The Qur'an: Its biblical subtext, by Gabriel Said Reynolds

Year 2011, Volume: 2 Issue: 1, 112 - 121, 01.06.2011

Y. Tzvi Langermann

https://doi.org/10.12730/13091719.2011.21.30

Abstract

First paragraph:
Gabriel Said Reynolds’ painstaking study is a welcome addition to
the swelling corpus of Qurʾān studies. The central arguments are neither
complex nor entirely new. The Qurʾān is best understood as a
homily upon Jewish and Christian traditions. More specifically, the
Qurʾān alludes to anti-Jewish Christian homilies on biblical themes.
The supposition that the intended audience for the Qurʾān’s preaching
would have been familiar with the narrative and its attendant
morals, so that allusion would suffice, is one of the insights that Reynolds
owes to the late John Wansbrough. However, what was so well
known to the original audience of the Qurʾān was not at all familiar to
the huge umma that developed over the succeeding centuries. Reynolds
adds that it was the deliberate decision of the Muslim mufassirūn
to distance their holy writ from the traditions of rival – by now,
subdued and despised (dhimmī) – faiths. Hence, even when the mufassirūn
had access to a Jewish or Christian tradition, they would not
exploit it for the clarification of difficult Qurʾānic passages. Therefore,
academic scholars should not rely on tafsīr for the elucidation of difficult
passages.

Keywords

The Qur'an, biblical subtext, Gabriel Said Reynolds