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About three weeks ago I was watching a documentary film on television entitled "the Shroud of Jesus". The contents of this film inspired me to carry out my own research on this subject and to present a talk that may be able to help others to find out more about this Prophet of Allah. I would like to mention that this presentation may be too short and it would need more information to make it totally acceptable to those persons who would desire to have a better understanding on this subject.

Recently much evidence have come into focus about the shroud, of its authenticity and historical value. Since the television documentary on the Shroud of Jesus I have had some information from tow books I have been able to obtain from a friend. The title of the books are "Testimony of the Shroud" and "The Man in the Shroud".

To give the authenticity to my talk I would like to quote from the Holy Quran - taken from Chapter 4:157: "And fore their saying (that is the Jews) We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah, and they killed him not, nor did they cause his death on the Cross, but he was made to appear to them as such. And certainly those who differ therein are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge about it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for certain".

I have utilized this verse from the Holy Quran, so that we would be apprised of the incident that took place where the Jews claimed they have killed the Messiah Jesus (peace be upon him) through revelation that came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) he was informed by Allah that they killed him not (that is the Jews) nor did they cause his death on the Cross. But he was made to appear to them as such. The Holy Quran then establishes the truth against what the Jews and now what the Christians believe - that Jesus died on the cross is only a conjecture (meaning an opinion formed on slight evidence). They killed him not for certain". Indeed, when his time would come he will die, and certainly this would be when his mission on earth would come to an end, after delivering his Message to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

At this stage of my talk it is necessary to point out that the Holy Shroud of Turin has no particular significance for Muslims, except, that it has revealed the truth about Jesus's short stay on the Cross, and where he completely lost consciousness on account of severe pain and exhaustion. After he was taken down from the Cross after a few hours, he could not have expired on the Cross. It took days before anyone would die in such a manner. In respect to the Prophet Jesus, he certainly came down alive from the Cross which was by God's intervention, and also where the Jewish custom demands that at the approach of the Sabbath and the Passover, all persons hanging on the Cross must be removed.

Let us now come to the point where the Shroud was utilized for the first time. It is established from the scripture that Joseph of Arimathea was able to convince Pontius Pilate to hand over the body of Jesus to him. Now after Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus received the body of Christ after his side was pierced by the spear from a soldier where blood flowed out. They immediately treated his wounds with an ointment that the disciples had already prepared in view of Divine prophecies and which has since been known as the "Ointment of Jesus". His body was then wrapped in a linen cloth, fourteen feet three inches long and four feet seven inches wide. He was then taken to the chamber that Joseph of Arimathea had prepared before. He was also treated by his secret disciples of the Order of the Essence, after which, despite having undergone severe physical suffering from his still fresh wounds, he was able to move around. This he accomplished in three days which is borne out according to the prophecy of Jonah recorded in the book of Matt. 12:39-40.

Now let me introduce to you the world famous German writer Andreas Faber Kaiser who wrote in his famous book "Jesus did not die on the Cross". In a conference held in London, he emphatically stated that Jesus did not die as a result of the injuries he received after he was taken down from the cross. He emphasized the fact that Jesus only remained on the Cross for a few hours because it was possible to live for several days in this horrible condition. In regards to this, he said it should be noted that from the evidence at hand, when a man was taken down from the Cross in time and given careful treatment, he generally recovered. It is also a well known fact that when the Roman centurion examined the Body of Christ to ascertain whether he had died after wounding him in his side with his spear, he observed water and blood flowed from the wound. In the case he had expired only a few drops of thick blood would emerge.

According to the best authority that examined the Shroud of Turin, they concluded that it is the Shroud Jesus was wrapped in when he was taken down from the Cross. Summarizing the results of the investigations that begun in 1969 at the request of the Church, a statement was issued at the beginning of 1976. The text of which is as follows "After seven years of investigation on the Shroud in which the body of Jesus was wrapped, various scientists have reached the conclusion that Jesus was buried alive. The experts confirm that the body of a crucified man lay in the Holy Shroud which is preserved at Turin, and that this man suffered exactly the same passion as did Christ, but that he did not die on the Cross but was buried alive. The twenty eight blood stains on the Holy Shroud support this theory. It would be scientifically impossible for a dead body to bleed in the way in which the body wrapped in the Shroud bled, stated the investigators.

In the opinion of the researchers it is clear and unmistakenly scientific fact that Jesus suffered the same passion as he did. From a medical point of view Jesus was not dead, when he was taken down from the Cross. Indeed no doubt remains as to the fact that the image traced on the cloth is that of Jesus, the marks left by the crown of thorns, the semi-coagulated blood on the middle thorax, flowing from the wound caused by the point of the spear, the multiple wounds caused by scourging, the holes made by the nails in the wrists and feet and the significant appearance of the legs of the victim, which shows that they were not broken as was usually done in the case of others condemned to crucifixion.

I would like to quote another eminent authority on the Shroud - Kurt Berna - the Catholic Author and secretary, in charge of Business in the German Convent, in Stuttgart, West Germany. The Convent under the guidance of Kurt Berna had carried out extensive scientific research since the photographs of the Holy Shroud were made available in 1933. They came to the startling conclusion which Kurt Berna published in two books - "Das Linen" and "Jesus did not die on the Cross".

These books met with opposition, but they also gained wide support as to the validity and soundness of this important research that would benefit both Christians as well as the Jewish religion. From these two books the author presented to the world, the real facts which could not be challenged by anyone. The Convent is convinced that the results are an open challenge to those who might want to dispute the soundness of the findings. It has been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ, after the Crucifixion and after the removal of the crown of thorns from his head, had been laid in the Shroud. According to existing proofs, it is further established that the body of the crucified person at that time was placed in this Shroud and it remained there for some time. In the medical sense it is proved that it was not a dead body, because at that time a free movement of the heart was established. The existence of the flowing blood, its position and nature which is found on the Holy Shroud furnishes a clear scientific and medical proof that the so-called execution was physically not complete and that Jesus never died on the Cross, but died a natural death as all human beings and Prophets of God. His grave was discovered at the ending of the last century in Srinagar - Kashmir - India, where he completed his mission, by taking the Word of God to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.