The Book and the Prophet The Contribution of Indian Christians to the Muslim-Christian Debate of the 19th Century Dieter Becht Dieter Becht The Book and the Prophet. The Contribution of Indians to the Muslim-Christian Debate of the 19th Century [transl. by D. Becht] © 2018 Dieter Becht. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/de/deed.de http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/de/legalcode Original Title: Offenbarungsschrift und Offenbarungsträger. Der Beitrag indischer Christen des 19. Jahrhunderts in der Auseinandersetzung mit dem Islam Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktor- würde der Ev.-th. Fakultät an der Eberhardt-Karls- Universität zu Tübingen, 1993 Contents Transcription . 9 Abbreviations . 10 The Background 11 1 Introduction 12 2 Muslim Anti-Christian Apologetics 17 The Quran . 18 The Post-Quranic Period . 22 Early 9th to Early 11th Century . 23 After 1000 . 30 Features of Islamic Apologetics . 39 Corruption of the Bible . 40 Abrogation of Biblical Commandments . 42 The Untenability of Christian Dogmas . 43 The Inadequacy of Christian Practice . 46 The Validity of Islam and Muhammad . 47 The Christian Background of Muslim Apologetics 49 4 CONTENTS 3 Christian Anti-Muslim Apologetics 51 Greek Apologetics . 52 Arab Apologetics . 54 Latin Apologetics . 57 Protestant Apologetics . 62 4 Protestant Apologetics in India 65 Henry Martyn . 65 Pfander: Founder of a New Apologetics . 68 Life (1803–1865) . 68 Ministry in India . 72 Balance of Truth ............... 73 Assessment: Founding a New Apologetics 91 Conclusion . 108 5 The Orthodox Muslim Reaction 110 Raḥmatullāh Kairānwī . 110 Wazīr Khān..................... 112 Islamic Learning and Western Bibl. Criticism . 113 Christian Inimitability ............ 113 Unveiling of Truth .............. 114 Assessment: Proofs based on Western Authors . 126 The Debate in Agra (April, 1854) . 128 Later Developments . 131 Answers of Indian Christians 133 6 Islamic Fraud: Ram Candra 134 Life (1821–1880) . 134 The Hindu and Deist . 134 Rām Candra’s Turn to Christ . 139 The Sepoy Rebellion . 145 Candra’s Career After the Sepoy Rebellion 146 CONTENTS 5 Ram Candra the Christian . 148 Rām Candra’s Works . 150 Secular Works . 150 Religious Works . 150 Assessment: Polemics Without Apologetics 154 7 Aphorisms: ‘Abdullāh Ātham 156 Life (c. 1828–1896) . 156 ‘Abdullāh Ātham’s Works . 161 Challenge ................... 162 Further Works . 163 Assessment: Aphorisms Without Polemics 165 8 God’s Nature and His Revelation: Ṣafdar ‘Alī 166 Life (c. 1820–c. 1905) . 167 Education in Agra (c. 1825–1856) . 167 Deputy Inspector of Schools . 170 Conversion in Jabalpur . 173 Ṣafdar’s Theological Development . 179 Ṣafdar ‘Alī’s Works . 182 Petition .................... 182 Assessment: God’s Nature Conforms to his Revelation . 188 Conclusion . 197 9 Jesus or Muhammad: ‘Imād ud-Dīn Lāhiz 198 Life (c. 1822–1900) . 198 ‘Imād ud-Dīn’s Theology . 212 ‘Imād ud-Dīn’s Works . 218 Examination of the Faith .......... 219 Introduction . 219 Chapter 1 & 2 . 220 Guidance of Muslims ............. 222 Assessment: Jesus or Muhammad . 229 Conclusion . 235 6 CONTENTS Life of Muhammad & Teachings of Islam .. 235 Further Works . 240 10 Signs of Age: Ṭhākur Dās 247 Life (1821–1880) . 247 Ṭhākur Dās’ Works . 249 Christian Unveiling ............. 249 Assessment . 250 Further Works . 253 11 Summary 257 12 New Approaches: the 20th Century 262 The Relevance for Today 269 13 The Positive Outcome 270 Keep Islamic Presuppositions in Mind . 272 Determine the Relation Between Christianity and Islam . 272 How to Determine this Relation . 274 The Point of Departure: Bible and Quran. 292 Determining the Relation Leads to a Decision 293 Refute Islamic Accusations . 293 Articulate Structural Differences . 294 Common Attributes of God . 295 Coping With Evil . 307 The Different Concept of God . 317 CONTENTS 7 14 The Negative Outcome 326 Avoid Invoking Reason . 326 Avoid Comparing Jesus and Muhammad . 327 Clearly Distinguish Between the Law and the Gospel . 327 The Relevance For the Refutation of the Abrogation Theory . 328 Avoid Islamic Thought Patterns . 337 Avoid the Pull of of Islamic Teachings . 337 Avoid the Pull of the Islamic Concept of Inspiration . 337 Above All Proclaim the Crucified and Risen One 347 15 Summary 349 Writings of Indian Apologists 352 16 ‘Abdullāh Ātham 353 Bibliography . 353 Urdu Works . 353 English Works . 354 Challenge ...................... 356 Preface . 356 External Signs of the Religion of Christ . 357 Internal Signs of the Religion of Christ . 357 Miscellanea . 359 17 Ṣafdar ‘Alī 360 Bibliography . 360 Christian Works . 361 Petition (Niyāz-nāma) ............... 362 Table of Contents . 362 Outline .................... 367 8 CONTENTS 18 ‘Imād ud-Dīn 411 Bibliography . 411 Examination of the Faith (Taḥqīq al-īmān) .... 413 Guidance of the Muslims (Hidāyat al-muslimīn) . 418 Preface . 418 Chapter 1: Inspiration . 420 Teachings of Islam ................. 427 Chapter 1: Tenets . 427 Explanations of words 433 Bibliography 437 CONTENTS 9 Transcription The transcription of Urdu characters is based on ALA- LC:1 gh = غ dh = دھ ’ ,a, ā = ا f = ف ḍ = ڈ b = ب q = ق ḍh = ڈھ bh = ﺑ k = ک p Ͼ = z = پ = ph kh = ﮐ r = ر ﭘ = t g = گ ṛ = ڑ ت th = ﺗ gh = ﮔ ṛh = ڑھ ṭ = ٹ l = ل z = ز ṭh = ﭨ m = م zh = ژ s = ث n = ن s = س j = ج sh = n = ش ں jh = ﺟ = ṣ = w/v,ū,o,au و ص c = چ = ẓ h = ہ ض ch = ﭼ ’ = ء t ..= ط ḥ = ح y, ī, á = ی z ..= ظ kh = خ ai, e = ے ‘ = ع d = د 1https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/urdu.pdf. 10 CONTENTS Abbreviations Abbreviations of works are based on Leistner.1 CMI ChurchMissionaryIntelligencer CMS ChurchMissionarySociety EI The Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nded., transl. by H.A. Rosskeen (Leiden[et al.], 1960ff) GCAL Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, by G. Graf, Vol. 1–5 (Rome, 1944–1953) LXX Septuagint M Masoretic Text Q Quran (Qur’ān) SEI Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, ed. and transl. by H.A.R. Gibb/J.H. Kramers (Leiden [et al.], 1961) SPG Society for the Propagation of the Gospel SP Samaritan Pentateuch 1Leistner, Internationale Titelabkürzungen. The Background Chapter 1 Introduction In the nineteenth century, India became the centre of debates between Christians and Muslims like no other country in the world. The reason is not difficult to de- tect: Under British rule, the Indian subcontinent with its large percentage of Muslims enjoyed a measure of reli- gious freedom not found in any Muslim country. In India, modern Western and feudal Indian civilization collided in a manner that on the secular and religious plane was un- precedented in its harshness and immediacy. Thus it pre- sented a perfect breeding ground for the reform move- ments of Muslims and Hindus as well as for orthodox counter-movements. Some discarded their own culture and sciences lock, stock and barrel and adopted the West- ern way of life; others just as uncompromisingly rejected Western culture. However, the vast majority found it- self somewhere between these two extremes and gradu- ally moved into modern India, in the process constantly 13 absorbing and blending Western cultural assets with its own cultural heritage. In the midst of this fruitful fermentation process, a con- siderable number of Indian Christians emerged, who ex- perienced a numerical upswing in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the result of a mass movement of so-called Untouchables into the Church. Although the greater part of Indian Christians then as now originated from the Hindus, the present study is fo- cused on those Christians who converted from Islam and subsequently debated with Muslims and proclaimed the Christian message amongst them. As Islam recognized the validity of previous Scriptures, it had to relate taurāt and injīl to its own Scripture, the Quran. The radicality of its approach, however, hit the nerve of the Christian faith: It declared Jesus to be an ordinary prophet in spite of affirming the virgin birth (Q 3), denied the divinity of Jesus and replaced a number of Christian commandments with its own commandments. Since the beginning of Islam, the task of Christian apologetics has been to point out the uniqueness of God’s revelation in Jesus and the finality of Christian command- ments. ChristianapologeticsinIndiaalsohadtodealwith this issue. Thus, the discussion primarily centred on two things: the uniqueness of Scripture and of the agent of revelation: Was Jesus the Son of God and the Bible the only legitimate revelation, or was Muhammad the seal of theprophetsandtheQurantheultimaterevelationofGod to Man? The following study concentrates primarily on the writ- ings of the Christian apologists themselves, as these most clearly express their thoughts. Although there are sev- eral accounts of interreligious debates, these can not be considered here because of their often biased reports. 14 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Answers to Muslim accusations against Christianity are as relevant today as they were in the time of early Islam. However, without a common ground for dialogue and a sober exploration of both the agreements and differences, therecanbenorealdialogue. ThefollowingaccountofIn- dian apologetics is a small historical contribution to this central issue. In a first step it focuses on clarifying the concepts used and their implications by pinpointing the assumptions of Christian writers and their Muslim op- ponents. Secondly, the apologetic writings of the Indian writers themselves are discussed, as in their positive and negative aspects they represent an important contribu- tion to the debate. The present study is primarily a mis- siological analysis of the historical development of this debate and the issues involved. Finding the exclusively Urdu sources of anti-Muslim apologetics in India proved to be very difficult. None of these writings are available in Germany, and even in In- diaandPakistanitisnoteasytofindsuchliterature. Most of the books eventually found in Pakistan were privately owned by individual Christians interested in the topic; however, out of fear they hid these books and and could hardly be persuaded to lend them out to be photocopied.