Abd al-Jabbar: A scholar of a great repute

The personality of Abd al-Jabbar is a scholar that could be seen to have contributed much in Islamic theology and in so doing influenced many thinkers after him to develop inter-religious competition in trying to question the Christianity’s basic tenets such as the Incarnation and Trinity in relation to the divinity of Christ. Abd al-Jabbar in trying to establish his thought sees Christians as deviating from religion of Christ and would see them as those who practice their invented religion. He did not see Christians worshipping Christ, but only trying to worship like Christ. On this ground he criticized Christians as not following the footsteps of Christ. In the Critique of Christian Origins, he criticized virtually everything that has to do with Christian liturgies and the sacraments, especially, that of reconciliation, the virginity of the Virgin Mary. All these critics from him influenced the thought of Muslims to see Christians as those who are not in conversation with true religion. Thus, while the person of Christ is demeaned, the person of Muhammad becomes Sacrosanct. What we see here is polemics as Christians are seen as those who are not on the right track.