Theological Issues in Christian-Muslim Dialogue

Charles Tieszen, Tieszen

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781532610585
  9781532610608
• eBook ISBN:
  9781532610592
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Theological Issues in Christian-Muslim Dialogue addresses the main theological topics of discussion that appear in Christian-Muslim engagement. Many of these topics originate in the medieval period and the earliest encounters between Christians and Muslims. Even so, the topics persist in contemporary contexts of dialogue and engagement. Christians and Muslims still discuss whether or not God should be understood as strictly one or as a Trinity-in-Unity, and debates over the nature of revelation or prophethood remain. Theological reflection, therefore, must continue to be brought to bear on these topics in light of their history and in view of their applicability to growing contexts of inter-religious engagement. Theological Issues in Christian-Muslim Dialogue is a comprehensive theological sourcebook for students learning about Christian-Muslim relations and practitioners engaged in Christian-Muslim dialogue.

1

God in Muslim and Christian Thought

Pim Valkenberg

In a book that gives an overview of theological issues in Christian-Muslim dialogue, it seems quite natural to start with God. After all, both Christians and Muslims start their attestations of faith by declaring that they believe in one God. “We believe in one God” (pisteuomen eis hena theon) are the first words of the Creed accepted by the councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381). Similarly, the Muslim proclamation of faith begins with the words “I witness that there is no deity except (the one who is) God” (ashadu an la ilaha illa Allah). Yet at the same time it is evident that Christians and Muslims approach their God in deeply different ways, summarized as tawhid (saying that God is One) for Muslims, and Trinity (saying that God is Triune) for Christians. So how do the oneness of God and the different approaches to God in the two religions go together? Do we together worship the one true God or not?

In this chapter I will try to elaborate on these questions from a historical and systematic point of view. I will begin by discussing a few central verses in the Qur’an because this is where the dialogue between Christians and Muslims takes its point of departure. I will continue by discussing the largely apologetic and antagonistic contributions by Christian and Muslim theologians. Finally, I want to highlight some of the contemporary dialogues between Christians and Muslims about the question as to whether we worship the same God. I hope to show that there are different ways to phrase this question and that not all of these are equally helpful.

The Qur’an: Your God and Our God Is One

Among the texts in the Qur’an that form the basis for much later dialogue between Muslims and Christians, two texts have a special importance because they contain instructions both on the form of this dialogue and on its contents. Moreover, modern Muslim scholars consider these two texts as the most important foundations for dialogue among the Abrahamic religions.1

The first text admonishes the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632) and his followers in an early stage of the development of their community to discuss matters of faith with Jews and Christians as “People of Scripture” (Ahl al-Kitab), recognizing their status as religions based on a Scripture sent down by God to specific messengers.2 Even though the verb “argue” (jadala) used in the text foreshadows debate as one of the primary methods of communication between Muslims and Christians, the text adds that this debate needs to be done in the best possible way, provided that the partners are sincere in faith and ethics. The text says the following: “And do not argue with the People of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, except with such of them as do wrong; and say: ‘We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we surrender’” (Q 29:46).3 This text shows two areas in which fruitful communication between the believers and the People of Scripture is possible. First of all, there is considerable commonality between the revelations to Jews and Christians and the revelation to Muhammad and his companions. Therefore, mutual consultation concerning the scriptures that are the audible and visible result of these revelations is not only possible but also maybe even required for a better understanding of them. Second, there is not only commonality but also identification in the source of these revelations: our God and your God is one. This is not only a mathematical equation (there is only one God) but it leads to identical behavior: we align ourselves to God. The last word of the quotation, muslimun, is usually translated as “we submit [to God]” and it has almost everywhere in the Qur’an an inclusive meaning: it does not only include Muslims, but others who focus their lives on God and conduct themselves accordingly.4

The second text that is important in this context is the famous “common word” verse that addresses the People of Scripture as follows: “Say: ‘O People of the Book! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner to Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God.’ And if they turn away, then say: ‘Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (to Him)’” (Q 3:64).5 This text, believed to be revealed in Medina on the occasion of a visit by a delegation of Christians from Najran near the Yemen, proposes the same basic statement as an agreement (or “common word”) to these Christians: that we worship none but God, and ascribe no partner to Him. It is possible to read this as a statement that both Muslims and Christians could endorse, and it is this reading that has been promoted by the Muslim scholars and religious leaders who signed the “A Common Word” document in 2007.6 Yet, at the same time the text has polemical connotations as well, since it contains two further conditions explaining what it means to worship none but God: not sharing (sharaka) God’s divinity with anything, and not taking one another as lords (arbab) beside God. It is very well possible to give an interpretation of these conditions that shows how the Christian Trinitarian faith is not affected by them; first, by pointing out that faith in the Triune God does indeed not imply sharing God’s divinity with anything else, and second by pointing out that it does not lead to accepting human beings as lords. This is the interpretation that the signatories of “A Common Word” give, supported by the famous qur’anic exegete Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923).7

However, if one reads this verse in its entirety, it seems that its latter part indicates disagreement rather than agreement: “if they turn away, say ‘Bear witness that we are muslimun.’” Such an “agreement to disagree” would fit very well with the historical context for this verse according to the Islamic tradition of “occasions of the revelations” that tries to connect certain verses in the Qur’an with certain events in the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. ‘Ali ibn Ahmad Al-Wahidi (d. 1075), the most famous representative of this “occasions of the revelations” genre connects the first part of the third sura with a visit of a delegation of Christians from Najran—an area in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, close to present–day Yemen—to the Prophet Muhammad and his community in Medina. While the Prophet offered them hospitality and allowed them to pray in his mosque, the Christians remain...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contributors
• Introduction: Finding Our Way in Christian-Muslim Dialogue
• Chapter 1: God in Muslim and Christian Thought
• Chapter 2: The Paraclete and the Integrity of Scripture
• Chapter 3: Christians, Prophethood, and Muhammad
• Chapter 4: Muslims, Prophethood, and Jesus
• Chapter 5: The Qur’an as God’s Revelation in Christian-Muslim Relations
• Chapter 6: Jesus as God’s Revelation in Christian-Muslim Relations
• Chapter 7: Sin and Redemption in Christianity and Islam
• Chapter 8: The Formation of Christian and Muslim Communities
• Chapter 9: Religious Pluralism and Dialogue
• Epilogue: Religious Demography and the Future of Christian-Muslim Dialogue
• Bibliography