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Scriptural Reasoning and the Anglican–Muslim Encounter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

Rumee Ahmed
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Abstract

The process of scriptural reasoning promises to facilitate dialogue and understanding across religious divides. In this paper, the author reflects on the experience of scriptural reasoning with Anglicans and Muslims; describing the phenomenon of ‘fellowship, not consensus’ with reference to key points of doctrinal difference between the two religious traditions.

Keywords

AnglicanBibleChristianinterfaithIslamMuslimQur'anreasoningScripture
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , November 2013 , pp. 166 - 178
Copyright
Copyright © The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2013 

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Footnotes

1.

Rumee Ahmed is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

References

2. For a study of Muslim participation in scriptural reasoning, see Mouftah, N., ‘Muslim Students in Scriptural Reasoning’, Journal of Scriptural Reasoning 11.1 (2012), available at: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journals/ssr/issues/volume11/number1/ssr11_01_e03.htmlGoogle Scholar

3. Winter, T., ‘Qur'anic Reasoning as an Academic Practice’, Modern Theology 22.3 (2006), p. 456.Google Scholar

4. See, for example, Sachedina, A., ‘The Nature of Scriptural Reasoning in Islam’, Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, 5.1 (2005), available at: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journals/ssr/issues/volume5/number1/ssr05_01_e01.htmlGoogle Scholar

5. There are certain chapters and verses that are associated with days and times; for example, Q. 18 is recited on Fridays, Q. 67 is recited at day's end, and Q. 3:173 is recited when there is a calamity. However, these recommendations are exceptional; they do not apply to the majority of the Qur'an. More importantly, they are not prescribed recitations. A believer might or might not recite these verses at the recommended times, based on individual discretion.Google Scholar

6. On illocutionary acts, see Austin, J.L., How to Do Things with Words (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962).Google Scholar

7. There are several interesting possibilities for scriptural reasoning in Q. 2:2 that I will not address, but which were addressed by classical exegetes. Al-Qurṭubī and al-Ṭabarī relate one interpretation, with which they most likely disagreed, that the ‘book’ in question might actually refer to the Torah and Gospels. In that sense, the Qur'an represents the culmination of a series of books in which there is no doubt; Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmi‘ al-Aḥkām (Beirut: Al-Risalah Publishers, 2006) p. 1:244; Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmi‘ al-Bayān (Giza: Markaz al-Buhuth, 2001) p. 1:231. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī suggested that Q. 2:2 might actually be addressed to Jews, given the repeated reference to Jews and Judaism in the rest of the chapter; al-Rāzī, Tafsīr al-Kabīr (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1981), p. 14. What I have provided in the main text is but one interpretation of Q. 2:2.Google Scholar

8. Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Aẓīm (Damascus: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1994) p. 1:54; Muḥammad b. ‘Alī al-Shawkānī, Fatḥ al-Qadīr (al-Mansura: Dar al-Ghadd al-Jadid, 2003), p. 1:36.Google Scholar

9. al-Rāzī also pointed out that the first reading makes it sound as though the Qur'an has guidance within it, whereas the second suggests the Qur'an is guidance in itself (fī nafsihī). The latter is a more accurate depiction of the Qur'an in al-Rāzī's opinion; Tafsīr al-Kabīr (n 6) p. 2:22.Google Scholar

10. ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Umar al-Baydāwī, Anwā r al-Tanzīl (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, n.d), p. 1:35.Google Scholar

11. Muḥyī al-Dīn b. ‘Arabī [misattributed] Tafsīr Ibn ‘Arabī (Beirut: Dar al-Sadir, 2002), p. 1:10; Zamakhsharī, al-Kasshāf (Calcutta: W. Nassau Lees, 1856), p. 1:18. al-Rāzī stated that the second reading was widespread (mashhūr); Tafsīr al-Kabīr (n 6), p. 2: 21.Google Scholar

12. In fact, many do not even mention the first reading, including: Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī, Tafsīr Jalālayn (Beirut: Dar al-Qalam, n.d.), p. 3; al-Ṭabarī, Jāmi‘ al-Aḥkām (n 6), pp. 1:228–240; Abī Isḥāq Aḥmad al-Tha‘labī, al-Kashf wa al-Bayā n (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 2002), pp. 1:140–142.Google Scholar

13. For more on Qur'an recitation in communal life, see Graham, W.Kermani, N., ‘Recitation and Aesthetic Reception’, in J. McAuliffe (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Qur’ān (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 121–123). I am grateful to my niece and nephew, Zainab and Abdullah Chaudhry, for drawing my attention to the celebration for completing a full recitation of the Qur'an, and to the central role that Q. 2:2 plays therein.Google Scholar

14. For a brief summary of such discussions, see Melchert, C., ‘When Not to Recite the Qur'an’, Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 11.1 (2008), pp. 141–151.Google Scholar

15. In the same vein, the Jewish focus on liturgy invites inquiries into Muslim liturgical practices; see for instance Talmon-Heller, D., ‘Reciting the Qur’ān and Reading the Torah: Muslim and Jewish Attitudes and Practices in a Comparative Historical Perspective’, Religion Compass, 6.8 (2012), pp. 369–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar