Assumed Contradictions in the Qurʾān: An Analysis on Al-Alūsī’s Disputation of Al-Kindī in “The Apology of Al-Kindī”

The priest, ꜥAbd al-Masīḥ al-Kindī wrote an apology in response to Hashimi's invitation to convert to Islam. The apology included various criticisms he had made against Islam, including regarding the Qurʾān, the Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH), Shariah and so on. A decade later, in the 19th century, Nuꜥmān Khayr al-Dīn, the son of Abū Thanāʾ al-Alūsī penned his book entitled al-Jawāb al-Fasīḥ li Mā Laffaqahu ꜥAbd al-Masīḥ as a response to the criticisms made by ꜥAbd al-Masīḥ Kindī who claimed that the Qurʾān contained contradictory verses. This study aims to evaluate al-Alūsī’s arguments on the claims of al-Kindi. Two literatures, namely “The Apology of al-Kindī” and “Al-Jawāb al-Fasīḥ li-mā Laffaqahu ꜥAbd al-Masīḥ”, serve as the primary references for this study. The current research concludes that Alūsī's reconciliation of the assumed contradictory verses takes four forms: (1) to refer to occasions of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl); (2) to consider the context of the verse (siyāq); (3) to provide the correct interpretation of the verse; and (4) to resort to abrogation (naskh).