The enemies of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam ؑ conspired to have him seized, condemned, and executed. They reported him to one of the ruling disbelieving kings of that era, whose name, according to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110 AH/728 CE) ؒ and Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (d. 150 AH/767 CE) ؒ, was Dāwūd ibn Yūrā. Upon his order, soldiers were dispatched to arrest ʿĪsā. They surrounded a house in Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) where he had taken shelter, closing in on the evening of Friday as the Sabbath night began. With him inside the house were twelve men, his disciples, the Ḥawāriyyūn.
The Last Night: The Farewell Gathering
The narrative recorded by Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. 114 AH/732 CE) ؒ, transmitted through Muḥammad ibn Jarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH/923 CE) ؒ, gives a vivid and moving account of ʿĪsā’s final night with his companions.
When Allah informed ʿĪsā that his time in this world was coming to an end, the weight of that knowledge bore heavily upon him. He gathered his disciples and prepared a meal for them, serving them himself. When they had finished eating, he rose and began to wash their hands with his own hands and to dry them with his garment. His companions were humbled and reluctant to allow this, but he said to them:
ألا من رد علي شيئا الليلة مما أصنع فليس مني ولا أنا منه
“Whoever refuses what I do tonight has no part of me, nor I of him.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 512.]
They submitted. When he had finished, he said:
أما ما صنعت بكم الليلة مما خدمتكم على الطعام، وغسلت أيديكم بيدي، فليكن لكم بي أسوة، فإنكم ترون أني خيركم فلا يتعظم بعضكم على بعض، وليبذل بعضكم لبعض نفسه كما بذلت نفسي لكم
“As for what I have done tonight, serving you at the table and washing your hands with my own hands, let it be an example for you. You see that I am the best among you, yet let none of you exalt himself above another. Let each of you give of himself to his brother as I have given of myself to you.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 512.]
He then revealed his true need in gathering them: he asked them to supplicate to Allah and to strive earnestly in that supplication, asking that his appointed time be delayed.
But when they prepared themselves for supplication, sleep overcame them. They could not keep themselves awake. He went to rouse them, saying:
سبحان الله، أما تصبرون لي ليلة واحدة، تعينوني فيها؟
“Subḥān Allah, can you not remain patient with me for a single night, and aid me in this?” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, pp. 512–513.]
They replied:
والله ما ندري ما لنا، والله لقد كنا نسمر فنكثر السمر، وما نطيق الليلة سمرا، وما نريد دعاء إلا حيل بيننا وبينه
“By Allah, we do not know what has come over us. We are men who customarily stay up talking through the night, yet tonight we cannot. Every time we intend to supplicate, we find ourselves prevented.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
He said to them:
يذهب بالراعي وتتفرق الغنم
“The shepherd is taken, and the flock scatters.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
And he began to speak words as one bidding farewell to his own life.
Then he said:
الحق ليكفرن بي أحدكم قبل أن يصيح الديك ثلاث مرات، وليبيعني أحدكم بدراهم يسيرة، وليأكلن ثمني
“Truly, one of you will deny me before the cock crows three times, and one of you will sell me for a small sum of dirhams and eat the price.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
The Betrayal
As the night wore on, the Jews intensified their search. They seized Shamʿūn, one of the foremost disciples, and accused him of being a companion of ʿĪsā. He denied it. He was seized again by others, and again he denied. Then the cock crowed, and he wept with grief at what he had done.
By morning, one of the disciples went to the Jews and said:
ما تجعلون لي إن دللتكم على المسيح
“What will you give me if I lead you to the Messiah?” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
They offered him thirty dirhams. He took the money and led them to him.
Yet a substitution had already occurred before their arrival, a shubha, a likeness, had been cast upon another.
The Substitution and the Raising
According to the transmission from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās ؓ, recorded by ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥātim (d. 327 AH/938 CE) ؒ with a chain of transmission graded ṣaḥīḥ by Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH/1373 CE) ؒ on the criteria of Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (d. 261 AH/875 CE) ؒ, the events unfolded as follows:
When Allah willed to raise ʿĪsā to the heavens, ʿĪsā emerged from a spring within the house to his twelve companions. His head was dripping with water. He addressed them, saying:
إن منكم من يكفر بي اثنتي عشرة مرة بعد أن آمن بي
“Among you is one who will disbelieve in me twelve times after having believed.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
He then said:
أيكم يلقى عليه شبهي فيقتل مكاني، ويكون معي في درجتي؟
“Which of you will have my likeness cast upon him, be killed in my place, and be with me in my station?” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
The youngest among them stood up. ʿĪsā said:
اجلس
“Sit down.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
He asked again. The young man stood again. ʿĪsā said:
اجلس
“Sit down.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
He asked a third time. The young man stood and said:
أنا
“I will.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
ʿĪsā said:
أنت هو ذاك
“Then it is you.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
The likeness of ʿĪsā was cast upon that young man. ʿĪsā was then raised up through an opening in the roof of the house, a rawzana directly into the heavens. The disciples watched as he ascended.
The soldiers entered, found the young man upon whom the likeness had been cast, took him, killed him, and crucified him. They placed thorns upon his head in mockery.
Wahb ibn Munabbih‘s Account: The Moment of Raising
In a further narration from Wahb ibn Munabbih, transmitted by Ibn Jarīr, the account adds that as the soldiers led away the one who resembled ʿĪsā, taunting him, spitting upon him, and casting thorns upon him, saying:
أنت كنت تحيي الموتى وتنتهر الشيطان، وتبرئ المجنون، أفلا تنجي نفسك من هذا الحبل؟
“You who used to raise the dead and rebuke Shayṭān and cure the possessed, why do you not free yourself from this rope?” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
, ʿĪsā was raised to Allah at that very moment.
The one who bore his likeness was crucified in his place. He remained on the cross for seven days.
The Appearance to His Mother
After seven days had passed, ʿĪsā‘s mother, Maryam, and a woman whom ʿĪsā had healed of her affliction, by the permission of Allah, came weeping to the place of the crucified. ʿĪsā appeared to them and said:
علام تبكيان
“Why do you weep?” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
They said:
عليك
“For you.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
He said:
إني قد رفعني الله إليه، ولم يصبني إلا خير، وإن هذا شيء شبه لهم، فأمرا الحواريين أن يلقوني إلى مكان كذا وكذا
“Allah has raised me to Himself, and nothing but good has come to me. This is a matter in which a resemblance was cast for them. Inform the disciples to meet me at such-and-such a place.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 513.]
Eleven of the disciples met him at that place. The one who had sold him and betrayed his location to the Jews was absent. When ʿĪsā asked after him, the companions informed him that the man had regretted what he had done, and had strangled himself and taken his own life. ʿĪsā said:
لو تاب لتاب الله عليه
“Had he repented, Allah would have accepted his repentance.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 514.]
He then asked after a young boy who followed them, known as Yuḥannā. He said:
هو معكم فانطلقوا فإنه سيصبح كل إنسان منكم يحدث بلغة قوم فلينذرهم وليدعهم
“He is with you, so go forth. Every one of you will wake tomorrow speaking the language of a people; let him warn them and call them to Allah.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 514.]
What the Disciples Witnessed: The Three Sects
Ibn ʿAbbās continues:
After these events, the Christians divided into three groups. The first said:
كان الله فينا ما شاء ثم صعد إلى السماء
“Allah was among us as long as He willed, then He ascended to the heavens.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 509.]
These were the Yaʿqūbiyyah. The second said:
كان فينا ابن الله ما شاء، ثم رفعه الله إليه
“The Son of Allah was among us as long as Allah willed, then Allah raised him to Himself.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, pp. 509–510.]
These were the Nasṭūriyyah. The third said:
كان فينا عبد الله ورسوله ما شاء الله، ثم رفعه الله إليه
“The servant of Allah and His Messenger was among us as long as Allah willed, then Allah raised him to Himself.” [Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah, vol. 2, p. 510.]
These were the Muslims.
The two disbelieving sects then joined forces against the Muslim sect and destroyed them. Islam was thus extinguished and obscured, until Allah sent Muḥammad .
Ibn ʿAbbās said: this is the meaning of the statement of Allah :
فَأَيَّدۡنَا ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَدُوِّهِمۡ فَأَصۡبَحُوا۟ ظَـٰهِرِینَ
“So We supported those who believed against their enemies, and they became victorious.” [Q 61:14, excerpt]
The Qurʾānic Verdict
Allah states with complete clarity:
وَقَوۡلِهِمۡ إِنَّا قَتَلۡنَا ٱلۡمَسِیحَ عِیسَى ٱبۡنَ مَرۡیَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمۡ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِینَ ٱخۡتَلَفُوا۟ فِیهِ لَفِی شَكٍّ مِّنۡهُ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنۡ عِلۡمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ یَقِینًا بَلۡ رَفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَیۡهِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِیزًا حَكِیمًا
“And their saying: ‘We killed the Messiah ʿĪsā, son of Maryam, the Messenger of Allah’, but they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; rather, a likeness was made for them. And indeed those who differed over him are in doubt concerning him. 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 Allah is ever Exalted in Might, Wise.” [Q 4:157–158]
References
Al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, Q 4:157–158 and 61:14 (excerpt). Translation based on Muḥammad Taqī ad-Dīn al-Hilālī and Muḥammad Muḥsin Khān, Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qurʾān in the English Language. Riyadh: Dār as-Salām, 1996 CE.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim, ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad (d. 327 AH/938 CE), Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm. Edited by Asʿad Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭayyib. Makkah al-Mukarramah: Maktabat Nizār Muṣṭafā al-Bāz, 1419 AH/1998 CE.
Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar (d. 774 AH/1373 CE), al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah. Edited by ʿAlī Shīrī. 1st edn. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ at-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1408 AH/1988 CE, vol. 2, pp. 507–514.
Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr (d. 310 AH/923 CE), Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir. Beirut: Muʾassasat ar-Risālah, 1420 AH/2000 CE.
The Arabic dialogue and Ibn Kathīr’s grading of the report from Ibn ʿAbbās were checked against the chapter “Dhikr Rafʿ ʿĪsā” in al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah. The boy’s name is Yuḥannā in that text, rather than Yaḥyā.
