The Theology of ‘Ammār al-Basrī: Commending Christianity within Islamic Culture

Abstract

ʿAmmār al-Basṛīwas a theologian in the Church of the East (East-Syrian or ‘Nestorian’), operating from the city of Basra in the latter half of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth centuries. He was the first Christian theologian to write a systematic theology in Arabic and among the first to respond in systematic form to Muslim theological reflection. He even engaged in theological debate with the leading Muslim intellectuals of his time. As such, he is an important figure in the field of Christian–Muslim encounter and the history of Christians writing and speaking in Arabic. Michel Hayek’s discovery and editions of two of ʿAmmār’s works appeared in in the late-1970s. Even so, ʿAmmār has received relatively little attention in scholarly discussion. Mark Beaumont is one scholar who is giving ʿAmmār more considered attention, regularly writing essays about him since 2003. For this reason, Beaumont is an adept commenter on ʿAmmār’s life and work and his most recent book, The Theology of ‘Ammār al-Basrī, is the first book-length study of this early-medieval theologian. In it, Beaumont offers commentary on the major theological themes that ʿAmmār discusses in two of his treatises: ‘The Book of the Proof concerning the Course of the Divine Economy’ and ‘The Book of Questions and Answers’. Following an introduction, which sketches the book’s overall makeup, Beaumont’s first chapter situates ʿAmmār in his historical and cultural context. Here, Beaumont discusses ʿAmmār as an East-Syrian theologian and the context of East-Syrians living under Muslim rule. Especially helpful in Chapter 1 is Beaumont’s treatment of East-Syrian Christological reflection as an ongoing discussion within a wider Christological context that included a variety of Christian traditions. This diversity in Christian theology helped to shape the ways in which a theologian like ʿAmmār laid out his own theology, attempting systematically to address the broad streams of Christian thought while also weaving them together according to a divine economy and in dialogue with other traditions. But it was not just Christian theological reflection with which ʿAmmār needed to interact. In Chapter 2, Beaumont takes up the first theological theme, which was ʿAmmār’s argument for one Creator. So many studies on aspects of Christian–Muslim relations focus on thought within Christian and Muslim traditions, neglecting other belief systems that were also present. For ʿAmmār, perhaps the most predominant religion of his context was not Islam, the religion of his rulers, but Zoroastrian belief, perhaps the majority religion in the region at the time. For this reason, ʿAmmār had to engage with Persian beliefs and Beaumont refreshingly brings focus to this feature of ʿAmmār’s work, wherein he sets God’s oneness against the dualism of Zoroaster. The remaining chapters follow the overall approach of Chapter 2, with a general discussion of a particular theological theme as treated by ʿAmmār and Beaumont’s evaluation of his approach. What is especially helpful and makes more consistent appearance from Chapter 3