Référence :

Islamochristiana 42 (2016) 71–102

English

2016

Medieval Muslim Polemics against the Christian Creed : The Critique of ṢĀLIḤ B. AL-ḤUSAYN AL-ǦA‘FARĪ (D. 668/1270)

Abstract

After introducing Ṣāliḥ b. al-Ḥusayn al-Ǧa‘farī (d. 668/1270), the Egyptian Muslim author of an important work of anti-Christian polemic entitled Taḫǧīl man ḥarrafa al-Tawrāh wa-l-Inǧīl (‘The Shaming of Those Who Have Corrupted the Torah and the Gospel’), this article offers an annotated translation of the book’s eighth chapter, devoted to exposing the alleged corruption and self- contradictoriness of the Christian creed. The charges are fundamentally two: that some parts of the creed logically contradict other parts; and that the creed is based neither on the revealed law of the Gospel nor on the words of Jesus or the Apostles.

Titre original : “Medieval Muslim Polemics against the Christian Creed : The Critique of ṢĀLIḤ B. AL-ḤUSAYN AL-ǦA‘FARĪ (D. 668/1270)”

Résumé

Après avoir présenté Ṣāliḥ b. Ḥusayn al-Ǧa‘farī (m. 668/1270), auteur musulman égyptien d’un important ouvrage sur la polémique anti-chrétienne intitulé Taḫǧīl man ḥarrafa al-Tawrāh wa-l-Inǧīl (“Honte à ceux qui ont corrompu la Torah et l’Evangile”), cet article offre une traduction annotée du huitième chapitre du livre consacré à l’exposition de la prétendue corruption et des contradictions internes du credo chrétien. Les accusations se limitent fondamentalement à deux, à savoir que certaines parties du credo contredisent logiquement certaines autres et que ce credo n’est basé ni sur la loi révélée de l’Évangile ni sur les dires de Jésus ou des apôtres.

Resources of this researcher

videos

Online Symposium: Islamic Origins & Christian Theological Engagement with Islam

Panelists David Marshall, University of Bern (Moderator), Guest Editor of Islamochristiana Martin Accad, Arab Baptist Theological Seminary Daniel Brown, ISRME Diego Sarrio Cucarella, PISAI Sa...

publication

The document on human fraternity: an interdisciplinary reflection

The volume, published in the series “Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations” (No. 14), brings together contributions from ten international scholars on the Document on Human Fr...

article

Lavigerie and Islam, an ambiguous legacy

In a recent article on the contribution of the White Fathers to the renewal of Catholic attitudes towards Islam, Rémi Caucanas rightly notes that their founder’s legacy “was not without ambiguity”...

article

Corresponding across Religious Borders: The Letter of al-Qūṭī

Summary : This article provides an introduction to the Letter of al-Qūṭī, a short anti-Islamic polemic in Arabic purportedly written by an unknown priest active in Toledo in the mid-1...

publication

Blessed Ramon Llull: the character and his relationship with Islam

The PISAI is pleased to announce the publication of the book Il beato Raimondo Lullo: il personaggio e il suo rapporto con l’Islam (Roma 2021), edited by Professor Diego Sarrió Cucarella, MAf...

article

‘On how to discern the truth of religion’, by Hunayn b. Isḥāq. The impersonal recension

Abstract This article contributes to the study of Christian Arabic literature by providing an introduction and English translation of the treatise entitled Kayfiyyat idrāk ḥaqīqat al-diyāna, ‘On...

publication

Islam and Belonging. Proceedings of the PLURIEL 2nd International Congress

After its first international congress in Lyon from 6 to 9 September 2016 on the theme “Islam in the Plural: Faith, Thought, Society”[1], the current study brings together the proceedin...

article

Medieval Muslim Polemics against the Christian Creed : The Critique of ṢĀLIḤ B. AL-ḤUSAYN AL-ǦA‘FARĪ (D. 668/1270)

Abstract After introducing Ṣāliḥ b. al-Ḥusayn al-Ǧa‘farī (d. 668/1270), the Egyptian Muslim author of an important work of anti-Christian polemic entitled Taḫǧīl man ḥarrafa al-Tawrāh wa-l-Inǧīl...

article

Corresponding across Religious Borders. The Letter of Ibn Taymiyya to a Crusader in Cyprus

SUMMARY: 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–13...

Resources related toMuslim-Christian Dialogue

article

Kenneth Cragg and the Event of the Qur’an

  • Timo Güzelmansur

Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Kenneth Cragg und das Ereignis des Koran on the theological portal feinschwarz.net (12 June 2026, open access). Timo Güzelmansur presents the A...

Le pape Léon XIV présente l'encyclique Magnifica Humanitas, Salle du Synode, Vatican, 25 mai 2026

article

Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the Pluriel working group on AI-assisted interreligious dialogue

  • Wael Saleh

Text by Wael Saleh, researcher at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and member of the Pluriel coordination committee. The simultaneous appearance of Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Human...

publication

The Recognition of a Hummingbird. Essays on Interreligious Dialogue and Missionary Work (2007-2025)

  • Rémi Caucanas

Published in May 2026 by PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome), this collection brings together the essays of Rémi Caucanas on interreligious dialogue and missionary wor...

videos

From Lavigerie to PISAI: The Institutional History of the Missionaries of Africa’s Engagement with Islam

Delivered on 21 May 2026 at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) in Rome, this lecture opens the series of conferences marking the institute's centenary (1926-2026). Fr. ...

videos

Interreligious Dialogue and Ethnic Nationalisms in the Balkans

At the invitation of PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Rome) and Georgetown University, Ahmet Alibašić, professor of Islamic civilization at the Faculty of Islamic Studies...

publication

For a Christian Theology of Religions

  • Michel Younès

Faced with contemporary religious diversity, how can Christian theology make sense of the place that other religions occupy in God’s design? Michel Younès examines the three traditional ̶...

publication

Intercultural Theology

  • Jean Patrick Nkolo Fanga

Because every theology is culturally situated, Christian theology is inevitably multicultural. Yet one step remains to be taken: to become intercultural. Crossing languages, contexts, origins, ages...

article

Bells and Muezzin in Harmony: Dialogue with Islam as a Spiritual Responsibility

  • Timo Güzelmansur

Article by Timo Güzelmansur published under the title Glocken und Muezzin im Einklang. Der Dialog mit dem Islam als geistliche Verantwortung in Herder Korrespondenz (special issue devoted to Pope L...