| The Qur'ân, together with the sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet Muh&dotbelow;ammad recounted in ah&dotbelow;âdith (oral traditions of the Prophet), form the eternal source of inspiration and knowledge upon which the Muslim communities have acted and reacted to, as well as interacted with. Externally, their relations with many others, including Christians, have followed the same dynamics, as seen in the mirror of the Qur'ân and its interpretations. The topics of the divine nature of Jesus, the trinity, and the crucifixion of Jesus and his death on the cross, have been commonly considered the three main theological points of disagreement between Muslims and Christians. The Qur'ân's clear position vis-a-vis the first two points do not leave any space for scholarly debates. However, despite Muslims' actual consensus on denying Jesus' crucifixion and death, the Qur'ânic ambiguous image of Jesus' last day on earth has caused many discussions among mufassirun (exegetes of the Qur'ân). This thesis is a textual analysis of the two Qur'ânic passages on this debated point of difference. For this textual and intertextual study, the tafâsir (interpretations of the Qur'ân) of eight mufassirun belonging to different madhâhib (schools of interpretation) from various periods in the history of Muslim-Christian relations are used in combination with recent textual approaches and methods such as: historico-citical and redaction critical. In addition, three new theories developed within this dissertation complete the hermeneutical tools employed for this research: the "theory of five layers of meaning," the "theory of double messages of the Qur'ân," and the "theory of humans' tripartite nature." In the light of these theories and methods, it emerges that the Qur'ânic ambiguity on Jesus' crucifixion and death may well be the Qur'ân's own invitation to Muslims and Christians to live with that unresolvable ambiguity. This dissertation's conclusion thus contributes directly to better Muslim-Christian relations, reinforcing the Qur'ânic call to both Muslims and Christians (Qur'ân 3:64, 103) to focus on major common points, to embrace minor differences, and to spend their energy on what might have a positive impact on their harmonious co-habitation, abandoning the rest in the hands of God in whom both believe. |
