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

370 Clare Wildeof comfort with scriptural shorthand), that paraphrase or allusion would ~u,cuv·v• ··'•Christian Arabic uses of the Qur'an may be seen not merely as Christianre-niadings or testimonies to alternative Qur'anic codices, but rather as indicativeof the pluralistic milieu in which the doctrine of the Qur'an as inimitable andqadlm was coming to be articulated. The accusations of alteration, and the familiarity-and comfort-with which Christians handle both the Bible and the Qur'anindicate an environment in which the Qur'an as the inimitable and uncreatedWord of God- as preserved in the 'Uthmanic rasm known to us - may not havebeen the only accepted understanding.An argument may very well be made that Christians would have handledIslamic texts as Christian texts, so the loose handling of Bible and Qur'an byArabophone Christians would be irrelevant for Muslim approaches to scripture.But, today, many non-Muslim scholars of the Qur'an, aware of the widespreadacceptance of the inimitability (and uncreatedness) of the Arabic Qur'an, onlyventure to discuss the sacred text of Islam in public if they have a solid grasp ofthe Arabic text, fully vocalized - and, oftentimes, memorized. Rather than anachronisticallyreading back in time the details of the attitudes of today, might wesafely assume that, just as today's non-Muslim scholarship often reflects contemporaryMuslim sensibilities, so, too, would early Arabophone Christian authorshave been aware of- and reflected- their Muslim contemporaries' approaches tothe Qur'an?The Qur'an, according to the traditional understanding, alludes to its inimitablestyle (famously cited is Q 17:88; cf. also Q 2:23; 10:37-38; 11:13; 12:111; 52:33-34) and Muslims and non-Muslims have debated these claims at length. 61 And itwould only be when the doctrine of Qur' anic inimitability was fully voiced thatattention would need to be devoted to the text qua text. At that point, discrepanciesin codices (and readings) would merit close attention: without a single,uniform text on hand, how could an argument for its inimitable style be maintained?As, within Muslim circles, given the state monopoly on the scribal profession,62uniformity of officially produced and commissioned written texts wouldlikely have been fairly easy to assure, might Christian texts, even those not dedicatedto the· preservation of the text of the Qur'an, contain hints of a more flexiblescribal approach to the Qur' an than that which a doctrine of its illimitability wouldcome to necessitate?The (accepted) variant readings have been considered evidence for ·ancient,local traditions of Qur' an transmission (oral traditions likely proving more difficultto outlaw, suppress or purge than written ones) -traditions that, with theincreased modem reliance on the printing press, and the widespread diffusion ofthe Cairo edition of 1924, are slowly fading from memory. Might Christian ArabicEarly Christian Arabic texts 3 71shed light not only on scribal traditions (including the circulation of codicesthan the 'U thmanic ), but also, perhaps, no-longer-extant "readings" of thecodex?In conclusion,' therefore, when considering these possibilities it is important torenClernb€~r that Christian Arabic texts were written by professing Christians· conscious of the Arabic-speaking, Muslim-ruled world around them. They wrote, in a historical context where the majlis, or dfwan, brought different believerstogether. Accordingly Christian Arab texts may tell us much of the approaches toChristian and Islamic scripture in that context.61 S. Stroumsa, "Signs of prophecy: the emergence and early development of a theme in Arabictheological literature," Harvard Theological Review 78, 1985, 101-14.62 Cf. P. Heck, The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization: Qudiima b. Ja 'far and HisKitab at-Kharaj wa-i;;ina'at al-Kitaba, Leiden: Brill, 2002.