The Lost Legacy of the Eastern Christianity: An Arab Contextual Theology Under

Islam for Modern Missionaries and Dhimmi Church Series

Kitab Al-Burhan of Ammar al-Basri, an Arabic Theology in the Nine Century Abbasid

And Its Missiological Implications Today

In Young Kim
(D.Min. ICS, RTS USA; Ph. D. Candidate, AGST Philippines; Undergraduate
Dean of Zarephath Bible Seminary, Pakistan) Introduction: Research
questions and Method

Why should we pay attention to a ninth century Arab Nestorian Christian? What do

contemporary evangelical theologians have to do with the legacy of the Eastern Church? This

paper developed from these questions and its examinations.

Interreligious discourse has become relevant field which theology must take

seriously. Notably, Islam draws increasing attention from the Christian community for

dialogue and apologetics. For more fruitful and informed dialogue with Muslim, evangelical

Christianity requires drawing its rich theological heritage from the Eastern Church traditions.

Can the Eastern Church legacy be a tradition for the evangelical Christians? As D.H.

Williams rightly argues, “all Christians are Catholic.” All Christians from Protestant, Roman

Catholic and Eastern Orthodox share the belief in “one holy catholic church,” are founded on

Scripture and Great Traditions.1 Thus, evangelicalism is called to “retrieve the Tradition” 2 to
1 D.H. Williams, Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1999), 221.
2 Ibid., 36. Williams agrees that most scholars accept the delineation of Tradition: the one apostolic and
patristic foundation which is the common history we have as Christians, one that is longer, larger, and richer
than any of our separate and divided histories…” 3 Ibid., 35.
1
be a renewed, authentic Catholic Church. Doing theology is to live in a continuity of

traditions, by reception and preservation and a “handing over” of it.3 In this trajectory, doing

contextual theology in a particular context should be a part of continuing to “handing over”

traditions. In that sense, what Arab Christians under Muslim rule during the ninth century

produced is a part of the legacy of the universal Catholic Church and continuity of tradition,

which will save Evangelical Christians from impoverishment by breaching from its rich

heritage.3

This paper draws attention to Ammar al-Basri as an intersecting point of the Christian

tradition of Melkites, Jacobites, and Nestorians being founded on Great Traditions,

responding to the challenges that the Eastern Church faced in an Islamic context. In his

historical trajectory, he received, preserved the Great Tradition handed down to him, and

eventually transmitted to the next generations by doing contextual theology that responded to

Muslim challenges.

As a Dhimmi4 in Abbasid Caliphate, doing theology for Ammar al-Basri was a matter

of Christian witness among the majority Muslim population and a way of expressing his

identity as a Syrian Nestorian. Syrian Christians who produced Arabic literature in the

interaction with the Abbasid Islamic context are not monophonic, but multiphonic with voices

of three main Christian communities. Theodore Abu Qurra spoke Melkite voice; Habib Ibn

Hidma Abu Raitah was for Jacobites; from Ammar al-Basri we can hear Nestorian (Eastern

Syrian) voice. This paper will be assigned to introduce Ammar al-Basri as a contextual

theologian in his time and context. The method of this paper will be two layers. Firstly, this

article will examine the peculiar features of the contents of Kitab al-Burhan that Ammar

alBasri produced as a contextual theology. The second layer will be the interaction with a

3 Ibid., 221-228.
4 Dhimmi refers to the occupied and “protected people” under the Muslim rule.
2
contemporary scholarship to make Ammar’s theology understandable and sensible to

21stcentury readers of multi-religious context. During the research these questions will guide

the discussion: What made him be a contextual theologian in his time and context; how can

his theology be relevant and fruitful in a contemporary context?

Context of Ammar al-Basri

Ammar al-Basri is known to be associated with the city of Basra and with the

EastSyrian church. 5
His name appears in Fihrist of Ibn al-Nadim, which writes that Abu

lHudhayl al-Allaf wrote a book against Ammar in refutation. 6 This fact indicates that Ammar

is a contemporary of Abu l-Hudhayl al-Allaf (died 840-850) and likely of Mutawakkil caliph

(847-892). During the reign of Mutawakkil caliph (847-892), a decree issued to enforce

discrimination for dhimmis (Christians and Jews) that “all dhimmis were required to wear

yellow on their clothes.”7 The legal measure of dhimmi originated from discriminatory

policies such as “differential taxes” formulated by ‘Umar II of Umayyad caliph, but it can be

traced to “Byzantine curbs on Jews (not building new synagogues, not giving testimony

against Christians, not defaming Christianity, etc.) and Sassanian Persian regulations for

distinguishing between nobles and commoners (not wearing the same headgear, overcoats,

belts, shoes, and hairstyles of the superior group, etc.). 9

Dhimmi status is a peculiar and prevailing condition which Christians are under

Muslim rule. Bat Ye’or defined the term “dhimmis” in the historical context of Islamic Jihad,

The Jihad was regarded as Islam’s instrument to transform the Dar-al-Harb into Dar
alIslam. After the conquest, the indigenous populations who submit to the rule of Islam
5 Beaumont, Ammar al-Basri in Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, ed. David Thomas and
Barbara Roggema, Volume 1 (600-900) (Boston: Brill, 2009), 604.
6 Ibid.
7 Hugh Kennedy, When Bagdad Ruled the Muslim World (Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2006),
240. 9 Robert G. Hoyland, In God’s Path (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 198.
3
 are tolerated –if they are Jews or Christians -under a set of rule or “dhimma.” Those
peoples subjected to these rules are called “dhimmis.” The pragmatic political factor
that decided the fate of a dhimmi people is essentially a territorial dispossession.
Therefore, dhimmi people are not just religious minorities…A possible definition of a
dhimmi people is: “a non-Muslim people whose national territory has been conquered
by jihad, subjugated to Islamic rule, and thereby Islamized. 8
The contextual reality of dhimmi was the crisis of Christian identity and survival as a

dhimmi has been a serious problem in the long-term standpoint. Historical fact shows that the

discriminatory status eventually presses “a steady decline through debilitation” of the

Christian populations under Islamic rule throughout the centuries. 9 The context of dhimmi

and sense of crisis of Christians spurred the Christian writers on to produce Arabic

apologetics for their community against Islamic challenges.

Alongside the dhimmi context, Christians in ninth century- Abbasid Bagdad situated at

the context in where three main forces converged. Firstly, Arabic-speaking Christians began

to write their treatise or apologetics in the Arabic language for articulating their Christian

doctrines in response to Muslim challenges. Secondly, the influence of Greek philosophy

within Abbasid Caliphate became a formidable intellectual tool as a result of the translation

movement. Moreover, thirdly the emergence of Mu'tazila and Islamic theological debate

regarding divine attributes and Oneness of God (Tawhid) is prominent.10

Ninth-century Abbasid was a multifaceted fabric intertwined by many social,

political, and religious threads and its religious fabric were colored by Islam, Christianity

(Jacobites, Nestorians, and Melkites), and Zoroastrianism. Arabic became a Lingua Franca

during Abbasid caliphate, and Syrian Christians eventually accommodate the Arabic language

while they kept using Syrian language in their liturgy and writings. Arabicization of language

brought strong religious-cultural flavor in Abbasid society, and Syrian Christians actively
8 Bat Ye’or, “Christians and Jews under Islam,” Understanding Dhimmitude (New York: RVP Press, 2013), 69.
9 Ibid., 37.
10 Rick, Thomas W. Developing the Doctrine of the Trinity in an Islamic Milieu: Early Arabic Christian
Contributions to Trinitarian Theology. Ph.D. Dissertation (Washington: The Catholic University of America
2012),1.
4
involved translation project carried by Abbasid court, from Greek to Arabic or Syriac to

Arabic.

Moreover, this translation activity, with the linguistic ability and philosophical tools mainly

Aristotle’s, empowered Syrian Christians to produce contextual theology for both of Muslim

and Christian readers.

Ricks well summarizes how translation movement created an intellectual milieu that enables

Arabic Christians utilized its benefit for theological works. A great deal of Greek philosophy

has become available as an intellectual apparatus for a Christian response to Islam. Some

materials from Greek philosophy became a highly influential source for the art of public

disputation utilized developed in Christian Arabic literature. Translation movement created a

kind of neutral, intellectual criterion by which Muslims and non-Muslims alike could be

measured, and used to prove the validity of the religious claim.11

In a wider perspective, the civilization of Abbasid Caliphate headed toward two main courses:

“Arabization and Islamization.”12 The translation movement is a part of the process of

Islamization. The accumulation of learning of Greek philosophy and science traditions

enabled the development of the discipline of Islamic ‘philosophical theology’ or Kalam.13

It is necessary to point out that the Abbasid is religiously plural society. Since Muslim

conquered the Syria and Mesopotamia in the middle of the seventh century, Abbasid dynasty

consisted of a large population of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Muslims. Moreover, as

11 Ibid.,12-15.
12 Hoyland, Robert G. In God’s Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2015), 213.
13 W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic Philosophy and Theology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1985),.37. 16 See Griffith’s The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque, chapter 5. Christian Philosophy in
Bagdad and Beyond, which discussed how Syrian Christians and Philosophers contributed the intellectual
development of Abbasid at Bagdad. Christian’s contribution to the development of Islamic civilization is
admitted by the fact that Christians worked in the court of Caliphate as translators of Greeks ad Syriac
literatures to Arabic. House of Wisdom and “translation movement” became the “house of knowledge and
reason” of the Abbasid caliphate and the entire Islamic civilization in wider perspective. See Jonathan Lyons,
The House of Wisdom; How Arabs Transformed Western Civilization. (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010),
Chapter 3 The House of Wisdom; Jim Al-Khalili, The house of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient
Knowledge and Save us the Renaissance. (New York: Penguin Books, 2012) Chapter 3 Translation.
5
educated Christians participated in the intellectual formation of the Abbasid dynasty, a

significant amount of Greek and Syriac literature was translated into Arabic by Syriac

Christians.16 Eventually, the theological debate was developed between different religious

groups. So, they needed a standard tool for the religious dialogue and discussion since each

religion rejected the Scriptures of other faiths. They found the Greek philosophies, neo-

platonic philosophy with Aristotelian logic during the time, for the common tool for

discussing in the assumption that “the most reasonable religion should be the correct one” by

the standard of neo-platonic philosophy.14

Another political factor for the promotion of Intellectualism can be found of early

Abbasid’s alliance with Mu'tazila and Hellenistic intellectual traditions to enforce his state

Deputyship. Particularly Caliph Al-Mamun (813-33) promoted Mu’tazilites, the school that

emphasized the role of rational argument in religious discourse, and applied caliphal official

doctrine such as createdness of Qur’an to suppress rival “proto-Sunni Reporters,”

literalminded groups. 1516

In this situation, Kalam as “speech” or “talk” of the interreligious

conversation was developed to articulate the formal, intellectual exercise in the systematic

defense of the credibility of doctrines.17

It is a scholar’s consensus that Syriac Christians of Iraq played an important part in

translating Greek philosophies and scientific works into Arabic.18 As Christians and Jews as

14 Inman, 4.
15 Antony Black, The History of Islamic Political Thought (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011), 26-
16 .
Richard C. Martin schematizes “Mu’tazilites” versus “traditionalist” “as the contrary and conflicting intellectual
religious trends” in Abbasids that formed on opposite edges of Islamic society and strove to “influence the
religious, intellectual, and political center.”
Richard C. Martin, Mark R. Woodward, DWI S. Atmaja. Defenders of Reason in Islam: Mu’tazilism from
Medieval School to Modern Symbol (Oxford: Oneworld Publications.1997),12.
17 Griffith, The Church in the Shadow, 46,219.
18 John Watt, “Greek Philosophy and Syrian Culture” in ‘Abbasid Iraq” in The Christian Heritage of Iraq. Ed.
Erica C.D. Hunter ( Gorgias Press, 2009).
6
“the protected people” became a part of Islamic civilization, and eventually they were able to

“make a substantial contribution to the intellectual life of the Islamic world.”19 Christians

found their place to involve in the project of translation movement as Caliph al-Mamun (813-

833) founded an institution called ‘House of Wisdom (bayt al-hikma)20 reinforced at a

largescale. Unequivocally, the House of Wisdom (bayt al-hikma) created an intellectual

climate in that Christians vigorously involved in translation movement from eight to tenth

centuries

Baghdad. This intellectual opportunity enabled Syrian Christians to imitate the way of Greek

Church fathers’ contextual theologizing. As Greek fathers had done theology with the source

of Hellenistic philosophies in Hellenistic context, Syrian Christians did with Arabic language

and Islamic sources with the Hellenistic intellectual apparatus in Arabic-Islamic context.

Syrian Christian’s biggest struggle was to “redefine their theological identity in a way that

would make senses to both the philosophers and the common Muslims,” and Greek

philosophy and logic became an essential apparatus for it.23 Griffith maintains, Christian

scholars “also employ philosophical and logical thought in support of their faith commitments

and to commend the philosophical life itself as a fruitful development that might provide the

social possibility for harmony between Christians and Muslims in the caliphate.”24 Christian

apologetic treatises in the time of Ammar were to build an intellectual tradition in a way that

Christians employ philosophy to interact with Muslims and shape Christian theology. The

19 Hoyland, 219.
20 The widespread conception of the house of wisdom (Bayt al-hikma) is some away from the truth. Gutas
devotes careful investigation to this topic and suggests a reconstruction of the nature and function of the bayt
alhikma (The house of wisdom): “It was a library, most likely established as a ‘bureau’ under al-Mansur,
part of the ‘Abbasid administration modeled on that of the Sassanians. Its primary function was to house
both the activity and results of translations from Persia to Arabic of Sassanian history and culture. As such
there were hired translators capable of performing this function as well as book binders for the preservation
of book. This was its function in Sassanian times, and it retained it throughout the time of Harun ar-Rashid,
i.e. the time of Barmkids. Under al-Mamun it appears to have gained an additional function related to
astronomical and
7
Christian philosophical endeavor becomes a major partner of classical Islamic intellectual

culture. Consequently, the Church of the East eventually

mathematical activities.”. Then, what is the relation of bayt-al-hikma with translation movement? Gutas
concludes: “What the bayt al-hikma did do for the Greek-Arabic translation movement, however, is to foster a
climate in which it could be both demanded and then conducted successfully. If indeed the bayt al-hikma was an
‘Abbasid administrative bureau, then it institutionalized the Pahlavi into Arabic translation culture. This means
that all the activities implied or suggested by this culture-the Zoroastrian ideology of the recovery of ancient
Avestan texts through the retranslation of Greek works and all that implied-could be conducted as semi-official
activities, or at least as condoned by official policy… the example set by the caliphs and the highest
administrators was naturally followed by others of lesser rank, both civil servants and private individuals. Once
the existence of this additional translational official-though indirectly so- sanctions for Greco-Arabic
translations is realized, the origins and rapid spread of\ the movement in early ‘Abbasid times is better
understood.” Dimitri Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture; The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in
Baghdad and Early ‘Abbasid Society (2nd-4th/8th –10th Centuries) (London: Routledge, 1998) 58-60.
23
Wageeh Y.F. Mikhail, ‘Ammar al-Basri’s Kitab al-Burhan: A Topical and Theological Analysis of
Arabic Theology in the Ninth Century (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Birmingham, 2013), 29. 24
Griffith, The Church in the Shadow, 108.
develops a contextual theology and self-identity in Arabic through inculturation in the world

of Islam apart from the Constantine Christianity after the rise of Islam.

This intellectual opportunity enabled Syrian Christians to imitate the way of Greek

Church fathers’ contextual theologizing. As Greek fathers had done theology with the source

of Hellenistic philosophies in Hellenistic context, Syrian Christians did with Arabic language

and Islamic sources with the Hellenistic intellectual apparatus in Arabic-Islamic context.

“Syrian Christian’s biggest struggle was to redefine their theological identity in a way that

would make senses to both the scholars and the common Muslims.”21 Syrian Christians were

successful not only to survive but stand firm “maintaining its liturgical tradition, theology,

life and confess. 22

Ammar’s treatise appeared in this milieu as Christian apology against Islamic

challenges. As the name of the book Kitab al-Burhan indicates, Ammar likely wrote the

book in response to the challenges of the Qur’an suras “Produce your proof (Burhan) if you
21 Wageeh Y.F. Mikhail, ‘Ammar al-Basri’s Kitab al-Burhan: A Topical and Theological Analysis of Arabic
Theology in the Ninth Century (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Birmingham, 2013), 29.
22 Ibid.,30.
8
are the people who speak truth”(2:111). Ammar wrote “the book of the proof (Kitab al-

Burhan)” for apologetics to defend his Christian faith against Muslim’s accusation. 23

In the context of a formative period of the Abbasid, he was one of the first generation of

Christian theologians to take Islam seriously, as to theologize in the midst of the Islamic

context.28 It is plausible to assess Ammar al-Basri as a contextual theologian in the milieu of

the Abbasid rule.

Main theological features of Ammar al-Basri

Ammar al-Basri is known to have produced two works: the book of questions and

answers and the book of proof. His first book belongs to the popular genre of “questions and

answers” among Christian writers who responded to the issues raised by Muslims. His

precedent Theodore Bar Koni seems to be a first Syriac writer who wrote scholion, “Question

and Answer” style of literary work written in response to the religious challenge of Islam. 24

Ammar’s first work, Kitab al masail wa l-ajwiwah, the “Book of Questions and Answers”

represents the highly developed form of “questions and answers” literary work defending the

credibility of Christianity in the dialogue of his contemporary mutakallimun Arab speaking

Muslims.25

The second work, “Book of the Proof” belongs to the literary genre of the systematic treatise,

which Arab Christians produced to discuss all the topics at issue between Christians and

Muslims.26 Burhan is “the earliest known apology” for Christianity written in Arabic. Its

23 David H Vila, Arab Christians and Islam: Conflicts and Contributions (Christian Scholar’s Review;
Summer 2005;34,4; ProQuest Central), 451. 28 Mikhail, 34-35.
24 Griffith,80.
25 Ibid.,83-84.
26 Griffith,
88. 32
Beaumont,60
9. 33 Mikhail,
48.
9
significance is the fact that Ammar’s defense “relies more on rational arguments than on

Scripture and tradition.” 32

The topics discussed in “Book of the Proof” appear as a standard

and relevant topic for theological discussion with Muslims. 33 The examination of Ammar’s “

Book of the Proof (Kita al-Burhan)” the paper will refer to the translation produced by

Wageeh Y.F. Mikhail. 27

Ammar starts his discussion to prove that Christianity is the true religion of God.

Ammar proposes ‘generosity of God’ as a proof for true religion, and the concept of kindness

is shared by his contemporary Mu’tazili theologians such as Abu al-Hudhayl al-Allaf. 28 To

persuade readers, Ammar utilized shared doctrines with Muslim counterparts as a starting

point for apologetics.36

Above all, Ammar presents a lack of miracle as the proof of false religion. However, in the

context of Islam, which punishes any disrespect remarks against Muhammad and Islam,

Christian writers including Ammar al-Basri either avoided speaking of Muhammad or spoke

in a vague manner about his validity of prophethood.29

Method

Ammar employed and even quoted Greek sages, Plato and Aristotle as the starting

point of his discussion on the oneness of God: “We see that Greek sages such as Plato and

Aristotle testifying that God is one.”30

In the section of “Proofs of the True Religion,” he presents three arguments of evidence. God

is wise and generous; God commanded to love another and forbade them from harming one

27 Wageeh Y.F. Mikhail, ‘Ammar al-Basri’s Kitab al-Burhan: A Topical and Theological Analysis of Arabic
Theology in the Ninth Century (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Birmingham, 2013).
28
Ibid.,50.
36
Ibid.
29 Ibid.,68.
30 Ibid.,352.
10
another; God will regard our prayers to Him in a way that are most beneficial to us. 31 For

Ammar, the most compelling proof for the true religion is “the signs”: His revelation of the

signs at the hands is more useful to people and more plausible to them for attaining the

knowledge of His religion…”40 Ammar claimed Christianity as the true religion, which was

established by miracles and signs. Also, for Ammar, the miracles occurred for a limited

period to establish true religion on the earth. Thus, the God-given sign came to an end since

God’s true religion was already established through them.

Then Ammar examines other religions by this criterion of the sign. Afterward, in addition to

miracle discussion, Ammar points that religions were devised on the basis of other “five

human causes apart from signs.”32

The list of worldly motives includes the sword, bribery, and payments, fanaticism, approval,

and collusion. Ammar analyzed that Judaism and Islam are the religion are established by

human cause. Ammar concludes, “So these religions that might be established by these

things, or by some of them, are not the religion of God.”42

Afterward, Ammar turns to and examines Christianity by the criterion of human causes such

as collusion, bribes and financial payment, fanaticism, reasoned approval (al-istihsan), the

license on the laws, the illusions, and specious proofs of sorcery. The result of examination

shows that Christian religion was not established by any of human causes in contrary to other

religions. This list implicitly discloses that the religion of Islam is not exceptional, and at the

same time warns Christian who are converting to Islam by the wrong motives.

31 Ibid.,353-
354. 40
Ibid.,358.
32
Ibid.,359.
42

Ibid.,360.
11
A remarkable argument of Ammar is that he excludes any possibility of discerning the true

religion through human reason.33 Further, Ammar argues that Christianity does not comply

with “reasoned approval,” rather it is entirely “at variance with that.” 44 Thus Christianity was

not devised by human reason but by God. Ammar lists ten doctrines in Christianity, which

“reasoned opinion does not devise, that do not arise in mind, that do not come to mind and

that reason does not imagine.” 34 Those doctrines are the virginal conception, the virgin birth;

the child that was born was Son of God; the Son of God was crucified, died, and was buried;

he rose from the grave, he ascended into heaven; he will come again to raise the dead and

judge the righteous and the unrighteous; apostle called people to the worship of the Crucified

one, to the bearing of heavy burdens; Apostle proclaimed another world without promising

worldly pleasure and without looking for the pleasures of food, drink, and sex either in this

life or the life to come; belief in a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 35 In proving the

credibility of Christian religion, Ammar concludes, 36

So it is clear that the Christian religion was not established by acceptance on account of
the approval of minds, and that neither common opinion, nor lust, nor power was the
reason for its acceptance, for it opposed the power of authority and rule and such like,
and souls were submitted to the cross and carrying of injury and dishonor. And it
opposed to reason and the wisdom of the wise as it contradicts what is not in their
wisdom, and it opposed their wisdom. And it opposed pleasure by prohibiting lust and
pleasure while commanding devotion to fasting and prayer.

Ammar’s methodological tension between using human reason for proving Christianity as

true religion and incapability of perceiving Christianity through human reason appears in his

arguments. He admits that Christianity is not devised and proved by human reason, yet to

33 Mark N. Swanson, Apology or its Evasion? Some Ninth-Century Arabic Christian Texts on
Discerning the True Religion (Currents in Theology and Mission 37:5, 2010), 385. 44 Swanson, 396;
Mikhail, 36.
34 Ibid.,
35 Swanson, 396; Mikhail 364.
36 Mikhail,
365. 48 Ibid.,
368.
12
demonstrate the truth of Christian religion Ammar employed mainly human reasoning apart

from quoting any scriptures. This method can be understandable since each religion cannot

prove its truth from own Scriptures, rather should present the proof based on the conventional

method of reasoning.

Afterward, Ammar refutes the charge of corrupting the Scripture. He reasons that the miracles

established Christian religion and that miracles and wonders confirmed the Scripture” it is

impossible that the Scripture was corrupted.48 Further Ammar argues, it is impossible that the

Scripture has been corrupted “without the compulsion of miracles just as it was accepted,”

and “since miracles are not performed at the hands of those who corrupt the Books of God, it

becomes evident that no corruption ever happened after the nations accepted it.” 37

Furthermore, Ammar refutes the accusation of Muslims that Christian kings forced the people

to corrupt the Gospel by arguing that it is impossible Christians across over the many nations

and even under different religions united to alter or corrupt the Bible. 38 Ammar concludes, “it

has become obvious that the gospel has never been corrupted or altered, either in its revealed

text or its interpretation, from that which Christians agreed upon.” 39

In a discussion of Qur’an, his arguments were based on the use of reasons since

contemporary Muslim counterparts employed a method based on reason. Ammar al-Basri also

relied on reason as a common ground as well as a strategy to refute that Qur’an’s validity as a

tradition. It seems apparently relevant and safe for Ammar as dhimmi to use rational

arguments, rather than direct religious accusation. He is not accusing Islam as “a religion of

sword” explicitly. Instead, he refers to Islamic armies utilized the power of the sword in their

37 Ibid.,
38 Ibid., 369-370.
39 Ibid., 372.
13
war against other nations.40 Thus he avoids taking the risk of bold accusation against Islam,

which is punishable severely as the sin of blasphemy.41

Due to the regulations for Dhimmi not to speak against the Qur’an, Muhammad, and Islam,

the possible way for Ammar al-Basri was to employ philosophical concepts to defend the

validity of Christianity and the validity of the Bible; he had to use reason as a common

ground to argue with Muslims. Moreover, Ammar used his contemporary Kalam concepts to

“validate” his Christian position.42

Trinity

Ammar al-Basri employed a shared logic used by other Arabic Christians to defend Trinity:

‘Word’ and ‘life’ for the Son and the Holy Spirit; that God is dead without speech and life,

and thus became idol without life and speech. His arguments of questioning Islamic concept

of the One God without word and life are noteworthy. The debate of both the life and Word

are essential and eternal leads to the defending of Trinity. He argues, 43

We are blameless before God concerning the accusation of speaking of three gods. On
the contrary, in saying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we only want to affirm
that God is ‘living’ and ‘speaking.’ The Father is the one we refer to as having “life”
and “word.” “Life” is the Holy Spirit and the Word” is the Son

Ammar al-Basri argues to refute the Muslim’s accusation of tri-theism is that “God is one

with two essential attributes, the attributes of life and speech.” 56

To communicate the

doctrine of Trinity to contemporary Muslims, Rick observes, Arab Christians of the ninth

century including Ammar al-Basri employed the triple strategy. That is, to show that Trinity

is authentic to God’s revelation supported by the prophets; and by the language of the Qur’an

40 Ibid., 77.
41 Ibid.,78.
42 Ibid., 148.
43 Ibid.,
374. 56
Ibid., 152.
14
itself; and it is also authentic to the philosophical heritage of Aristotelian metaphysics and

Plato.44 As

Ammar’s contemporary Mu’tazili theologians are so committed to the Islamic doctrine of

Tawhid (Oneness of God), he employed their kalam logic to prove the credibility of Trinity.

Ammar concludes, “Therefore, the triune nature of these things does not negate their oneness;

neither does their oneness negate their triune nature.” 58

Another remarkable method to defend Trinity of Ammar is his various analogies, such

as soul with its word and life; Sun with its heat and light, which allude Greek fathers

Tertullian and Syrian father Gregory of Nyssa.45 Ammar’s using analogies to explain the

credibility of Trinity echoes his precedent Nestorian Patriarch Timothy I who presented an

apology against the Caliph Mahdi’s accusation of “three gods” around a century ago. 60

Swanson points that Muslim’s criticism of Christian tritheism remains as the unchanging

issues of Christian-

Muslim conversation.61 The Quranic criticism for the Trinity remain strong as a scandal.62

Incarnation

Ammar understands the incarnation in the continuing benevolent divine act of

creation of human being. Ammar explains that the reasons for “the manifestation of the

Creator to His creatures” are to “perfect what he had begun in humanity out of His generosity

and kindness, thus manifesting His wisdom and justice.”63 The incarnation is to “show His

wisdom, justice, and love for His creatures by bringing them closer to knowing Him.” 64 The

“imprinted”

44 Thomas W. Rick, Developing the Doctrine of the Trinity in an Islamic Milieu: Early Arabic
Christian Contributions to Trinitarian Theology. (Washington: The Catholic University of America
Ph.D Dissertation, 2012), p.15. 58
Mikhail, 375.
45 Mikhail,153.
15
60
Patriarch Timothy I, Timothy’s Apology for Christianity, trans. and ed. With a Critical Apparatus A.
Mingana, Woodbrooke Studies Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic, and Garshuni, vol.2 (Cambridge: W.
Heffer & Sons Limited, 1928), 69.
In the response to the Mahdi’s accusation that Christians believe in “three gods,” Timothy employs three
analogies to articulate the doctrine of trinity: the sun with its light and heat; the analogy of humanity; and
analogy of Gold and gold coins. Analogy of human elements employed by Timothy I is similar with the
Augustine’s’ “Psychological analogy” for trinity which assumes that human image of God reflects of trinity
such as mind, Knowledge and love and; human tri-economy of body, soul and spirit.(St. Augustine,
“Psychological: mental Image, First Draft” in The Trinity, intro. trans. and notes Edmund Hill, O.P. Ed. E.
Rotelle, O.S.A. New York: New City Press, 1991, pt. 1 vol. 5, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for
the 21st Century, 271-282. ) Timothy’s remarks of ‘Three in the number of the denarii coins and one in its
nature’ is in parallel with Gregory of Nyssa’s analogy of ‘Gold-gold coins appeared in “On not Three Gods.”
Gregory of Nyssa employs the analogy of gold and its many coins and staters. “there may be many golden
staters, but gold is one”(p.265) Gregory’s discussion on the trinity “On not Three Gods” was primarily written
to answer to Ablabius, a younger bishop who questioned the false notion on Trinity that compelled others to say
that there is three gods; either we must deny divinity to the Son and the Holy Spirit. His arguments may
effective to defend the unity of God, however, analogy of the Gold and coins and “mode of divine existence”
shows embryonic stage of doctrinal development of trinity. (Gregory of Nyssa, An Answer to Ablabius: That We
Should Not Think of Saying There Are Three Gods, In Christology of the Later Fathers, ed. Edward R. Hardy,
Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954, vol. 3, Library of Christian Classics, 265-267.)
61
Mark N. Swanson, “The Trinity in Christian-Muslim Conversation” in Dialogue (A Journal of Theology Vol.
44:3, 2005), 257.
62
“The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only the
Messenger of God, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God
and His Messenger, and say not, “Three.” Refrain; better is it
for you. God is only One God. Glory be to Him- that He should
have a son?”(Q4:171); And when God said, “O Jesus son of
Mary, didst thou say unto men, ‘Take me and my mother as
gods, apart from God’?” He said, “To Thee be the glory! It is
not mine to say what I have no right to.” (Q5:116).
63
Ibid., 387. 64 Ibid., 388.
knowledge of God in human souls is not sufficient and does not stand firms, and only

“through His appearance to us” we can find rest and banish the doubts, and then our worship

can be pure.46 To Ammar, the second reason of Incarnation is to demonstrate His love for His

creatures. Incarnation “introduce joy” to, removes doubts from, and show kindness to

humans, and fulfill their needs and their desires. 66

Third reason of Incarnation is to

demonstrate His favor and justice. The fourth reason of incarnation is to bestow His

generosity on us and make us honorable like Him. Incarnation “does not diminish or belittle

God in anyway; rather it assures of God’s favor and generosity…elevating them to a higher

place to the benefit of all. The true honor humans can ever be given is that God has

46 Ibid.,
66
Ibid.,
390.
16
manifested God self in a body like their own.” 47 Moreover, through incarnation “God in

Christ’s body lifted the bodies of humans to the state of sonship. 68” Ammar’s understanding

of blessing brought by Incarnation alludes Athanasius’s dictum of “for he was made a man

that we might be made God,” and theosis of the Eastern Orthodox theology.48

To vindicate credibility of incarnation, Ammar uses Islamic understanding of

Anthropomorphism regarding God’s thrones: “God seated on a throne.” God is not limited in

any physical throne; rather it is a metaphorical understanding likely incarnation does not

input God into the created body. Ammar asserts, “Christ’s body has become for us like the

throne in the heavens.” 70

Ammar’s four arguments of proofs substantiating the Christian doctrine of the

incantation are formidable. The Incarnation stems from divine generosity; it answers the

human desire for knowledge of God; it meets the need for people to see the God who will be

their judge; it is God’s gift to honor humans by giving them authority over the hereafter. 4950

Ammar’s explanation on what Incarnation achieved alludes Irenaeus’s idea of ‘recapitulation’

shown in “Against Heresies”: “Adam’s disobedience was ‘recapitulated’ by Jesus Christ,

second Adam.”
72

47 Ibid., 227-
228. 68 Ibid.,
235.
48 St. Athanasius. On the Incarnation (New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 107-108.
“Let him marvel that through such a paltry thing things divine have been manifested to us, …,the very
Word of God, have been made known. For he was incarnate that we might be god; and he manifested
himself through a body that we might received an idea of the invisible Father; and he endured the insults if
human beings, that we might inherit incorruptibility…And that by death immorality has reached to all, and
that by the Word becoming man, the universal providence has been known, and its giver and artificer the
very Word of God. For he was made man that we might be made God; and he manifested himself by a
body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and he endured the insolence of men that we
might inherit immortality.” 70 Mikhail, 245.
49 Ibid., 260.
50 Irenaeus, Against Heresies. The Library of Christian Classics Vol.1 Early Christian Fathers translated and
edited by Richardson, Cyril C. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1953. book V, 19
17
 After the first man fell from rank due to his disobedience, and after his departure from
paradise when he became the subject of wrath, being placed under the death after
having been cut off from any hope of life, He manifested Himself in a human being
from among us and took him with Him in dominion and dignity. …He raised himself
from death and made his a governing king over that which is heaven and earth.51

Ammar al-Basri refutes Muslims’ charge that belief in Christ’s death on a cross imputes

weakness to God’s being. Rather he maintains that “the cross does not imply any weakness in

God’s character, but rather that it is God’s power that is revealed in the cross of Christ, as

God relieves humanity of the anxiety of sin and death.” 74 It is noteworthy that Ammar al-

Basri implies Nestorian interpretations that only human nature of Christ was crucified on the

cross, not God himself. Thus, he can avoid Muslim’s accusation against Christians about the

death of

God.

Kitab Al-Burhan as a Contextual Theology

Robin Boyd rightly perceived the Syrian tradition as a valid source for doing

contextual Indian Christian theology. 52

Syrian tradition has not entirely preserved and

developed in the Indian theological works while Syrian tradition largely preserved in the field

of liturgy. The presence of Syrian traditions in Indian church is strong enough to remind them

the root of their Christian identity. As Vinay Samuel notes, “affirmation and recovery of their

Christian identities” is important and crucial for effective inculturation. 53 In other words,

obtaining and development of Christian identity are essential to engage evangelism with

surrounding other religious counterparts.

51 Mikhail,
396. 74
Ibid.,262.
52 Robin Boyd, An Introduction to Indian Christian Theology (Delhi: ISPCK,1975),7-11.
53 Yung, 202.
18
 For instance, Pakistan Christians more or less fail to engage with Muslims around

them in a meaningful way. The most prominent reason is due to their weak and even

underdeveloped

Christian identity. Most likely, the Pakistan Christian’s failure of meaningful engagement

with Muslim-majority is due to the failure of development of their Christian identity.

Doing contextual theology is a paramount task. It should be faithful to Christian traditions

(the Scripture and ecumenical traditions) and also relevant to the contemporary context. Early

church fathers and Western church traditions are almost universally accepted as a criterion to

assess any theology whether it is orthodoxy or not. However, a western tradition almost keeps

silent about the existence of Islam except for John of Damascus, the last Greek Church father,

as it has evolved lately. Scholars admitted that study of Christian apologetics during the

Middle Ages or under Arab world had been marginalized. 54 So, to find its resources for doing

contextual theology, evangelical churches under Islam are called to pay attention to the most

neglected or misunderstood time and region of the Christian Church, the legacy of the Eastern

Church during Muslim caliphates.

Ammar al-Basri appeared as a representative of a contextual theologian during Abbasid

caliphate in the 9th century. Again, it should be noted that quest of Ammar al-Basri is not

purely academic aspiration or a speculative task. He evolved as a contextual theologian.

Enculturation

Ammar’s enculturation appeared in his apologetics against contemporary Muslims

has two main features. One is his using philosophical concepts, particularly Aristotelian

metaphysics to persuade the credibility of Trinity doctrine. The other one is employing

54 Kerry, Inman V. Christian Apologetics During the Other Middle Ages Under Muslim Rule (Read at the 32nd
Patristic, Medieval, ad Renaissance Studies Conference, 2007), 2.
19
Quranic language and contemporary Islamic theology for his arguments. Arabic speaking

Christians in ninth century used the Kalam logic to articulate Christian doctrines to the

modern Muslim counterparts. For example, Ammar al-Basri attempted to prove the credibility

of Trinity by the reasoning of Trinity “as the divine essence endowed with supreme

attributes.”55 Ammar’s strategy was to employ Mu’tazili debate regarding the relation

between absolute oneness of God and attributes such as knowledge, power, and life.

Moreover, by the whole, he successfully presented “a neat proof” of Trinity by identifying the

Holy Spirit as God the life-giver and the Son of God the Word in a way that Muslims

theologian would understand.56

Mikhail appraises Ammar’s works as a “true enculturation” through that Arab Christian

theology was successfully translated into the context of Islam. 57 Notably, the Quranic terms,

“Word” and “Spirit” referring Christ and Holy Spirit has been presented to build his argument

to defend the credibility of the Trinity.58 Samir Khalil resonates likewise that during the

Abbasid the Qur’an itself became “a part of Arab Christians’ mindset,” and Christian

apologetics employed the Qur’an as “a source of their theological articulations.” 59

It is

appraisal to conclude that Ammar’s works were a product of an enculturation in his Islamic

context and culture. Mikhail description of Ammar’s method indisputably shows a strategy of

enculturation. 83

The author is impregnated with the Quranic culture. He does not live in a ‘Christian
ghetto.’ He shares with Muslims the common Arabic culture, which carries many
Quranic words and expressions, and a certain style and even some Muslim thoughts.

55 David Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 3.

56 Ibid., 4.
57 Mikhail, 320.
58 Rick,198-204,233.
59 Samir Khalil and Jorgen S. Nielsen, ed. Christian Arabic Apologetics During the Abbasid Period (750-
1258) (Leiden: Brill, 1994), 109. 83 Mikhail, 320-321.
20
The topics discussed in the Kitab al-Burhan are theological problems raised by Muslims, and

Ammar discussed them in his context. Particularly, the doctrinal matters such as ‘the Trinity

and Incarnation” and accusation of Tahrif (the corruption of the Gospel), and practical issues

of Christian venerating cross and icons have been prolific subjects having repeated

throughout the centuries since Islam occupied the former territory of Christian populations.60

Griffith observes that the context provoked the composition of Christian apologetic works

written by Jacobites Habib Ibn Hidmah Abu Ra’itah, Melkite Theodore Abu Qurrah, and

Nestorian Ammar al-Basri “not only the doctrinal challenge of the Qur’an but the

sociological fact of the conversion of Christians to Islam.”85

Another notable feature is the relevant way Ammar employed Qur’an and Islamic

belief. Dhimmi status seemed to influence Ammar al-Basri to avoid direct criticism of the

Qur’an, direct naming Muhammad and Islam in a negative way. The Ammar’s attitude shows

that he was conscious well his dhimmi status, which was vulnerable to the accusation of being

blasphemy against Islam, Qur'an, and Muhammad.61 However, Ammar very wisely uses both

direct and indirect quotes from the Qur’an. Moreover, his book derives its name from Sura

2:111, which challenges (people of the book) ahal-e kitab to present proof (Burhan) for the

validity of their faith. Accordingly, it is plausible to conclude that Ammar is among Arab

Christians who took the Islamic theology seriously as an intellectual undertaking and began to

use it to defend the Christian faith.62

60 Sidney Griffith, Syrian Christian Writers in the World of Islam (unpublished 2015),
2. 85
Ibid., 11.
61 Mikhail, 316.
62 Thomas, 5.
21
Pastoral and missional concerns of Ammar

In Kitab- Al-Burhan, Ammar’s pastoral and missional concerns are undoubtedly

displayed. Mikhail rejects Sidney Griffith’s claim of Ammar’s works as being a Christian

Kalam63 in the sense of Christian corresponding to Muslim mutakallimun.64 He declines to see

Kitab al-Burhan as a mere “intellectual treatise corresponded with the Mu’tazili” 65 However,

more or less it is not deniable that Ammar employed the method of contemporary Mu’tazili as

common ground to discourse religious reputations. By and large, Kitab al-Burhan was a

“testimony to the unfolding of the divine economy.” 91

Mikhail maintains that Burhan is a

work written out of his pastoral concern and offered to Christians who were demanded to

present proof of credibility of Christianity and were enforced to convert to Islam under

intense sociopolitical pressures as dhimmis.66 So it is right to see Burhan as pastoral concerns

to support the Christian community in “Dar al-Islam” to stand firm and “ready to give a

reason for their hope.” (1Peter 3:16) “Ammar was a man of his age who was under pressure

to provide a proof of credibility of Christian faith. The socio-religious circumstance seems to

provoke a crisis of faith, which led him to compose his Kitab al-Burhan as a ‘literature of

resistance.’ The Burhan is the fruit of Ammar’s struggle against the crisis and evolved as his

strategy to-articulates his religious identity.” 67

One of the main factors which brought out the crisis of Christian community at the

63 Richard C. Martin, Mark R. Woodward, DWI S. Atmaja, Defenders of Reason in Islam: Mu’tazilism from
Medieval School to Modern Symbol (Oxford: Oneworld Publications.1997), 8.
Arabic term “kalam” Literal meaning is“speech” or “discourse,” and accurately implies “the discipline of
disputing religion” or simply “theology.”
64 Mikhail, 328.
Mutakallimun are theologians who “pursued verbal controversy about the matter of religious belief.”
Theological disputes includes topics of “nature of God and His attributes, scripture, prophets, good and evil, and
the religious foundations of political authority and order.” Richard C. Martin, 8.
65 Mu’tazili implies a Muslim “rationalist” theological school which began in the teaching circle of the
ascetic and pious Shaykh al-Hassan al-Basri (d.728)p.25. For the historical development of Mu’tazili
school, see Richard C. Martin, Mark R. Woodward, DWI S. Atmaja, “Defenders of Reason in Islam:
Mu’tazilism from Medieval School to Modern Symbol” Oxford: Oneworld Publications.1997. Chapter Two.
“The Rise and Fall of the Mu’tazilia in Premodern Islam.” 91 Mikhail, 328.
66 Ibid.
67 Ibid., 330.
22
time of Ammar was “the enhanced incentive to convert to Islam started to develop for the

eighth century. Abbasids promoted the conversion of non-Muslims, and a large number of

Christian was tempted to convert to Islam for the upward mobility to better or maintain their

social position. Thus, Christian leaders felt pastoral pressures to produce persuasive

apologetics for Christians to prevent further apostasy.68 Ammar’s two works reflected these

pastoral concerns, and Kitab al-masail wa al-ajwibah is primarily written for Christians

exclusively as a manual of theological dialogue with Muslims and Kita al-Burhan for both

Muslims and Christians. It is apparent that Ammar aims to “re-articulate the truth of

Christianity in vocabulary for his Muslim context,” 69

out of his compelling pastoral and

missional concerns.

Relevancy of Burhan in the contemporary context

In his compelling scenario in “God’s Continent,” Phillip Jenkins echoed the

impending crisis of “Eurabia” (new terminology implying Arabized Europe) due to the

demographic change of low fertility rate in Europe and Muslim immigration into Europe. 70

The fact of the growing population of Muslims in Europe and prevailing fertility rates of the

Muslim population should not be dismissed lightly. The sense of crisis introduced by the

contemporary Islam is reminiscent of the struggles of Christians under the Muslim rulers in

early Islamic centuries.

Ammar’s theology apparently reflects the Christian struggle under Islamic context to

define their doctrinal identity as well as demonstrates missional and pastoral concerns.

Arguments used in Ammar’s Buran appear in works of his predecessors, his contemporaries,

68 Ricks, 5-6.
69 Mikhail, 330.
70 Phillip Jenkins, God’s Continent: Christianity, Islam, and Europe’s Religious Crisis (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010), 1-4, 8.
23
his successors, and even modern contemporary Arab Christians. Particularly Ammars’

arguments for Trinity appeared in several modern Arab Christians. As Mikhail rightly

observed, the primary factor of continuity of theological topic is the fact that Islam’s

objections to Christianity have not changed fundamentally. 71 Hugh Goddard’s findings are not

different from Mikhail’s. The conclusions of Goddard’s examination suggests that modern

Muslim materials on Christianity published in Egypt mainly reproduce the medieval themes

with few exceptions. 72

Mikhail notes, “The fact that such objections have remained

unchanged has enabled Arab Christians, especially those living within Dar al-Islam, to draw

insights from their long heritage to utilize ancient answers once again.” 99 However, as a

result, it negatively impeded the development of new theological thoughts among Arab

Christians, as they engaged exhaustively in responding to unchanging theological topics that

Muslims address.73 Goddard concludes that Muslim-Christian discussion still repeats the

medieval themes consistently with only limited development. His critical reflection points out

that the unparalleled lack of Christian literature written in response to Muslim criticism can

be a severe deficit in ChristianMuslim Relation in modern Egypt considering the

inflammatory relationship between Muslims and Christians. 74 Accordingly, this unbalance in

Christian-Muslim discussion calls for more robust and faithful Christian discourse and

equally breaking new ground for Muslim-Christian discussion.

71 Mikhail, 335.
72 Hugh Goddard investigates the themes and features of the medieval period, which reappears consistently and
significantly in the modern period, particularly in Muslim works related to Christian-Muslim discourse in Egypt.
The five major subjects which dominated in the medieval discussion is suggested: Christology, the Trinity, the
Bible and taḥrīf, the position of Christians within the Islamic society, and finally the historical corruption of
Christianity. Goddard’s short analysis of modern Egyptian Muslim literature on Christianity is a productive
attempt to answer the question whether the medieval themes of Christian-Muslim discussion remains
unchanged or develop significantly. According to Goddard’s findings, the medieval themes are reproduced
significantly with only a few exceptions and developed by several influences. Goddard, Hugh. “The
Persistent Medieval Themes in Modern Christian-Muslim Discussion in Egypt.” In Christian Arabic
Apologetics During the Abbasid Period (750-1258). ed. Samir Khalil and Jørgen Nielsen. (Leiden: Brill,
1994) 225-237. 99 Ibid.
73 Ibid.
74 Goddard, 232-
233. 102 Ibid., 342.
24
 As Mikhail rightly observed, Ammar’s Burhan is “an excellent example of an attempt

to contextualize Christianity within Dar al-Islam.” 102 Mikhail questions the relevancy of the

Greek formulations in the Arab context: How can Greek theologian formulae create to
address

Greek concerns and theological issues in a Greek Milieu, be useful today in a Muslim

context? 75
Mikhail presents Ammar’s Burhan as a positive example that maintained “a

balance between his Christian heritage and his contemporary Islamic context.” 76 Mikhail calls

to contextualize theology relevant to Arab context that “Modern Arab Church will succeed in

preserving its apostolic faith, having Arabicized it.” 77 To defend the Christian faith, Ammar

demonstrates his Christian ecumenism by emphasizing that Christian groups agree that “God

appeared in the flesh,” even while he disagrees with Christology of Melkites and Jacobites.78

In the modern Christian-Muslim relation, it should be noted that Modern Muslims

acknowledge that Modern Muslims cannot ignore the common obstacle interreligious

dialogue with Christianity. Tariq Ramadan, renowned as the Muslim Martin Luther and a

reformer of modern Islam admits the standoff of religious discussion since Christians are

accused as Kafir

(infidel) or polytheist because Christians believed that “God was the Messiah, the son of

Mary.”79 Well-known Muslim scholar Mahmoud Ayoub calls for “interreligious ecumenism

based on a sincere dialogue of faith.”80 However, his conciliatory voice seems buried amongst

polemical views of traditional Muslims. Ayoub narrates a Modern Muslim polemic view of

Christianity,81
75 Ibid., 343-344.
76 Ibid.
77 Ibid.
78 Mikhail, 303.
79 Tariq Ramadan, Western Muslims and The Future of Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 205.
80 Mahmoud Ayoub, A Muslim View of Christianity: Essays on Dialogue by Mahmoud Ayoub. Ed. Irfan A.
Omar (New York: Orbis Books, 2007), 4.
81 Ibid., 222.
25
 According to Qur’an, Jesus believed and taught the religion of absolute divine Oneness
(Tawhid). This is of two kinds, the Oneness of God as the sole creator of all things,
and His Oneness in Himself, in that His essence (djat) is free from anthropomorphism,
composition, and change. Furthermore, Jesus received from God a Book which is the
Gospel (Injil), confirming the Torah, revitalizing its laws, and supporting its true
sanctions. It is a book of light and guidance to the God-fearers. It announced the
coming of an apostle after Jesus, whose name was to be Ahmad (Q.61:6). It is the
Gospel by which the Qur’an challenges both Jews and Christians to abide (Q.5:47).

It is the Muslim invitation (Dawah) for Christians to “rejection of Trinity and returns to the

worship of the One God.”82 Modern Muslims resonates with the repeating disputes on the

scandalous Christian faith, particularly the doctrine of Trinity and divinity of Christ.

In this challenging Cristian-Muslim relation, Kitab al-Burhan of Ammar remarkably

retells the compelling story of Christian discourse with their contemporary in their context

throughout the history. Ammar reminds evangelical Christians today how the former

Christians under Muslim rule (as dhimmi) reinterpreted Christian faith and rearticulated

“handed down” Tradition, through converging three Christian traditions of Melkites,

Jacobites and the East Syrian Church (Nestorian) 83

and eventually transmitted it to coming

generations by producing a contextual theology. Moreover, he maintained faithfully to the

apostolic faith and Great Tradition. His theology evolved from his pastoral and missional

concerns in the situation of crisis of conversion to Islam and the particular context of

Dhimmitude. Undoubtedly, Ammar appears as a noteworthy context theologian who

addressed theological topics which are pertinent and meaningful for modern evangelical

Christians having discourse with Muslims such as Christianity as the true religion, Trinity,

and Incarnation, particularly by successful inculturation of Islamic culture and language.

82 Ibid., 229.
83 as though this categorization admittingly is too oversimplified yet understandable:
Melkites-EuroRoman Christianity, Jacobites-African Christianity, and Nestorians-Eastern
Christianity.
26
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