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

448 Joseph Witztumnot that.the Syriac tradition provides the entire background for the Qur'anicJoseph story, only that it played a major role in its formation. In light of this itwould seem worthwhile to examine the retellings of other Hebrew Biblenarratives in the Qur' an.t1 4Second, the tendency of earlier scholarship to envision the Qur' anic retellingsas mainly derivative has recently been challenged. Now the literary qualities ofthese retellings, the ways in which they appropriated earlier material, and theirmeaning for the Prophet and his followers are often stressed, and rightly so. 115 Yetthe excessive suspicion towards the tracing of sources and origins which oftenaccompanies studies of this sort seems unjustified. 116 A recent comment of SarahStroumsa regarding Maimonides is fitting here: "The identification of influencesis critical in our attempt to gauge the depth of a thinker's attachment to his milieu.It enables us to transform this milieu from a scenic backgrou~d into the pulsatingworld in which the thinker lived." 117 Moreover, we cannot truly appreciate what isnew and unique in the Qur'anic retellings before we have a clear idea of the traditionscurrent at the time. This study suggests that existing scholarship with itsfocus on Jewish sources does not provide this-background adequately.Once the Qur'an's sources are better understood, the study of the mechanismsof appropriation may be advanced. Here I have touched only briefly on the waysin which the Qur'an adapted and reshaped its materials. Many factors influencedthis process, but this requires a larger study which will examine Q 12 in its entiretyin light of the Syriac and Jewish sources. 118 The omission of Christo logical materials,the use of formulaic language, the impact of inner-Qur' anic parallels, andthe tendency to further develop post-Biblical exegetical readings- to name but afew factors - all deserve a separate treatment elsewhere.19 Condemnation in the Qur' an andthe Syriac Gospel of MatthewEmran El-BadawiIntroduction 1 "One could say that a comparative approach towards the Qur'anic text and earlierscriptures and sacred traditions first emerges within the Qur'an itself.Z In addition,the scarcity of documentary evidence, and the problematic nature of the traditionalIslamic literary sources, 3 which render complicated the study of the Qur'an, makesa comparative approach a scholarly obligation. The Biblical, Midrashic andApocryphal background of the Qur' an 4 has been a matter of critical scholarly examinationfor the better part of two centuries. However, to my knowledge no directcomparative examination between the Qur'an-and Syriac Gospels has been undertaken.This absence is peculiar given that the late antique Arabian milieu in whichthe Qur' an was revealed served as a point of contact between Arabian communitiesand the sacred literature and theological expression of Syriac Christian speakinggroups. The lives of Arabic speaking Christians were diglossic, as they used Arabicfor common everyday matters and Syriac for liturgical, religious purposes. 5114 My dissertation explores the Syriac background of other such retellings. In a study of the Cain andAbel story in the Qur'iin, for example, similar arguments lead to much the same conclusions.115 For this shift in scholarship, see W.A. Saleh," 'What if you refuse, when ordered to fight?' KingSaul (Tiiliit) in the Qur'iin and post-quranic literature," in C.S. Ehrlich (ed.), Saul in Story andTradition, Ti!bingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006, 261-83; M.E. Pregill, "The Hebrew Bible and theQuran: The problem of the Jewish 'influence' on Islam," Religion Compass 1, 2007, 643-59.lnterestingly,the new approach has focused most of its attention on Q 12; see Saleh, "Saul," 267, noteII. These studies include, among others, several of the articles cited in this chapter as well as M.R.Waldman, "New approaches to 'Biblical' material in the Qur'an," in W.M. Brinner and S.D. Ricks(eds), Studies in Islamic and Judaic Traditions, Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986, 47-M; and M. Mir,"Irony in the Qur'an: A study of the story of Joseph," in I.J. Boullata (ed.), Literary Structures ofReligious Meaning in the Qur'an, Richmond: Curzon, 2000, 173-87. I hope to examine thesestudies in light of the Syriac sources elsewhere.116 For a critique of this trend, see Reynolds, "Redeeming," 80-81.117 S. Stroumsa, Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker, Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 2009, xiii.118 . I hope to supply this elsewhere.The research undertaken to write this paper also informs a chapter of my dissertation entitled"Sectarian scripture: The Qur'iin's dogmatic re-articulation of the Aramaic Gospel Traditions in thecontext of the Late Antique Near East."2 "If you are in doubt as to what we have revealed, ask those who have read the scripture (kitdb) before[you]" (Q 10:94). Note, unless otherwise indicated, translations ofQur'iinic verses are my own.3 F. Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origin: the Beginnings of Islamic historical Writing, Princeton:Darwin Press, 1998, 4-5, especially points out that many of the Islamic sources "reveal internalcomplexities, ... chronological discrepancies, ... absurdities, ... contradictions in the meaning ofevents, ... information that seems clearly anachronistic, ... evidence of embellishment or outrightinvention to serve the purpose of political or religious apologetic." Donner (ibid, 49, 60-61) also holdsthat the Qur'iin as a closed canon was likely an early text dated c. 13/610-35/656 CE.4 S. Griffith, "The Gospel, the Qur'iin, and the presentation of Jesus in al-Ya'qubi's Tarikh," inJ. Reeves (ed), Bible and Qur'an: Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality, Atlanta: Society of BiblicalLiterature, 2003, (133-60) 135.5 J. Trimingham, Christianity among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times, Beirut: Longman, 1979, 19; S.Griffith, The Church in the Shadow of the Mosque: Christians and Muslims in the World of Islam,Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008, 8-9, 12.