Defending the ''People of Truth'' in the Early Islamic Period : The Christian Apologies of Abu Ra'itah (History of Christian-Muslim Relations, 4)

387 Pages·2006·1.07 MB·English

by  Sandra Toenies Keating

Defending the ‘People of Truth’
in the Early Islamic Period
The History of
Christian-Muslim
Relations
Editorial board
David Thomas
University of Birmingham
Tarif Khalidi
American University of Beirut
Gerrit Jan Reinink
University of Groningen
Mark Swanson
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota
VOLUME 4
Defending the ‘People
of Truth’ in the Early
Islamic Period
Abå R§"iãah
The Christian Apologies of
by
Sandra Toenies Keating
BRILL
LEIDEN BOSTON
•
2006
Photo front cover: Vase, Jar, Iraq, Abbasid dynasty, 10th century, Earthenware painted over
glaze with luster H. 28.2 x Diam. 23.2 cm (11 1/8 x 9 1/8 in.) Origin: Iraq
Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Christians and Muslims have been involved in exchanges over matters of faith and morality since the
founding of Islam. Attitudes between the faiths today are deeply coloured by the legacy of past encoun-
ters, and often preserve centuries-old negative views.
The History of Christian-Muslim Relations, Texts and Studiespresents the surviving record of past encounters
in authoritative, fully introduced text editions and annotated translations, and also monograph and col-
lected studies. It illustrates the development in mutual perceptions as these are contained in surviving
Christian and Muslim writings, and makes available the arguments and rhetorical strategies that, for
good or for ill, have left their mark on attitudes today. The series casts light on a history marked by intel-
lectual creativity and occasional breakthroughs in communication, although, on the whole beset by mis-
understanding and misrepresentation. By making this history better known, the series seeks to con-
tribute to improved recognition between Christians and Muslims in the future.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Keating, Sandra Toenies.
Defending the “people of truth” in the early Islamic period : the Christian apologies of
Abu Raitah / by Sandra Toenies Keating.
p. cm. — (The history of Christian-Muslim relations, ISSN 1570-7350 ; v. 4)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 90-04-14801-9 (alk. paper)
1. Abu Ra"itah al-Takriti, Habib ibn Khidmah, 9th cent. 2. Apologetics.
3. Christianity and other religions—Islam. I. Abu Ra"itah al-Takriti, Habib ibn Khidmah,
9th cent. Selections. 2006. II. Title. III. Series.
BT1170.T35K43 2006
239–dc22
2005058135
ISSN 1570–7350
ISBN-13: 978 90 04 14801 7
ISBN-10: 90 04 14801 9
© Copyright 2006 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by Brill provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
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Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
contents v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Introduction: A Ninth-Century Defense of Christian
Doctrine: Abå R§"iãah al-TakrÊtÊ’s Response to His
Muslim Critics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Christians and the Rise of Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Christian Apologetic under Islamic Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Islamization and Conversion from Christianity . . . . . . . . 12
Arabic: The New Lingua Franca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Arabic Christian Apology and Theological Debate . . . . 24
Abå R§"iãah al-TakrÊtÊ (c. 775-c. 835) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Ecclesiastical Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
A Christian Mutakallim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Addressees and Opponents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Translation Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Extant Manuscripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
List of Known Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
I. A Ris§lah of Abå R§"iãah al-TakrÊtÊ on the Proof of
the Christian Religion and the Proof of the Holy
Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Content and Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Addressee and Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Translation and Arabic Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
II. The First Ris§lah on the Holy Trinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Content and Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Addressee and Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Translation and Arabic Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
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vi contents
III. The Second Ris§lah of Abå R§"iãah al-TakrÊtÊ on the
Incarnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Translation and Arabic Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
IV. Witnesses from the Words of the Torah, the Prophets
and the Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Translation and Arabic Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
V. From the Teaching of Abå R§"iãah al-TakrÊtÊ, the
Syrian, Bishop of Nisibis: ‘On the Demonstration of the
Credibility of Christianity Which was Received from the
Preaching of the Evangelists in the Holy Scriptures’ . . . . 335
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Context and Addressee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Translation and Arabic Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
VI. Christological Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Context and Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Translation and Arabic Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
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contents vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to extend a special thanks to the staff at the Fondation Georges
et Mathilde Salem in Aleppo, Syria, for their kind help in providing
me with photographic copies of the manuscripts Bibl. Sbath found in
their collection, and to the staff of the Bodleian Library at Oxford
and the Vatican Library for their help with relevant manuscripts.
I also wish to thank the editors of this series for their assistance in
bringing this text to its final form. I am very grateful to the staff and
faculties, especially Monica Blanchard, of the Institute of Christian
Oriental Research at the Catholic University of America and of the
Pontifical Institute for the Study of Arabic and Islam in Rome for
their unfailing help and for allowing me unlimited access to their
libraries, without which my research would have been impossible.
A special and lasting expression of gratitude goes to my teachers
who accompanied and occasionally prodded me along the long road
toward learning Arabic: Richard M. Frank, Fr. Sidney Griffith, Fr.
Andrew Lane, Fr. Maurice Borrmans, and Archbishop Michael
Fitzgerald. Without their patient and constant support, this volume
would never have seen the light of day.
Finally, I especially wish to thank my husband and children for
their patience and love throughout this project.
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viii contents
Book_keating.indb viii 7/11/2006 11:43:20AM
introduction 1
INTRODUCTION
A NINTH-CENTURY DEFENSE OF
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE: AB— R$"I•AH AL-TAKR^T^’S
RESPONSE TO HIS MUSLIM CRITICS
Christians and the Rise of Islam
It is likely that Christians and Jews living in Mesopotamia at the
beginning of the seventh century could not have imagined the mag-
nitude of the change that was about to descend upon their world.
Life was continuing much as it had for centuries, albeit under the
exhausting burden of the warring Byzantine and Persian empires.
Yet, from an obscure place in Arabia, a military and religious leader
stepped on to the stage of history, bringing a religion that would
change the face of the world in less than two hundred years. The
man who came to be known as the Prophet MuÈammad was believed
by his followers to have received revelations from God for twenty-
two years until his death in 632 a.d. In the last decade of his life
he gathered around himself a small community and set in motion
one of the most breath-taking conquests in history.
Initially the Arab conquerors essentially left the existing bureau-
cratic and legal structures they encountered in place, insisting only
that their subjects pay taxes and refrain from slandering MuÈammad
or their religion. However, by the middle of the eighth century the
Muslim community had developed a self-confidence that manifested
itself in the desire to transform society according to the demands
of the Qur"§n. The result was the appearance of a new dynasty, the
#Abb§sids, and a new capital, Baghdad, founded near the ancient
Christian city of TakrÊt. Under these new rulers, Arab-Islamic civi-
lization flourished and for five centuries relative peace and pros-
perity prevailed throughout the lands they dominated. Although
the #Abb§sids never had direct authority over the entire territory
controlled by Muslim rulers, their presence and influence was widely
felt in every aspect of life. Through their leadership, Islamic civi-
lization entered its Golden Age and was able to attain exceptional
achievements in science, medicine, law, astronomy, poetry, litera-
ture and art. While the #Abb§sids remained in power in Baghdad,
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