Difficulties of translation: the Quranic term al-amad, its interpretation and the history of Orthodox-Muslim relations

This article is devoted to the origins of the formation of the false ideas that exist in the Christian environment about the Islamic doctrine of Allah as the “all-forged god.” Based on modern research in the field of Arabic studies and using a significant array of historical and philological data, the history of the emergence of the Greek term ὁλόσφυρος is shown, which became a translation of the Koranic concept of al-ṣamad and served, in turn, as the source of the appearance of the corresponding translated calque “forged” in Slavic liturgical texts, in particular in the Trebnik of Peter (Mogila). An analysis of traditional Islamic interpretations of 2 ayah 112 of the surah “Al-Ikhlyas” is made, demonstrating the specifics of the Muslim understanding of this important Quranic term. It also provides an overview of the interpretation of the concept by the Greek translators of the Qur’an and its understanding by Byzantine theologians, including St. John Damascus, Theodore Abu Kurra, Nicetas of Byzantium, and Bartholomew of Edessa. Based on the story of Nikita Choniates, the events of 1180 are described in detail, connected with the attempts of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus to remove the term ὁλόσφυρος from the polemical context, the role of the local Council of Constantinople, which sanctioned the use of the term in anti-Islamic polemics, is revealed. The decisions of this Council to this day remain an important argument for Orthodox “zealots of piety and purity of faith” in dialogue with Muslims. The problem of the appearance in the Slavic liturgical books of the term “forged” is considered separately, as well as the issue of changing the attitude towards it, which was outlined by the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. In conclusion, practical steps are proposed to change the attitude in the Orthodox environment towards the term itself and the possibility of its use in dialogue with representatives of Islam.