I mentioned earlier (165) that Mingana started in 1927 a series of books called “Woodbrooke Studies”, and we shall examine this series in a moment (166). Volume two of this series, published in 1928, contains a very important text in Syriac: Timothy’s Apology for Christianity, in the presence of the Caliph al-Mahdi.
This Apology is unanimously considered to be authentic, the discussion having taken place in Baghdad in 781. Timothy is one of the greatest East Syriac Patriarchs (from 780 to 823), and al-Mahdi is known for his openness to religious subjects. The discussion obviously took place in Arabic, but the report written by the Patriarch himself (in a letter to the monk Sergius) was in Syriac. Later on, we find two different Arabic reports, probably based on the Syriac one. The longer Arabic report had already been published by Fr Louis Cheikho SJ in 1921 in Beirut (167), and I published it again in 1977 (168). Some years ago, Fr Robert Caspar WF published a shorter report in the form of Questions and Answers (169), which is older than the longer version published by Cheikho and myself. To my knowledge, this debate-apology is the most complete and interesting apology for Christianity ever to have been documented in the Arab world.
Timothy is very clever and very respectful of the Islamic faith. Like most Arab apologists, he knows the Qur’ân and the Muslim faith quite well, and he understands the sensibilities of Muslims. Some of the pages he wrote are constantly used by Christians (and even by Muslims) in today’s dialogue, if not always in the way he intended.
I will read just one page of this dialogue, the one concerning Muhammad (170):
And our gracious and wise King said to me: “What do you say about Muhammad?” -And I replied to his Majesty:
“Muhammad is worthy of all praise, by all reasonable people, O my Sovereign. He walked in the path of the prophets, and trod in the track of the lovers of God. All prophets taught the doctrine of one God, and since Muhammad taught the doctrine of the unity of God, he walked, therefore, in the path of the prophets. Further, all the prophets drove men away from bad works, and brought them nearer to good works, and since Muhammad drove his people away from bad works and brought them nearer to good ones, he walked, therefore, in the path of the prophets. Again, all the prophets separated men from idolatry and polytheism, and attached them to God and to His cult, and since Muhammad separated his people from idolatry and polytheism, and attached them to the cult and the knowledge of one God, beside whom there is no other God, it is obvious that he walked in the path of the prophets. Finally Muhammad taught about God, His Word and His Spirit, and since all the prophets had prophesied about God, His Word and His Spirit, Muhammad walked, therefore, in the path of all prophets.
“Who will not praise, honour and exalt the one who not only fought for God in words, but showed also his zeal for Him in the sword? As Moses did with the Children of Israel when he saw that they had fashioned a golden calf which they worshipped, and killed all of those who were worshipping it, so also Muhammad evinced an ardent zeal towards God, and loved and honoured Him more than his own soul, his people and his relatives. He praised, honoured and exalted those who worshipped God with him, and promised them kingdom, praise and honour from God, both in this world and in the world to come in the Garden.* But those who worshipped idols and not God he fought and opposed, and showed to them the torments of hell and of the fire which is never quenched and in which all evildoers burn eternally.
“And what Abraham, that friend and beloved of God, did in turning his face from idols and from his kinsmen, and looking only towards one God and becoming the preacher of one God to other peoples, this also Muhammad did. He turned his face from idols and their worshippers, whether those idols were those of his own kinsmen or of strangers, and he honoured and worshipped only one God. (…). Who will not praise, O our victorious King, the one whom God has praised, and will not weave a crown of glory and majesty to the one whom God has glorified and exalted? These and similar things I and all God-lovers utter about Muhammad, O my Sovereign.”
And our King said to me: “You should, therefore, accept the words of the Prophet.” -And I replied to his gracious Majesty: “Which words of his our victorious King believes that I must accept?” – And our King said to me: “That God is one and that there is no other one besides Him.” – And I replied: “This belief in one God, O my Sovereign, I have learned from the Torah, from the Prophets and from the Gospel. I stand by it and shall die in it.”
Timothy means: this is not a peculiarity of Islam. It is common to all monotheists: Jews, Christians and Muslims. His position is very balanced: Muhammad ‘walked in the path of the prophets’, but he never said that he was a prophet. For reasons he explains elsewhere in this dialogue, he cannot recognise Muhammad as a prophet.