سُوْرَةُ النِّسَآءِ
Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 157
وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ فِيهِ لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا ﴿157﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah ‘Îsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allâh," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them [the resemblance of ‘Îsâ (Jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man)], and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not [i.e. ‘Îsâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) عليهما السلام]:
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَقَوْلِهِمْ
waqawlihim
And for their saying
إِنَّا
innā
Indeed, we
قَتَلْنَا
qatalnā
killed
ٱلْمَسِيحَ
l-masīḥa
the Messiah
عِيسَى
ʿīsā
Isa
ٱبْنَ
ib'na
son
مَرْيَمَ
maryama
(of) Maryam
رَسُولَ
rasūla
(the) Messenger
ٱللَّهِ
l-lahi
(of) Allah
وَمَا
wamā
And not
قَتَلُوهُ
qatalūhu
they killed him
وَمَا
wamā
and not
صَلَبُوهُ
ṣalabūhu
they crucified him
وَلَـٰكِن
walākin
but
شُبِّهَ
shubbiha
it was made to appear (so)
لَهُمْ ۚ
lahum
to them
وَإِنَّ
wa-inna
And indeed
ٱلَّذِينَ
alladhīna
those who
ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟
ikh'talafū
differ
فِيهِ
fīhi
in it
لَفِى
lafī
(are) surely in
شَكٍّۢ
shakkin
doubt
مِّنْهُ ۚ
min'hu
about it
مَا
mā
Not
لَهُم
lahum
for them
بِهِۦ
bihi
about it
مِنْ
min
[of]
عِلْمٍ
ʿil'min
(any) knowledge
إِلَّا
illā
except
ٱتِّبَاعَ
ittibāʿa
(the) following
ٱلظَّنِّ ۚ
l-ẓani
(of) assumption
وَمَا
wamā
And not
قَتَلُوهُ
qatalūhu
they killed him
يَقِينًۢا
yaqīnan
certainly
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
157. 1. From this it became clear that the Jews were neither able to kill nor crucify ‘Isa (Jesus) عليه السلام, as was their plan. As has already been briefly detailed in the footnote to verse 55 of Surah Al ‘Imran.
157. 2. This means that when ‘Isa عليه السلام became aware of the conspiracy of the Jews, he gathered his disciples, whose number was 12 or 17, and said: “Is there anyone among you who is willing to be killed in my place?” so that Allah would make his appearance like mine. A young man volunteered for this. Thus, ‘Isa عليه السلام was raised up to the heavens from there. Later, the Jews came and took that young man and crucified him, who had been made to resemble ‘Isa عليه السلام. The Jews continued to believe that they had crucified ‘Isa عليه السلام, whereas ‘Isa عليه السلام was not even present there at that time; he had already been raised up to the heavens with his physical body (Ibn Kathir and Fath al-Qadir).
157. 3. After killing the person who resembled ‘Isa عليه السلام, one group continued to say that ‘Isa عليه السلام had been killed, while another group, who realized that the crucified person was not ‘Isa عليه السلام but someone else, some say that they even saw ‘Isa عليه السلام ascending to the heavens. Some say that this difference refers to the disagreement among the Christians themselves, as one sect said that ‘Isa عليه السلام was crucified in body but not in divinity (Lahut). The Melkites said that the killing and crucifixion occurred completely in both humanity (Nasut) and divinity (Lahut) (Fath al-Qadir). In any case, they remained in disagreement, confusion, and doubt.
157. 2. This means that when ‘Isa عليه السلام became aware of the conspiracy of the Jews, he gathered his disciples, whose number was 12 or 17, and said: “Is there anyone among you who is willing to be killed in my place?” so that Allah would make his appearance like mine. A young man volunteered for this. Thus, ‘Isa عليه السلام was raised up to the heavens from there. Later, the Jews came and took that young man and crucified him, who had been made to resemble ‘Isa عليه السلام. The Jews continued to believe that they had crucified ‘Isa عليه السلام, whereas ‘Isa عليه السلام was not even present there at that time; he had already been raised up to the heavens with his physical body (Ibn Kathir and Fath al-Qadir).
157. 3. After killing the person who resembled ‘Isa عليه السلام, one group continued to say that ‘Isa عليه السلام had been killed, while another group, who realized that the crucified person was not ‘Isa عليه السلام but someone else, some say that they even saw ‘Isa عليه السلام ascending to the heavens. Some say that this difference refers to the disagreement among the Christians themselves, as one sect said that ‘Isa عليه السلام was crucified in body but not in divinity (Lahut). The Melkites said that the killing and crucifixion occurred completely in both humanity (Nasut) and divinity (Lahut) (Fath al-Qadir). In any case, they remained in disagreement, confusion, and doubt.
