Abstract
For many Muslims, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are linked together by their scriptures. The Qur’an recognizes the “Torah” (Tawrat) and the Gospel (Injil) as revelations from God. However, the Qur’an also views itself as the continuation and final validation of the ideas and beliefs expressed earlier in these scriptures. Thus, despite the formal differences between the Qur’an, the Torah, and the Gospels, the Qur’an seems to uphold the authenticity of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Nonetheless, there are references within the Qur’an to certain “distortions” of these texts. What these are, and in what sense parts of the Torah and Gospels were “distorted” is an issue that has been debated by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars throughout the past 14 centuries. This chapter attempts to explore the idea of “distortion” as well as the range of Muslim views around it, arguing that despite the polemics on both the Muslim and non-Muslim sides on the issue, the Qur’an and a number of Muslim scholars take a more nuanced and positive view of existing Jewish and Christian scriptures and their authenticity. Such a view could be quite conducive to today’s interfaith dialogue projects between Muslims and people of other faiths.1 Although there are many “scriptures” of Jews and Christians, I will refer in this chapter only to what the Qur’an refers to as Tawrat (Torah) and Injil(Gospel).
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Notes
For some of the arguments presented in the first part of this paper, see also Abdullah Saeed, “The Charge of Distortion of Jewish and Christian Scriptures,” The Muslim World 92, nos. 3 & 4 (Fall 2002): 419–36.
Muhammad Abdel Haleem, Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 1999), 73.
This problem is discussed by Seyyed Hossein Nasr as one of the obstacles for Christian-Muslim dialogue. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Islamic-Christian Dialogue—Problems and Obstacles to be Pondered and Overcome,” The Muslim World 88, nos. 3–4 (July–October 1998).
Record of the disputation between Timothy and Al-Mahdi in Camilla Adang, Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 224.
See the arguments of Ibn Hazm outlined in Muhammad Abu Laylah, The Quran and the Gospels: A Comparative Study (Al-Falah Foundation: Cairo, 2005), 123–137. http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6103974/f/The_Quran_and_the_Gospels A_Comparative_Study.pdf (accessed February 2010).
Tabari, Abu Ja’far Muhammad B. Jariral, Jami ‘al-Bayan ‘an Ta’wil ‘ay al-Qur’ān (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1988), I. 303.
“Tahrif,” n H. A. R. Gibb and J. H. Kramers, Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1991), p. 560.
Joseph M. Mutei, “The Bible: Classical and Contemporary Muslim Attitudes and Exegesis,” Evangelical Theological Review 31, no.3 (2007): 207, 210.
David Thomas, “The Past and the Future in Christian—Muslim Relations,” Islam and Christian—Muslim Relations 18, no. 1 (2007): 33, 39.
James S. Cutsinger, “Hesychia: An Orthodox Opening to Esoteric Ecumenism,” Lecture delivered at the University of South Carolina, October 19, 2001; published in Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East, ed. James S. Cutsinger (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2002).
David F. Ford, “An Interfaith Wisdom: Scriptural Reasoning Between Jews, Christians and Muslims,” Modern Theology 22, no. 3 (2006): 345, 345.
A. Rashied Omar, “Embracing the “Other” as an Extension of the Self: Muslim Reflections on the Epistle to the Hebrews 13:2,” Anglican Theological Review 91, no. 3 (2009): 433, 434.
Noel Malcolm, “Comenius, the Conversion of the Turks, and the Muslim-Christian Debate on the Corruption of Scripture,” Church History and Religious Culture 87 (2007): 477, 500.
Kamil International Ministries Organization, “The Integrity of the Bible Part 1: Studies on Answering Islam,” (2007). http://www.kimo4-jesus.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=16, accessed February 2010.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Islamic-Christian Dialogue-Problems and Obstacles to be Pondered and Overcome,” The Muslim World 88, nos. 3–4 (1998): 219.
David Thomas, “The Past and the Future in Christian-Muslim Relations,” Islam and Christian—Muslim Relations 18, no. 1 (2007): 39.
Mark Beaumont, “Muslim Readings of John’s Gospel in the cAbbasid Period,” Islam and Christian—Muslim Relations 19, no. 2 (2008):195.
Miroslav Volf, “Your Scripture Meets Mine,” Christian Century (2004): 43.
David F. Ford, “An Interfaith Wisdom: Scriptural Reasoning between Jews, Christians and Muslims,” Modern Theology 22, no. 3 (2006): 346.
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© 2011 Luca Anceschi, Joseph A. Camilleri, Ruwan Palapathwala, and Andrew Wicking
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Saeed, A. (2011). How Muslims View the Scriptures of the People of the Book: Toward a Reassessment?. In: Anceschi, L., Camilleri, J.A., Palapathwala, R., Wicking, A. (eds) Religion and Ethics in a Globalizing World. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230117686_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230117686_11
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