An unyielding clash of orthodoxies: Ibn Taymiyya and the Mediaeval religious controversy on the interpretation of the Koran

Abstract

Presentation and annotated translation of a chapter from the al Ǧawāb al ṣaḥīḥ li man baddala dīn al-Masīḥ by the famous Ḥanbali jurist and theologian Aḥmad b. Taymiyya (d. 1328). In this chapter, Ibn Taymiyya discusses two important passages dealing with Koranic Christology: Koran 3,59, in which the extraordinary creation of Jesus is compared to that of Adam; and Koran 4,171, in which a special relationship between Jesus and God is suggested when the former is described as «His word» and «a spirit emanating from Him».