Document Type : Original Research

Authors

• Mohammadmahdi Keshavarz Moraveji ¹
• Christopher Paul Clohessy ²
• Rasoul Rasoulipour ³

¹ Ph.D. Graduate in Islamic Theology, Shahid Motahari University, Tehran, Iran.

² Professor, Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), Rome, Italy.

³ Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of the doctrine of redemption in Catholic theology on Mahmoud Ayoub's theory of redemptive suffering in Islam. In this regard, we need to understand how Christian theological views of Jesus Christ’s redemptive work affected and inspired Ayoub, and how the Christian terminology in this area helps him to model his thoughts. Therefore, the main question of this research is: How has Ayoub’s model of Islamic redemption been inspired by Christian theological teachings? Then, three important realms in Christian teachings that have the possibility to inspire Ayoub in his theory, i.e. terminology, functionality, and the role of enduring suffering, will be studied. In the first realm, Ayoub’s definition of redemption does not fully adhere to the Judeo-Christian understanding, as he offers a broad definition to avoid potential conceptual challenges. In the second realm, as just as Christ liberates humanity from the slavery of sin, intercession in Ayoub’s theory, saves the sinners from punishment. As a result, despite differences between Islamic and Christian perspectives on sin classification, redemption in both faiths involves deliverance from sin. Finally, the third area claims that the sufferings of Jesus Christ and Imam Husayn have been a main source of inspiration for Ayoub’s theory of Redemptive Suffering in Islam, however, enduring suffering alone cannot lead to redemption.

Keywords

• redemptive suffering
• Mahmoud Ayoub
• Catholicism
• Islam
• Twelver Shi’ism

Main Subjects

• Other