The Quran and the apostles of Jesus

According to Islamic tradition the companions of Jesus in the Quran, the h awariyyun, were faithful disciples. Critical scholars largely agree that the Quran means to present the h awariyyun as such, and generally translate h awariyyun as “apostles” or “disciples”. Some add that h awariyyun is related to h awarya, the Ge ez term used for the apostles in the Ethiopic Bible. In the present article I argue that while the Quran indeed means to signal the apostles of Christian tradition with the term h awariyyun, it does not consider the h awariyyun to have been faithful. The Quran praises the awariyyun for their belief in Jesus (a belief that distinguishes them from other Israelites, i.e. the Jews) but reprimands them for abandoning his message. Hence emerges the exceptional position of Christians in the Quran: they are not condemned but rather exhorted to return to their prophet’s teaching.