The Islamic Jesus by Mustafa Akyol

The Islamic Jesus

How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims

Mustafa Akyol

St. Martin's Press · Print & ebook · November 27, 2018

“A welcome expansion of the fragile territory known as common ground.” —The New York Times When Reza Aslan’s bestseller Zealot came out in 2013, there was criticism that he hadn’t addressed his Muslim faith while writing the origin story of Christianity.

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Who it’s for
Akyol traces connections among Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam through their shared understandings of Jesus.
Genres
Comparative Religion, Islam - General, Islamic History
Published
St. Martin's Press, November 27, 2018

About this book

“A welcome expansion of the fragile territory known as common ground.” —The New York Times When Reza Aslan’s bestseller Zealot came out in 2013, there was criticism that he hadn’t addressed his Muslim faith while writing the origin story of Christianity. In fact, Ross Douthat of The New York Times wrote that “if Aslan had actually written in defense of the Islamic view of Jesus, that would have been something provocative and new.”

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Mustafa Akyol’s The Islamic Jesus is that book. The Islamic Jesus reveals startling new truths about Islam in the context of the first Muslims and the early origins of Christianity. Muslims and the first Christians—the Jewish followers of Jesus—saw Jesus as not divine but rather as a prophet and human Messiah and that salvation comes from faith and good works, not merely as faith, as Christians would later emphasize. What Akyol seeks to reveal are how these core beliefs of Jewish Christianity, which got lost in history as a heresy, emerged in a new religion born in 7th Arabia: Islam. Akyol exposes this extraordinary historical connection between Judaism, Jewish Christianity and Islam—a major mystery unexplored by academia. From Jesus’ Jewish followers to the Nazarenes and Ebionites to the Qu’ran’s stories of Mary and Jesus, The Islamic Jesus will reveal links between religions that seem so contrary today. It will also call on Muslims to discover their own Jesus, at a time when they are troubled by their own Pharisees and Zealots.

Where Faiths Meet

Akyol traces connections among Judaism, early Christianity, and Islam through their shared understandings of Jesus.

Come here for

  • A cross-faith account of Jesus as prophet and human Messiah
  • Historical links between Jewish followers of Jesus and Islam

Expect

  • A reframing of familiar religious boundaries through early history
  • Questions about how shared beliefs diverged across traditions

Where it sits

Comparative Religion56%
Islam - General29%
Islamic History27%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Christian History
  • Islamic History
Authors
Mustafa Akyol
Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Published
November 27, 2018
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Christian History