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The Qur’an and Its Biblical Under-text: New Perspectives on Non-Muslim Readings of the Qur’an

2012; Volume: 8; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.32597/jams/vol8/iss2/6/

1553-9881

Gabriela Phillips,

Islamic Studies and History

IntroductionThere is a growing interest among non-Muslims in the field of qur'anic studies.Since 9/11 Westerners are waking up to the realization that Islam is no longer a distant and exotic phenomena but is a reality next door that needs to be carefully considered.People are also becoming aware that the Qur'an is central to Islam.As a result, there is unprecedented development in the area of qur'anic studies by non-Muslims in the West, a kind of "golden age" that so far is mostly active at a scholarly level.Historically, non-Muslim studies of the Qur'an have tended to draw upon centuries-long hermeneutic of medieval Muslim scholarship (al Tabari, Razi, Baidawi, al Zamakhshari, Ibn Kathir, al Suyuti), with hardly any sustained or collaborative conversation with contemporary Muslim scholars dealing with the qur'anic sciences.But that isolation between Muslim and non-Muslim qur'anic studies is starting to be bridged by joint interfaith events and professional exchanges among scholars.Journals that were quite segregated now show a greater diversity of authors' names and institutions.Opportunities to lecture at universities in the Muslim world are being offered to non-Muslim scholars, and scholars from Muslim universities are invited to lecture in European and North American institutions.There is also a growing number of Interfaith Dialogue/Conversation initiatives that are struggling to forge new paths and raise questions beyond doctrinal comparisons or attempted manufactured consensus building.This new approach represents a break from traditional forms of confrontational debates in which Muslims and Christians have either squared off against each other to prove their superiority or limited their conversation to common ground.