The Ascension of Prophet Jesus into the Heavens

The Muslim belief in relation to Prophet Jesus is that he was not killed, nor crucified; rather, he ascended into the Heavens by the will of God. Allah, the Exalted, says:

 “And We did certainly give Moses the Torah and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:87)

God, the Exalted, also says:

“And [We cursed them] for their breaking of the covenant and their disbelief in the signs of Allah and their killing of the prophets without right and their saying, "Our hearts are wrapped". Rather, Allah has sealed them because of their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few. And [We cursed them] for their disbelief and their saying against Mary a great slander, And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain. Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise. And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness.” (Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa’, 4:155-159)

Ibn Abbas said: “When Allah decreed that Jesus ascend into the heavens, his companions who were twelve in number came to him in his home, and they saw that his head was dripping with water. Jesus asked them, “Who of you would be transformed by God to appear as me and be killed in my place and he shall receive the reward of the Heavenly Abode?” The youngest of the group volunteered, but Jesus told him to sit down, but he volunteered once again and Jesus chose him. He was made to appear as Jesus and Jesus ascended into the heavens. The people came and captured the one who appeared as Jesus and killed him by crucifixion. God, the Exalted, says:

“And the disbelievers planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners. [Mention] when Allah said, "O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ. And as for those who disbelieved, I will punish them with a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers."But as for those who believed and did righteous deeds, He will give them in full their rewards, and Allah does not like the wrongdoers.” (Qur’an, Surah Al-‘Imran, 3:54-57)

Christians later claimed that Jesus was killed to atone for the sins of mankind. As Muslims, we believe that every one of us will stand before God to be judged for what they have done. No one bears the sins of anyone else.