Jews as “Christ-Killers” in Islam

FrontPagemagazine.com ^ | 3/03/04 | Andrew G. Bostom

[kattracks]

Lenny Bruce often confronted the deicide or “Christ-killer” allegation in his bold pre-Vatican II act. The comedian would relate how a beleaguered Jew put a note in his cellar, where it could easily be found, to absolve all other Jews. It said: "I did it. Morty." For weeks, the American media has been inundated with apoplectic diatribes surrounding the unproven, (soon to be disproven?) potential impact of Mel Gibson’s recently released, “The Passion of The Christ” on reviving this now heretical allegation, forty years after Vatican II. Curiously ignored in this overheated discussion is the openly professed, orthodox theological view of Islam and Muslims that the Jews themselves (ala Morty?),  claimed to have killed Christ.

Specifically, Quran 4:157-158 iterates, 

“That they [i.e., the Jews] said in boast, "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not…Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise...

Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), a pre-eminent Muslim historian, theologian, and Qur’anic commentator, provides this elaboration of Qur’an 4:157-158, which emphasizes the Jews overall perfidy, especially their gloating (but unknowingly “false”) claim to have killed Jesus:

“When Allah sent Isa (Jesus) with proofs and guidance, the Jews -- may Allah’s curses, anger, torment, and punishment be upon them -- envied him because of his prophethood and obvious miracles…the Jews defied him…and tried their best to harm him. Allah’s Prophet Isa (Jesus) could not live in any one city for long and he had to travel often with his mother…Even so, the Jews were not satisfied, and they went to the King of Damascus at that time a Greek polytheist who worshipped stars. They told him there was a man…misguiding and dividing the people in Jerusalem and stirring unrest among the king’s subjects. The king became angry and wrote to his deputy in Jerusalem to arrest the rebel leader, stop him from causing unrest, crucify him and make him wear a crown of thorns. When the king’s deputy in Jersusalem received these orders, he went with some Jews to the house that Isa (Jesus) was residing in, and he was with twelve, thirteen, or seventeen of his companions. That day was a Friday, in the evening. They surrounded Isa (Jesus) in the house, and when he felt that they would soon enter the house or that he would sooner or later have to leave it, he said to his companions, ‘Who volunteers to be made to look like me, for which he will be my companion in Paradise?’A young man volunteered, but Isa (Jesus)  thought that he was too young. He asked the question a second time and third time, each time the young man volunteering, prompting Isa (Jesus) to say, ‘Well, then you will be that man.’ Allah made the young man look exactly like Isa (Jesus), while a hole opened  in the roof of the house, and Isa (Jesus) was made to sleep and ascended to heaven while asleep…When Isa (Jesus) ascended, those who were in the house came out. When those surrounding the house saw the man who looked like Isa (Jesus), they thought that he was Isa (Jesus). So they took him at night, crucified him and placed a crown of thorns on his head. The Jews boasted that they killed Isa (Jesus) and some Christians accepted their false claim due to their ignorance and lack of reason.

In his commentary on the related Qur’anic verse 4:159,

“And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them.”

Ibn Kathir elucidates the Islamic version of the “Resurrection” from the hadith (oral tradition recording Muhammad’s words and actions) in which Isa (Jesus), who is merely a Muslim prophet preaching Islam, returns to “break the cross, kill the pig, and banish the jizyah [Qur’anic poll-tax signifying a non-Muslims subjugation under Islamic rule]  and call all the people to Islam.”

It is critically important to understand that all the essential themes of Ibn Kathir’s narrative regarding the Crucifixion are reiterated in the authoritative contemporary (February 1991 English edition) manual of Islamic Law (‘Umdat al-salik wa’uddat al-nasik), “The Reliance of the Traveller,” which is certified by Cairo’s distinguished Al-Azhar University. In addition, “Reliance of the Traveller” reaffirms the accepted interpretation of Isa’s (Jesus’) return as described in the Qur’an and hadith:

“(T)he time and place for  [the poll tax] is before the final descent of Jesus…After his final coming, nothing but Islam will be accepted from them, for taking the poll tax is only effective until Jesus’ descent…

The modern pronouncements and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church stand in stark relief. For example, Professor Phillip Cunningham (in, “Education for Shalom: Religion Textbooks and the Enhancement of the Catholic-Jewish Relationship,” 1995, p. 39) summarized the principal features of the Second Vatican Council's “Declaration of the Relationship of The Church to Non-Christian Religions” (Nostre Aetate), issued in 1965, as follows:

“Nostre Aetate rejected key elements of the ancient anti-Jewish tradition. ‘The Jews’ were not guilty of the crucifixion, had not been renounced by God, were not under a wandering curse, and their covenantal bond with God endured.”

Furthermore, despite the fact that Islam categorically rejects the Gospels’ account of the Crucifixion, large segments of the Muslim intelligentsia were infuriated by the Nostre Aetate declaration rejecting the charge of deicide against the Jewish people. According to prominent dhimmi cleric advocates of the Islamic viewpoint, such as Youakim Moubarac (in, L’Islam et le Dialogue Islamo-Chretien, Pentalogie Islamo-Chretienne, 1972-1973.), Muslim protestations “against the disculpation of the Jewish people” were lodged in “a perfectly authentic pursuit” of the Qur’an “ for the honor of God and the Virgin.” Moubarac added that Jews were “the principal agent of an entire sinful mankind [and] …blame cannot be placed on this mankind for a deed for which its prime author is absolved.”  The historian Bat Ye’or has noted bluntly that the sentiments expressed by Moubarac and his ilk reflect an “Islamic and Christian anti-Judaism [which] mutually strengthened each other in order to torpedo Judeo-Christian rapprochement.” As a Jew, even an admittedly very secular one, it has been quite reassuring to see the preponderance of devout American Christians fully prepared and willing to mollify any potentially anti-Semitic (especially deicidal) motifs in “The Passion of The Christ,” due in no small part to The Church's sincere modern teachings. There is no remotely comparable progressive strain evident in the Islamic world. Muslim clerics and regimes, especially in the Near East, vehemently opposed, and continue to oppose, the Vatican II/ Nostre Aetate renunciation of the deicide allegation against Jews. Moreover, basic Islamic theology regarding the deicide allegation, and its ugly related politics, are barely known in the West, due to a combination of profound ignorance, and deliberate, cynical obfuscation. The chasm between modern Muslim and Christian teachings with regard to the "deicide/Christ-killer" allegation against the Jews, as well as the overall conception of Jesus, couldn't be wider. Religious leaders, as well as elites in government policy, academia, and the media must begin to discuss this asymmetry candidly, as well as its implications for serious, meaningful interfaith "dialogue" between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

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Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University Medical School, and occasional contributor to Frontpage Magazine. He is the co-editor of a forthcoming essay collection entitled, The Myth of Islamic Tolerance.

[marty60]

This is a great post. Very informative. But, do I understand them correctly, that supposedly Jesus comes back and tells everyone to follow Islam?

[Caipirabob]

Fascinating post, Kattracks!

[per loin]

Mort Saul had a similar routine, where his uncle takes him aside and tells him "We did it".

[aardvark1]

One of the best things to happen to Jews regarding this whole 'Christ-killing' mentality among some Christians in the past (perhaps in the present, but I don't know anyone who espouses this view) was Johann Gutenberg. With the printing press came the mass production of books, especially the Bible, and the general Christian populace was able to read the gospel accounts for themselves for the first time.

[F14 Pilot]

Ping!!!Ping!!!???

[Guillermo]

If Jesus was just a prophet, as Mohammedanism says, then He was a lunatic and a liar.

If He came back and told everyone to follow Islam, then he'd be admitting such.

[marty60]

Good grief, no wonder they blow themselves up!

[Ethan_Allen]

"Good grief, no wonder they blow themselves up!"

THEY weren't given the oracles, as the Jews like to boast of themselves, and God only appeared to them ONCE ( http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Gen/Gen016.html#7 - the angel being JESUS.):

oracle -
1) a brief utterance, a divine oracle (doubtless because oracles were generally brief)

a) in the NT, the words or utterances of God

b) of the contents of the Mosaic law

Act 7:35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send [to be] a ruler and a deliverer BY THE HAND OF THE ANGEL WHICH APPEARED TO HIM IN THE BUSH. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Exd/23/20.html

Act 7:36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Act/7/36.html

Act 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A PROPHET shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, LIKE UNTO ME; HIM SHALL YE HEAR.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Act/7/37.html

Act 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with THE ANGEL which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] *** our fathers: who received the lively ORACLES to give unto us: http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Act/7/38.html

Exd 23:20 Behold, I send AN ANGEL before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Exd 23:21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for MY NAME [IS] IN HIM. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Exd/23/21.html

JESUS = "JEHOVAH is salvation"

Exd 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I [am] the LORD:

Exd 6:3 And I APPEARED UNTO ABRAHAM, UNTO ISAAC, AND UNTO JACOB, by [the name of] God Almighty, BUT BY MY NAME JEHOVAH WAS I NOT KNOWN TO THEM. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Exd/6/3.html

Gen 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more JACOB, BUT ISRAEL: for as a prince hast thou power with GOD and with men, and hast prevailed.

Gen 32:29 And JACOB ASKED [HIM], and said, TELL [ME], I pray thee, THY NAME. And HE SAID, WHEREFORE [IS] IT THAT THOU DOST ASK AFTER MY NAME? AND HE BLESSED HIM THERE.

Gen 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place PENIEL: FOR I HAVE SEEN GOD FACE TO FACE, AND MY LIFE IS PRESERVED. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Gen/32/30.html

Exd 33:20 And HE said, Thou canst not see my face: for THERE SHALL NO MAN SEE ME, AND LIVE. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Exd/33/20.html

Jhn 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him]. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Jhn/1/18.html

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the FIRSTBORN OF EVERY CREATURE:

Jhn 1:1 IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Jhn/1/1.html

THE CONTROVERSY OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH ( http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Psa/Psa002.html#2 )

Deu 21:16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit [that] which he hath, [that] he may not make the son of the BELOVED FIRSTBORN before the SON OF THE HATED, [which is indeed] the firstborn: http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Deu/21/16.html

Deu 21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated [for] the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he [is] the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn [is] his. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Deu/21/17.html

Jhn 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Jhn/15/18.html

Vatican: ‘The Jews’ were not guilty of the crucifixion, had not been renounced by God, were not under a wandering curse, and their covenantal bond with God endured.”

For a different point of view:

THE REJECTION OF JESUS
http://www.godskingdomministries.org/Birthright/Chapter6/Chapter%206.htm#Absalom:%20Temporary%20Usurper%20of%20Davids%20Throne

Eze 5:12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Eze/5/12.html

See Isaiah 65
http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Isa/Isa065.html

Jer 11:10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND THE HOUSE OF JUDAH HAVE BROKEN MY COVENANT which I made with their fathers. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Jer/11/10.html [Having been on the wrong side of a few Jewish lawyers over contract disputes, it always amazes me how so many of them can gloss over this one.]

Amo 7:8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Amo/7/8.html

Mat 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Mat/3/10.html

CHAPTER 7: The Conflict

http://www.godskingdomministries.org/Birthright/Chapter7/Chapter7.htm

"..The chasm between modern Muslim and Christian teachings with regard to the "deicide/Christ-killer" allegation against the Jews, as well as the overall conception of Jesus, couldn't be wider. Religious leaders, as well as elites in government policy, academia, and the media must begin to discuss this asymmetry candidly, as well as its implications for serious, meaningful interfaith "dialogue" between Jews, Christians, and Muslims..."

Yes! I believe that is just why God compelled Mel to produce 'Passion'.

It is written:

Isa 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Isa/Isa058.html#1
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Isa/58/1.html

Eze 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Eze/18/31.html

Mat 28:8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. 11 Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the CHIEF PRIESTS all the things that were done. 12 And when they were assembled with THE ELDERS, and had taken counsel, THEY GAVE LARGE MONEY UNTO THE SOLDIERS, 13 Saying, SAY YE, HIS DISCIPLES CAME BY NIGHT, AND STOLE HIM [AWAY' WHILE WE SLEPT. 14 And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15 So they took the money, and did as they were taught: AND THIS SAYING IS COMMONLY REPORTED AMONG THE JEWS UNTIL THIS DAY. http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Mat/Mat028.html#13 [See also Justin Martyr: Chapter CVIII.-The Resurrection of Christ Did Not Convert the Jews. But THROUGH THE WHOLE WORLD They Have Sent Men to Accuse Christ. http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-48.htm#P4968_1103965 ]

JESUS IS GOD: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Ch4.htm

I can't WAIT to hear what they have to say about these:

http://www.noahide.com/yeshu.htm
http://www.noahide.com/xmas.htm
http://www.noahide.com/son.htm
http://www.noahide.com/finalwar.htm

[skeeter]

Islam is a replacement religion. They co-opted the Temple Mount, why wouldn't they try to co-opt the gospels, too?