Wa Alaikum As'salam dear brother Fadi,
Brother, your argument further proves my points. Shubbiha (appeared as such) does not refer to a substitute. The following example should make it clear insha'Allah:
Playing dead to a bear:
Imagine you were hiking in the forest alone, and suddenly a huge bear appears in front of you. You get down on your face and play dead. The bear thinks you're dead and decides to walk away. It APPEARED (SHUBBIHA) TO THE BEAR that you were dead when you weren't. No substitute. Just you and the bear. It was SHUBBIHA to the bear that you were dead, and he got confused and left.
This is basic Arabic. No conjecture from my part. The conjecture comes from those who try to bring theories left and right to interpret the Noble Verse. You don't have to do this if you just let it speak for itself. The Noble Verse is only speaking about Jesus (Isa), peace be upon him. So, SUBBIHA LAHUM (appeared as such to them) means that JESUS APPEARED to have been killed by them when he wasn't. They never killed him neither on the cross nor by stabbing.
Osama is using Conjecture:
You said that I am using conjecture and asked me to prove where one could stab Jesus in the gut, with the sword, and drive it out his back, and still not be able to kill Jesus. Again, Allah Almighty Said they neither KILLED HIM nor CRUCIFIED HIM. And we know from the Christian sources that they placed him on the cross and even stabbed him with a spear.
Now, whether these stories are accurate or not, it still doesn't matter, because here the GLORIOUS QURAN IS RESPONDING TO THEIR FALSEHOODS. So them claiming these things in their writings makes it all relevant to the Noble Verse. Therefore, the "killing" of Jesus never happened. Allah Almighty further assures it in the same Noble Verse:
[004:157] And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure.
Jesus went to the WAFAT state and ascended up to Allah Almighty:
Your point about Jesus going to WAFAT state actually proves my point even more. Allah Almighty Said in the Glorious Quran:
39:42 الله يتوفى الانفس حين موتها والتي لم تمت في منامها فيمسك التي قضى عليها الموت ويرسل الاخرى الى اجل مسمى ان في ذلك لايات لقوم يتفكرون
[039:042] It is God that takes الله يتوفى the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.
Allah Almighty يتوفى YATAWAFFA (root word WAFAT) our souls during our sleep, and we either die or wake up again.
The fact that Allah Almighty TAWAFFA (root word WAFAT) Jesus indisputably proves my point. Thank you for the point, akhi Fadi. Here Allah Almighty TAWAFFA Jesus in either two cases:
1- While Jesus was sleeping normally like you and me, and The Almighty decided to not have him wake up here on earth, and decided to raise him in his body to Him in Heaven.
-- OR --
2- Allah Almighty TAWAFFA Jesus after he was "killed" by the infidels, when he wasn't, and decided to take him up to Heaven to Him after Jesus came back together, or healed, in the tomb while he was resting on the floor.
It is crystal clear that point #2 is the valid one. Jesus was taken up to Heaven ALIVE after being "killed" by the infidels. Yet, he was never killed by them, even if they fed him to a grinding machine and made ground beef out of him. Like the birds that Abraham, peace be upon him, cut into pieces and scattered in different places, they came together to life right before his eyes. Jesus too would've came back to life.
Jesus, the Mighty Being:
The points that I mentioned above about Jesus' Miracles, and the BOOK that was given to him that enabled him to perform them, and the fact that Jesus was even allowed to do limited CREATING further prove that this mighty being could not have been killed on the cross by being nailed on it for few hours and stabbed by a spear on the side.
No conjecture, my dear brother. Only solid Truth. May Allah Almighty bless you. Ameen.
Take care,
Osama Abdallah