The title “Between Bible and Qurʾān” could be taken to mean that this book deals with the “influence” of the Bible on the Qur'an. Here, how- ever, the title indicates that the book will examine the literary role played by the Bible in Islamic sources, and will concentrate on the tension between Biblical and Qurʾānic models as revealed in Islamic texts describ- ing contacts between the Muslims and the people of the Bible, that is, the Jews in particular but Christians, too. This book will thus examine certain crucial aspects of the Islamic attitude towards the Other.

A study assessing the relative impact of the Bible and the Qurʾān on Islamic texts has not previously been undertaken. Most of the studies which deal with the relationship between the Bible and the Qur3ān have been carried out from an external viewpoint, being aimed at exploring the ways in which the Qur'an and other early Islamic texts were “influenced” by Jewish, Christian, and other types of “monotheistic” literature. There is an enormous number of such studies which have appeared since the nineteenth century, and there is no point in listing them here.

Unlike these studies, the present book remains within the internal sphere of the Islamic sources and examines the relationship between the Biblical and Qurʾānic elements present in them. This is done with a view to revealing aspects of the evolution of the Islamic self-image, i.e. the manner in which the Muslims defined their own position vis-à-vis their monotheistic predecessors in world history. This aim is based on the assumption that the way in which Islamic texts employed Biblical and Qurʾānic models may reflect the Islamic perception of the role in history of the Jews and the Christians, as compared with that of the Muslims.

The evidence of some Jewish and Christian documents will also be examined in order to illustrate the extent to which the Islamic historical perception left its mark on the writings of contemporary Jewish and Christian authors. The present book will thus also reveal elements in the general Jewish-Christian-Islamic discourse.

The Selected Material

The Islamic texts selected for examination establish a direct and explicit link between Muslims and others in the context of world history.