The Qurʾānic Cross and the Missing Substitute in Early Muslim-Christian Polemics

Tracing the Qurʾānic Crucifixion (Q 4:157–158) before the Rise of the Substitution Narrative

Ryann Elizabeth Craig

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9783111341484
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Early Muslim commentators develop a sophisticated interpretation of Q 4:157–158, known as the substitution narrative: another person was crucified in Jesus' place. However, mention of the Substitute rarely occurs in early writings between Muslims and Christians, even when discussing the qur??nic crucifixion.

This case study of almost two dozen primary sources examines the reception of the qur??nic crucifixion, including new observations on the Creed among Eastern Christians at the dawn of Islam, and lays out an approach to analyzing the rhetorical and linguistic features of qur??nic prooftexting. The project draws out the lack of evidence for the substitute narrative as an established interpretation among Muslim and Christian theologians from the eighth to the eleventh centuries.

How Muslims and Christians discussed the qur??nic crucifixion account, defining themselves vis-à-vis one another, demonstrates how central crucifixion narratives were—with ample competing interpretations—to the development of monotheistic history.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Frontmatter
• Dedication
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Quote
• Introduction
• Part I: The Qurʾānic Crucifixion and the Substitute Tradition
• Part II: The Creed, the Councils, and the Qurʾān: Was hat Nicaea vom Islam übernommen?
• Part III: Scriptural Engagement in Christian–Muslim Exchanges on the Crucifixion in the Eighth Century
• Part IV: Scriptural Engagement in Christian–Muslim Exchanges on the Crucifixion from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century
• Synopsis and Further Considerations
• Index