Jesus Versus Mohammad by Roman James - A Debate Among Muslims And Christians
By Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar, New
Age Islam
27 January 2023
James, Has Drawn And Referenced Most Of
His Research About Islam, From A Progressive Website Like New Age Islam.
New Age Islam, Over The Past Two Decades Has Become A Repository Of
Critical Knowledge About Islam.
Main Points:
1.
Very few
books have been written in this format and the work proves very academic and
analytical
2.
Many
efforts have been made to bring down the levels of violence, as well as build
bridges between Islam and Christianity.
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Jesus Versus Mohammad: Two Visions of
Humanity by Roman James
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Christianity and Islam are among the most
populous and popular belief systems. Billions of people subscribe to their
version and vision. Christianity is older than Islam, and Islam believes in the
corruption of Bible, that is revered as the Holy divine revelation by its
believers (Christians). Similarly Christians believe that Muslims will not find
salvation because they do not believe in Trinity. Islam reinforces the
Christian belief about the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ but it
categorically denies Jesus being son of God. It further believes in the
sanctity of Mother Mary, who is described in Quran as one of the pious ladies.
A whole chapter of Holy Quran, Surah Maryam is dedicated to her, deliberating
about her virtues.
The believers of Islam and faithful of
Christianity both have clashed with each other, although Quran emphasizes that
Christians are more close to Muslims than believers of any other faith (5:82).
These clashes are time and again manifested in different forms. The attack by
U.S.A on various Muslim countries including Afghanistan, Iraq and its meddling
in the Middle Eastern countries, toppling the unfavorable governments and
installing regimes that are loyal to its interests, all have been constructed
as neo crusades. Even the ex U.S President George W Bush, used the term crusade
for his ‘war on terror’ initiative that resulted in more violence and
terrorism. Many efforts have been made to bring down the levels of violence, as
well as build bridges between Islam and Christianity.
The current book under review written by Roman
James, a researcher and writer based in Australia is among the few works
that has the potential to rake up a debate among Muslims and Christians. Very
few books have been written in this format and the work proves very academic
and analytical. James, has opted for a confrontationist approach, that appears
feasible for him to draw comparisons and conclusions while naming the chapters
as Trinity vs Tawhid, Evolution of Islam and Christianity, Political Islam
while forgetting Christian Zionism, Gender Equality in Islam and Christianity,
eschatology and multiculturalism. Each chapter draws on the original texts of
the religions i.e. Bible and Quran for comparative study and drawing
inferences. A reader can read about both about Islam and Christianity, as they
are available side by side on the same page, that renders the book quite
feasible for the readers to understand and analyze issues. Every topic is
backed by a plethora of evidence that is quite hard to deny or discard.
The additional feature of this work is that
the author James, has drawn and referenced most of his research about Islam,
from a progressive website like New Age Islam. New Age Islam, over the past two
decades has become a repository of critical knowledge about Islam. It envisions
a future for Muslims that is non violent, tolerant, gender just and peaceful.
This all will be pragmatic only when new progressive interpretation of Islam is
articulated by new scholars of Islam, who believe in the fundamentals of
progressive Islam. Daily the website adds scores of articles regarding various
aspects of Islam and issues that Muslims are baffling with, while offering them
new insights in the light of Islam. James, is very apt and intelligent to use
this website for drawing inferences about various aspects of Islam. It is one
of the authentic sources about understanding Islam as well as the contemporary
issues that are baffling Muslims. It offers innovative insights in resolving
the problems which are not available in the mainstream Islamic theology and by
traditional Ulema. It is quite great to know that scholars like James are
relying on this website to know, understand and analyze Islamic teachings.
James is a devout practicing Christian and
his book certainly brings out these aspects to the fore, as he seems biased and
prejudiced many times while trying to prove supremacy of Christianity over
Islam. This aspect of supremacy instead of equality among religions, that is
the basic principle of Interfaith relations, certainly demeans the academic
merit of the work. It many times appears aiming at proselytizing muslims to
accept Christianity as the real creed and belief system. Here James, appears to
be driven by the missionary zeal of proselytizing the ‘barbarians’(read
Muslims). This aspect subverts the message of the book, as a muslim reader may
get offended many times while reading the book. James, wants muslims to
introspect while failing to demand the same from Christians. Another flaw of
the book is that it compares the practice of muslims with the Holy teachings of
the sacred book Bible, if the same methodology would be used to compare the
practice of Christians with their own Holy book or Quran, the results can be
devastating. So the path to be adopted should be to compare the practices of
Muslims and Christians with each other, not with ideals as enshrined in their
Holy scriptures.
Calling caliphs and dictators as same is
grave injustice (P-26). The first four righteous caliphs didn’t play God or
later other kings who were self styled Caliphs too were not supposed to play
God. Further, dictatorship is a new phenomenon and here again comparison of new
age democracy is being made with the age where divine rights of kings were the
norm. James tries to make Muslims understand Trinity and hoping that they will
accept it (P-30) and certainly it will not happen, understanding of Trinity can
be one aspect in building bridges but accepting it is out of question.
Despite these flaws, the book is a
manifestation of the hard academic work and research undertaken by James to
understand Islam and Christianity and compare its various stances regarding
gender, environment, and basic concepts of both religions. The contents of this
book and the references it has quoted certainly make it a great read. It should
be an essential reading for anyone who is interested in understanding different
aspects of both these Semitic religions. The author needs to be congratulated
for this great feat.
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New Age Islam columnist M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir
URL:
https://newageislam.com/books-documents/jesus-mohammad-debate-muslims-christians/d/128972
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