[MR] Interesting New Book

[Simone89 at aol.com]

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
SPRING 2001
www.hup.harvard.edu

THE MUSLIM JESUS

Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature

EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY TARIF KHALIDI

This work presents in English translation the largest collection ever
assembled of the sayings and stories of Jesus in Arabic Islamic literature.
In doing so, it traces a tradition of love and reverence for Jesus that has
characterized Islamic thought for more than a thousand years. An invaluable
resource for the history of religions, the collection documents how one
culture, that of Islam, assimilated the towering religious figure of
another, that of Christianity. As such, it is a work of great significance
for the understanding of both, and of profound implications for modern-day
intersectarian relations and ecumenical dialogue.

Tarif Khalidi's introduction and commentaries place the sayings and stories
in their historical context, showing how and why this "gospel" arose and the
function it served within Muslim devotion. The Jesus that emerges here is a
compelling figure of deep and life-giving spirituality. The sayings and
stories, some 300 in number and arranged in chronological order, show us how
the image of this Jesus evolved throughout a millennium of Islamic history.

Tarif Khalidi is Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic, Director of the
Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Fellow of King's College,
Cambridge. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Classical Arab
Islam: The Culture and Heritage of the Golden Age and Arabic Historical
Thought in the Classical Period.

Convergences: Inventories of the Present
5-1/2 x 8-3/4 inches
272 pages
Cloth edition:
$22.95 / £15.95 (one world price)
ISBN 0-674-00477-9