Muslim-Christian Polemics in Safavid Iran

Abstract

Explores theological debates between Muslims and Christians in Iran in the 17th and early 18th centuries

• Provides case studies on Muslim-Christian polemics in early modern Iran

• Contributes to our understanding of interreligious relations in the Islamic world

• Advances our understanding of cross-cultural interactions in the early modern period

• Analyses the evolution of literary and rhetorical strategies in interreligious debates

• Contributes to debates on confessionalisation in the Middle East, with a focus on Shi’ism

This book explores the history of Muslim-Christian theological exchanges in Iran during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Focused on the work of the renegade missionary ‘Ali Quli Jadid al-Islam (d. 1734), it contributes to ongoing debates on the nature of confessionalism, interreligious encounters, and cultural translation in early modern Muslim empires. By disentangling the connections between polemics and other forms of Islamic learning and by emphasizing the Shi‘i character of the case in question, this study accounts for the dynamism of polemics as an ever-evolving genre capable to adapt to different historical contexts.