Interreligious Polemics

"Corresponding Across Religious Borders: Al-Bājī Response to a Missionary Letter from France," Medieval Encounters 18 (2012) 1-35

by Diego Sarrio Cucarella

“I have examined, O monk, the letter coming from you, the friendship therein proffered, the advice which you offer,... more “I have examined, O monk, the letter coming from you, the friendship therein proffered, the advice which you offer, and the intention which you disclose.” With these words begins the reply written by the eminent Andalusian Mālikī scholar Abū l-Walīd Sulaymān al-Bājī (d. 1081) to a letter received at the Muslim court of Saragossa from an unidentified ‘monk of France’ inviting the ruler to convert to Christianity. This letter, if authentic, is the earliest extant record of a Christian mission to Muslims in the West. After introducing al-Bājī and situating him in the socio-political and religious circumstances of the time, this article offers a review of past scholarship relating to this correspondence, which has mostly focused on the authenticity of the Christian letter and the possible identification of its author. It is argued in favor of the authenticity of the exchange, offering reasons for it. The article then turns to al-Bājī’s text, seeking to draw from it what it can tell us about him and how he viewed Christians and Christianity.

Islam-Christian Interreligious Dialogues: Peacemaking Activity by Pope John Paul II and by Sheikh Allahsukur Pashazade

by Sándor (Alexander) Földvári

Proposal for a 30 minute Paper Presentation at the 2nd
International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society, to be held in Canada, Vancouver, between 2012/02/20 and 2012/02/22.
Keywords:  Dialogues, Interreligious Communication, Political Activity of Church Leaders, Islam, Catholic Church, Christian-Muslim Contacts
Stream: Sociology and Anthropology of Religion, Religious Practices, Rites and Institutions

Dialogues between Christians and Muslims have been carrying since the early 2nd millennium, though their value have... more Dialogues between Christians and Muslims have been carrying since the early 2nd millennium, though their value have remained in the shadows because of terrible wars. The situation improved due the flourishing culture at the court of Abbasid caliphs. We give examples of dialogues by Abu Qurra in Damascus.
In the 20th century Egypt and Syria played an important role. President Mubaraq not only invited, but personally highly respected Pope John Paul II. Another case, when the Pope came to Damascus, the calling by muezzins – in Arabic the ‘adhān ( أذان ) – was ceased to sound while the pope was speaking.
A brief survey of activity by the former pope Blessed John Paul II in the field of the Islam-Christian contacts, including the political alliance with Bhenazir Bhutto the then president of Pakistan and other Muslim leaders for the Cairo conference in 1994 where the Pope together with famous politicians from the Islam World protested against the USA policy for frameless legalisation of the abortion. Due to his beatification, the very positive revaluation seems to be given to his apostolic journeys and intercultural dialogues held in Assisi, thus the author of this paper works on a book in the topic, too.
Another famous person in religious and political scene is the Muslim leader of Azerbaijan and the entire Caucasus region. In recent years, the city of Baku has also joined these great centres of Islam and plays a leading role in interfaith dialogue. We give feedback about the meeting, which occurred in Baku, April 26 of the past year.
Believers must remain to be the hope of the world: such was the appeal of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, just returning from Baku, where the Cardinal participated in a meeting of religious leaders at the top – as Cardinal Tauran spoke to the correspondent of The Radio of The Vatican.
The Vatican hierarch said in his speech that he stressed the fact that globalization did not automatically meant the fraternity. On the contrary, this requires that the believers were talking among themselves, that they knew each other better, they were discussing what they could do together to strengthen interfaith dialogue that could promotes the values and the public good; while avoiding the two evils: relativism and intolerance. I had tried to illustrate the specific contribution of believers in the maintenance of peace, said the cardinal.
He confirmed that Muslims in Azerbaijan are remarkable for their tolerance. The head of the Muslim community, who was co-chair at the said meeting, was "a very kind man, well related to the Catholics and believers in general, and especially to the Holy See." In the presence of the representative of the Holy See, on several occasions, he spoke of the Pope, expressing his respect. "I think he is a model of harmony," says Cardinal Tauran.
In the final document, it was referred to the issue of terrorism. Participants stressed that religious leaders should not allow the use of religion to justify any kind of violence.
The rich historical tradition, through which Baku has became one of the main cultural centres of Islam, is also to be surveyed in the paper.

“Corresponding across Religious Borders: Letter from Ibn Taymiyya to a Crusader in Cyprus,” Islamochristiana 36 (2010): 187–212.

by Diego Sarrio Cucarella

Presentation of Taqī al–dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya’s Al–risāla al–qubruṣiyya, a letter written to a crusader baron in... more Presentation of Taqī al–dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya’s Al–risāla al–qubruṣiyya, a letter written to a crusader baron in Cyprus, probably John II of Giblet, sometime between early 1303 and mid–1304. In his letter – to which Ibn Taymiyya appends a long exposition on religious history with a view to convincing his interlocutor of the supremacy of Islam over other religions of the book –, the famous Ḥanbalite jurist requests humanitarian treatment for the Muslim captives in John’s power while they await ransom.

“Iglesias en tierra de Islam: La Mas’alat al-kanā’is de Ibn Taymiyya,” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 5 (2008): 287–324

by Diego Sarrio Cucarella

Presentation and annotated translation of the Mas'alat al kanā'is from Taqī al dīn Aḥmad b. Taymiyya. In this fatwā,... more Presentation and annotated translation of the Mas'alat al kanā'is from Taqī al dīn Aḥmad b. Taymiyya. In this fatwā, written between 1301 and 1306, the famous Ḥanbali jurist approaches the question of the churches in Cairo and other places that were closed in 1301 by order of the Mamluk sultan al Nāṣir Muḥammad b. Qalāwūn. Accompanying the fatwā is a passage from the Egyptian historian al Maqrīzī in which he narrates the incident that caused the closing of the churches and the restoration of cUmar’s stipulations concerning the ḏimmis.

“Un irreductible choque de ortodoxias: Ibn Taymiyya y la controversia religiosa medieval en torno a la interpretación del Corán,” Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 6 (2009): 287–337.

by Diego Sarrio Cucarella

[An unyielding clash of orthodoxies: Ibn Taymiyya and the
Mediaeval religious controversy on the interpretation of the Koran]

Presentation and annotated translation of a chapter from the al-Jawab al-sahih li-man baddala din al-Masih by the... more Presentation and annotated translation of a chapter from the al-Jawab al-sahih li-man baddala din al-Masih by the famous Hanbali jurist and theologian Ahmad b. Taymiyya (d. 1328). In this chapter, Ibn Taymiyya discusses two important passages
dealing with Koranic Christology: Koran 3,59, in which the extraordinary creation of Jesus is compared to that of Adam; and Koran 4,171, in which a special relationship between Jesus and God is suggested when the former is described as «His word» and «a spirit emanating from Him».

Translation, Transcription, and Transliteration in the Polemics of Raymond Martini, O.P. (d. after 1284)

by Ryan Szpiech

Book chapter in Translating the Middle Ages. Ed. Charles D. Wright and  Karen Fresco. Aldershot: Ashgate. (Forthcoming)

Future of Orthodoxy in the Near East: An Educational Perspective

by Georges NAHAS

Nahas, G. N. (September 10-12, 2010). Future of Orthodoxy in the Near East: An Educational Perspective. In Orthodoxy and Protestantism. Hofgeismar. Germany.

          Near East is the geographical region covered by the Patriarchate of Antioch.... more           Near East is the geographical region covered by the Patriarchate of Antioch. Trying to foresee the future in this region is not an easy exercise considering how much the political scene has been changing in this region starting with the first decades of the 20th Century. This region has known, since the 7th Century the co-existence of the three Abrahamic religions while its political profile was and is forever changing. Churches of the region had to live under different regimes and the political links that some confessions had with the rulers influenced a lot the inter-religious dialogue and the peaceful co-existence of the believers.

            Trying to focus on the experience of Orthodoxy in the Near East is an important exercise because the Orthodox Church existed in the region since the 1st Century and has had a continuous presence since then. Focusing on the educational aspect of this presence is a means to underline how this Church tried, over centuries, to live its mission in the world, and to see how we can build on this experience to prepare for the future in a positive, open, and dynamic way.  After a quick overview of the specificity of Orthodoxy in this region, and of the specific and broad understanding of the term education, this presentation will focus on the link between these two folders in preparing for the future, by answering this main question: How will Orthodoxy continue to witness in the Near East, bringing to the region peace, hope, and a message of love?

            This presentation will answer these questions by stressing the fact that the future of Orthodoxy in the Near East, while the 21st century seems to be a turning point for the whole region, is not only a social presence of a confessional group in midst of other groups. It is the witness for specificity, a service to be rendered to all communities, a way to preserve God’s will.

The Original is Unfaithful to the Translation: Conversion and Authenticity In Abner of Burgos and Anselm Turmeda

by Ryan Szpiech

A POLEMIC AGAINST JUDAISM BY A CONVERT TO ISLAM FROM THE OTTOMAN PERIOD: RISĀLAT ILZĀM AL-YAHŪD FĪMĀ ZA'AMŪ FĪ L-TAWRĀT MIN QIBAL' …

by Camilla Adang

“A Jewish Reply to Ibn Hazm: Solomon b. Adret’s Polemic against Islam”

by Camilla Adang

in: Maribel Fierro (ed.), Judíos y musulmanes en al-Andalus y el Magreb. Contactos intelectuales. Madrid: Casa de Velázquez, 2002, 179-209.

“Torah"

by Camilla Adang

in: Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.), Encyclopaedia of the Qur’Án, Volume Five. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2006, 300-311

“Ibn Hazm de Córdoba sobre los judíos en la sociedad islámica”

by Camilla Adang

Foro Hispánico 7 (1994), 15-23

“Medieval Muslim Polemics against the Jewish Scriptures”

by Camilla Adang

in: Jacques Waardenburg (ed.), Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions. A Historical Survey. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 143-159

"Intra- and interreligious controversies in 3rd/9th century Qayrawan: the polemics of Muhammad b. Sahnun"

by Camilla Adang

Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 36 (2009)

“Guided to Islam by the Torah: The Risala al-Hadiya by 'Abd al-Salam al-Muhtadi al-Muhammadi”

by Camilla Adang

In: Camilla Adang and Sabine Schmidtke (eds.), Contacts and Controversies between Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Ottoman Empire and Pre-Modern Iran [Istanbuler Texte und Studien, 21] Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2010, 57-71.

“Ibn Hazm, 'Ali”

by Camilla Adang

In: Norman Stillman et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Volume II. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 497-499.

“Ilbiri, Abu Ishaq al-”

by Camilla Adang

In: Norman Stillman et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Brill Online, 2010.

“Polemics (Muslim-Jewish)”

by Camilla Adang

co-authored with Sabine Schmidtke
In: Norman Stillman et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Volume IV. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 82-90.

"The Muslim Reception of Biblical Materials: Ibn Qutayba and his A'lam al-nubuwwa"

by Sabine Schmidtke زابينه اشميتكه סבינה שמיטקה

Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 22 iii (2011), pp. 249-74

The two earliest extant Muslim works containing comprehensive lists of biblical predictions of the prophet Muḥammad... more The two earliest extant Muslim works containing comprehensive lists of biblical predictions of the prophet Muḥammad from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are the Kitāb al-Dīn wa-l-dawla by the Nestorian convert to Islam ʿAlī Ibn Rabban al-Ṭabarī (b. ca. 194/810, d. 251/865) and the Aʿlām al-nubuwwa by Ibn Rabban’s contemporary Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim b. Qutayba (b. 213/828, d. 276/889). Ibn Qutayba’s Aʿlām al-nubuwwa clearly eclipsed Ibn Rabban’s al-Dīn wa-l-dawla in popularity – the text was used over the following centuries by various authors as a reference text for the biblical material it contained. An incomplete and (as it seems) unique manuscript of Ibn Qutayba’s work, which is preserved in the Dār al-kutub al-Ẓāhiriyya in Damascus, has mostly escaped scholars’ attention until now. The article contains a critical edition of the first eight sections of the text that contain biblical materials.

"Ali Quli Jadid al-Islam"

by Sabine Schmidtke زابينه اشميتكه סבינה שמיטקה

co-authored with Reza Pourjavady
Encyclopaedia of Islam. Three (Leiden: Brill)