Title: Is Jesus (pbuh) Alive? Question/Comments: Correct me if I am wrong, but I think according to your site Jesus (peace be upon him) is dead. But according to the Quran he (peace be upon him)is alive and raised up. Allah says"....but they killed him not nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Jesus(peace be upon him)was put over another man and those who differ therein are full of doubt-4:157.But Allah raised him unto himself-4:158 and 3:55.Hope you will clear this doubt. Thank you. Was Salaam. Answer: We have explained that according to the Qur'an God caused Jesus to die and then raised him up. Verses 157-158 of Surah Al Nisaa' say nothing in regards to Jesus being alive or dead, but rather, refutes both Christian and Jewish claims regarding the crucifixion. The Jews claimed they killed him but the Qur'an says that they never achieved their goals; they neither humiliated him nor killed him. At the same time this negated the Christian claims that Jesus suffered and died for the sins of people. Aal Imraan 3:55 reads as follows: And recall when God said: O Jesus, I shall indeed cause you to die and raise you up to myself and purify you of those, who have rejected (you) and exalt your followers above those who have rejected (you) till the Day of Judgment. It is quite clear that God said to Jesus that He will cause him to die and therefore is our understanding. The verse you quoted: "....but they killed him not nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Jesus(peace be upon him) was put over another man and those who differ therein are full of doubt-4:157.But Allah raised him unto himself. It seems to have come from the Mohammed Muhsin Khan and Taqi-ud-Din al Hilali translation. The words that are underlined are, in absolute terms, not in the Qur'an. Not having the appropriate parentheses makes them an interpolation of what is said in Arabic. For a comparison see the following translations by other translators: Yusuf Ali That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not M.H. Shakir And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the messenger of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure. Marmaduke Pickthal And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain. Muhammad Asad And their boast, "Behold, we have slain the Christ Jesus, son of Mary, [who claimed to be] an apostle of God!" However, they did not slay him , and neither did they crucify him, but it only seemed to them [as if it had been] so; and, verily, those who hold conflicting views thereon are indeed confused, having no [real] knowledge thereof, and following mere conjecture. Seyyid Abul A`la Mawdudi And their saying: 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary', the Messenger of Allah - whereas in fact they had neither slain him nor crucified him but the matter was made dubious to them - and those who differed about it too were in a state of doubt! They have no definite knowledge of it, but merely follow conjecture; M.Khan/T. Hilali And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Iesa (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. Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) It should be clear that none of the translations share the Hilali/Khan opinion. The underlined words are not in the Qur'an, yet it was not even indicated that they were the author's words and not God's. Even if it is said that the verse implies such a translation the fact of the matter is any implicit or even explicit meaning should be indicated as such. This can be achieved by the typical parentheses or some other method. Since the Arabic Qur'an does not contain the words underlined it cannot be accepted that this is "what the Qur'an says." Considering that the Qur'an mentions Jesus' death and does not mention any replacement then it should be clear that our understanding does not stray from the Qur'anic text. I hope I have clarified the issue. God knows best. Ronnie Hassan June 23, 2005