Islamic & Christian Relations in the Era of the Abbasid Dynasty

 

Islamic & Christian Relations in the Era of the Abbasid Dynasty

In the ninth century AD, the historical development of Islamic civilization presented two great intellectual figures named Imam Shafi'i (820 AD) in the field of Islamic law and al-Kindi (870 AD) in the field of Islamic philosophy. These two studies are very important because they mark an important stage in the history of Islamic civilization. One of the supporting factors in the production process of this scientific treasure is the network of relationships that existed between the Christian community and the Islamic community that developed at that time in the region that we now know as the Middle East.

This pattern of relations was formed, mainly due to circumstances that had occurred before, namely when Islam had not yet been born in the Arabian peninsula. This situation began when the Byzantine King, Justin (527-565 AD), dissolved the school of philosophy in Athens in 529 AD As a result, some of the students and teachers at the school moved to Gundeshapur, Iraq, one of the Persian empires.

The contact with Islam began when Islam finally conquered the area in 637 AD or in the 16th century H. Another philosophical school which was also considered important in the sixth century was the Alexandrian school which in the end also fell under the hands of Islam in the same decade. At that time, Byzantium entered an era of intellectual stagnation, especially when the church had an unshakable authority that marginalized science. Therefore, the Muslims then took over and revived the Greek intellectual heritage.

Another important stage that marked the development of Islamic intellectual civilization was after the Abbasid revolution in 750 AD. At that time, Muslims began to pay attention to and develop various intellectual studies. One of the people who played a major role in the process was the Caliph al-Ma'mun who ruled the Abbasids from 813 AD / 198 H to 833 AD / 218 H. The caliph who liked religious and intellectual issues built an institution called baitul wisdom in Banghdad whose aim was to translate Greek and other works into Arabic and spread them in the Islamic world.

During his reign, a number of ambassadors were sent to Byzantium to seek and purchase scientific and philosophical works. For two centuries, these works began to be massively circulated in the Islamic world. The translation project involved many Christians. The leading Christian translator was Hunain bin Ishaq (809-873 AD), a Nestorian Christian from Hira who had studied in Gundeshapur who had translated many works into Arabic.

The period of al-Ma'mun also presents an early example of Muslim-Christian dialogue. Delegates from each religious group were allowed to present their religious teachings and practices in a frame of intellectual discussion and high openness. This dialogue is accompanied by guarantees of freedom from the government from threats to individuals and religious groups.

It is true that political power is entirely in the hands of the caliph, and to some extent the representatives of non-Islamic religions have weak positions and power . However, they did not feel pressured at all so that these discussions could serve as an initial model for mutual education and mutual benefit.

One example of the discussion that took place was the dialogue between Abu Qurra, a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in northern Syria, and Caliph al-Ma'mun himself which took place in 829 AD / 214 H. The discussion discussed a number of themes, such as the obligation of circumcision, and about human free will. There are also themes that are discussed in detail, for example about the position of Jesus, especially regarding whether Jesus is equal to God or not. The discussion was interesting because it seemed that the discussion participants had mastered the theme. This is shown when Abu Qurra was able to quote a verse from the Qur'an and a Muslim participant, Sa'sa'ah bin Khalid from Basra who quoted the postulates of the New Testament.

It should be noted that the exchange occurred not only from Christianity to Islam, but also from both. The two major religious communities give each other color and influence on the other, although the influence of Islam on the Christian tradition is not well known. A small example might be the translation of the Bible and Christian theological books into Arabic. Abu Qurra is one of the figures who displays cultural and linguistic changes in the context of Christianity because he has written about twenty works in Arabic that have survived to this day and have been published.

In the context of this Islamic-Christian relationship, openness is the key word for the advancement of a civilization. Especially Islam, stagnation and isolation can be said to be a key factor in the decline of Islamic civilization itself. Islam must be friendly and open to the findings of other civilizations, especially those related to science and technology, so as not to be merely a commentator and critic of modernity which is actually counter-productive.