The death of Jesus and Mohammad and after their deaths

Ibn Hisham reported in his biography about the Prophet of Islam Muhammad that he died after suffering from a high fever. Prior to his death, Muhammad claimed that the poison of the Jews had broken his heart. When a Jewish slave-woman laced his food with poison, a guest who was eating with him died! Muhammad himself sensed the poisoned food and spat out what was in his mouth before swallowing it. However, his body absorbed some of the poison and that is what eventually caused his death.

 The death of Christ, however, was clearly prophesied in the Quran, fulfilling the plan of God as a blessing for all men. In the Quran, the Almighty speaks directly to Jesus; “I will cause you to die, and raise you up to Me.” (The House of Imran 3;55).

 Even though this quotation is not written in the Gospel, it proves that Christ, according to the Quran, was not killed accidently but died in accordance with the will of God, in peace.

 The Quran does not deny the historical death of Christ as some unbelievers claim, for we read the prophecy which Christ uttered about His own death, in Sura Mariam 19;33; “Peace be upon me, the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive.”

 The great confession of the Quran confirms that Christ was born, died and rose from the grave. With this declaration, Muhammad supported the teachings of the Gospel. Everyone who believes in the sequence of this historical event shall live Him who is alive now and evermore!

 When Christ returns to this earth, He will never die again. He did not indicate in Sura Mariam that He would die in the distant future but in a near future, after His birth and lifetime. The Quran testifies that Christ was born, that He died, and that He rose again in a sequential chain of event. We the followers of Christ are certain about the historicity of the death and resurrection of the Son of Mary.

 Christ died voluntarily and in perfect peace. We read this in the Gospel and in the Quran. Christ knew how He would die beforehand. He even appointed the day and the hour of His own death to coincide with the festivities of the Passover, accordance to the Law of the Moses. He revealed that He would die as atonement, saving all who believe in Him from their sins and the everlasting fire. All people die because they have sinned but Christ never sinned. The Quran affirms this several times. Christ did not die for His own sins but took our sins upon Him and died instead of us. There is a divine peace and a significance that surrounds His death, according to Sura Mariam, for He, the Lamb of God, carried the sins of the world away in His great love.

 Muhammad was buried in Medina and his grave is still there to this day. Muslims believe that his soul is in an intermediate place for the dead (Barzakh), awaiting the Day of Judgment.

 We read in the Quran that God raised Christ to Himself, promising Him; “O Isa, I will cause You to die, and will raise You up to Me.” (The House of Imran 3;55).

 This promise is confirmed in the Quran as a fulfilled fact; “Allah raised Him up to Himself” (Women 4;158).

 In other words, God called the Son of Mary out of the grave and raised Him up to Himself. He now lives near God, being honoured highly on earth and in eternity. The Quran says, “O Mariam, God gives you good tidings of a Word from Him whose name is Messiah, Isa, the Son of Mary, highly honoured, in this world and the next, and brought near to Allah.” (The House of Imran 3;45).

 The grave of Christ is empty for He indeed has risen, as He proclaimed beforehand. But the remains of Muhammad are still in his grave. Christ lives. Muhammad is dead. Muhammad has never been resurrected from the grave; neither has risen up to heaven. He is waiting for the Judgment Day. No one can deny this fact. There is an unbridgeable difference between life and death. As life is greater than death, so Jesus is greater than Muhammad. Jesus is eternal life in person. The Quran itself clearly portrays the living Christ for all who search after eternal life.