Shabir Ally - Crucifixion or CruciFICTION? - Is the Quran the Word of God?

Shabir Ally and the Crucifixion

Here are a few comments by Muslim apologist Shabir Ally on the crucifixion of Jesus.

Shabir Ally gives his conjectures and speculations as to why he believes Jesus did not die on the cross, but he evades the fact that even non-Christian historians are agreed: Jesus died on the cross.

The evidence for Jesus’ crucifixion and death is considerable:

The Old Testament prophets testified to Jesus’ death and burial.
Jesus testified to His death on multiple occasions.
There were Roman, Jewish, and Christian eyewitnesses to the death of Jesus on the cross and His burial.
Non-Christian sources wrote that Jesus died (Josephus and Tacitus).
After looking at crucifixion an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association concluded:

Clearly, the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to his side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between his right rib, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured his death. Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge (William D. Edwards, MD; Wesley J. Gabel, M.Div.; Floyd E. Hosmer, MS, AMI; “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” Journal of the American Medical Association 21 March 1986; Volume 255, 1463).

Given all this evidence, Muslims need to explain what really happened instead of simply denying Jesus’ death on the cross. Muslims need to historically explain how Christian beliefs about Jesus’ crucifixion—the most shameful and socially scandalous way of dying in Jewish and Roman culture—became central to Christianity and understanding of what it means to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23-26). ¹To quote a non-Christian scholar Shabir Ally is fond of referencing, “It is hard to imagine Jews inventing the idea of a crucified messiah, where did the idea come from? It came from historical realities” (Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist, 164).

Muslims have had some 1,400 years to give historical justification for their alternative view of the crucifixion, but they have not been able to come up with anything historically substantial. They are left with historical fiction.