Ibn taymiyyah's criticism of Christianity in his work al-Jawab al-Sahih

This study examines al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ li-man baddala dīn al-Masīḥ, one of the significant examples of the polemical genre in the history of Islamic thought, authored by Ibn Taymiyya. The research analyzes Ibn Taymiyya's critiques of Christianity within the framework of the discipline of the history of religions. Al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ was written as a refutation of a treatise attributed to Paul of Antioch, the Melkite Bishop of Sayda, titled Risāla ilā baʿḍ aṣdiqāʾihi alladhīna bi-Ṣaydā min al-Muslimīn ("A Letter to Some of His Muslim Friends in Sayda"). In this rebuttal, Ibn Taymiyya not only employs transmitted (naqlī) sources such as the Qur'an and Hadith, but also engages in rational arguments and incorporates references from the Bible in order to critique the fundamental tenets of Christian belief. The thesis is structured in two main parts. The first part explores Ibn Taymiyya's biography, his socio-political context, and the Christian sects and communities that were influential during his time. The second part presents a systematic analysis of al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ, focusing on the rational and transmitted proofs of the prophethood of Muhammad, the doctrines of incarnation (ḥulūl) and union (ittiḥād) in Christianity, the concept of textual corruption (taḥrīf), and other theological issues. It is shown that Ibn Taymiyya sought to establish the truth of Islam while arguing that the core doctrines of Christianity lack both rational and revealed foundations. This study does not involve a comparative analysis of different manuscript versions of the text; instead, it relies on the internal content of the work. The main aim of this thesis is to determine Ibn Taymiyya's intellectual approach within the context of interreligious debates and to highlight the significance of al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ from the perspective of the history of religions. Thus, the study not only identifies the nature of the work as an example of classical Islamic refutation literature but also contributes to understanding the historical background of Muslim-Christian relations. Keywords: Ibn Taymiyya, al-Jawāb al-Ṣaḥīḥ, Islam, Christianity, refutation, ittiḥād, taḥrīf.