It was made to appear to them so

The crucifixion, Jews and Sasanian war propaganda in the Qur'ān

Bibliographic Data

ID4371835
AuthorsJuan Cole (0000-0002-0540-1474, University of Michigan, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume51
Issue3
Pages404-422
Publication date2021-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0048721x.2021.1909170
OpenAlexW3144801480
LanguageEN
References cited40

The quranic sūra The Women 4:157-58 says that Jews claimed to have killed and crucified Christ but denies that they did so. Rather, the verse says, ‘it was made to appear to them so.’ For centuries, controversy has swirled around these verses, as most Muslims took them to deny that Christ was crucified. If we place them in the historical context of the Roman-Sasanian war of the early seventh century, it is clear that the allegations denied in this Qurʾān passage resemble reported taunts of Sasanian war propagandists seeking to demoralize their Christian foes. These verses about the crucifixion are preceded in The Women 4:153-156 by accusations leveled at Jews of having been unfaithful to their own covenant and of having killed prophets that came to them. It is shown that these charges against the Jews are closely based on a biblical passage, the penitential prayer of Ezra in Nehemiah 9

Ancient history · Context (archaeology) · Covenant · Penitential · Prayer · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy · Religious studies

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