315 Ed, Osmania Press, Istanbul, 1314 AH). The curious will find other names scattered here and there in Islamic literature, e.g. Faltianus, (#‘Araisu-t-Tijan, pp. 549-50) and Shuyugh, the King of the Jews.(#Qisasu’l-Anbiya, pp 274-5).

In any case it is stated that it was God who changed these men into the form or appearance of Jesus, Tabari, commenting on this passage, quotes Ibn 'Abbas to the effect that Jesus in Gethsemane asked, "Is there anyone who will offer himself in my stead? I will promise him a place in heaven". Thereupon one of the disciples, Sergius by name, gave himself up to Jesus to be transformed into his likeness and to be crucified instead of him. After the crucifixion the disciples discovered that one of their number was missing. It was then that Judas went away and hanged himself, because he realized that he had been the means of a fellow disciple's death.

The spurious Gospel of Barnabas (# Muslims often mistakenly, and at times wilfully, confuse this so called Gospel with the Epistle of Barnabas; the latter was compiled between AD 96-120, but wrongly attributed to Barnabas)

In the spurious “Gospel of Barnabas”, Judas is the one to suffer crucifixion because of mistaken identity. God, seeing the danger to which Jesus was exposed at the approach of the soldiers with Judas, commanded Gabriel and other archangels to "Take Jesus out of the world". He was in the house and they took him "out by the window"…. .... "and placed him in the third heaven in the company of angels blessing God for evermore". Judas impetuously entered the chamber while the disciples were sleeping, "whereupon the wonderful God acted wonderfully, insomuch that Judas was so changed in speech and face to be like Jesus that we believed him to be Jesus. And he having awakened us was seeking where the Master was. Whereupon we marvelled, and answered: "Thou, Lord, art our Master, hast thou now forgotten us?" And he, smiling said: "Now are ye foolish that know not me to be Judas Iscariot!" Thereupon the soldiers entered and laid their hands upon him "because he was in every way like to Jesus", When Judas protested, "the soldiers lost their patience, and with blows and kicks they began to flout Judas and they led him with fury into Jerusalem". Words attributed to Jesus in the gospel account of the trial and crucifixion are then adapted for use by Judas, and finally he is led away and crucified.

"Enough has been quoted to show that this so-called "Gospel", to which Muslim writers repeatedly refer, is nothing but a clumsy fabrication. The earliest form of it known to us is in an Italian manuscript. This has been closely analysed by scholars and is judged to belong to the 15th or 16th century, i.e. 1,400 years after the time of Barnabas. It is believed to be the work of a renegade European, with little knowledge of Christianity and still less of Islam.

Sale, who referred to it 200 years ago in the Preface to his English translation of the Qur'an, there stated that "it appears to be a barefaced forgery".

A curious intermediate position, between the view of the orthodox and that of the modern rationalist, is one which interprets Surah 3:48 to mean that Jesus himself was crucified and that he really died, and remained dead for a brief while, after which God restored him to life and "took him up" into heaven. Thus Baidawi remarks: "It is said that Allah caused him (Jesus) to die for seven hours, and then took him up to heaven." (# op.cit. Vol 1 p.209) Even Muhammad Ali, who neither believes that Jesus died on the cross nor that be was "taken up alive into heaven", has to admit that mutawaffika in this place does mean "I will cause you to die"; in this sense (he says) Allah "took his soul"; and adds, "Hence some commentators say that Jesus remained dead [sc, on the cross] for three hours; others say for seven hours, and so on",

Quite clearly the commentators are faced at this point with a serious difficulty, inasmuch as the plain statement of Surah 3:48 appears to contradict the still more positive assertion in Surah 4;156, viz. that Jesus was not killed. For if he were taken up alive to heaven, then this verse would make it necessary for him to have died before being taken up. Consequently, as just stated, some have attempted to solve the riddle by explaining that Jesus only died for a few hours, while others interpret the death figuratively and suppose the significance of the words to be that he was lifted up while he was asleep, or that God caused him to die a spiritual death to all worldly desires. (# cp. Baidawi, op- cit., I, p. 209).

Undoubtedly some of this early comment owes its form to the knowledge that Muslim writers had of the speculation of the Gnostics and Docetists in the sub-apostolic period. For instance, a very similar view of this mistaken identity theory is to be found in the heretical teachings of the Manichaeans, centuries before the rise of Islam. Mani (3rd cent) and before him Basilides, taught that it was Simon of Cyrene, who took the place of Jesus and was crucified. The Gnostics of the second century contended that Jesus had no real share in the material side of human life. They even said that he took on a different guise to different onlookers, at different times. In other words, they stood for a Jesus who was "an abstract phantom".

Some of the leading Muslim thinkers are aware that there is this background, in part at least, behind the words of the Qur'an, yet what do they make of it? Here is what Mr. Yusuf Ali says in his comment on Surah 4:156:

In his note on Surah 3:48, this writer says the verse should be read together with Surah 4:156, for in the latter place "it is said that the Jews neither crucified nor killed Jesus, but that another was killed in his likeness. The guilt of the Jews remained, but Jesus was eventually taken up to God." But what is it that this commentator wishes the readers of the Qur'an to conclude? Did Jesus die that day, of did He not? Does he favour the mistaken identity theory? And what meaning does he wish people to attach to his remark that "Jesus was eventually taken up to God"? Is this the "seven hours' death", or the Qadiani view that Jesus lived to the great age of 120, and then died in Kashmir? Mr. Yusuf Ali would seem to be. An illustration of the truth to. which a leading Indian Muslim educationalist once gave expression in the hearing of the present writer: "Many a devout and thoughtful Muslim simply is not sure, on the basis of the Qur'an, whether Jesus really died on the cross or not". For here is what this commentator contents himself with saying in the earlier part of the note on Surah 4:156 from which we have already quoted: "The end of the life of Jesus on earth is as much involved in mystery as his birth, and indeed the greater part of his private life, except the three main years of his ministry. It is not profitable to discuss the many doubts and conjectures among the early Christian sects and among Muslim theologians".

But there are the gospels, our earliest and only historical documents on the subject — why not be guided by these?