The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature »

Tarif Khalidi is Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic, Director of the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Classical Arab Islam: The Culture and Heritage of the Golden Age and Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period.

This work presents in English translation the largest collection ever assembled of the sayings and stories of Jesus in Arabic Islamic literature. In doing so, it traces a tradition of love and reverence for Jesus that has characterized Islamic thought for more than a thousand years. An invaluable resource for the history of religions, the collection documents how one culture, that of Islam, assimilated the towering religious figure of another, that of Christianity. As such, it is a work of great significance for the understanding of both, and of profound implications for modern-day intersectarian relations and ecumenical dialogue.

Tarif Khalidi's introduction and commentaries place the sayings and stories in their historical context, showing how and why this "gospel" arose and the function it served within Muslim devotion. The Jesus that emerges here is a compelling figure of deep and life-giving spirituality. The sayings and stories, some 300 in number and arranged in chronological order, show us how the image of this Jesus evolved throughout a millennium of Islamic history.

Publishers Weekly

As a Western religion, Islam gives primacy to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and considers Jesus to be a holy prophet. In The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature, Tarif Khalidi brings together Islamic primary sources about Jesus from the eighth to the 18th centuries. Included are mystical works, historical texts about prophets and saints and, of course, the foundational words about Jesus in the Qur'an. "As a whole," Khalidi explains, these writings "form the largest body of texts relating to Jesus in any non-Christian literature." Khalidi pays particular attention to the literary quality of the texts and the role "the Muslim Jesus" has played in both Muslim piety and Muslim-Christian relations. ( May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.