I have written a response on the criticism of the Qur’ānic narrative of Jesus’ (pbuh) crucifixion, by Dr G. S. Reynolds in his paper titled “Muslim Jesus: Dead or alive? (2009)”. I was expecting to share it on the eve of Good Friday, 5 days ago, but being overwhelmed with a lot of things I could finish it today only. I have shared the abstract below, and link to the complete paper is the following:
?? A critique of the Orientalists’ novel interpretations of the Qur’ānic narrative of Jesus’ Crucifixion (PDF/ 1.77 MB)
Abstract
Eschatology in the Abrahamic religions have certain similarities, while simultaneously having deep creedal conflicts. One such key point of difference is Jesus the son of Mary’s (pbut) final moments on this earth. This issue, being a core difference, has ever been a controversial topic among all Semitic faiths. The thrust on this issue remains comparatively higher than other differences due to certain events of the Eschaton being contingent on this incident, which leads to conflicting beliefs in all spheres of the three faiths. Christian and Muslim scholars have ever been active on the discussions pertaining to it, and some of the Christian scholars, if not most of them, have attempted to prove that the Qur’ānic perspective (or the Qur’an and the Hadīthic perspective together) of the Crucifixion in Islam isn’t coherent with what the classical scholars of Tafsir have emphasized upon. Dr G. S. Reynolds is one such prominent scholar who authored a thorough research a decade ago attempting to prove the same. In this paper I try to explain the flaws of the novel interpretations and explain why there is no space for such excogitations. As I briefly discuss the tafāsīr, I also introduce an objective Hadith approach on the topic, showing that the conclusions drawn by the novel interpretations are the result of a partial study of an integrated topic. I have also attempted to show why the Gospel’s narrative isn’t the best account of the Crucifixion. The paper also aims to prove that neither the Tafsīr, nor the Hadīth put words into the Qur’ānic narrative, although both prove to be complementing and supplementing at times.
Link to academia.edu post ⬇️
[Completed with Allah’s Praise on Wednesday the 7th of April, 2021]
