The Qur?anic Cross and the Missing Substitute in Early Muslim-Christian Polemics
Tracing the Qur?anic Crucifixion (Q 4:157-158) before the Rise of the Substitution Narrative
1. Auflage
Erschienen am 1. Dezember 2025
XX, 286 Seiten
978-3-11-134141-5 (ISBN)
Beschreibung
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?anic crucifixion.
This case study of almost two dozen primary sources examines the reception of the qur?anic 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?anic 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?anic 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.
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Person
Ryann Craig
, Georgetown University, Washington, USA.
Inhalt
- Frontmatter
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- Conventions
- Dates
- Transliterations
- Divine Nomenclature
- Scripture Translations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Why Q 4:157-158?
- 2 Scope of Study and Historical Setting among the Eastern Christian Churches
- 2.1 Texts, Authors, and Organization
- 2.2 Limitations of the Present Study
- 3 Scholarship on Christian Engagement with the Qur?an
- 3.1 "Beyond Prooftexting"
- 3.2 Embracing Prooftexts
- 4 Beyond Scriptural Engagement: Debate Literature Shaping Theological Developments
- 4.1 Eastern Christian Theological Foundations and Parameters
- 5 A Landscape of Interreligious Interpretations: A Shared Stage
- 5.1 A Landscape of Interreligious Interpretations: Refrains of Theological Themes
- Part I: The Qur?anic Crucifixion and the Substitute Tradition
- Aims and Arrangement
- 1 Identifying Types of Scriptural Engagement
- 2 A Brief Overview of General and Specific Literary Indicators
- Chapter 1 The Prooftext: Situating the Qur?anic Crucifixion Passage (Q 4:157-158)
- 1 Intent versus Context
- 2 The Qur?anic Crucifixion Passage
- 2.1 Segments and Surah Structure
- 2.2 Shubbiha lahum
- 2.3 Crucify (?-l-b), kill (q-t-l), and raise (r-f-?)
- 2.4 Crucifixion and Connected Passages
- 2.5 Order of Events and Word Order
- 2.6 Intertextual Evidence? Jewish Pride
- 3 Situating Scholarship on Q 4:157-158
- 3.1 Islamic Sources: ?adith, Tafsir, Isra?iliyyat
- 3.2 Existing Presuppositions: Reading the Tafsir into Texts
- 4 Situating Q 4:157-158 in this Study
- 4.1 Summary of the Specific Indicators of Q 4:157-158
- 4.2 Islamic Scriptural Engagement: Looking Ahead
- Chapter 2 The Qur?anic Crucifixion in Islamic Traditions
- 1 Tafsir on the Crucifixion in Scholarship
- 1.1 Revisiting Presuppositions
- 1.2 Prophetic Protection Presupposition
- 1.3 Corruption (Ta?rif) Presupposition
- 1.4 But What of Tawatur?
- 2 Substitute Profiles and Alternative Counternarratives
- 2.1 Accidental, Volunteer, or Punitive Substitute
- 3 From ?abari's Tentative Substitute to Tha?labi's Judas
- 3.1 The Weight of Theological Implications on the Editorial Hand
- 3.2 The Substitute According to Wahb, As Told Twice
- 3.3 Resolving Ambiguities?
- 4 Implications of a Named Substitute
- 5 Alternative Counternarratives
- 6 The Context of Lived Experience
- 6.1 The Backdrop of Creedal Disputes
- 7 Themes in Interreligious Interpretation: Divine Implications
- 7.1 Ambiguous Raising, Divine and Human Agency
- 7.2 Pre-Substitute?(?): Nonnus of Nisibis's Apologetic Treatise
- 7.3 Substitute Found: Dionysius bar ?alibi's Response to the Arabs
- Closing Part I The Stage for Interreligious Understanding of the Crucifixion
- Part II: The Creed, the Councils, and the Qur?an: Was hat Nicaea vom Islam übernommen?
- Aims and Arrangement
- Chapter 3 Formulas of Faith and the Qur?an
- 1 On "The Creed" and the Crucifixion
- 2 Biblical Sources for Christian Formulas of Faith
- 2.1 Conciliar-Creedal Formulas
- 2.2 The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed at the Dawn of Islam
- 3 Christian Creedal Articulations in Arabic
- 3.1 The Paradox of Dying and Not Dying
- 3.2 The Inherent "Mystery of the Cross": Raising as Locus Classicus
- 4 Implications: How Christians Heard Q 4:157-158
- Closing Part II The Backdrop to Interreligious Understanding of the Crucifixion
- Part III: Scriptural Engagement in Christian-Muslim Exchanges on the Crucifixion in the Eighth Century
- From Raising and Scriptural Referencing to Questions of Agency and Divinity
- 1 Active and Passive Scriptural Engagement
- 2 Types of Active Engagement (AE)
- 3 Types of Passive Engagement (PE)
- Aims and Arrangement
- Chapter 4 The Leo-?Umar Correspondence: Exegetical Emphasis in Early Interreligious Interpretation of the Crucifixion
- 1 Overview of the "Correspondence" between Leo III and Caliph ?Umar II
- 1.1 Manuscript Traditions
- 1.1.1 Pseudo-?Umar II's Letter to Leo III
- 1.1.2 The First and Second Arabic Letters of Leo III to ?Umar II
- 1.1.3 The Letter of Leo in Ghevond's History and The Latin Letter of Leo in Symphorianus Champerius's De triplici disciplina
- 2 Pseudo-?Umar II's Letter to Leo III: The Absolute Agency of God
- 2.1 The Crucifixion in Pseudo-?Umar II's Letter: Jesus is Not Divine by Biblical Reasoning
- 2.2 The Qur?anic Text in Pseudo-?Umar II's Letter: Standard Exegesis of Raising-as-Rescue
- 3 The First Arabic Letter of Leo III to ?Umar II: Shubbiha as Jewish (Mis)?Perception of the Crucifixion
- 3.1 The Crucifixion in the First Arabic Letter of Leo: Interwoven Biblical, Creedal, and Qur?anic Reasoning Demonstrate that Jesus's Willingness to Die Affirms His Divinity
- 3.2 The Qur?anic Text in the First Arabic Letter of Leo: Shubbiha as Jewish Misperception, Not Divine Deception
- 4 The Letter of Leo in Ghevond's History and the Latin Letter of Leo: All Scriptures Affirm Jesus as Divine Messiah
- 4.1 The Crucifixion in the Armenian and Latin Letters: If You Reject His Divinity, There Is No Reason to Reject His Death
- 4.2 The Qur?anic Text in the Armenian and Latin Letters: Avoidant, Absent Engagement
- 5 Active Engagement, Direct Conversations: Scriptural Reasoning Offers Raising as Point of Inquiry
- Shubbiha as Known Unknown
- Chapter 5 Scriptural Reasoning and Patterns of Prooftexting: Active and Passive Engagement in the Eighth Century
- 1 Features of Court Debate and Dialogue Genres
- 2 Observations on Scriptural Reasoning, Scriptural Sources, and Scriptural Engagement
- 3 Sinai Arabic MS 154, On the Triune Nature of God: The Cross Outwits Satan
- 3.1 The Crucifixion in the Triune: A Uniquely Intertextual Interpretive Framework
- 3.2 The Qur?anic Text in the Triune: Referential Engagement with Raising and Appearing (shubbiha) as the Cross
- 4 The Discourse of Mar John the Stylite of Mar Z?ura in Sarug: Divine Foreknowledge Cannot Oppose Divine Will
- 4.1 The Crucifixion in The Discourse of John the Stylite: Reasoned Claims about Divine Knowledge, Deception, and Culpability
- 4.2 The Qur?anic Text in The Discourse of John the Stylite: Slight Shifts in Registers to Address Human Culpability
- 5 Timothy I's Disputation with the Caliph al-Mahdi: Deception, Dishonor, Culpability
- 5.1 The Crucifixion in the Disputation Tradition: Robustly Biblical and Qur?anic
- 5.2 The Qur?anic Text in the Disputation Tradition: Syriac Leans Exegetical, Arabic Leans Referential
- 6 Chapter 10 of Theodore Bar Koni's Scholion: Understanding the Messiah by Reading the Old through the New
- 6.1 The Crucifixion in the Scholion: We All Confess the Cross as a Type Foreshadowed
- 6.2 Absence of the Qur?anic Text in the Scholion: Purposely Avoids Engagement
- 7 Scriptural Reasoning on Raising
- 8 Shubbiha as Deception: Tashbih and the Broader Context of Interreligious Exchange
- Closing Part III The First Movements-Divinity and Agency, Raising over Appearing
- Part IV: Scriptural Engagement in Christian-Muslim Exchanges on the Crucifixion from the Ninth to the Eleventh Century
- From Questions of Agency and Divinity to Analysis of Un-Uniting and "Divine" Willingness to Die
- Aims and Arrangement
- Chapter 6 Refutation and Response: (The)?logical Inquiry in Polemical Treatises
- 1 Observations on Theological Inquiry in the House of Wisdom Abbasid Era
- 2 Qur?anic Engagement Among Skeptics and Rationalists
- 3 Abu ?Isa al-Warraq's Refutation of the Three Christian Sects: The Challenge Crucifixion Poses to "The Uniting"
- 3.1 The Crucifixion in Abu ?Isa's Refutation: On Their Own Christological Logic, the Crucifixion of the Messiah is Untenable
- 3.2 The Qur?anic Text in Abu ?Isa's Refutation: Intentionally Qur?anizes the Creed
- 4 ?Ammar al-Ba?ri's Book of Proofs: The Messiah Rescues Humankind through His Humanity
- 4.1 The Crucifixion in ?Ammar al-Ba?ri's Book of Proofs: Neither the Messiah's Humanity nor the Crucifixion Imply Divine Weakness
- 4.2 The Qur?anic Text in ?Ammar al-Ba?ri's Book of Proofs: Active Reinterpretation of Shubbiha as Imitation
- 5 Ya?ya ibn ?Adi's Demonstration: The "Uniting" Does Not Meet Conditions for Contradictions
- 5.1 The Crucifixion in Ya?ya's Demonstration: What Happens to One Substance Does Not Destroy the Uniting
- 5.2 The Qur?anic Text in Ya?ya's Demonstration: Passive Engagement through Deliberate Creedal Affirmations
- 6 Indirect Conversations: Observations on Interreligious Interpretation of the Crucifixion
- Chapter 7 Rational Inquiry: Active and Passive Engagement in the Ninth through Eleventh Centuries
- 1 Observations on Rational Inquiry, Scriptural Engagement, and Provenance
- 2 The Second Letter of Abu Ra?i?a al-Takriti, On the Incarnation: Divine Intent and the Messiah's Willingness to Die
- 2.1 The Crucifixion in On the Incarnation: Agency and Raising as Evidence of Divinity
- 2.2 The Qur?anic Text in On the Incarnation: Moral Agency Examined through Mixed Engagement
- 2.3 Abu Ra?i?a's Mixed Scriptural Engagement and Grammatical Argument
- 3 The Disputation of the Monk Ibrahim al-T?abarani and Emir Hashimi
- 3.1 The Crucifixion in the Disputation of Ibrahim: God Disowns the Disciples
- 3.2 The Qur?anic Text in the Disputation of Ibrahim: Dismissive Engagement
- 4 The Disputation of Patriarch John over a Fragment of the Cross: Death, Sleep, or Thief?
- 4.1 The Crucifixion in the Disputation of Patriarch John: Biblical Defense of Death as Sleep
- 4.2 The Qur?anic Text in the Disputation of Patriarch John: Intra-textual Exegesis of Shubbiha as Thief
- 5 The Exposer's Book in Truth/The Truthful Exposer: A Volunteer Substitute?
- 5.1 The Crucifixion in The Truthful Exposer: Only the Messiah Could Cause a Supernatural Phenomenon
- 5.2 The Qur?an in The Truthful Exposer: Intra-scriptural Reasoning via Dismissive Active Engagement
- 6 Ibn Mu?ammal's Concise Treatise Inclusive of the Christian Denominations: The Return of Tawatur and the Absence of Q 4:157-158
- 6.1 The Crucifixion in the Concise Treatise: Biblically Attested and Eyewitnessed
- 6.2 The Qur?anic Text in the Concise Treatise: An Absence and Questions of Context
- 7 Deliberate Deception is Unacceptable, Especially Against the Criteria of Eyewitnessing
- 7.1 Shubbiha: From Deliberate Deception to Implausible Substitutes
- Closing Part IV Different Engagement Methods, Common Thematic Movements
- Synopsis and Further Considerations
- Theological Refrains and Pivotal Movements in Early Christian-Muslim Understandings of the Qur?anic Crucifixion
- 1 Revisiting the Landscape of Interreligious Interpretations: Refrains of Raising, Divinity, and Agency
- 2 Shubbiha as ___________
- 3 Abbasid Baghdad, Fatimid Egypt: Substitute Found?
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
- Scriptural Quotations and References
- Bible References
- Qur?an References
- Talmud References
