a sinner and a false prophet, according to the Torah: for in Deut. xviii. 20 [cf. xiii. 5, and
Jer. xiv. 14, 15, and Zech. xiii. 3] it is prophesied that a false prophet "shall
die," that is, shall be put to death.
C. This is not a prophecy but a command. It is one thing to say that a false prophet shall be
put to death, and quite a different thing to declare that every prophet who was put to death was a
false prophet. For example, John (Yahya') the Baptist was put to death, but the Qur'an speaks of
him as a true prophet in Surah III., Al 'Imran, 34 (and in Surah XIX., Maryam, 13, he is mentioned
as given "the Book" by God: cf. verses 1-15, also Surah XXI., Al Anbiya', 89, 90). Abel
[Habil] was slain by his brother (Surah V., Al Maidah, 33), but that did not prove him to be a false
teacher. So also in Surah II., Al Baqarah, 81, and Surah V., Al Maidah, 74, it is said that the
Israelites slew some true apostles sent to them by God.
94. M. But the Qur'an distinctly denies that Jesus was crucified and slain by the Jews
(Surah IV., An Nisa', 156), which the Gospels assert.
C. Possibly the reason why the Qur'an denies that He was crucified by the Jews is
because, as the Gospels assert, He was really crucified, not by the Jews, but by the Roman
soldiers (Matt. xxvii. 26-35) at the command of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea
(Matt. xxvii. 2, 26)1. The guilt,