Christians, Muslims and Jesus by Mona Siddiqui (review)

Mona Siddiqui is a professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies in the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. This is Siddiqui’s first major attempt at putting forward a unified view of two of the world’s main monotheistic religions in such a holistic way. Although Siddiqui did write the Routledge Reader in Christian-Muslim Relations in 2013, the aim of this particular work is to examine the similarities and disparities between Christianity and Islam as separate yet equal religions with a common denominator in the person of Jesus the Christ. The challenge here for Siddiqui was to take Jesus out of an Islamic perspective, deconstruct him from the Prophet Jesus son of Mary as his status is depicted within the Islamic context, and reconstruct him within the framework of Christianity as Jesus the Christ, son of the Living God.

Siddiqui for most of her career has focussed primarily on various areas of Islamic theology and the core issues that derive from such a vast topic. She has been able to undertake this task admirably in an area and forum normally reserved for men. Therefore, I was concerned that there may have been a minor disconnect regarding the fundamental principles within mainstream Christianity. However, one of the most interesting points of enquiry is found on page 28. This line of enquiry relates to the perceived revealed book given to Jesus by the creator. One would expect to have seen more intriguing lines of enquiry on that level of research and academic thought from someone like Siddiqui; when that did not materialise, it was a little disappointing. In addition, the use of language utilised for that mode of enquiry could leave the reader with the distinct impression that the Qur’an is somewhat deficient in its revelation.

The book in totality is an illustrious read and covers areas not covered before in books touching similar subjects. Nonetheless there were many avenues of disappointment. Contemplating the subject matter, the expectation was to see some level of spirituality, but the opening chapters border on being a book relying somewhat on the religious interpretation of philosophy that was interesting but a tad misplaced. The major concern was on page 12 when the coined phrase was used, ‘the final messenger for Muslims’. The central and fundamental message relating to Muhammad is that he is a mercy to mankind; whether or not the whole of mankind accepts Muhammad as their messenger does not deter from the reality that this is exactly what he is. As a result, it is imperative that writers within the area of Christian-Muslim understanding focus on the central theme of Islam as it is so easy to convey the popular but not necessary correct ideology.

One of the common fusions for both Muslim and Christian theological writers is to combine the Bible as one book, when in fact the Old Testament is a rendition of the Pentateuch, which is the first five books of Moses, and is now known collectively as the Torah and other subsequent books with the target audience being the tribe of Israel. The Old Testament in its entirety was written for the Jewish people by Jewish and Israeli prophets and messengers. These scriptures are now used by non-Jews, referred to in the New Testament as ‘gentiles’, and used as a direct revelation that now includes them by inheritance of the divine connection that was symbolically made through the shedding of the blood of Jesus the Christ. The ideology is based on the Biblical theory of redemption, and the idea that the atonement that took place in the New Testament was an actual plan of God that commenced back in the book of Genesis from the beginning of creation.

In order to have a holistic understanding of Christianity and where Christianity is today, it is important to understand the theories and ideologies that led Christians to their current point of enlightenment. It is...