Franz Rosenzweig and Joseph Ratzinger on Islam

Abstract

After the overview in the preceding three chapters of the sources and core content of the Qur’an, this fourth chapter poses certain crucial questions to Islam and attempts to arrive at some theological answers. An early 20 ^th century Jewish philosopher, Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929), and a Pope who held office at the beginning of the 21 ^st century (2005–2013), Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger (*1927), provide astonishing insights in this regard. In their analyses, Islam is not described in the way that it would prefer itself to be seen. The perspectives that emerge have become unfamiliar over the years and are consequently considered by many to be harsh. It is therefore important to point out that these insights are neither a personal devaluation of certain believers nor do they present a general suspicion of all Muslims, nor a relapse into petty comparisons of religions in the sense, for example, of the fratricidal quarrel in Lessing’s Ring Parable. In contrast to the Ring Parable, the two authors featured here are not concerned with judging whether Jews, Christians or Muslims behave in a praiseworthy manner according to their respective ethos (“Who proves to be the true heir by his actions?”).