An Analysis of Filial Relations in the Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad from the Perspective of Comparative Ethics and Scriptural Reasoning

This thesis offers a comparative-ethical analysis of textual tensions in the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad about filial relations as well as their reception in contemporary Christian-Muslim relations. While the issue of textual tension has been widely used, and abused, in the context of religious polemics, it is virtually ignored in the practice of interreligious dialogue. One reason for the absence of effective Christian-Muslim dialogue on textual tension is the absence of a clear hermeneutical approach that facilitates and promotes mutual understanding between the two religious traditions. The problem of textual tension can be addressed if the strengths of, and opportunities presented by, interreligious dialogue and comparative ethics are brought together. Interreligious dialogue, on the one hand, has the clear purpose of promoting mutual understanding but it lacks a clear approach to the practice of dialogue. The academic study of comparative ethics, on the other hand, offers well-established methods for interpreting and comparing religious texts, but it is less clear when it comes to defining the purpose of comparison. The aim of this thesis is to build on the strengths of interreligious dialogue and comparative ethics by providing a hermeneutical-dialogical analysis of textual tensions in the teachings of Jesus and Muhammad about filial relations. Drawing on Ruben Zimmermann’s approach to ‘implicit ethics’, the study will examine the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament and of Muhammad in the Qurᵓān and the Ḥadīth before investigating the reception of both teachings by the Egyptian scholars Mattā Al-Miskīn and Muhammad Al-Shaᶜrāwī, respectively. The thesis argues that interpreting sacred texts comparatively from the perspective of ‘implicit ethics’ can be effectively applied to the practice of Scriptural Reasoning, which, in turn, promotes a text-centred form of interreligious dialogue.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

dprof

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Abdelhay, Ahmed Ragab Abdelkhalek

• B Athroniaeth (Cyffredinol)
• BJ Moeseg
• BL Crefydd
• BP Islam. Bahaiaeth. Theosoffi, ac yn y blaen
• BR Cristnogaeth
• BS Y Beibl

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:3980