(extracted from Fast Facts on Islam, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2001)
Islam teaches that Jesus Christ was neither crucified nor resurrected; therefore, it is impossible that salvation can be had through faith in Christ.
Islam does not accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. If Jesus did not die on the cross, He obviously did not die on the cross for sin. Islam believes that mankind is basically good; thus, if humans are not unredeemed sinners, they do not need redemption from sin and a savior from sin—only good works, abstention from wickedness, and Allah’s favor. Also, it is unthinkable that God would permit one of His prophets to be crucified. The Qur’an teaches,
“They denied the truth and uttered a monstrous falsehood…. They declared: ‘We have put to death the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of Allah.’ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but they thought they did.”[1]
Muslims therefore believe that God substituted someone else on the cross in Jesus’ place.
But Jesus Himself prophesied—repeatedly—that He had to go to the cross, that it was to atone for sin, and that He would be resurrected from the dead—and that this was God’s direct will for Him. Jesus taught of Himself that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
“Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again’” (Luke 18:31-33).
And He spoke again of Himself, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour” (John 12:27).
Innumerable eyewitnesses, both Jesus’ friends and enemies, saw Him die on the cross (John 19:23-27, 31-35). Further, many of His disciples and friends were also eyewitnesses to His resurrection from the dead, confirming His claim to be the Son of God (Romans 1:3).
Because Muslims do not believe that Christ died on the cross, they logically deny His resurrection. Ahmed Deedat is one of the leading public defenders of Islam. He claims that
“…throughout the length and breadth of the 27 books of the New Testament, there is not a single statement made by Jesus Christ that ‘I was dead, and I have come back from the dead.’ The Christian has [wrongly] been belaboring the word resurrection. Again and again, by repetition, it is conveyed that it [the resurrection] is proving a fact…. [But] Jesus Christ never uttered the word that ‘I have come back from the dead,’ in the 27 books of the New Testament, not once.”[2]
But Mr. Deedat is mistaken. On a dozen different occasions Jesus predicted both His death and His resurrection. For example, He told His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). After His resurrection He said to His disciples,
“This was what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms…. This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:44,46,47).