Islam and Christianity: On “Religions of Law”

The pursuit of mutual understanding has not infrequently led Muslims and Christians to define their religious traditions in stark doctrinal opposition one to the other. In this regard, the “religion of law” (Islam)/“religion of grace” (Christianity) dichotomy has a particularly venerable history. Th...

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Veröffentlicht in:Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
1. VerfasserIn: Howard, Damian (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Taylor & Francis [2013]
In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
RelBib Classification:AB Religionsphilosophie; Religionskritik; Atheismus
BJ Islam
CC Christentum und nichtchristliche Religionen; interreligiöse Beziehungen
weitere Schlagwörter:B Ethics
B Law
B Fiqh
B Shariʿa
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The pursuit of mutual understanding has not infrequently led Muslims and Christians to define their religious traditions in stark doctrinal opposition one to the other. In this regard, the “religion of law” (Islam)/“religion of grace” (Christianity) dichotomy has a particularly venerable history. This article sets out to re-examine and deconstruct a couplet that would strike many as a platitude, first by giving an account of the Sunni tradition of law-generation, situated in the broad context of the many options represented by different Islamic sects, and then by revisiting the paradigmatic understanding of law in the Christian dispensation worked out by Aquinas. This exposition leads to the conclusion that any simple opposition is to be avoided at all costs, obfuscating, as it does, much more than it elucidates. Furthermore, Christianity emerges from our chosen perspective as, in some sense, more essentially a “religion of law” than Islam ever could be.
ISSN:1469-9311
Enthält:Enthalten in: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09596410.2013.772343