The Qur'ān and the Bible: Competitors or Companions?

precis: Christians and Muslims often have negative views toward each other's scriptures. Christians assume the Qur'ān attacks fundamental doctrines of the Bible and Christianity, while most Muslims assert that the Bible has been corrupted or that we no longer possess the same scriptures referred to in the Qur'ān. Fortunately, recent academic approaches have demonstrated intertextual relationships between these scriptures that are opening doors to more constructive relations between them. Several Muslim scholars of the Bible accept these scriptures and their witness to the unique status of Isa al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah), though they may differ strongly with Christian interpretations of the Injīl (New Testament). This essay reviews these issues and argues for a more positive framework for both groups to engage each other's scriptures. The Qur'ān's high regard for the Bible will be contrasted with changing attitudes of each toward the other's scriptures. Evidence supporting the Qur'ān's positive relationship to the Bible will be introduced, along with answers to objections to such an assertion. This lays the basis for an alternate trajectory for approaching study of the Qur'ān's relationship to the Bible—one of intertextual engagement, harmonization, and complementarity.