Kenneth Cragg’s Assertion on the Notion of Incarnation in the Qur’ān: A Critical Appraissal

Abstract

Although Islam and Christianity differ respectively on the doctrine of Incarnation, i.e. God the Son or the Logos (Word), became flesh, whereby Islam rejects it completely, and Christianity affirms it uncompromisingly, one of the celebrated orientalists, Albert Kenneth Cragg, claims to have discovered its affinities in the Qur’anic text. His main point of this argument is Qur’anic text (33.56), where he asserts that the word “taṣliyah” shares the same notion with the Christian doctrine of Incarnation. Therefore, this article attempts to critically analyze and evaluate this claim. In the course of carrying out this task, historical approach has been adopted in deliberation on historical and intellectual backgrounds of Cragg. Textual as well as analytical approaches have been adopted in exploring his views on the existence of Incarnation in the Islamic text. Evaluative and comparative approaches have been adopted in assessing his views from the Islamic view point. The article concludes that Cragg’s attempt to discover the doctrine of Incarnation in the Qur’an is groundless, and that there is no, in any way, divinity in the personality of Muhammad (p.b.u.h).