reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

368 Clare WildeRecitation or codex- Qur' an or Kitiib?It should be noted that these scriptural allusions are found in texts whoseauthors seem willing to term the Qur'iin as "word/speech of God"or among the books of God (kutub Allah), 41 or even "heavenly books"al-samawiyya) - as in Theodore's phrase, "the Torah, Injfl and other hP.:~ve:nl;r/books." 42 What is to be understood by this designation is difficult, however,make precise: the anonymous monk of Sinai Ar. 434 appears willing tothe Qur' an among the books of God. But, while he speaks of the Jnjfl 43 (orMessiah's book), 44 Tawraf 5 ("Torah"), Zabiir 46 ("Psalms"), or even the Anbiya("Prophets") without any further qualification, he also terms the Qur'iinbook" or "your Qur'iin." 48 For his part Theodore does not speak of theamong the "books of God;" rather, he vigorously defends the Christianagainst charges of corruption (tabdfl or taf:zrf/) 49 by accusing the Muslim .nity of falsely attributing to Mu!}ammad, even in the revelation, deeds and ·that were not his. When Theodore does not speak of simply "the Qur'iin;" 50 he .refers to it as "your book," 51 "your Qur'iin," 52 or "your saying," 53 and Mul}ammadas "your messenger/prophet" 54 - and, once, "the messenger." 55 (He also speaks"your religion." 56 ) Additionally, he explains that Mu!}amniad, not God, wrote orproclaimed the Qur' an. 57 But Theodore attributes to God Qur' iinic phrases which·he argues have a Christian meaning. 5 8The mysterious lettersCertain discussions of the Islamic understanding of the Qur'iin's revelationIslamic and more recent western scholarship) center on the so-called41 Sinai Ar. 434, ff. 17lr; 18lv; 174r: kutub Allah ta'ala; 175r: kutub Allah al-munazza/a,Allah rabbi. Theodore's only reference to "books of God" (Abii Qurra, 98) seems to includethe Gospels.42 Abii Qurra (ed. Dick), Discussion, 102.43 e.g. ibid., 177r, 178v, 18lr.44 e.g. ibid., 178v.45 e.g. ibid., 172v, 173r, 173v.46 Sinai Ar. 434, ff. 173r.47 Ibid., 173r, 176v, 18lr:48 Ibid., 174v, 178v: "yourQur'iin"; 177r, 177v, 18lr..49 Ibid., 91, 109.50 Ibid., 80, 96.51 Ibid., 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 96, 97, 99, 101, 107, 108, 111, 114, 115.52 Ibid., 96, 121.53 Ibid., 83, 84, 98.54 Ibid., 74, 77, 79, 80, 84, 85, 87, 91, 93, 101, 107, 108, 115, 117.55 Ibid., I 09.56 Ibid., 91.57 Ibid., 79, 80, 87; cf. 91.58 Ibid., 90, 10!.Early Christian Arabic texts 369"disconnected" letters that begin a number of Suras - such as a.l.m. at the'-'-'·"'l'lu:wult!!. of al-Baqara (Q 2, "The Cow"). They have prompted a number of:,. 4 ut:~LtuJu" for Muslims: Were these part of the original revelation? The originalrecJ.tation·t Were they later (scribal?) additions? Are they to be included in the::·recnauon of the Qur'iin?Christians too entered into this discussion. After a detailed discussion of Jesus's,:•::.lllU''"'c'"• the anonymous mon1c of Jerusalem writes:And the book of the Injil mentions some of his miracles (ayat) out of verymany. And the Qur'iin testifies to that, when it says, Al-mfm. That book inwhich there is no doubt, a guide to the pious. And al-mfm is the beginning ofthe name "the (al-) Messiah"; the ancient book which he had is that Christianbook (al-ldtab al-qadfm la-qad lahu dhalika l-Td tab al-maszbl), and his book,in which there is no doubt, is a guidance for the pious, his umma and whosoeverobeys him - and it said that God would verify with his Word the truth[c£ Q 10:82; 8:7], that is, the deeds of the Messiah, the Word of God- [theWord] is the verifying truth, so do not deny [the Word]. 59In the received Qur'iinic codex, the three Arabic letters, alij, lam, mfm are written""r'""'t"'l'"· Muslim reciters generally pronounce the names (not the sounds) of theThe mon1c, however, connects the letters alif and lam to the mfm, andout the name of this last letter. He reads the alif-lam combination as thearticle, al. Thus, in the reading of the monk, alij, lam, mfm is rendered(the mfm). Does this indicate that he knew of a recitation (tradition?) inthe so-called "disconnected" letters were pronounced as a word of sorts?it indicate knowledge of a scribal tradition, in which the "mysterious" begin­. ning letters were written in a connected fashion (but, presumably, recited as sepa­: entities)? Or is he simply relating (and emphasizing) a Christian interpretivetraditi.on:· 60 that these three letters are merely an abbreviation for the Qur' iinic (and"J..·"'"""-' title of Jesus, "al-Masfl;z" (the Messiah)?Concluding remarks·.·Although Muslim approaches to the Qur'iin are often considered more analogousto Christian approaches to the Eucharist than to the Bible, has this always been thecase? In scholarly or apologetic or polemical works, how would the Bible orQur'iin have been used? Would an author (or the scribe) of a given text consisthavetaken the time to copy the sacred text verbatim, or would he have been. • wv~•w~· to rely on his memory - or would he have presumed sufficient familiaritythe text or its message on the part of his audience (as well as a certain level59 Sinai Ar. 434 ff. 178v-79r.60 Known also to Paul of Antioch (par. 16).