Herausforderung Islam Christliche Annäherungen By
 Klaus von Stosch
Publisher Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh Pub Date 2017 Pub Location DE Isbn 0 Course(s)
   25

Description

Today, Islam is portrayed in a negative light. Western media and academics claim time and again that Islam struggles to reconcile itself with individual freedom and democracy. While Christianity is regarded as the cradle of enlightenment, Islam is, on the other hand, posed as fundamentally alien to European culture. Considering this charged sociocultural environment, in which Islam is either stigmatized as the opponent of Europe or incorporated into the realms of an ever-debated conceptualization of pluralism, this book attempts to offer a different and more nuanced account. In following the model of the late Wittgenstein, who borrowed the famous line, “I’ll teach you differences”, from King Lear, the discourse of my work illuminates the differences between Islam and Christianity. This book argues that highlighting and truly understanding these differences can serve to deeply enrich Christianity, initiating processes of learning and scrutiny instead of the division and segregation that reign today. This book productively contrasts Islam and Christianity. This innovative approach is accomplished through comprehensive discussions on the Qur’an, Muhammad and the Muslim imagery of God (Chapters I-III) on the one hand, and Islamic Law, the conception of humankind, and the challenging issue of violence, on the other (Chapters IV-VI). This study also explores the controversial issues that dominate contemporary debates, ranging from the headscarf to attempts to legitimize violence against other religious groups, and concluding with questions related to Shari’ah. The final chapter elaborates in detail the relationship between Islam and Christianity, proposing myriad ways in which Christians can learn from encounters with Muslims, and, perhaps most importantly, the role that Islam can play in the Christian salvation narrative (Chapter VII).