Jesus in Islamic Eschatology
Book Launch of Islam’s Jesus
by
Zeki SARITOPRAK
Date / Time: Monday, 26th January 2015 at 18.00
Venue: Dialogue Platform
Rue Montoyer 31, Brussels 1000 (2nd floor)
Many people are unaware that Jesus, as a messenger of God, is an integral part of Islamic belief and he is a highly appreciated religious figure among Muslims. Although they do not attribute any divinity, they accept his immaculate birth and revere him as an elite prophet. Besides, Muslims, like Christians, expect him to come again at the “end of the time.” According to Islamic theology, only Jesus, among all other prophets, will come as a messianic figure with an eschatological role.
There are already works that examined Jesus as a prominent personality in Islamic theology and tradition. Dr. Zeki Saritoprak’s book, however, aims to scrutinize particularly the eschatological significance of Jesus from a Muslim point of view. In his book, Dr. Saritoprak, on the one hand, illuminates Islam’s rich theological engagement with the figure of Jesus. On the other hand, he tries to explore what Muslims believe about his (second) coming/descent at the end of time. In so doing, he examines both medieval and modern Muslim exegeses of the pertinent Qur’anic and hadith texts. He moreover observes close convergences between these exegeses and those of many Christians, and this, for him, can lay a(nother) groundwork for interfaith dialogue and understanding.
Dr. Saritoprak is associate professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and the Beddiüzaman Said Nursi Chair in Islamic Studies at John Carroll University, USA. He is the author of numerous works on Islamic theology in English, Turkish, and Arabic. Along with his expertise in the filed, his book Islam’s Jesus is also a result of his working and teaching experience in American Christian institutions as well as his enduring and significant involvement in interfaith dialogue.
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