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Mun'im Sirry explores polemical passages in the Qur'an, examining the interpretation of those passages by reformist exegetes of the first half of the twentieth century.
List of contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Chapter One: The Qur'an and Modern Tafsir
- a. Islamic Reform, Tafsir, and Religious Diversity
- b. Reformist Muslim Approach to Medieval Qur'an Commentaries
- c. Concluding Remarks
- 2. Chapter Two: Towards Understanding the Qur'an's Polemical Texts
- a. The Qur'an and Its Polemical Context
- b. The Ambiguity of Qur'anic Criticisms
- c. Is the Qur'an Supersessionist?
- d. Concluding Remarks
- 3. Chapter Three: Contesting the Theology of Exclusivist Salvation
- a. Al-Islam as the Only True Path to Salvation
- b. Between Inclusive and Exclusive Islam
- c. Re-Interpreting the Superiority of Islam
- d. Concluding Remarks
- 4. Chapter Four: The Falsification of Jewish and Christian Scriptures
- a. The Charge of Scriptural Distortion
- b. The Concealment of Truth
- c. Between Twisting the Tongues and Writing the Book with Hands
- d. Concluding Remarks
- 5. Chapter Five: Qur'anic Denials of Sonship, Human-Divinity and Trinity
- a. ''Son of God''
- b. The Divine Nature of Jesus
- c. Trinitarian Doctrine
- d. Concluding Remarks
- 6. Chapter Six: Inter-Religious Restrictions and Engagements
- a. Treatment of Non-Muslim Dhimmis
- b. Friendship with the Unbelievers
- c. Obstacles to Inter-Religious Relations
- d. Concluding Remarks
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
About the author
Mun'im Sirry is Assistant Professor at the Department of Theology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School. His articles have appeared in several peer-reviewed journals, including Arabica, BSOAS, Interpretation, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Journal of Semitic Studies, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, The Muslim World, Studia Islamica, and Der Welt des Islams.
Summary
Mun'im Sirry explores polemical passages in the Qur'an, examining the interpretation of those passages by reformist exegetes of the first half of the twentieth century.
Additional text
This volume is an important contribution to understanding the impact of the key polemical Qur'?nic passages about Judaism and Christianity that shaped Muslim theology of the 'other.' Sirry's meticulous reading of the Qur'?nic commentaries to expound this theology is thoroughly grounded in both the classical as well as the modernist-reformist commentaries. At every step of the evolving thesis, he is in total command of his materials and the academic methodology required to establish the validity of his approach as inclusively and critically as possible. The inclusion of Shi'ite materials, and thorough familiarity with Western scholarship on the Qur'?n, in addition to selecting the exegetes from different parts of the Islamic world, render the work indispensable for anyone wishing to examine the Muslim religious polemics and its production under various social-political contexts today.
