Download BOOK REVIEWS Comparative Study of the Bible and the

Journal ot Ecumenical Studies, 44 3, Summer, 2009
BOOK REVIEWS
Comparative Study of the Bible and the Qur'än since 9/11:
A Review Article
Kenneth Cragg, A Certain Sympathy of Scriptures Biblical and Quranic Brighton,
UK Sussex Academic Press, 2004 Pp 144 $22 50
Kenneth Cragg, The Qur an and the West Washington, DC Georgetown University
Press, 2006 Pp 235 $34 95
George Dardess, Do We Worship the Same God9 Comparing the Bible and the Qur'an
Cincinnati, OH St Anthony Messenger Press, 2006 Pp 166 $12 95
Mateen Elass, Understanding the Koran A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy
Book Grand Rapids, MI Zondervan, 2004 Pp 192 $12 99
Mohamed Ghounem, 200+ Ways the Quran Corrects the Bible How Islam Unites Judaism and Christianity Newtown, CT Multi-National Muslim Committee, 2004 Pp 214
$13 45
Bearing the Word Prophecy in Biblical and Qur 'änic Perspective Edited by Michael
Ipgrave New York Church House Publishing, 2005 Pp 155 $19 00
Scriptures in Dialogue Christians and Muslims Studying the Bible and the Qur 'an Together Edited by Michael Ipgrave London Church House Publishing, 2004 Pp 154
$20 00
Bible and Qur 'an Essays in Scriptural Jntertextuality Edited by John C Reeves SBL
Symposium Series 24 Atlanta, GA Society of Biblical Literature, 2003 Pp 245 $3195
Don Richardson, Secrets of the Koran Revealing Insights into Islam's Holy Book Ventura, CA Regal Books, 2003 Pp 260 $16 99
Charles S Ruark, Jr, The Koran Unveiled A Comparison of the Qur 'an and the Bible
Cleveland, TN Derek Press, 2006 Pp 528 $24 99
Ben J Smith, Differences The Bible and the Koran Nashville, TN Cumberland House
Publishing, 2002 Pp 158 $9 95
Anees Zaka and Diane Coleman, The Truth about Islam The Noble Qur 'an's Teachings
in Light of the Holy Bible Phillipsburg, NJ Ρ & R Publishing, 2004 Pp 194 $1199
Watershed moments are those rare occasions that have such a profound effect on the
soul and psyche oí an individual or society that things are never the same again The difference between before and after, pre- and post-, is obvious and undeniable We all recognize
these moments, and we always remember exactly where we were when they occurred or
when we learned of them
Nothing in recent history better qualifies as a watershed moment than the events that
took place on September 11, 2001 On that Tuesday morning our collective and individual
lives were permanently altered, and we entered a new era Many of the changes we have experienced since that day have been practical and tangible, while others are beneath the surface and more subtle Among the latter changes has been a growing interest in and curiosity
about Islam on the part of non-Muslims, as many have sought to become better informed
about the religion and its followers
Here I explore one aspect of this growing interest in Islam by examining the resources
available for those wanting to learn about the Qur'än What kind of information is out there
tor a non-Muslim who wishes to become familiar with Islam's sacred text9 In particular, how
do these works present and understand the relationship between the Qur'än and the Bible9
We were reminded of the potentially contentious nature of that relationship in the fall of
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2006, after the election of the first Muslim to the U S Congress Representative Keith Ellison
of Minnesota created a controversy in some circles when he announced that he would use a
copy of the Qur'än, rather than the Bible, at his private swearing-in ceremony The negative
outcry against that decision by some indicates that the place of Islam and the Qur'än in
American society remains a debated issue in many quarters
The works discussed here help to frame the parameters ofthat debate Since 9/11, many
books have been published in English that somehow address the relationship between the
Qur'än and the Bible, a dozen of which are considered here Three distinct categories can be
identified within this corpus, each with its own ideology, methodology, and implications for
mterfaith relations These categories are discussed under three headings that highlight their
primary intent "Books that Denigrate," "Books that Divert," and "Books that Dialogue "
Books that Denigrate
The first set of books adopts a negative view of the Qur'än and Islam, since their chief
aim is to denigrate the faith and its followers The authors of these works are usually not
trained in Islam or qur'änîc studies, and their backgrounds have not prepared them to write
on these topics Richardson is a pastor who spent many years doing mission work in nonlslamic settings Smith describes himself as a retired executive and self-taught Bible scholar
who is fluent in Greek and Hebrew Ruark is a physician who developed a keen interest in
the Bible and the Qur'än following a religious conversion in the 1970's The reactionary perspective of their works is best captured by the cover of Smith's book The top portion depicts
an idyllic scene of a rural church m what appears to be the American heartland, while the
bottom half is dominated by a large photo of Osama bin Laden's face The two images are
separated by the word "differences" in the title, written in capital letters
The books adopt different ways of pointing out the deficiencies of the Qur'än and thus
the superiority of the Bible As its title suggests, Richardson's work is an exposé that seeks to
uncover and bring to light the hidden, sinister truth about Islam's text It is organized by
themes, and some of the chapter titles give a good sense of Richardson's bias against the
Qur'än and Islam "A Book of Peace9", "Violent Verses, Violent Deeds", "A Warring
Prophet's Supremacist Legacy" and "Islam's Plan tor World Domination " Throughout, he
attempts to belittle the Islamic text as a derivative work that distorts the Bible and is nothing
but the brainchild of the Prophet Muhammad, a bloodthirsty, sex-crazed tyrant
Smith's book is organized m the form of sixty-five brief entries, each with a subject
heading followed by texts from the Bible and the Qur'än meant to encapsulate each book's
view on a given topic Smith makes no attempt to interpret or analyze these verses—a task he
says he leaves to the reader—but his agenda is clear He occasionally offers comments m his
entries, and usually they either point out the absence in the Qur'än of some theme or idea that
is central to the Bible or highlight the lack of agreement between the two books on some important matter of Christian faith The treatment is selective, and Smith does not try to understand the Qur'än on its own terms The entry on "Faith" is representative Smith cites four
texts, all from the New Testament, to illustrate the Bible's understanding of faith, followed
by this statement for the Qur'än "The New Testament teaching that, by the grace of God
through faith in Him. one can be saved and obtain eternal life, does not appear in the Koran
Rather, it is one's willingness to fight and die for Allah, and good works that assure one's
place m the Garden" (p 47) The Qur'än contains many passages that discuss faith, but Smith
does not include a single one in his entry
For his part, Ruark offers what he calls a full "commentary" on the Qur'än that is actually quite sparse and more of a paraphrase He has a separate section on each of the Qur'än's
114 chapters, but the treatment is uneven He provides English translations of the Qur'än in
some places, but much of the Islamic text is condensed in what he calls "Koran Summaries "
These sections present a minimal amount of general information about qur'änic passages that
are sometimes dozens of verses in length Ruark's commentary on specific passages often
Book Reviews
475
questions the Qur'än 's validity by measuring it against biblical texts from both testaments
that are cited to challenge and negate the message of the Qur'än
These works frequently demean Islam, its prophet, and its text Richardson, in particular,
freely hurls accusations and insults He equates Muhammad with Hitler (p 35), and descnbes
him as a "so-called prophet" (p 79) He refers to Islam as a cult that is far more sinister and
better funded than the Ku Klux Klan or the Aryan Nation (p 188) He considers the Qur'än
to be an incredibly boring, tediously repetitive, shockingly violent, and amoral work whose
"pronoun-saturated verses protect it by anesthetizing the minds of foreign readers before they
read far enough to realize how impoverished the text really is" (p 172) Toward the end of
his attack-filled examination of the Qur'än, he calls it a guidebook for dictatorial world dominion at any cost" (p 237)
The cover of his book notwithstanding, Smith is more subtle in his attacks When referring to the deity he capitalizes the first letter of the word "God" when speaking of the Bible,
but refers to Allah as the Muslim "god " He frequently misrepresents or misinterprets Islamic
beliefs and practices He mistakenly claims that Muslims practice animal sacrifice for the
remission of sins (p 40) and that they revere the black stone in the Ka'ba in Mecca (p 31)
Smith's comment that Jerusalem is important to Islam because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reflects a shocking lack of awareness of the key role the city played for Muslims during
Muhammad's lifetime (p 64) Along with Ruark (pp 6-7), Smith states that the God of the
Bible is not the God of the Qur'än (ρ 17), despite the many statements to the contrary in the
Qur'än itself These and other errors reflect ignorance of the facts regarding Islam and its
text It is therefore ironic that one of the charges Richardson levels against the Qur'än is that
it distorts the truth about Christianity
Throughout these works, the Qur'än is denigrated because these authors consider Islam
to be a threat to the Western world Toward the end of his book, Richardson presents a hypothetical scenario of how Islam will take over the world that is truly remarkable for the flights
of fancy it takes and the level of anxiety it seeks to produce (164-69) Smith concludes his
book with the entire text of then-CIA Director George Tenet's February, 2002, testimony
before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, titled "Worldwide Threat Converging
Dangers in a Post 9/11 World " Why end a book on the relationship between the Bible and
the Qur'än with a political document that makes no reference to either text9
The authors approach their task from an uninformed perspective that does not reflect
familiarity with the tools commonly used or the views commonly held by Bible scholars
While his book is, strictly speaking, not a comparative study of the Bible and the Qur'än,
Richardson regularly cites the biblical text to support his positions vis-à-vis the Islamic text
He explains away the differences among the four Gospels and between the Deuteronomic
and the Chronicler's history as stemming from different narrators who give their versions for
multiple witness verification (pp 95-96) Similarly, he frequently refers to David as the author of the book of Psalms (p 133) Smith takes the same view regarding the authorship of
Psalms and considers Solomon to be the author of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs
(p 24), while also favoring Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch (p 23) There are a number
of factual errors in Smith's work that display lack of familiarity with the histoncal context of
the biblical writings
Books that Divert
The second group of books shares much in common with the first set, but their ultimate
aim is different Whereas the previous works appear to be primarily interested in denigrating
the Qur'än and Islam, this group attempts to divert Muslims from Islam and lead them toward Christianity, or vice-versa This may also be one of the objectives of the first set of
books, but it is not stated as openly as it is here Similarly denigration of Islam and the
Qur'än is sometimes found in these works, but the diversionary agenda of the authors has an
impact on their tone and content that makes them less incendiary
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Journal o f Ecumenical Studies
There is an apologetic dimension to these works that is summed up well by Elass, a
Presbyterian pastor who was raised in Saudi Arabia:
We must own the truth that Christianity and Islam will always remain opponents—and
likely in increasing measure as this twenty-first century unfolds. Therefore, Christians
need to become much more familiar with the teachings of the Koran and the practices
of Islam so as to more ably explain to Muslims the reason for the hope that lies within
us because of Jesus Christ. . .We need to restock our intellectual tool shed, laying
aside the tools of Enlightenment debate and crafting new ones that will help open the
Muslim mind and heart to the matchless excellencies of Jesus Christ." (pp. 162-163)
This theme is also literally woven throughout Zaka and Coleman's book, most chapters
of which open with a portion of what they title "A Prayer for the Muslim World." It is simultaneously a triumphal celebration of Christianity and a denunciation of the errors that fill Islam, praying for those in Muslim lands to be won for Christ, including Muslim children in
mission schools.
These authors study the Qur'än in order to discover the flaws in the text and thereby
encourage Muslims to reject Islam. According to Elass, "If the church is serious about its
commission to make disciples of a l l . . . , then we must be conversant with the belief system
that presently sways one fifth of the world's population. Perhaps the quickest way to do this
well is to familiarize ourselves with the Koran, which stands at the heart of Muslim theology
and practice" (p. 8). Among the deficiencies he singles out are the drabness of Islamic ritual
compared with its Christian counterpart (p. 20), the way certain verses of the Qur'än abrogate
others (pp. 32-33), and Muhammad's exploitation of the earlier prophets for his own selfglorification (p. 97). Nowhere does Elass address such phenomena as textual abrogation or
multiple versions within the biblical tradition.
Like the first set of books, these works find fault with the Qur'än, but the authors tend to
be more diplomatic in how they express their reservations about it. One of the most frequently voiced criticisms concerns the origin of the material found in the Islamic text. Zaka
and Coleman wonder if the Qur'än really is a revelation from God or simply a creation of
Muhammad as he came in contact with Jews and Christians during his early life: "So what
Muhammad eventually absorbed was a mishmash of fragmented biblical stories, miracle
tales, and chronologically confused prophetic sayings—all regarded as authentic and equally
truthful by the young merchant" (p. 33).
Elass, too, believes the Qur'än is a result of Muhammad's exposure to Jewish and Christian sources, like the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James. He concludes that the qur'änic
accounts dealing with biblical figures and events contain the "germ seed" of the earlier biblical material, but their lack of logical order and historical grounding render them inferior and
inaccurate. Consequently, for him the Qur'än is a flawed document that does not support its
claim to be error-free and divinely inspired. "The streams in the desert from which Muhammad drank his theology and history were not pure enough to keep his message in line with
that which God had revealed over the previous two thousand years to Israel and the church"
(p. 127).
These works frame the question of the relationship between the Bible and the Qur'än in
terms of truth, as neatly expressed in the title of Zaka and Coleman's book. Those two authors operate out of what they refer to as a "presuppositional conviction" that God's truth is
revealed in the Bible, a book that has not been corrupted despite the Qur'än's claims to the
contrary. Therefore, the two books are mutually exclusive because each makes certain truthclaims that render the other null and void. "Biblical Christianity and qur'änic Islam are not
equal in terms of doctrine or behavior and are therefore not in that sense comparable. The
former represents Divine Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. The latter is a
reflection of a particular personality, time, and place, and, as we will see, seriously deviates
from the central message of the Old and New Testaments to which it links itself (p. 5).
Zaka and Coleman's work contains thirty-one tables, most of which are listings of
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477
verses meant to demonstrate that the Bible is more reliable than the Qur'än These selections
are presented as sharp contrasts that reflect the superior nature of the Bible A chart titled
"sample militant passages in the Noble Qur'än" is paired with one titled "sample passages on
godly attitudes in the Holy Bible " No acknowledgement is made of either the militant passages in the Bible or the passages in the Qur'än that encourage Muslims to lead good lives
(pp 155-157) Given the obvious superiority of the Bible over the Qur'än, the authors see
only one logical choice—Muslims must become Christians or suffer the consequences
Elass reveals his diversionary aims at the end of his book through a set of six discussion
questions for each of his eleven chapters These questions are loaded with both obvious and
subtle criticisms of the Qur'än and Islam that are meant to remind the reader of the importance of leading Muslims to Christianity
A similar work written from the Muslim perspective is Ghounem's book, which seeks
to address some of the criticisms of the Qur'än voiced by Zaka and Colemen, Elass, and others At the outset Ghounem states that his book will dispel the many myths regarding the
Qur'än's attacking or copying the Bible He believes his work will help Jews and Christians
to become stronger monotheists, because they will not be influenced by the tensions found in
the Bible Here, too, the goal is to bring nonbelievers to the faith of the author once they realize the errors contained m their present scripture Ghounem states m his foreword, "Seeking
to bring peace and agreement among humans, the Qur'än divinely arbitrates the differences
between Jews and Christians, uniting them into Muslims This volume magnifies some of the
miracles of the Qur'än by demonstrating hundreds of ways the Qur'än rectifies the Bible "
Ghounem sets out to do this by treating 210 themes, most presented in question form,
that are divided into ten categories God, Prophets, Science, Laws, History, Women, Jesus,
Trinity, Afterlife, and Additional Ways In each category he considers a number of topics that
he claims are treated ambiguously or inconsistently in the Bible The tone of this work, like
the others, is confrontational and therefore not conducive to dialogue between Muslims and
non-Muslims E g, he frequently calls Christians "Trinitarians," and makes generalizations
about the Bible (and the Qur'än) based on one or two passages, which then become representative of the text as a whole Ghounem also misrepresents the content of the Bible and the
findings of biblical scholarship at times E g, he says that Bible commentators disagree on
whether David was a manifestation of Jesus or he was a begotten son of God (170) Elsewhere, he identifies Paul as the author of Revelation (p 156) Ghounem's views about the
Qur'än mirror those of Zaka and Colemen and Elass regarding the Bible Drawing on a story
found in both texts, he says that "in the manner of Moses leading Jews out of Egypt, the
Qur'än has also parted a sea of errors in the Bible to lead humans to heaven" (p 206) Like
them, he sees the two books locked m a competition that can only be decided by determining
which one is true, and he claims that Islam is the world's fastest-growing religion simply because truth prevails
Books that Dialogue
Thefinalcategory includes books that put the Bible and the Qur'än m dialogue with one
another without attempting to malign or privilege either text In the volume edited by Reeves,
he and his contributors demonstrate the value of putting the biblical tradition m conversation
with its Islamic counterpart The book's nine essays adopt a variety of approaches and cover
a range of topics that amply demonstrate that Islamic texts, like those from Mesopotamia,
Egypt, and other parts of the ancient Near East, can be a valuable resource for biblical scholarship It is a highly recommended work for anyone interested in the relationship between the
Bible and the Muslim traditions that are affiliated with it
Dardess's work raises important and provocative questions about the possible implications of study of the Bible and Qur'än He refers to his book as a comparative study of texts,
but he limits his discussion to relatively few topics He looks at how the two texts treat sixteen different issues, including creation, Satan, Adam and Eve m the garden, the birth of Je-
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Journal of Ecumenical Studies
sus, Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus' relation to God, the Holy Spirit, prayer, and
jihad As this list suggests, the treatment is weighted toward the New Testament and topics of
particular interest to Christians The book is also writtenfroma Catholic perspective, in keeping with Dardess's role as a permanent deacon in the Rochester, NY, Catholic diocese
Each chapter begins with a brief introductory section, followed by selections from both
texts, then questions for discussion On occasion, Dardess attempts to answer the questions
that conclude his chapters, but for the most part he simply lists the questions without providing any suggestions on how to address them More often than not, he ends his comments after
a question with a set of other questions to consider This frequent use of questions is a frustrating aspect of the book, especially in those instances where the treatment in a given chapter
does not provide enough information or background for readers to answer the questions adequately The title indicates that Dardess is interested in exploring whether or not the God of
the Bible is the God of the Qur'än, but readers expecting an answer to that question will be
disappointed because they are often asked to decide for themselves
Despite this shortcoming, Dardess's work presents a balanced and accurate picture of
Islam and Christianity without privileging one over the other It is written from a Christian
perspective, but the author's respect for the beliefs and practices of Muslims is obvious At
times, he discusses topics that often divide and alienate Muslims and Christians This is seen
most clearly in his discussion of the role of Jesus in Islam and Christianity (pp 97-101)
Dardess acknowledges the deep differences between Muslims and Christians regarding Jesus,
but he points out that they are united in their rejection of certain false beliefs associated with
him that are repudiated in the Qur'än, like a triad of three different gods and the identification
of Mary as a deity These ideas probably reflect the beliefs of certain Christian groups in
Arabia with which Muhammad came in contact but were considered heretical by the majority
of Christians This is one of the ways Dardess tries to highlight connections between Christianity and Islam without whitewashing the differences
Cragg is an Anglican bishop who has held important ecclesiastical and academic positions throughout the Middle East during his long and distinguished career He is the author of
many books and articles on the relationship between Christianity and Islam, and, since 9/11,
he has written two books on the Qur'än The title of his 2004 work A Certain Sympathy of
Scriptures Biblical and Quranic is a bit misleading because there is not much comparative
analysis of the two texts, but it is more relevant for our topic than his 2006 book, The Qur'an
and the West Cragg's interest m dialogue is apparent at the outset of the earlier work "The
intention is to identify how and where, in loyalty to their respective scriptures, the Qur'än and
the Bible, those who have so long proved * alien' to each other, might instead recognize the
partial perceptions of Allah, of God, they authentically share and more avowedly proceed
upon them" (vu) A central theme in both books is Cragg's claim that the common human
situation shared by all people regardless of their religion is what he calls "the caliphate of
humankind " Simply put, this means that we rule over the earth, but we are always under the
sovereignty of the divine Cragg argues that the biblical idea that humanity exercises dominion over the earth is equivalent to the qur'änic concept of khilafah, which describes how humans govern the earth as vice-regents in the place of God In Cragg's words, "Each faith in
its own idiom is only taking seriously the 'serious' business of our creaturehood, our role
over things ever under God'' (10)
His 2006 volume is less focused on the relationship between the Bible and the Qur'än,
but here, too, Cragg makes similar points Particularly insightful is his observation that the
Qur'än 's reference to humanity's ' colonizing" the earth in 11 61 is similar to the concept of
dominion over creation that is found in Genesis (pp 28-29) Turning his eye to contemporary events that support violent actions by appealing to religious texts for justification, Cragg
contends that the ethos of both the Qur'än and the Bible is life-centered and therefore opposed to all forms of suicide (p 45) He believes the area of ecological trust or "earth tenure"
holds the most promise for dialogue and collaboration between the biblical and qur'änic per-
Book Reviews
479
spectives regarding humanity and our place in the world (p 191 ) In both books Cragg makes
an urgent appeal to use the shared vision of the Qur'än and Bible to heal divisions among
people and insure the future survival of the planet Cragg addresses big issues in these books,
and he is more interested in exploring the common world view that emerges from the Qur'än
and Bible than m comparing specific passages within them This is different from what virtually all the previous books do, and it has the advantage of allowing the reader to consider the
similarities and points of contact between the Bible and Qur'än without becoming overwhelmed by the differences between them
The final two books are edited by Ipgrave, the mterfaith advisor to the Archbishops'
Council of the Church of England The first, Scriptures in Dialogue, is a record of the Building Bridges Seminar held m Doha, Qatar, in April, 2003 Twenty-five Muslim and Christian
scholars met for a three-day seminar convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and hosted
by the Emir of Qatar The purpose ol the gathering was to explore the contribution a joint
reading of the Bible and the Qur'än might make to Muslim/Christian dialogue The major
part of the seminar was carried out m four small groups, each composed of scholars from
both faiths These groups met six times for intense reading of paired passages of the Qur'än
and the Bible The results of these encounters are called "scripture dialogues" in the book,
and they serve as a fine model for how to engage m inter-canonical interpretation m a sensitive and thoughtful way The format of each is the same A brief commentary follows each
text, then reflections on the relationship between the two are presented
The first scripture dialogue, "signs of God," is a study of Psalm 19 and Qur'än 30 19-30
Both the Bible and the Qur'än speak of the signs of God found m the created order that complement the written signs found m the texts This group explored how these two modes of
communication mutually interpret one another The participants speak of the need to develop
a 'hermeneutic of trust" that will include reappraisal of one's own attitudes They acknowledge that both faiths grapple with the question of how to relate to those who do not grasp the
importance of the signs—alternatively understood as either sin or ignorance—that often
stems from a refusal to accept the other's ability to read the signs correctly The group concludes that the presence of this theme in both the Qur'än and the Bible holds the key to improving mterfaith relations "It may be that the wider horizons of discerning together God's
signs m the natural order and in human history can help to promote mutually healing readings
of one another's holy texts, and so build up a hermeneutic of trust" (p 50)
The participants do not shy away from difficult topics that have accentuated the divisions between Christianity and Islam The fifth scripture dialogue, "Space for the Other?"
examines two sets of texts, the first stressing God's acceptance of followers of other religions
and the second taking the opposite view that God rejects members of other faiths After discussing the various ways Muslims and Christians have tried to either affirm or soften the exclusivist positions adopted by the latter texts the participants argue that in the modern world
the imperative of pluralism must be heeded, but there is a resistance in both Islam and Christianity to acknowledge the other as an equal vehicle of salvation
The second volume edited by Ipgrave records the proceedings of a similar seminar held
at Georgetown University m 2004 It, too, was convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
bringing together thirty Christian and Muslim scholars from around the world, about half of
whom participated in the earlier seminar The theme this time centered on prophecy in its
biblical and qur'änic forms This book also contains six scripture dialogues that cover a range
of issues related to prophecy One of the most provocative contributions is written by Mustansir Mir, a Muslim scholar who explores whether the Qur'än permits interreligious dialogue and, if so, under what conditions Mir cites several examples of misreadmgs of
qur'änic passages that are often interpreted as pluralist and tolerant when in actuality they are
exclusivist in their orientation Such misreadmgs ignore the content or context of passages
with the best of intentions, but they ultimately hinder efforts to engage m honest and fruitful
exchange of ideas Mir observes that mterfaith dialogue is essentially a Western, Christian
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Journal of Ecumenical Studies
phenomenon with very little initiative from the Muslim side. He believes a Qur'än-based
theology of dialogue needs to be developed that looks at the entire Qur'än rather than isolated
passages. He suggests that such a dialogue can be built on the Qur'än's notion of individual
accountability, a theme that is present throughout the book. With this as the starting point, it
is the sincerity of one's faith, regardless of its content, that is most important, allowing others' beliefs to be treated with respect and tolerance (pp. 13-20).
The chapter on Jesus and Muhammad contains a Muslim response to the Christian understanding of Jesus, written by Mahmoud Ayoub, and a Christian response to the Muslim
understanding of Jesus by Daniel Madigan. Each presents an unbiased discussion of the other
faith's view of Jesus that can serve as a model for the type of honest and open exchange that
is possible when true dialogue takes place. Ayoub stresses the necessity of continuing to
work toward interfaith understanding despite the obstacles that make this difficult at times:
"If God is loving and merciful, we need to be open to all the ways in which he may be speaking through different divinely chosen channels to our different contexts. Christians and Muslims must abandon their exclusivist claims to one another and to others, and treat one another
on a basis of equality and mutual recognition" (p. 89).
The scripture dialogue on the finality of prophecy, treating Heb 1:1-4 and Qur'än 5:3,
33:40, raises three critical questions that highlight the risks and stakes involved when Muslims and Christians enter into serious dialogue with one another (pp. 113-115): (1) On the
Muslim side, can the faith of Christians in Jesus as Son of God be in any way appreciated
within the parameters of Islamic Christology? (2) On the Christian side, is it at all possible,
given the finality and completeness ofthat which is revealed by God in the Jesus event, to
recognize a space for any genuinely prophetic event at a later point in time? (3) How prepared are we to hand over "our own" scriptures, particularly those relating to "our own" Jesus
or Muhammad, to the scrutiny and interpretation of others? The participants in the seminar
raise such questions without offering any definitive answers, but the very act of articulating
the questions is itself a criticalfirststep on the way to honest dialogue that highlights the profound differences between these books and those in thefirsttwo categories.
Conclusion
In The Qur 'an and the West Cragg offers an observation and poses a question that have
a direct bearing on our topic. He writes, "We may be sure that, of late years, the Qur'än has
been more urgently consulted in the West than, outside academic circles, was the case earlier.
But has the access of new readers meant a readier comprehension?" (pp. 11-12) This survey
of recent books on the Qur'än and the Bible suggests that Cragg's question should be answered with an unqualified "It depends." The approaches and agendas of these works vary
considerably, and so the depth and quality of a non-Muslim's comprehension of the Qur'än
and Islam rest upon which work(s) one consults. Returning to Congressman Ellison, our attitude toward the Qur'än on which he placed his hand when he took the oath of office depends
on whether our opinion of it was formed by a work that denigrates, one that diverts, one that
dialogues, or some combination of the three.
Nonspecialists will be drawn to the volumes in thefirsttwo categories because those in
the third tend to be written in a more academic and scholarly style. This is particularly true of
the books by Cragg, Ipgrave, and Reeves. Unfortunately, those seeking information will
probably rely more on works that are polemical and less interested in discussing the Qur'än
and its relationship to the Bible objectively. This could have significant implications for the
future of interfaith relations, especially on a popular level. Of course, many non-Muslims
have devoted time and energy to developing an accurate understanding of Islam and its sacred text, but, if the primary exposure to the faith for others is through books that attempt to
denigrate or divert, many misperceptions and stereotypes will be perpetuated.
John Kaltner, Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
^ s
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