Islam in the Byzantine Perception in the Eighth Century A.D.: John of Damascus as a Paradigm

This paper deals with a very important historical period in the history of Arab-Byzantine relations both at the cultural and intellectual levels. It reflects the beginning of the precursors of the Byzantine theological perceptions of Islam as a religion that frames the way of life of the Muslim Arabs in the eighth century AD. John of Damascus is considered a pivotal figure in the history of cultural interaction at a theological level between the Byzantine Orthodox thought and Islam. John lived under the umbrella of the Umayyad Caliphate and attained a high social status there. Also, a number of his works dealt with Islam as a religious entity that established its presence in the areas of the Umayyad Caliphate in his time. These works contribute greatly to the study of the image of the "Other", especially as they reflect an image formed and crystallized by someone who lived in the womb of the Caliphate itself and came into contact with the Islamic faith surrounding him. Accordingly, this research aims to identify points of difference and points of attraction between the Byzantines and the Muslim Arabs in the light of the religious beliefs of both groups. This paper also seeks to shed light on the Islamic philosophical currents that appeared in the Umayyad Caliphate until the era of John of Damascus and left clear echoes in the folds of his theological works. Finally, the importance of this study lies on the fact that it is the first one in the Arabic bibliography to provide an honest translation of the attached Byzantine text as written by John of Damascus based on the last verified edition and its philological commentaries that help in understanding and deconstructing the text. That will help the researchers to explore the theological problems that John considered the basis of the polemic conflict between Orthodoxy and Islam in his time. These are the “same problematic issues” that were transmitted after him by all the Christian writers in the East and the West, who touched on Islam and wrote about it.

本文探讨阿拉伯-拜占庭关系史上的一个极为重要的历史时期，这一时期不仅在文化层面上，而且在知识层面上均具有重要意义。它映射了拜占庭对伊斯兰教作为一宗教的认知的开端，该宗教在公元8世纪对穆斯林阿拉伯人的生活方式进行了框架性塑造。约翰·达马斯库斯被认为是拜占庭正统思想与伊斯兰教在神学层面文化交流史上的关键人物。约翰生活在乌玛亚王朝的庇护之下，并在那里获得了崇高的社会地位。此外，他的众多作品亦涉及伊斯兰教作为一个宗教实体在他所处的乌玛亚王朝时期所建立的地区性存在。这些作品极大地促进了对于“他者”形象的研究，尤其是那些由身处王朝腹地、与周围伊斯兰信仰接触者所形成的、固化并凝聚的形象。因此，本研究旨在从两组宗教信仰的视角出发，识别拜占庭人与穆斯林阿拉伯人之间的差异与吸引点。本文亦旨在揭示直至约翰·达马斯库斯时期在乌玛亚王朝出现的伊斯兰哲学思潮，这些思潮在其神学作品中留下了清晰的回响。最终，本研究的重要性在于它是阿拉伯文献中首次对附带的约翰·达马斯库斯所撰写的拜占庭文本进行诚实翻译的研究，该翻译基于最后的验证版以及有助于理解和解构文本的语文学注释。这将有助于研究者们探索约翰认为是他时代正教与伊斯兰教论战冲突基础的宗教神学问题。这些问题是“相同的争议性问题”，在他之后，所有东、西方的基督教作家在涉及伊斯兰教并对其著述时都传承了下来。