Page 128 - The Glad Tidings of the Messiah

126 The Glad Tidings of the Messiah (pbuh)

We did not give them bodies that did not eat food, nor
were they immortal (khalideena). (Surat al-Anbiya', 8)

6) Salaba: To Crucify

Another word used in the Qur'an to relate death is salaba (to
crucify). This verb has various meanings (e.g., to hang, to crucify,
to execute) and is used in the following ways:
They did not kill him and they did not crucify him (wa
maa salaboohu). (Surat an-Nisa', 157)

[Joseph said:] "One of you will serve his lord with wine,
the other of you will be crucified (yuslabu)." (Surah Yusuf,
41)
They should be killed or crucified (yusallaboo). (Surat al-
Ma'ida, 33)
[Pharaoh said:] "I will cut off your alternate hands and
feet, and then I will crucify (la usallibannakum) every one
of you." (Surat al-A'raf, 124)
As the verses show, the words used to express the Prophet
Jesus' (pbuh) situation are altogether different to those used to de-
scribe the deaths of the other Prophets. Allah states that the
Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was neither killed nor crucified, that a look-
alike was killed in his place, and that he was taken back (in other
words that his soul was taken) and raised up to His Presence.
When talking of the Prophet Jesus'(pbuh), the Qur'an uses tawaffa
(to take the soul) whereas when talking of the other Prophets, it
uses qataloohu or maata (and its derivatives) to mean "death" in the
conventional sense. This information shows us yet again that the
Prophet Jesus' (pbuh) situation was extraordinary.