What is the Muslim belief concerning Isa ibn Maryam and the claim that he was killed or crucified?
2026-10-13
F105 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn
الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين
Original Q&A · Full displayed answer
This is the scholar’s complete answer. The quoted Quranic passage explicitly denies Isa’s killing and crucifixion and states that Allah raised him. The identity of the substitute is not specified in that passage: the answer’s further narrative is the scholar’s explanation, and its underlying reports have not been independently verified here. General descriptions are not judgments upon a particular person.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
فضيلة الشيخ، ما هي عقيدة المسلمين في عيسى ابن مريم عليه السلام؟ وما حكم القول بقتله وصلبه؟
الجواب
عقيدة المسلمين في عيسى ابن مريم عليه الصلاة والسلام، أنه أحد الرسل الكرام، بل أحد الخمسة الذين هم أولو العزم، وهم: محمد، وإبراهيم، وموسى، وعيسى، ونوح -عليهم الصلاة والسلام-، ذكرهم الله تعالى في موضعين من كتابه، فقال في سورة الأحزاب: ﴿وإذ أخذنا من النبيين ميثاقهم ومنك ومن نوح وإبراهيم وموسى وعيسى ابن مريم وأخذنا منهم ميثاقا غليظا﴾ [الأحزاب:7]، وقال في سورة الشورى: ﴿شرع لكم من الدين ما وصى به نوحا والذي أوحينا إليك وما وصينا به إبراهيم وموسى وعيسى أن أقيموا الدين ولا تتفرقوا فيه﴾ [الشورى:13].
وأن عيسى عليه الصلاة والسلام بشر من بني آدم مخلوق من أم بلا أب، وأنه عبد الله ورسوله، فهو عبد، لا يعبد، ورسول لا يكذب، وأنه ليس له من خصائص الربوبية شيء، بل هو كما قال الله تعالى: ﴿إن هو إلا عبد أنعمنا عليه وجعلناه مثلا لبني إسرائيل﴾ [الزخرف:59].
وأنه عليه الصلاة والسلام لم يأمر قومه بأن يتخذوه وأمه إلهين من دون الله، وإنما قال لهم ما أمره الله به: ﴿أن اعبدوا الله ربي وربكم﴾ [المائدة:117]، وأنه أي عيسى عليه الصلاة والسلام خلق بكلمة الله عز وجل، كما قال الله تعالى: ﴿إن مثل عيسى عند الله كمثل آدم خلقه من تراب ثم قال له كن فيكون﴾ [آل عمران:59]، وأنه ليس بينه وبين النبي ﷺ رسول، كما قال الله تعالى: ﴿وإذ قال عيسى ابن مريم يا بني إسرائيل إني رسول الله إليكم مصدقا لما بين يدي من التوراة ومبشرا برسول يأتي من بعدي اسمه أحمد فلما جاءهم بالبينات قالوا هذا سحر مبين﴾ [الصف:6].
ولا يتم إيمان أحد حتى يؤمن بأن عيسى عبد الله ورسوله، وأنه مبرأ ومنزه عما وصفه به اليهود الذين قالوا: إنه ابن بغي، وأنه نشأ من زنا والعياذ بالله، وقد برأه الله تعالى من ذلك، كما أنهم -أي المسلمين- يتبرؤون من طريق النصارى، الذين ضلوا في فهم الحقيقة بالنسبة إلى عيسى ابن مريم، حيث اتخذوه وأمه إلهين من دون الله، وقال بعضهم: «إنه ابن الله»، وقال بعضهم: «إن الله ثالث ثلاثة».
أما فيما يتعلق بقتله وصلبه، فإن الله سبحانه وتعالى قد نفى أن يكون قتل أو صلب نفيا صريحا قاطعا، فقال عز وجل: ﴿وما قتلوه وما صلبوه ولكن شبه لهم وإن الذين اختلفوا فيه لفي شك منه ما لهم به من علم إلا اتباع الظن وما قتلوه يقينا بل رفعه الله إليه وكان الله عزيزا حكيما وإن من أهل الكتاب إلا ليؤمنن به قبل موته ويوم القيامة يكون عليهم شهيدا﴾ [النساء:157–159].
فمن اعتقد أن عيسى ابن مريم عليه الصلاة والسلام قتل وصلب فقد كذب القرآن، ومن كذب القرآن فقد كفر، فنحن نؤمن بأن عيسى عليه الصلاة والسلام لم يقتل ولم يصلب، ولكننا نقول: إن اليهود باؤوا بإثم القتل والصلب، حيث زعموا أنهم قتلوا المسيح عيسى ابن مريم رسول الله، وهم لم يقتلوه حقيقة، بل قتلوا من شبه لهم، حيث ألقى الله شبهه على واحد منهم فقتلوه وصلبوه، وقالوا: إنا قتلنا المسيح ابن مريم رسول الله، فاليهود باؤوا بإثمهم للقتل وإقرارهم على أنفسهم بإثم الصلب. والمسيح عيسى ابن مريم برأه الله تعالى من ذلك وحفظه ورفعه سبحانه وتعالى إلى السماء، وسوف ينزل في آخر الزمان إلى الأرض، فيحكم بشريعة النبي ﷺ، ثم يموت في الأرض ويدفن فيها، ويخرج كما يخرج منها سائر بني آدم؛ لقول الله تعالى: ﴿منها خلقناكم وفيها نعيدكم ومنها نخرجكم تارة أخرى﴾ [طه:55]، وقوله: ﴿فيها تحيون وفيها تموتون ومنها تخرجون﴾ [الأعراف:25].
English translation
English rendering prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic answer. Not an official translation.
Original question
Esteemed Shaykh, what is the Muslim belief concerning Isa ibn Maryam, peace be upon him? And what is the ruling on saying that he was killed and crucified?
Answer
The Muslim belief concerning Isa ibn Maryam, peace and blessings be upon him, is that he is one of the noble messengers—indeed, one of the five messengers of firm resolve: Muhammad, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and Nuh, peace and blessings be upon them. Allah mentions them in two places in His Book. In Surah al-Ahzab He says: “And when We took from the prophets their covenant, and from you, and from Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa ibn Maryam; We took from them a solemn covenant” [al-Ahzab 33:7]. In Surah al-Shura He says: “He has prescribed for you of the religion what He enjoined upon Nuh, what We have revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Ibrahim, Musa, and Isa: establish the religion and do not divide in it” [al-Shura 42:13].
Isa, peace and blessings be upon him, is a human being from the children of Adam, created from a mother without a father. He is Allah’s servant and Messenger: a servant who is not worshipped and a messenger who is not rejected as a liar. He possesses none of the qualities exclusive to Lordship. Rather, he is as Allah says: “He is only a servant whom We favoured and made an example for the Children of Israel” [al-Zukhruf 43:59].
He did not command his people to take him and his mother as two gods besides Allah. He only told them what Allah commanded him to say: “Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord” [al-Maidah 5:117]. Isa, peace and blessings be upon him, was created by Allah’s word, as Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: “Indeed, the likeness of Isa before Allah is that of Adam: He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be,’ and he came to be” [Al Imran 3:59]. There was no messenger between him and the Prophet ﷺ, as Allah says: “And when Isa ibn Maryam said: O Children of Israel, I am Allah’s Messenger to you, confirming the Torah before me and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me whose name is Ahmad. But when he came to them with clear proofs, they said: This is clear magic” [al-Saff 61:6].
No one’s faith is complete until he believes that Isa is Allah’s servant and Messenger and is free and innocent of what the Jews attributed to him when they said that he was the son of an unchaste woman and was born of fornication—we seek refuge in Allah. Allah cleared him of that. Likewise, the Muslims disavow the way of the Christians who went astray in understanding the truth concerning Isa ibn Maryam: they took him and his mother as two gods besides Allah. Some said, “He is the son of Allah,” and others said, “Allah is the third of three.”
Concerning his killing and crucifixion, Allah explicitly and decisively denied that he was killed or crucified. He, Mighty and Majestic, says: “They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it was made to appear so to them. Those who differ concerning him are in doubt about it; they have no knowledge of it, only following conjecture. They certainly did not kill him. Rather, Allah raised him to Himself, and Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. There is none of the People of the Book but will believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them” [al-Nisa 4:157–159].
Whoever believes that Isa ibn Maryam, peace and blessings be upon him, was killed and crucified has contradicted the Quran, and whoever rejects the Quran has disbelieved. We therefore believe that Isa was neither killed nor crucified. Nevertheless, we say that the Jews incurred the sin of killing and crucifixion because they claimed to have killed the Messiah, Isa ibn Maryam, Allah’s Messenger. They did not actually kill him; they killed someone made to resemble him. Allah cast his likeness upon one of them, whom they killed and crucified, and they said: We have killed the Messiah, the son of Maryam, Allah’s Messenger. They thus incurred their sin of killing and acknowledged against themselves the sin of crucifixion. Allah cleared the Messiah, Isa ibn Maryam, of this, protected him, and raised him to heaven. He will descend to earth near the end of time and judge according to the law of the Prophet ﷺ. He will then die and be buried on earth and will come forth from it as the other children of Adam do, because Allah says: “From it We created you, to it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you forth once again” [Ta Ha 20:55], and: “In it you will live, in it you will die, and from it you will be brought forth” [al-Araf 7:25].
Source and editorial notes
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt, 13th edition, 1441 AH, question 51, pp.81–83
فقه العبادات
Fiqh al-ʿIbādāt
Arabic transcribed and compared against the cited scan and adjacent context.