Qur'an and Bible do not disagree: Jesus

Explanation why Qur'an and Bible do not disagree

I am often asked why the Qur'an states that Jesus did not die, though he was taken up to heaven by God, in seeming contradiction to the Gospels who witness that Jesus did die before he was taken up to heaven by God. Here is the passage from the Qur'an:

Surah 4: 157-159
And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle 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.
Nay! Allah took him up to Himself; and Allah is Mighty, Wise.
And there is not one of the followers of the Book but most certainly believes in this before his death, and on the day of resurrection he (Isa) shall be a witness against them.

And this passage is important for understand my explanation of the difference:

Surah 5: 110
When Allah will say: O Isa son of Marium! Remember My favor on you and your mother, when I strengthened you with the holy Spirit, you spoke to the people in the cradle and when of old age, and when I taught you the Book and the wisdom and the Taurat and the Injeel; and when you determined out of clay a thing like the form of a bird by My permission, then you breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission, and you healed the blind and the leprous by My permission; and when you brought forth the dead by My permission; and when I withheld the children of Israel from you when you came to them with clear arguments, but those who disbelieved among them said: This is nothing but clear enchantment.

When the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) hundreds of years had passed since Jesus Christ had risen to heaven. Christianity had been rejected by the large majority of the Jews (this is observed and commented on in the last two lines of verse 110 above.) The Jews, who had seen their own temple in Jerusalem destroyed, claimed that Jesus either never existed or was just a man who had died and been buried. Christianity had great faith, and these early Catholics had withstood great persecutions and martyrdoms, and did not waiver in their faith of the resurrected Jesus. However, there were many heresies that had to be argued through and put down, and more were coming. Some heresies dealt with whether Jesus had a divine nature, but they foreshadowed a time when there would be Christian heresies that Jesus was simply a wise man who had lived, died and was buried.

God is the greatest source of wisdom about human nature, and knew that there would be a time when the resurrection of Jesus would be denied. It is almost as though he knew back then that there would be "DaVinci Code" books and heretical influence of secularism that would deny Jesus in all of his divine and prophetic aspects (impugn the virgin Mary, declare that Jesus "must" have had secret sexual relationships, call Jesus a great teacher but completely a man and not sent by God nor fathered by the Holy Spirit, and, most recently, claim to find the buried body of the man Jesus and deny the resurrection.) You will notice when you read the Qur'an that it is actually a stouter defense of the sanctity of Mary, Jesus as sent and empowered by Allah, the purity of Jesus' message and the truth of his miracles, and the resurrection of Jesus to Allah in heaven than many who consider themselves Christian and yet dilute the message with heresy. Therefore the Muslim people were entrusted by Allah with the definitive statement that Jesus did not die (that is, he did not die in body, and decompose in the grave) but that Jesus ascended into heaven, both body and spirit. This is why there seems to be a disagreement, but it is really a matter of where the emphasis is placed. Islam was entrusted, almost like a treasury, with the unwavering belief and truth that Jesus was not a man who died. Because Allah was so firm on this point with the Prophet (PBUH) the Qur'an wording assumes that witnesses to Jesus' death must have been mistaken. But whether or not the body of Jesus spent time as one dead was not the objective of the holy message given to the Prophet Muhammad. The objective was to state unequivocally for the ages that Jesus did not die as a man but was raised to Allah upon fulfillment of his ministry, and that Jesus did indeed live a virginal and miraculous life. Rather than denying the miraculous and Allah granted life of Jesus, Islam actually affirms it in the most firm way, as a treasury to both faiths, because the Muslims are unshakable that Jesus was not a human body buried set of bones to be found by modern nonbelievers and publicity seekers, but that the truth is that he did not "die" (into the earth) but was ascended by Allah when the message of Jesus was rejected by the Jews and so his ministry was completed. This is why there really is not a difference that is one to be quarreling about because both the Bible and the Qur'an are divinely inspired and serve God's will. The Qur'an spends much time affirming the sanctity of the Virgin Mary and the role of Jesus as Messiah, who was rejected by the Jewish priesthood, and so ascended to heaven to God, bodily and in spirit.

Muslims state the Qur'an has never changed and take appropriate pride in that, as they should, as the word of Allah. I take great pride that they record also the unchanging truth that Jesus was sent by Allah to be the Messiah, born of the virgin Mary, ministered and performed miracles, and was raised physically and spiritually to God when he was rejected as the Messiah. I hope this posting helps bridge some of the gap of misunderstanding that exists among the faiths, much of the gap being one of misunderstanding and not of fact. God inspires emphasis according to the needs of humans at the times of the prophets through the ages, and what Moses recorded differs in focus (the law) than what the Gospels recorded (the ministry of Jesus) and what Muhammad recorded (the oneness of Allah and his will.) Just because there is different emphasis does not mean that the truth is changed; it means that people of the time need to be reminded by God of what is important to them, especially if there is danger of straying.