Christianity and the Qur'an: The Rise of Islam in Christian Arabia (Gabriel Said Reynolds) Review
Christians recognize that their
faith tradition emerged from Judaism; at least they should. After all, Jesus
and his disciples were all Jews. While Paul initiated a missionary effort to
bring Gentiles into the fold, he, too, was a Jew. The Bible for the earliest
Christians was what Christians call the Old Testament. Thus, as Paul reveals, Gentile
Christians are children of Abraham by adoption through faith in Christ. With
that relationship established, there is another religious movement that claims
descent from Abraham. That movement is Islam. The question that has been
explored over the centuries concerns the relationship between Islam and its two
forebears, especially Christianity. After all, Jesus figures prominently in the
Qur'an and in Islam more broadly, as does Mary, whom the Qur’an claims to be a
virgin at the conception of Jesus. I have pondered this question with some
regularity, especially in light of my Abrahamic engagements with Jewish and
Muslim friends and dialog partners.
We know that Islam emerged from central
Arabia in the sixth century CE, led by a prophet named Muhammad. This prophet
is said to have received revelations from God, which were gathered together in the
Qur’an. The claim made by Muhammad’s followers is that he faced down pagans who
inhabited the region and brought about a monotheistic religious revival that
spread west from Arabia across North Africa to Spain, and eastward to
Mesopotamia, Persia, and beyond. With the many parallels and borrowings from
Christianity present in the Qur’an and in the message of Islam, the question
remains as to the relationship of Muhammad’s movement to Christianity. This
includes the origins of the Qur'an, the sacred and normative scripture of Islam.
The question addressed in Gabriel Said Reynolds’ book Christianity and the Qur’an is this: Could it be that Arabia was not a land filled with
polytheistic pagans, but that Arabia had a rather large Christian population?
Could it be that even when the Qur'an doesn't name Christianity, it has
Christianity in mind?
The subtitle of Gabriel Said
Reynolds’ book, Christianity and the Qur’an, is suggestive of a possible
Christian context for the emergence of Islam in Arabia. In Reynold's view,
Islam emerged not from a pagan context but a largely Christian one. Yes, there
were polytheistic pagans, along with Jews, living in the region, but Reynolds
believes there is significant evidence of a presence of a significant Christian
population and that Muhammad and the Qur'an seek to address this audience. Such
an idea is, as Reynolds demonstrates, highly plausible, as it would make sense
of the many parallels to Christianity in the Qur’an, along with concerns expressed
there that seem to have Christianity in mind. Not only that, but the person who
first acknowledged Muhammad to be a prophet of God was a Christian living in
Mecca. So, could Islam be a form of Jewish Christianity that had taken root in
Arabia? Whether this is true is a question that remains a live issue, making
this book fascinating reading, at least for those of us who are interested in
the interrelationships between the three primary Abrahamic religions.
Before I get to the heart of this
book, something needs to be said about the identity of the author. Gabriel Said
Reynolds is the Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the
University of Notre Dame. He is the author of several books on Islam, including
books about its relationship to the Bible and to Christianity. From my
experience reading his work, I find him to be fair and judicious in his
representations, even as he views Islam through a Christian lens.
In Christianity and the Qur'an, Reynolds
explores the relationship of the Qur’an and the rise of Islam in relation to
Christianity, seeking to demonstrate where at least some elements of Islam
emerged from. The book is composed of four rather lengthy chapters. The first
of these chapters sets Said's argument in context. Titled "Traditional
Ideas about Christianity in Muhammad's Arabia,” Chapter 1 explores the various
theories that have emerged over the centuries, especially during the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries, as to the role Christianity played in Arabia during
the time Muhammad was beginning his prophetic career. Reynolds offers reflections
on archeological and linguistic evidence, as well as studies of ancient
religion. While some scholars asserted that Islam's monotheism was new and
based on Arabic ideas about the God Allah, such that Muhammad resurrected and
revised an understanding of a particular god in pre-Islamic Arabia known as
Allah, Reynolds draws on linguistic evidence regarding the use of the term
Allah both before and after Muhammad, as well as prayers found in the Qur'an to
offer a different view. While there are significant overlaps between Christian
texts, both biblical and non-biblical, Reynolds agrees that the Qur'an is not a
Christian text or even the source of the Qur'an. However, he believes Muhammad
was aware of Christianity and offered his revelation, the Qur’an, as a rival to
the Christian texts. The difference between the two is rooted in the use of
Arabic as well as Muhammad's role in the text.
Although Reynolds does not believe
the Qur'an is a Christian text, as the title of chapter 2 suggests, there is
"Christian Material in the Qur'an." After all, the Qur'an claims that
Muhammad is the last in a long line of prophets that includes Jesus. The Qur'an
claims that Jesus even predicted the rise of Muhammad. Thus, the Qur'an uses
Jesus to bolster its theological positions. Reynolds notes that in the Qur'an,
Jesus came to confirm the book of Moses, and Muhammad came to confirm the
message of Jesus. At the same time, despite the affirmation of both Judaism and
Christianity, the Qur'an is known to condemn both Judaism and Christianity. To
make his point, Reynolds takes note of numerous Christian and Jewish turns of
phrase found in the Qur'an. This seems surprising since Muhammad is said to
have focused his attention on pagans, so why would he include all of these biblical
phrases? Therefore, Reynolds suggests that if these passages and turns of
phrase are not addressed to pagans but to Christians, then it would appear that
Muhammad wishes to reach Christians rather than pagans. But the Qur’an not only
includes turns of phrase, it also draws on Christian legends. While the Qur'an
doesn't refer directly to the Gospel writers, for instance, or even any
specific book of the New Testament—in part, this is because at the time, there
wasn't an Arabic-language Bible—many Christian stories, including legends, were
being shared at the time. These stories then found their way into the Qur'an.
As Reynolds points out, the Qur'an and its author (Muhammad?) are more
interested in stories about biblical characters than the teachings of the
Bible.
Reynolds titles chapter 3 "Christianity
in the Qur'an's historical context.” In this chapter, Reynolds focuses on the
historical evidence regarding the presence and influence of Christianity in
Arabia. He notes that one will find few pagan inscriptions in either North or
South Arabia, but one will find numerous Christian inscriptions. To better
understand how Christian ideas and stories found their way into Arabia, Reynolds
takes note of the presence of languages other than Arabic that may have been
available and influential in Arabia. He points out that at the time, Arabic was
still developing. Thus, the focus here is on language, its development, and use
in spreading Christian ideas in Arabic, and its later influence on the
development of Islam and the Qur'an. As he works through the presence of
inscriptions and language usage, he also addresses the importance of Christian
missions when it comes to the Hijaz. One of the intriguing possibilities
explored here is recent scholarship that suggests Christian missionaries played
an important role in developing the Arabic alphabet and thus the Arabic script.
The final chapter (Chapter 4) is
titled "The Qur'an in Conversation with Christianity.” Everything Reynolds
has written before this chapter sets the stage for what he wishes to argue in
this concluding chapter. He points to the many passages in the Qur'an that
speak positively of Christians. While this has value for interreligious
dialogue, Reynolds is more interested in the way the Qur'an engages with
Christianity itself. He writes that "The Qur'an, I argue, has Christianity
in mind when it articulates its own teaching, even when it does not explicitly
refer to Christians or Christian teaching" (p. 142). While Islam makes a
point that it is not trinitarian, Reynolds points out that the invocation that
opens 113 of 114 Suras, the basmala, is tripartite, praying “in the name
of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,” offering a parallel to the Christian invocation
of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are a significant number of
parallels, including references to Jesus’ birth in Sura 19, that goes into some
detail as to Mary’s experience of giving birth. This seems to follow the Protoevangelium
of James, which dates to the second century and was translated into Syriac
by the fifth century. There are also discussions of Jesus’ miracles,
including both those found in the Gospels as well as noncanonical gospels. Reynolds
also points to the use of parables in the Qur’an as well as its use of
eschatological language that parallels Christian usage. While he seeks to
demonstrate the connections that exist between the Qur’an and Christian
sources, he makes it clear that he is not seeking to Christianize the Qur’an.
He argues that when it comes to the Qur’an’s engagement with Christianity, “it
is fundamentally a polemical engagement. The Qur’an is not a Christian text and
it does not have Christian meanings, either latent or manifest. The Qur’an
offers its own teaching, and above all offers arguments for the legitimacy of
its new prophet” (p. 181). This is, I believe, an important point, which may
help us to better understand Islam, its relationship to Christianity, and its
own integrity as a religious tradition.
Islam is the second largest and fastest growing religion in the world. It places itself in the larger Abrahamic context. It has connections with both Judaism and Christianity, but it has its own identity. Recognizing that fact may help us better understand each other. I’m not an expert in this field, but I am in regular conversation with Muslims, some of whom are dear friends. In Christianity and the Qur’an: The Rise of Islam in Christian Arabia, Gabriel Said Reynolds offers us a scholarly exploration of the relationship of Islam, the Qur’an, and its relationship to Christianity, especially if, as Reynolds believes, it emerged out of a Christian context in Arabia. This is an important conversation, especially in light of the growing presence of Islamophobia in parts of the Christian community and the community at large.
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