Karl-Heinz Ohlig
Karl-Heinz Ohlig (born 15 September 1938 in Koblenz) is a German professor of Religious Studies and the History of Christianity at the University of Saarland, Germany.
He is the co-editor with Gerd Rudiger Puin of the book Die dunklen Anfänge. Neue Forschungen zur Entstehung und frühen Geschichte des Islam ["The Hidden Origins of Islam: New Research Into Its Early History" (Hans Schiller Verlag, 2005/Prometheus Books 2008)], which argues that Islam was not originally conceived as a distinct religion.
Ohlig and Puin's thesis propounds that according to the evidence of Arab coinage, and the inscription in the Dome of the Rock in the late 7th century, with the letters MHMT and the term Muhammad meaning "the revered" or "the praiseworthy" and the Dome's bearing Christian symbols such as crosses, it suggests that the term Muhammad was a Christian honorific title referring to Jesus, as in the hymn of the mass ("praise be to he that comes...")[1]
With his approach of research Ohlig is a representative of the "Saarbrücken School" which is part of the Revisionist School of Islamic Studies.
Written works
- Fundamental Christianity: In the tension of Christianity and Culture Kosel, 1986
- Religion in the History of Mankind: The Development of Religious Consciousness, 2002
- One Or Three: From The Father Of Jesus To The Trinity, Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, 1999 ISBN 3-7867-2167-X (German); Peter Lang Pub Inc, 2003 ISBN 3-631-50337-7 (English)
- The Hidden Origins of Islam: New Research Into Its Early History, Hans Schiller Verlag, 2005 ISBN 3-89930-128-5 (German); Prometheus Books, 2008 ISBN 1-59102-634-2 (English)
- (ed), Der frühe Islam: eine historisch-kritische Rekonstruktion anhand zeitgenössischer Quellen, Hans Schiller Verlag, 2008 ISBN 3-89930-090-4 (German)
See also
Notes and references
References
- ↑ Muhammad as a Christological Honorific Title 2008 interview http://www.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-478/_nr-756/i.html