Who Will Give His Life for Me?

We don't know the exact details of what happened. But there is a narration by Ibn ʿAbbās — and again, I'm not sure of the authenticity of this narration, so we don't approve it or disapprove it. But it says that Sayyidunā ʿĪsā (peace be upon him) came into a room where all of his Ḥawāriyyūn were sitting, and then he told them: who will volunteer to sacrifice their life for me? One of the young Ḥawāriyyūn raised up his hand and said: I will. ʿĪsā (peace be upon him) asked another time; he was the only one who responded. He asked a third time; that young man was the only one who responded.

And this sacrifice is similar to what ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib did for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the Hijrah. And incidentally, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was young at the time.

This young man came out, and Allah (swt) put on him the resemblance of Sayyidunā ʿĪsā (peace be upon him), and he was the one who was crucified. Allah (swt) opened for Sayyidunā ʿĪsā a window in the roof, and he was picked up by the angels safely, and elevated to the heavens. This is one story.

The other story is that Allah (swt) put the resemblance on one of the Jews, who was an enemy of Sayyidunā ʿĪsā. So Allah put the resemblance on him, and he was the one who was hanged on the cross. Regardless of who was hanged on the cross, it wasn't ʿĪsā ibn Maryam. That is what we are sure about: it wasn't ʿĪsā ibn Maryam.