The Crucifixion of Jesus: Faithful History or Historical Faith?

Author: Louay Fatoohi
Publisher: Islamic Book Trust
ISBN: 9789670957456
Weight: 0.8kg
Pages: 326pp
Year: 
Price: RM69

This book presents a critical analysis of the earliest Christian and non-Christian references to the crucifixion of Jesus. It shows that far from being a confirmed historical fact, as is often claimed, the crucifixion of Jesus is more a product of faith. Even when this acceptance of the crucifixion of Jesus is not the result of Christian faith, it is still traceable to the sources of that faith: the New Testament. None of the few early non-Christian sources that mention this event is independent of the Christian tradition.

The book then goes on to explain the Qur’an’s version of history, which asserts that Jesus escaped the attempt on his life. This study offers new insights into all relevant aspects of the Qur’anic story of Jesus, enriching our understanding of what the Qur’an really says.

Combining these two goals, this detailed treatment of this subject from a Muslim perspective is a genuinely new contribution to the literature. Muslim writings show little engagement with historical and non-Muslim scriptural and religious sources, often due to a lack of interest in and familiarity with the literature. Non-Muslim scholarship, meanwhile, dismisses the Qur’an out of hand. Indeed, the denial of the crucifixion of Jesus is the main target of attacks on the reliability of history in the Qur’an. This book shows that the Qur’an’s statement on the crucifixion of Jesus is a serious alternative to the confused accounts of the New Testament.