Karl-Heinz Ohlig
Encyclopedia
Karl-Heinz Ohlig is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 professor of Religious Studies
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...

 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
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 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
Dome of the Rock
The Dome of the Rock is a shrine located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The structure has been refurbished many times since its initial completion in 691 CE at the order of Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik...

 in the late 600s CE, with the letters MHMT and the term Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

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...")

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 378672167X ; Peter Lang Pub Inc, 2003 ISBN 3631503377
  • The Hidden Origins of Islam: New Research Into Its Early History, Hans Schiller Verlag, 2005 ISBN 3899301285 ; Prometheus Books, 2008 ISBN 1591026342
  • (ed), Der frühe Islam: eine historisch-kritische Rekonstruktion anhand zeitgenössischer Quellen, Hans Schiller Verlag, 2008 ISBN 3899300904
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