442 Dominik Schlosser
that Christianity is characterized neither by a certain degree of inner
cohesion, nor by theological unity. Rather, as he sees it, the disunity
of its adherents in central religious convictions is constitutive of the
Christian religion^102 – a dissent, he suggests to the reader between the
lines, that should be seen as a symptom of the baselessness of Chris-
tian doctrine and that he pins on the Christological positions of the
various Christian denomination.^103 The Christians cling to Jesus, his
Gospel, and his apostles, but they disagree in their valuation of his
person: among the Christians, the view that Jesus should be considered
solely God’s servant can be found, as well as the idea that he is a God;
some affirm that he is the Son of God or believe in him as one of three
godheads. Others, in turn, see in Jesus two natures and two hypostases
(uqnūmān), whereas others deny this idea and see in Jesus one nature
and one hypostasis. Aside from that, he avers, the Christians propound
a number of other views on the person of Jesus, views adopted from
their forefathers (aslāfihim).^104 Ibn al-Qayyim’s emphasis on the Chris-
tians’ disagreement about the figure of Jesus finally culminates in the
assertion that this disunity would have the effect that a people that had
no knowledge of God and that came into contact with Christianity
would under no circumstances take on the Christian religion.^105
3.2. The Christian View of the Person of JesusStrewn throughout the entire work, the critical viewing of Christian
Christology as well as the refutation of the faith in the divinity of Jesus
and his being the Son of God, a refutation unsurprisingly based espe-
cially on the postulate of God’s unity, takes a large role in the Hidāyat
al-ḥayārā. With this interest and approach, Ibn al-Qayyim follows
predetermined paths; more remarkable is the fact that he hereby tacks
between sometimes aggressive polemic and elucidations full of bit-
ter ridicule, on the one hand, and more sober-neutral depictions with
implicit or postponed valuations and answers, on the other.
In consideration of the countless repetitions that Ibn al-Qayyim
uses in his depiction of the Christian view of the figure of Jesus in the
Hidāyat al-ḥayārā, the following will examine only a short section of
102 Ibid., p. 533.
103 Ibid., p. 574.
104 Ibid.
105 Ibid., p. 575.
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