The Burden of Proof
One of the basic principles of justice and witness is burden of proof. This is a fundamental principle of Christianity and Islam. In one of the traditions, Muhammad said:
عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما ، أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، قال : ( لو يعطى الناس بدعواهم ،لادعى رجال أموال قوم ودماءهم ، لكن البينة على المدعي واليمين على من أنكر). حديث حسن ، رواه البيهقي [ في (السنن)10/ 252 ] وغيره هكذا ، وبعضه في (الصحيحين)
On the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas, radiAllahu anhumaa, that the Messenger of Allah1Arabic to English translation meaning, May Allah bless him and grant him peace. Often abbreviated SAWS. This Arabic phrase is used after references to Muhammad and his titles. said:
Were people to be given everything that they claimed, men would [unjustly] claim the wealth and lives of [other] people. But, the onus of proof is upon the claimant, and the taking of an oath is upon him who denies.
A Hasan hadeeth narrated by al-Baihaqee and others in this form, and part of it is in the two Saheehs.
My question for my Muslim friends is this:
“Where’s your proof for rejecting the evidence and testimony for Jesus’ death on the cross? The Quran doesn’t give any proof, which contradicts what Muhammad said about the necessity of proof in the above hadith.
The evidence for Jesus’ crucifixion and death on the cross is considerable. Muslims have had centuries to give historical justification for their view of the crucifixion, but they have not been able to come up with anything rooted in history.
You may also be interested in:
The Uncertainty of the Quran and Jesus’ Crucifixion
Are you an Ahmadiyya Muslim? If so, you may want to read this article:
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
References
| 1. | ↥ | Arabic to English translation meaning, May Allah bless him and grant him peace. Often abbreviated SAWS. This Arabic phrase is used after references to Muhammad and his titles. |
Muslims respect and revere Jesus (peace be upon him). They consider him one of the greatest of God’s messengers to mankind. Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified. It was the plan of Jesus’ enemies to crucify him, but God saved him and raised him up to Him. And the likeness of Jesus was put over another man. Jesus’ enemies took this man and crucified him, thinking that he was Jesus. God has said:
…They said, “We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.” They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)… (Quran, 4:157)
During his prophetic mission, Jesus performed many miracles. God tells us that Jesus said:
“I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. I make for you the shape of a bird out of clay, I breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God’s permission. I heal the blind from birth and the leper. And I bring the dead to life by God’s permission. And I tell you what you eat and what you store in your houses….” (Quran, 3:49)
Ayaz,
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Do you revere what Jesus taught or what Muhammad said about Jesus? There’s a big difference.
Jesus is the best of eyewitnesses. He testified to His death on multiple occasions (Matthew 16:21; 20:17-19; 26:1-2, 6-12). Jesus also spoke about His death to His disciples after He rose again from the dead (cf. Luke 24:46; Acts 1:1-3; Revelation 1:18; 2:8).
One of Jesus’ foremost disciples was Peter. Jesus appeared to Peter after He died and rose again. Peter testifies to this in 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18. Another disciple, John, testifies to it in 1 John 2:1-2; 4:10 and Revelation (Rev.1:1-18). Followers of Jesus who knew eyewitnesses and spoke about Jesus’ death and resurrection include Luke who wrote Luke and Acts (see Luke 23-24; Acts 1).
Jesus gave a sign to the church (the Lord’s Supper) to commemorate His death.
May Yahweh help and guide you in the straight path (Psalm 25:4-5).
Muslims also believe that God revealed a holy book to Jesus called the Injeel, some parts of which may be still available in the teachings of God to Jesus in the New Testament. But this does not mean that Muslims believe in the Bible we have today because it is not the original scriptures that were revealed by God. They underwent alterations, additions, and omissions. This was also said by the Committee charged with revising The Holy Bible (Revised Standard Version). This Committee consisted of thirty-two scholars who served as members of the Committee. They secured the review and counsel of an Advisory Board of fifty representatives of the co-operating denominations. The Committee said in the Preface to The Holy Bible (Revised Standard Version), p. iv, “Sometimes it is evident that the text has suffered in transmission, but none of the versions provides a satisfactory restoration. Here we can only follow the best judgment of competent scholars as to the most probable reconstruction of the original text.” The Committee also said in the Preface, p. vii, “Notes are added which indicate significant variations, additions, or omissions in the ancient authorities (Mt 9.34; Mk 3.16; 7.4; Lk 24.32, 51, etc.).”
Ayaz,
Your point about textual criticism is well taken. There are two things you should consider.
1) There are errors in the transmission of the Quran. Copyist errors are not, by themselves, an argument against a book being the word of God. See: http://bible.christchurchreformed.com/tag/textual-variants/
2) There aren’t copyist errors in the Bible that bring doubt to the historicity of Jesus’ death on the cross. The burden of proof still rests with Muslims to demonstrate that Jesus did not die on the cross. This is an historical claim that needs to be proven historically.
—Who changed the Biblical teaching about the crucifixion and death of Jesus, when did the change occur and why?
—Are there historical records dating before AD 100 that deny Jesus’ death on the cross and give a true account about Jesus that reflects your Muslim beliefs?
I’ve written more about the historical event of Jesus’ death on the cross here.
Have a nice day.
I am a Muslim and i do not deny that Jesus was crucified and died. It’s clear if you read the Gospel. You have to be careful when reading the Quran, because it doesn’t deny the crucifixion, since the sentence does not stop at “they did not crucify him.”, but it goes further with if i translate it correctly: “, but it appeared to them.”.
So it appeared to them that they did crucify him and kill him. So the Quran doesn’t deny it. Else it would indeed contradict the New Testament, but that’s not the case.
That’s why those liers invented those narrations, and said that it was Judas who was crucified.
But the question is, why do we Arabs believe what people narrate about Mohammed. It’s like the Jewish “2nd Law” the Talmud.
We all know that Judas already died, because of killing himself, because he betrayed Jesus the Christ.
So that narration is just an evil fake lie about Mohammed. The question is, why do people use narrations as evidence.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Your question about narration is an excellent one. The gospels are more than narration. They are testimony; the kind of testimony that you might find in a courtroom. Legal claims are being made, evidence is presented, and witnesses are brought forward. It’s helpful to remember that after Jesus died and rose again from the dead, the eyewitnesses did not disappear (cf. Luke 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:1-9). They would have been alive for many years. Even though scholars dispute the dating of John’s gospel, read it from the perspective of legal claims and testimony made by others about Jesus. Take note of the number of witnesses John’s gospel presents and the legal terminology. Do you believe these witnesses and evidence (John 20:30-31)? Do you believe Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead?
Also from the preface to the RSV:
“We now possess many more ancient manuscripts of the New Testament, and are far better equipped to seek to recover the original wording of the Greek text. The evidence for the text of the books of the New Testament is better than for any other ancient book, both in the number of extant manuscripts and in the nearness of the date of some of these manuscripts to the date when the book was originally written.”
The biblical teachings of Jesus are very well grounded.