And that was because Allah, Most High, cast the likeness of Jesus upon the man who had pointed him out to the Jews. It was also said that they confined Jesus in a house and placed a guard over him; then Allah, Most High, cast the likeness of Jesus upon the guard, and they killed him. Other accounts have also been related, as we mentioned in Surah Al ʿImran (1).

His saying, Exalted is He: “Indeed, those who differ concerning him”—that is, concerning his killing—“are surely in doubt about it,” meaning, about his killing. Al-Kalbi said: Their disagreement concerning him was that the Jews said, “We killed him,” and one group among the Christians said, “We killed him,” while another group among them said, “Neither these nor those killed him. Rather, Allah raised him to heaven, and we are looking at him.”

It was also said that Allah, Most High, cast the likeness of Jesus’ face upon the face of Satayafus, but did not cast it upon his body. They therefore differed concerning him: some said, “We killed Jesus, for the face is the face of Jesus,” while others said, “We did not kill him, because his body is not the body of Jesus.” Thus, they disagreed.

Al-Suddi said: Their disagreement arose because they said, “If this is Jesus, then where is our companion? And if this is our companion, then where is Jesus?” Allah, Most High, said: “They have no knowledge of it”—that is, no knowledge of the reality of whether he was killed or was not killed—“following nothing but conjecture.” Rather, they follow conjecture regarding his killing. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: “And they certainly did not kill him”—that is, “They certainly did not kill Jesus” (2).

“Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. There is not one of the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. (158–159)”

“Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.” It was said that the word “certainly” refers to what follows it, while the statement “and they did not kill him” is complete in itself. Its intended meaning is: Rather, Allah certainly raised him to Himself. The pronoun in “they did not kill him” refers to Jesus.

Al-Farraʾ said: Its meaning is that they did not certainly kill the one whom they thought to be Jesus. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that its meaning is: They did not establish their conjecture as certain. “And Allah is Almighty”: irresistible in His retribution against the Jews; “All-Wise”: He decreed curse and wrath against them, and so subjected them to Titus son of Vespasian, the Roman, who inflicted a great slaughter upon them.

His saying, Most High: “There is not one of the People of the Book but will surely believe in him before his death,” means: There is none among the People of the Book who will not believe in Jesus. This is the view of most Quranic exegetes and scholars.

They differed concerning the pronoun in the words “before his death.” Ikrimah, Mujahid, Al-Dahhak, and Al-Suddi said that it refers to the person from the People of the Book. Its meaning, then, is: There is no one among the People of the Book who will not believe in Jesus before his own death, when he faces death at a time when his faith will not benefit him—whether he is burned, drowned, falls into a well, has a wall collapse upon him, is eaten by a beast, or dies suddenly. This is a narration from Abu Talhah, from Ibn