Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you --- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

THE RECORD OF THE QURAN
 From the dawn of Christianity, many people have received and accepted the crucifixion of Christ, by which they are saved and forgiven.  Islam as a whole, however denies the crucifixion of Christ.  Before we deal with the verse that presents this, we must ask why this denial is recorded in the Quran and how such a doctrine seeped into the book.
 Even during Christ's lifetime there were those who objected to the idea that the Christ would be crucified.  We read in John 12:34

The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever, and how can You say, "The Son of Man must be lifted up"?  Who is this Son of Man?"

 Historians tell us that this heresy was later widespread among the early Christians of the Arabian Peninsula.
 Additionally, a great number of Jewish converts in Arabia during Muhammad's time believed that Christ was able to transform himself from one form to another.  Therefore, they advanced the idea that when His enemies came to arrest Him, He cast His likeness onto another man, and that man was crucified instead of Jesus.  To explain what happened to Christ, they said He was lifted up to God.  This explains the pseudo-Christian and Jewish influence on the Quran.

 Surat al-Nisa (Women) 4:157-158

 And because of their saying:  We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger--They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.  But Allah took him up unto Himself.  Allah was ever Mighty, Wise.

 The Cross, in Islam's estimation, was not a historical event or the basis for a doctrine of redemption.  Rather it was a symbol or a sign, like the star which guided the Magi to the cradle of the child in Bethlehem, or like the appearance of the Holy Spirit as a dove descending upon Christ at His baptism in the Jordan.  But the heavy cross on which Christ was hanged, which is the altar of redemption, where the Lamb of God was sacrificed to take away the sin of the world, is of no real importance to Muslim.
 Muslim theologians disagree on the matter of how another took the place of Christ.  Many stories have arisen about it.  One is that when the Jews determined to kill Christ, God took Him to heaven.  Because leaders feared an uprising of the people, they killed a man by crucifixion and sought to deceive the people by saying he was Christ.
 One other explanation is that God cast Christ's likeness onto another man who died instead of Him.  This story has many versions.
 (1)  A Jew named Judas entered a house where Christ was with the purpose of arresting Him, but did not find Him, God caused the likeness of Christ (Isa) to be on Judas.  When he came out of the house, people though he was Isa and took him and crucified him.
 (2)  The Jews, when they arrested Isa set over him a watchman, whom they took and crucified, while he cried out, "I am not Isa."
 (3)  One of Isa's followers, Judas, sought to betray Isa by guiding the Jews to Him.  He went with them to arrest Isa, but God caused Judas to appear like Isa so Judas was taken and crucified instead.

 Few commentators on the Quran agree.  Al Jalalan in his interpretation of the Quranic phrase, "It appeared so unto them" (Shubbiha Lahum), says that Allah caused the likeness of Isa to be upon the dead man.  Because they though he was Isa, they killed and crucified him.  The phrase, :those who disagree and are in doubt about Him" (that is, about Isa, regarding his death), means that some of them, when they saw the dead man, said, "The face is the face of Isa, but the body is not His body."  Others said, "It is He."

 Al Baidawi said, "It is related that a group of Jews captured Isa and His mother.  He cursed them and they were changed into apes and pigs!  The Jews met together to kill Him, but God told Him He would take Him to heaven.  He said to His friends, Who is ready to take my likeness upon him and be killed and crucified and enter Paradise?'  One of them responded and God cast the likeness of Isa upon him.  He was killed by crucifixion."
 Al Zamakhashri said, "the words it appeared so unto them' mean they imagined it to be so or they presumed that they killed and crucified him--so He is dead and not alive.  But He is alive because God took Him to Himself."
Surat al-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:55

 (And remember) when Allah said:  O Jesus!  Lo!  I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection.  Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ.

 The variety of versions of the previous story resulted from the lack of clear wording in the Quran with regard to the last days of Christ's human life on earth.  This disparity opened the door to many different and opposing opinions.  One of the most famous is by Imam Fakhr ed Din ar Razi.  He explains the matter of the transfer of Christ's likeness to another man in a variety of ways.
 (1)  If it is permissible to assert that Allah casts the resemblance of one person onto another, then the door is open to calumny.  In time this allows subtle reasoning which invalidates prophecies.
 (2)  God supported Him (Isa) with His Holy Spirit.  Was God in this case not able to do so?  He (Isa) was able to raise the dead--was He not able to protect Himself?
 (3)  God was able to rescue Him by raising Him to heaven, therefore what used was it to cause another to bear His likeness?
 (4)  By so doing--that is, by causing another to resemble Him--they were made to believe that this other was Isa, although he was not.  This was a deception and not in keeping with the integrity of God.
 (5)  The majority of Christians from East to West, with their intense love for Christ and extreme zeal for His cause, witnessed His crucifixion.  Therefore, if we deny this, we discredit the historicity (chronology) of events and the prophecy of Muhammad, Isa, and the rest of the prophets.'
 (6)  The logical (normal) thing would be that the "other man" would be able to defend himself by saying he was not Isa.  That is what he would have done.  As he did not do so, we understand the matter was not as reported.  If the sayings of the Quran do repudiate the crucifixion of Christ, they certainly do not repudiate His death before He was taken to heaven.
 As an Arab who has been raised in a Muslim culture, Arabic is my native language.  The critical word mutawafika means "cause you to die."  Confusion arising from various interpretations of this word has cast a shadow over the truth of the death of Christ.  Even until this day, fourteen hundred years after the appearance of the Quran, you can ask any Arab about what happened to his uncle who passed away last week and he will use the same word as a past tense, "Tawafa," which mean he died.  since that term is used of Jesus, he must have died.

 Surat Maryam (Mary) 19:33

 Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!

 This verse is a clear confession that Christ became incarnate, died, and was raised from the dead.  Moreover, this was done according to prophecy and based on miracles.  This is one of the clearest passages in the Quran on this subject, and it agrees with the Gospel narratives.
 I was in the audience on July 7, 1985, when Mr. Ahmed Deedat was debating Dr. Floyd Clark of Tennessee in London's Royal Albert Hall.  During the question and answer period, I asked Mr. Deedat if he believed that the Quran contradicted itself or not?  The question was related to this very verse, as I quoted it in Arabic before the entire crowd of people in that gigantic hall.  To my utter astonishment, Mr. Deedat responded,  "The first part of the sentence was in the past tense--'Peace on me the day I was born.'"  Then he went on to say, "The day I die and the day I shall be raised alive' is a future tense, it has not happened yet."  There was no more opportunity for a rebuttal, but it was a revelation to me of how clever and artful a person can be in explaining away what he does not want to believe.  The reason Jesus used future tense is very simple.  He was alive when He said these words and neither death nor resurrection had yet taken place.  But both events did occur when He was 33 years old.
 What a contradiction Mr. Deedat presented in the debate!  He accepted the crucifixion but not the death of Christ.  Can you imagine such a thing when he, as a spokesman, a theologian, and a debater for the Muslim faith disputes his own holy book's statement about the crucifixion?  He does this by stating that Christ came out of the grave after having swooned and experienced resuscitation!

 Surat al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread) 5:116-117

 And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary!  Didst thou say unto mankind:  Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?  he saith:  Be glorified!  It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right.  If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it.  Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind.  Lo!  Thou, only Thou art the Knower of Things Hidden.
 I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying):  Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.  I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them.  Thou art Witness over all things.

 This particular passage is certainly a powerful one against the heretic Miriamites, who had made Mary a goddess, Jesus her son, and God Almighty her husband.  This definitely is blasphemy and certainly is not accepted by true Christians who believe in the Holy Bible.  so we have no argument with this particular verse at all once it is understood clearly and correctly.  However, "thou tookest me" is "Tawafaytani" in Arabic and mean "caused me to die."  It is another verse acknowledging the death of Jesus.

 Surat al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:87

 And verily We gave unto Moses the Scripture and We caused a train of messengers to follow after him, and We gave unto Jesus, son of Mary, clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), and We supported him with the Holy Spirit.  Is it ever so, that, when there cometh unto you a messenger (from Allah) with that which ye yourselves desire not, ye grow arrogant, and some ye disbelieve and some ye slay?

 The Arabic word for "slay" here is very clear and can only be translated as "killing."  Since the Quran does not mention how the killing of Jesus took place, the Gospels are the original and only authentic sources on this subject.
 Let us consider, please, Surat al-Nisa (Women) 4:157-158 and compare it with Surat al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2:87.  The question before us is what was the Jewish leaders' purpose in killing Jesus?  We discover the answer in John 11:47-50:

  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."  And one of the, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to the, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."

When the Jews hung Jesus upon the cross and He died, He was put in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.  A stone was rolled over the entrance of the tomb and, following Platte's orders, it was sealed.  The Jews rejoiced, thinking that they were finally saved from His teaching and miracles.  It was their hope that His cruel death was enough to prevent His followers from any further activity.  But it was not to be so.  Jesus' atoning death on the cross and subsequent resurrection has attracted thousands of believers in Jerusalem itself and millions more from all over the world.  Today the largest number of followers of any religion are the followers of Jesus Christ.  Throughout the 215 countries of the world 1,563,000,000 people pay allegiance to Him.  In John 12:32, Jesus Himself affirmed, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
 Once again we look at this passage from Surat al-Nisa (Women) 4:157,". . . Those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain."  The contemporaries of Jesus confidently tell us that He did die and rose the third day, and during the forty days after that appeared to as many as five hundred people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6; see also Matthew 28:11-15).  Then He ascended to Heaven and sat at the right hand of God--in keeping with the Quranic statement, in Surat al-Imran (The Family of Imran) 3:55, "Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me."  Isn't it marvelous to recognize the truth when it is investigated thoroughly rather than interpreted according to one's own biased opinion?