The Disciples as Companions: Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn al-Qayyim's Evaluation of the Transmission of the Bible
Studies of Christian-Muslim polemics often disregard medieval Mediterranean Muslim contributions to the analysis of the biblical tradition. An early golden era of Muslim-Christian engagement in Baghdad is replaced by a decline in the Middle Ages which is only to be reversed with the advent of modern...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
[2018]
|
In: |
Medieval encounters
Year: 2018, Volume: 24, Issue: 5/6, Pages: 530-560 |
Further subjects: | B
Muslim-Christian polemics
B Ḥadīth B Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya B Companions B Jesus B Ibn Taymiyya B Disciples |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | Studies of Christian-Muslim polemics often disregard medieval Mediterranean Muslim contributions to the analysis of the biblical tradition. An early golden era of Muslim-Christian engagement in Baghdad is replaced by a decline in the Middle Ages which is only to be reversed with the advent of modernity. In this article, I contend that Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) critically engage the biblical tradition based on their backgrounds as hadith scholars. Both question whether the Bible was accurately narrated by pointing to perceived gaps in its transmission. Similarly, drawing on theological underpinnings of hadith, they make an analogy between the Disciples of Jesus and the Companions of Muhammad. Just as the Disciples spread the message of Christ, the Companions disseminated the message of Muhammad. Nevertheless, even though the Disciples and Companions were favored by God and spread their Prophet's teachings, they were not divinely protected messengers (rusul) and could have erred in transmitting the message. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1570-0674 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Medieval encounters
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700674-12340030 |