Did Jesus (as) rise from the dead?

No. According to Islam, Jesus (as) did not die on the cross. The miracle was that God saved him from death on the cross, not that he came back to life after dying.

No one saw Jesus (as) rise from the dead. What is reported is that he was seen alive again after the crucifixion. Islam explains this quite naturally. Jesus (as) survived the cross because God saved him.

There are signs of this in the Gospels themselves. Before the crucifixion Jesus (as) announced that he would go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. A true prophet keeps such a promise. Had he died and then gone straight up to heaven, he would never have fulfilled this mission.

Even clearer is his prayer on the night before the crucifixion. He woke his disciples so that they would pray with him, and he begged God earnestly to let this bitter cup pass from him. This shows two things. First, he did not offer himself willingly as a sacrifice, or he would not have prayed to be saved. Second, God answers the prayer of so beloved a prophet. His cry on the cross, asking why God had forsaken him, was not a sign of unbelief either. It was a pleading reminder of the promise God had given him.

It also matters what his opponents believed at the time. According to their scripture, someone who died on the tree was cursed by God and therefore a false prophet. That is exactly how they wanted to discredit Jesus (as). By saving him from that death, God confirmed him as a true prophet.

The first followers around Jesus (as) saw him as a prophet and the Messiah of Israel, not as a son of God who had to die and rise again. The Holy Qur’an confirms this view, as the verses above show. He died later a natural death, honoured by God.