42 A l K O R A N . C h a p . 3.
ƒ come to confirm the Law which was revealed before me* and to allow unto
you as lawful, part of that which hath been forbidden you a : and I come unto
you with a fign from your L o r d -, therefore fear G o d , and obey me.
Verily G o d is my L o r d , and your L o r d : therefore ferve him. This is t h e
right way. But when J esus perceived their unbelief, he faid, Who will be
my helpers towards G o d ? The apoftles b anfwered, We will be the h e l p e r s
of G o d 3 we believe in G o d , and do thou bearwitnefs that we are true b e lievers.
O L o r d , we believe in that which thou haft fent down, and w e
have followed thy apoftle ; write us down therefore with thofe who b e a r
witnefs of him. And the Jews devifed a ftratagem againft himc‘, but G o d d e -
vifed a ftratagem againft themd ; and G o d is the beft -devifer of ftratagems.
" 'When
was fent to entrap hinr ; Others that it was one
T it ia n , who by the direction of J u d a s z ntred in
at a window of the hoiife'<where Jesus was, to
kill him ; and others that it was J u d a s himfelf,
who agreed with the rulers of t h e J ew s to betray
him for thirty pieces of hiver, and led thofe who
were fent to take him.
They add, that J e fu s after his crucifixion in
e f f ig ié v tÀ s - teû t «down again to the 'earth, to com'
fort his mother and difciples, and acquaint them
how the J'ezbs were deceived ; and îvsçll then
taken up a fecond' time into heaven 5 ;
It isiappofed"by feveral' that tfrisfiorywas an
original- invention oî TAobdm fried?$ ; "but they are
certainly iriiftaken : ' for feveràl -feélaries'hèM the
fame opinion, long before his time. The'Baft-
Rdiims 6,- in the very beginning o f C h r i f t ianfty,
denied that C h r i f t himfelf fuffered, but that&w!/»
the Gy renean Wâs crucified^ in: his place. The O-
r in tb iam bèfore them-, and the Gafpocrafiafisneit.
(to name no more of thofe, who affirmed
to have been’ a? mere feanj ‘did b'eliève ‘thé1 fame
thing ; that'itiwas ttot hfmfèlf but bné of his followers,
Very Kke~hirh, that- was cïuèifiéd. Pho-
‘N u i tèiîs. ûs, that' he réad a- bobk intitled, The
Jôuriïdys v f 't b e ü p b f t l f s , relating the afts of Piter,
J o h n , And r ew, Thofnas tia ft P M / } and amohg
other thihgs contained'therein, this -Was one,
th a t Chrift v/as Wot c'rucifted'ftut another in ‘his
ft'edd, and that therefore'beddug'b'éd ap h is Criici-
J ie r s 7, or thofe who thought they hafd crucified
him 8.
‘ I- have ’in another fplacê A ftientiohfed an apo*
'ëryphahg&fpel of 'Èühnâ&ass'- a,forj^#JeW§?n^
of fome nominal Cbriftians, büti**ft4¥6rp6lAted
'' fince
• And to allow you part of that which hath been
forbidden youi] Such as the eating of fifh that
have neither fins nor feales, the cawl and fat of
animals, and camels fleih, and to work on the
fabbath. Thefe things, fay the commentators,
being arbitrary inftitutions in the law of Mofes,
were abrogated by J e s u s ; as feveral of the fame
kind inftituted by the latter, have been fince
abrogated by Mohammed 1.
b The apoftles j] In Arabic, al Hatöariyün ;
which word they derive from Hara, idbe white,
and fuppofe the apoftles were fo called either
from the candor and ftneerity 'öf their minds, or
becaufe they were princes and Wore white garments,
or elfe becaufe they were by trade fullers
2. According to which laft opinion, their
vocation is thus related j That as J e s u s paifed
by the fea fide, he faw fome fullers at Work, and
accofting them, faid, Ye cleanfe thefe cloaths, but
cleanfe not your hearts; upon which they believed
•on him. But the true etymology feems to Be
from the Ethiopic verb Hawyra, to go, whence
Hawdrya fignifies ofte that is fent, a mëjfefiger
or apoftle ? .
* The Jews' devifed a ftratagem dgaiitft bim ;]
i. e. They laid a defign to take aWay-his life* ;
a But G od devifed a ftratagem againft them j]
This ftratagem of Gó d *s Was thétaking of J e s u s
up into heavên, and ftampinghis likenefs on another
perfon, who was apprehended and crucified
• in his ftead. For it is the cönftant'dóïtrlne of the
Mohammedans that it was not J e s ü s himfelf who
underwent that ignominious deatft, but fo me-
body 'elfC'in his fhape’ artd Vefemblance 4. -The
perfon crucified fome1 will have'1 tö'fee a ^ y th'kt
1 A l Beidawi, jA L t Ato’ nDrN, v %\.Tidem. , 3'V . L udolVi L e x i c ^ Æ t b i t fp . c c h q o - &
G olh notas a d cap. 61. K o r â n i,. p . 205... 4 See K o ra n , c .\4. . 5 rV . Ma^racc. in A h .p . ' i i 3>
tf t c . & in P ro d r. p a r t . 3. /.-63, & c . 6 I renaeus, /. 1. c. 23, & c . E piphan. H a r e f 24.
num. 3. ,7 Photius, B i b l . Cod. 114. col. 291. 8 T qlan.d’ s -N aza renu s, p. 17, is le , 9 Prelim.
D i f t . i lV . p . 7 4.
C h a p * 3* A l K O R A N . 43
When G o d faid,’ O J esus, verily I will caufe thee to di e and I will
«lp thee up unto me b, and I will deliver thee from the unbelievers ; and
T will place thofe who follow thee, above the unbelievers, until the day of
.•pfiirreéUonthen untome fhall ye‘ return, and I will judge between you
of that concerning which y.e diiagree.. MPfeoyer,. as for. thé infidels, I will
ounilh them with a grievous putiilhment in this world, and in that which is
to come j and there fliall he. none to help 'them.. But they who believe, and
do that which is right, he jhall.give them their reward; for G od loveth not
the wicked doers. Thefe figns, and this prudent admonition do we rehearie
fmee by Mohammedans; which gives this part
of the hiftory of Jefus with circumftancgs too
curious to" be omitted. It is therein related,
that the moment the Jews were going to apprehend
Jefus in the garden, he wa3 fnatched up
into the third heaven, by the miniftry of four
angels, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel',
that he will hot dié till the end of the world,
and that it was Judas who was crucified in his
ftead ; G od having permitted that traitor to appear
fo like his matter, in the eyes of the Jews,
that they took and delivered him to Pilate. That
this refemblance was fo great, that it deceived
the Virgin Mary and the apoftles themfelves j but
that Jefus Chrift afterwards obtained leave of
God to go and comfort them. That Barnabas
having then asked him, why the divine good-
nefs had fuffered the mother and difciples of fo
holy a prophet to believe even for one moment
that he had died in fo ignominious a manner ?
Jefus returned the following anfwer. “ O Bar-
“ ndbas, believe liie that every fin, how fmall
«« foever, is puniftiedfby G od with great tor-
“ ment, becaufe G od is offended with fin. My
“ mother therefore and faithful difciples, having
loved me with a mixture of earthly love, the
“ juft G od has been pleafed to punifh this love
M with their prefent grief, that they might not
“ be punifhed for it hereafter in the flanjes of
■ " hell. And as for me, tho’ I have my felf
“ been blamelefs in the world, yet other men
“ having called me G od, and the fon of G od ;
•* therefore G od, that I might not be mocked
by the devils at the day of judgment, has
“ been pleafed that in this world I fhould he
“ mocked by men with the death of Judas,
“ making every body believe that I died upon
“ the crofs. And hence it is that this mocking
“ is ftill to continue till the coming of Mobam-
“ med, the meflenger of G od j who, coming
** into the world, will undeceive every one who
“ wlio fhall believe in the law of G od, from
“ this miftake l .
a 1 will caufe thee to die, &c.J It is the opinion
of a great many Mohammedans, that Jefus was
taken up into heaven without dying : which o-
pinion is cpnfonant to-what is delivered in the
fpurious.gofpel aboyementioned. Wherefore feveral
o f the commentators fay that there is a
hyft.eron proterm in thefe words, I will caufe tbee
to die, and I will take tbee up unto me; and that the
.copulative does not import order, or that he died
before his afliunption; the meaning being this,
viz. that G od would firft take Jefus up to heaven,
and deliver him from the infidels, and afterwards
caufe him to die : which they fuppofe
is to happen when he fhall return into the world
again, before the laft day 2. Some, thinking the
order of the words is not to be changed, interpret
them figuratively, and fuppofe their fignifi-
cation to he that Jefus was lifted up while he
was afleep, or that G od caufed him to die a fpi-
Titual death to all worldly defires. But others
acknowledge that he a&ually died a natural death,
and continued in that ftate three hours, or, according
to another tradition, feven hours j after
which he was reftored to life, and then taken up
to heaven 3.
b And I will take thee up unto me ;J Some Mohammedans
fay this was done by the miniftry of
Gabriel» but others that a ftrong whirlwind took
him up from mount Olivet*.
c I will place thofe who follow thee above the unbelievers,
fintil the day of refurreftion.] That is,
they who believe in Jefus (among whom the
Mohammedans reckon themfelves) fliall be for ever
fuperior to the Jews, both in arguments and in
arms. And accordingly, fays al Beidawi, to this
very day thé Jews have never prevailed either
againft the Chriftians or Moftems, nor have they
any kingdom or eftablifhed government of their
own.
1 See the Menagiana, Tom. 4: p. 326, &c. 2 See the Prelim. Difc. §. IV./* 81. 9 A l
B e i d a w i '. 4 ^ / T h a l a b i . See 2 Kings il. 1, 1 4 .