Description
Book Synopsisal-Radd al-jamīl attributed to al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) is the most extensive and detailed refutation of the divinity of Jesus by a Muslim author in the classical period of Islam. Since the discovery of the manuscript in the 1930’s scholars have debated whether the great Muslim theologian al-Ghazālī was really the author. This is a new critical edition of the Arabic text and the first complete English translation. The introduction situates this work in the history of Muslim anti-Christian polemical writing. Mark Beaumont and Maha El Kaisy-Friemuth argue that this refutation comes from an admirer of al-Ghazālī who sought to advance some of his key ideas for an Egyptian audience.
Table of ContentsForeword The Context and Authorship of al-Radd al-jamīl - The Context of al-Radd al-jamīl - The Authorship of al-Radd al-jamīl - Arguments supporting the authorship of al-Ghazālī - al-Radd al-jamīl and the Sufi writing of al-Ghazālī - Arguments against the authorship of al-Ghazālī - When was al-Radd al-jamīl written? - Who wrote al-Radd al-jamīl? - Appendix Outline of al-Radd al-jamīl al-Radd al-jamīl in the Context of Muslim Refutations of Christianity - Jesus’ miracles do not confirm his divinity - The Gospels provide evidence for the fact that Jesus was a messenger sent from God. Passages in the fourth gospel that Christians propose as literal proof for the divinity of Jesus should be interpreted metaphorically - The Jacobite belief that the union of the soul and body is an analogy for the union of the divinity and humanity of Jesus is inappropriate - The Melkite separation of the divine and human natures in Jesus at the point of his death is irrational - The Nestorian conviction that the will of Jesus was united with the will of God is not supported by the Christian gospels - Christian scriptures show that titles given to Jesus that Christians believe point to his divine status should be taken as symbols of his spiritual eminence as a messenger of God - Christian appeal to the Qurʾān to support the divinity of Jesus is mistaken - Conclusion Quotations and References from the Bible Quotations and References from the Qur’ān Index
