The Quran's Conversation with the Bible
Scholars in the Islamic world and the West alike have long debated the QurΚΎΔnβs relationship with the Bible. In the history of ³Ω²Ή΄Ϊ²υΔ«°ω certain Muslim scholars consulted the Bible, or at least Biblical traditions, in order to add details to QurΚΎΔnic accounts. Not all scholars agreed, however, that such consultation was licit, and some rejected any traditions (often referred to as Ύ±²υ°ωΔεΚΎΔ«±τΎ±²β²βΔε³Ω) received from Jews and Christians, citing prophetic hadith to defend their point. In the West many of the earliest Orientalists, including Abraham Geiger, Theodor NΓΆldeke and Heinrich Speyer, were almost exclusively interested in finding parallels, or near parallels, between the QurΚΎΔn and Jewish or Christian literature. The approach that Reynolds will advocate in this paper involves a middle position: The idea that the QurΚΎΔn depends on its audienceβs Biblical knowledge to advance its own message. By citing examples including the QurΚΎΔnβs references to the killing of prophets, its account of Abrahamβs guests and the QurΚΎΔnβs description of paradise as a garden in heaven, he will show that the QurΚΎΔn presumes a knowledge of certain Jewish and (especially) Christian traditions even as it shapes these traditions in a way that conforms to its own theological message. Accordingly one might conclude that the serious study of the Bible will add to, and not distract from, oneβs appreciation of the QurΚΎΔn.
Address
Tangier Campus Auditorium
Morocco
