His death is equally a controversial affair with the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. The Jews believe that Jesus died on the cross because he was a false prophet. In this Connection they quote the Bible.

“And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree” is “the accursed of God”. (Deut.21:22-23)

According to them, Jesus was a false prophct, therefore he died on the cross as the accursed of God. The Christians also believe that Jesus was hanged on the cross and died an accursed death. Says Paul:

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree”. (Galatians 3:13)

But the Holy Quran declares that Christ did not die on the Cross. God saved him from death by crucifixion in the same way as He saved His dear ones from tribulations, Did not Jonah the Prophet come out alive from the belly of the whale? The fact of the matter is that Jesus Christ only fell into a swoon on the Cross, but when he was taken down from it, he recovered then died a natural death at the good old age of 120.

On the strength of their belief that Jesus was a false prophet the Jews, Particularly the Pharisees of his time brought serious political charges against him alleging that he was disloyal to the Roman Emperor, and that he claimed himself to be the King of the Jews. The governor, Pilate was not convinced of his guilt but being influenced by the tumult of the multitude he delivered Jesus to be crucified. They put him on the cross where he remained, at the utmost, for three or four hours only and then was taken down in a swoon and placed in a sepulchre in a garden nearby.

Now in those days it took several days for criminals to die on the cross. They suffered the pangs of hunger and thirst and in most cases their legs were broken. They died a lingering death extending over several days. But it was not so in the case of Jesus Christ. Incidentally, he was put on the Cross on a Friday afternoon. The following being the Sabbath – day a day of religious observance by the Jews – no criminal could remain on the Cross on that Holy day, so he was taken down from it after about three or four hours. The loss of blood from the wounds caused him to fall into a swoon. He was taken for a dead man. His body was placed in a spacious sepulchre in a garden by Joseph of Arimathaea, his own disciple. Jesus being still alive in the sepulchre, left it on the third day in disguise, met his disciples at Galilee and ate with them. His wounds were healed by the application of an ointment especially prepared by his disciples for the purpose.

This is the natural story of Jesus’s Crucifixion but the Christians gave a strange version of his death which is not only unnatural but also against historical evidence as well as logic. They believe that Jesus actually died on the Cross but on the third day he rose up to the heavens. What a paradox! What a myth! Modern Christianity rests on the belief that Jesus died on the Cross. But if it is proved that he did not die on the Cross nor did he rise from the dead, then the whole edifice of Christianity tumbles to the ground. Paul, who is the real founder of modern Christianity, himself says:

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith also vain”. (Corinthians 15:14)

The late Dr. Zwemer, the well-known American missionary says:

“If our belief in the death of Christ on the Cross is wrong then the whole of Christianity is a farce”.