A Muslim View of the Apostle Paul

Exasperated! 

Fair warning…that’s how you may feel if you read this post.  Trying to understand the “other” can be maddening.  I can’t think of many topics that I find more  exasperating than this one—how Muslims through history have come to understand the apostle Paul. 

 

I’ve run into this view of Paul a number of times over the years.  I must admit that I’ve never understood where it comes from.  Some recent reading has opened a new window to the historical development behind it all.  Nevertheless, I am still not entirely sure how Muslims come out with a view of Paul so diametrically opposed to my own and that of historic Christianity. 

A little background…Islam is built around the idea of God who is all-powerful and inimitable.  Nothing which can be conceived by the human mind is like him.  Nothing compares to him and no metaphor or descriptor is adequate to describe him.  Think about that a minute and you’ll quickly see that there are some problems with the Christian idea of God becoming a man and dwelling among us.  And yet, Islam claims to be a continuation and confirmation of the preceding faiths of Judaism and Christianity.  In fact at various points, the prophet of Islam called on his followers to consult the “people of the book” (Christians and Jews) who would confirm his prophetic message because it fully corroborated their own holy books.

As you can imagine, this dual claim—the inimitability of God and confirmation of the preceding faiths—produced a conundrum.  Neither the historic Christian community nor the Jewish people, both of whom were scattered throughout Islamic lands, bought into the idea that Islam was a continuation of their beliefs…and they had their books to prove it.  Soon enough Christians were speaking Arabic and translating their Scriptures which brought the issue to a boiling point around about the ninth to the eleventh centuries.  Essentially, Muslims increasingly embraced the idea that the books of the Jews and Christians had been corrupted so that they no longer contained God’s revelation.  Since those books were available, the onus was on Muslims to explain when and how this corruption of the Scripture took place. 

Abd al-Jabbar (d. 1025) was a Muslim theologian who was educated in Iraq and moved to Rayy (in Iran) where he had been appointed as a Judge.  Abd al-Jabbar was the first to articulate a comprehensive narrative of the apostle Paul as seen by Muslims.  Brace yourself!  You won’t like this. 

Now the narrative:   As Abd al-Jabbar relates the story, a Christian delegation went to Rome to complain about the Jews with whom they were worshipping.  The Romans proffered a deal with the delegation ensuring their power while simultaneously suppressing the Jews on condition that the Christians would surrender their scriptures to the Romans.  The Christian delegation consented, but upon their return, was unable to persuade their Christian companions who refused to give their book over to pagan Romans.  Thereupon the Christian delegation returned to implore Roman assistance.  The Romans pursued the obstinate Christians, killing many of them and producing a split in the Christian community with one group having altered their religion for the sake of power (represented by the delegation to the Romans and referenced in Quranic passages such as 3:187) and the other holding tenaciously to their authoritative texts, fleeing the Roman persecution.  The first group, in collusion with the Romans rewrote the gospel of Christ to suit themselves—a stealth plan to Romanize the original gospel.  In fact they produced several gospels, each one progressively further from the original gospel which had been revealed to Jesus.  The latter group fled in the direction of the Arabian Peninsula and continued to hold fast to the gospel as they had received it.  This group constitutes the followers of Jesus who recognized that Islam was indeed the continuation of the Christian gospel.   It is this group that the Qur’an refers to as those who will gladly confirm that the revelation brought by the prophet of Islam is identical to that which came through Jesus.[1] (See Qur’an, surat Yunus 10:94)

So where is Paul in all this?  You might guess that he was part of the Roman delegation and became the main instigator in corrupting the gospel.   For Abd al-Jabbar, the saintly apostle is transformed into a wicked schemer and vindictive plotter.  He successfully hijacked the Christian gospel.  Rather than converting Rome to Christianity, Paul Romanized the gospel!  Not only did Paul corrupt the text of the gospel, he brought to Rome his despicable ideas of the Trinity and the incarnation of God through the prophet Jesus!

It bears mentioning that Christian apologists at the time of Abd al-Jabbar touted the virtues of Christianity stating that it was a religion devoid of coercion because it began without political power.  Abd al-Jabbar is attempting to show that, from his viewpoint, Christianity was replete with political power-grabbing and Paul was the main culprit.

As incredible as this story seems to our ears, it gained a foothold in Islamic thought and was passed down through the centuries.  Numerous Muslims have related to me the despicable nature of the apostle Paul, exhorting me to turn away from his deception and embrace the simplicity and purity of Islam. 

Does this help us at all to get a “fresh vision” for the Muslims of our world?  Two areas come to mind.

First, it may help us to understand what Muslims mean when they say our gospel is corrupted.  The corruption of the gospel (in Arabic: taḥrīf) has a long narrative history to support it.  Some Muslims are unwilling even to touch a Bible, so convinced are they of its corruption.  Probably our best approach is to invite Muslims to simply read the gospel with us.  And they may urge us to read the Qur’an with them—a fair exchange, don’t you think?  I wouldn't suggest starting with the apostle Paul, but inviting a Muslim to read what Paul actually wrote may confront him with the inadequacy of what he has been taught.

Second, our exasperation at this far-fetched tale of the apostle’s scheming may help us to view critically some of the “Christian versions” of cherished Islamic narrative, such as the life of Muhammad.  In reading some Christian versions of Muhammad’s life, one would deduce that only an ignorant brute would be willing to follow such a prophet.  Could it be that we have glossed over some of his noble qualities while accentuating those which build a case against him?  Perhaps our narratives of Islam are no better than Muslim narratives of our cherished faith.   Might Jesus’ exhortation be in order…to check the plank in our own eye before working on the speck in our brother’s?

20 January 2013

Beirut, Lebanon 

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[1] This is a reader’s digest version of the events.  For a scholarly perspective, see Gabriel Reynolds, A Muslim Theologian in the Sectarian Milieu: 'Abd Al-Jabbar and the Critique of Christian Origins. Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts edited by Wadad Kadi and Rotraud Wielandt. Vol. 56, Leiden: Brill, 2004.

 

‘The Rage of Muhammad’ and Qasim’s Pomegranates

Last week I found myself reading a dialogue—an actual conversation—between a Muslim government official, Qasim, and an Eastern Orthodox bishop—Elie.[1]  You may suspect that the conversation grew out of the recent unrest due to the film caricature of Muhammad, but, no.  This conversation took place a long time ago—in the eleventh century.  As I read it, I found myself saying ‘hmm…’ or ‘how about that?’ I couldn’t shake the feeling that Qasim and Elie were saying something worth hearing today. 

Qasim had quite a history.  It seems his entire family had been executed at the hands of a mad Caliph (that’s the leader of the Muslim community—sort of a king/pope).  Qasim ran for his life, twice in fact, from two different cities, and managed to escape.  Barely.   However, by the time he encounters Elie, his situation has taken a turn for the better.  He is in the employ of the government and thanks to his high position, he seeks an audience with the local bishop.

At first, Elie seemed hesitant to pursue the conversation.  He wanted to make sure Qasim was asking all these questions for honest reasons, not just to get the goods on the Christians.  The way Qasim assured Elie of the honesty of his pursuit struck a chord with me.  Now, I have to preface this by saying that exaggerations and myths make their way into ancient literature.  Who knows if the report is factual?!  Nevertheless, what Qasim related sure demonstrated a different spirit—one that is still occasionally found among Muslims (and hopefully Christians), even today.

The story goes that during Qasim’s travels, he fell ill and found shelter at one of those ancient monasteries that dotted the landscape of the medieval Middle East.  He showed up at the monastery gate in desperate straits—deathly ill, dehydrated and unable to keep nourishment in.  He was at death’s door.  One of the brothers of the monastery encouraged Qasim to take some of the pomegranates grown by the monks.  These pomegranates were thought to have healing powers having been blessed by the consecrated soil in which they were grown and the communal prayers sung in that holy place.  Qasim ate the pomegranates and to his own amazement he made a miraculous recovery.  That’s the story Qasim shared with Elie.  That’s the story that opened the door to the dialogue. Qasim’s experience in the monastery had made him suspicious of the rumor going around that these Christians were idolaters or perhaps worse.  Now he comes to Elie to get the truth from somebody who should know.

So, after being roughed up by his own Muslim overlords, pursued like a wild animal and now lying on death’s door, a kindly old monk gave Qasim some fruit.  And he lived…and asked questions.

Qasim still lives.  You may meet him in the refugee in your town—the one that fled for his life from Muslim militias in Iraq or Syria and now finds himself in a place where he can hardly speak the language, where football is played with an oblong ball, where his college degree gets him nothing more than a cleaning job at a local fastfood.  Qasim has been beaten up, kicked around and left for dead.  He fled and now he shows up on our doorstep. 

 Psst…got any pomegranates???

 The Qasim of the 11^th century got holy fruit—the simple care of a kindly saint who looked with empathetic eyes and thought that this dying man should have the best nourishment his monastic order could provide.  The Qasim of the 21^st century…what will he get?  There’s a menu of choices.  He could get a warm welcome over a cup of tea, English lessons, tutoring for his 9 year old daughter, a house-warming party, and a baby shower for his wife who’s expecting their fourth.  Now that would be fresh vision—something akin to what Jesus commended to his disciples in John 4 (‘lift up your eyes’).  But all too many times, the Qasim of the 21^st century gets a sneer, a chilly and fearful reception or, in some cases, an insult directed at him, his family or even his prophet. 

So Qasim (back to the 11^th century now) went on to discuss Elie’s faith with him at length.  It’s all recorded for posterity.  And there I was, sitting in a library, reading it in the 21^st century.  I guess you never know what a few pomegranates can accomplish.

Beirut - 30 September 2012

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[1] Their full names are Elie Bishop of Nisbis and Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn Ibn ‘Ali al-Maghribi.  Many of the ideas are found in an article by Fr. Samir Khalil Samir titled “Entretien d’Élie de Nisibe avec le Vizir Ibn ‘Ali al-Maghribi sur l’Unité et la Trinité,” in Islamochristiana, 5, (1979): 31-117.