Jesus Versus Mohammad by Roman James - A Debate Among Muslims And Christians

By Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikandar, New Age Islam 27 January 2023 James, Has Drawn And Referenced Most Of His Research About Islam, From A Progressive Website Like New Age Islam. New Age Islam, Over The Past Two Decades Has Become A Repository Of Critical Knowledge About Islam. Main Points: 1. Very few books have been written in this format and the work proves very academic and analytical 2. Many efforts have been made to bring down the levels of violence, as well as build bridges between Islam and Christianity. ----- Jesus Versus Mohammad: Two Visions of Humanity by Roman James ----- Christianity and Islam are among the most populous and popular belief systems. Billions of people subscribe to their version and vision. Christianity is older than Islam, and Islam believes in the corruption of Bible, that is revered as the Holy divine revelation by its believers (Christians). Similarly Christians believe that Muslims will not find salvation because they do not believe in Trinity. Islam reinforces the Christian belief about the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ but it categorically denies Jesus being son of God. It further believes in the sanctity of Mother Mary, who is described in Quran as one of the pious ladies. A whole chapter of Holy Quran, Surah Maryam is dedicated to her, deliberating about her virtues. The believers of Islam and faithful of Christianity both have clashed with each other, although Quran emphasizes that Christians are more close to Muslims than believers of any other faith (5:82). These clashes are time and again manifested in different forms. The attack by U.S.A on various Muslim countries including Afghanistan, Iraq and its meddling in the Middle Eastern countries, toppling the unfavorable governments and installing regimes that are loyal to its interests, all have been constructed as neo crusades. Even the ex U.S President George W Bush, used the term crusade for his ‘war on terror’ initiative that resulted in more violence and terrorism. Many efforts have been made to bring down the levels of violence, as well as build bridges between Islam and Christianity. The current book under review written by Roman James, a researcher and writer based in Australia is among the few works that has the potential to rake up a debate among Muslims and Christians. Very few books have been written in this format and the work proves very academic and analytical. James, has opted for a confrontationist approach, that appears feasible for him to draw comparisons and conclusions while naming the chapters as Trinity vs Tawhid, Evolution of Islam and Christianity, Political Islam while forgetting Christian Zionism, Gender Equality in Islam and Christianity, eschatology and multiculturalism. Each chapter draws on the original texts of the religions i.e. Bible and Quran for comparative study and drawing inferences. A reader can read about both about Islam and Christianity, as they are available side by side on the same page, that renders the book quite feasible for the readers to understand and analyze issues. Every topic is backed by a plethora of evidence that is quite hard to deny or discard. The additional feature of this work is that the author James, has drawn and referenced most of his research about Islam, from a progressive website like New Age Islam. New Age Islam, over the past two decades has become a repository of critical knowledge about Islam. It envisions a future for Muslims that is non violent, tolerant, gender just and peaceful. This all will be pragmatic only when new progressive interpretation of Islam is articulated by new scholars of Islam, who believe in the fundamentals of progressive Islam. Daily the website adds scores of articles regarding various aspects of Islam and issues that Muslims are baffling with, while offering them new insights in the light of Islam. James, is very apt and intelligent to use this website for drawing inferences about various aspects of Islam. It is one of the authentic sources about understanding Islam as well as the contemporary issues that are baffling Muslims. It offers innovative insights in resolving the problems which are not available in the mainstream Islamic theology and by traditional Ulema. It is quite great to know that scholars like James are relying on this website to know, understand and analyze Islamic teachings. James is a devout practicing Christian and his book certainly brings out these aspects to the fore, as he seems biased and prejudiced many times while trying to prove supremacy of Christianity over Islam. This aspect of supremacy instead of equality among religions, that is the basic principle of Interfaith relations, certainly demeans the academic merit of the work. It many times appears aiming at proselytizing muslims to accept Christianity as the real creed and belief system. Here James, appears to be driven by the missionary zeal of proselytizing the ‘barbarians’(read Muslims). This aspect subverts the message of the book, as a muslim reader may get offended many times while reading the book. James, wants muslims to introspect while failing to demand the same from Christians. Another flaw of the book is that it compares the practice of muslims with the Holy teachings of the sacred book Bible, if the same methodology would be used to compare the practice of Christians with their own Holy book or Quran, the results can be devastating. So the path to be adopted should be to compare the practices of Muslims and Christians with each other, not with ideals as enshrined in their Holy scriptures. Calling caliphs and dictators as same is grave injustice (P-26). The first four righteous caliphs didn’t play God or later other kings who were self styled Caliphs too were not supposed to play God. Further, dictatorship is a new phenomenon and here again comparison of new age democracy is being made with the age where divine rights of kings were the norm. James tries to make Muslims understand Trinity and hoping that they will accept it (P-30) and certainly it will not happen, understanding of Trinity can be one aspect in building bridges but accepting it is out of question. Despite these flaws, the book is a manifestation of the hard academic work and research undertaken by James to understand Islam and Christianity and compare its various stances regarding gender, environment, and basic concepts of both religions. The contents of this book and the references it has quoted certainly make it a great read. It should be an essential reading for anyone who is interested in understanding different aspects of both these Semitic religions. The author needs to be congratulated for this great feat. ---- M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/jesus-mohammad-debate-muslims-christians/d/128972 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism