Abstract
The Bible and the Qur’an by J. Kaltner and Y. Y. Mirza, serves as an introduction to the study of biblical figures in the Qur’an and post-Qur’anic literature. It addresses audiences who are less familiar with the Qur’anic studies to educate them on how the biblical figures are depicted in the Qur’an and in the ‘Stories of the Prophets’. The book also highlights similarities and differences in how the Qur’an and the Bible depict these figures. The authors have organized the book into fifty entries that describe both prominent and less prominent figures in the Bible. These entries are of two kinds; the first constitutes the majority of the book and describes individuals such as Abraham, Noah and Adam. The second kind of entry describes how groups such as Christians, Jews, and angels are depicted in the Islamic sources. Each entry examines firstly how the figure is depicted in the Qur’an, often by collecting the Qur’anic references related to each figure or group, which are scattered throughout the Qur’an. Secondly, each entry compares the Qur’anic representation with that which is found in the’ Stories of the Prophets’ genre. The authors usually conclude each chapter with suggestions for further reading.
In their introduction, the authors nicely introduce both the Qur’an and the ‘Stories of the Prophets’ genre which provides readers who might be less familiar with Islam with a solid background. In contrast, the authors do not introduce the Bible, perhaps because they expect the reader to be already familiar with the Bible and with the biblical personages that it depicts. Consequently, this might strike Muslim and non-Muslim audiences who are less familiar with the Bible and biblical prophets as confusing; they might not be able to recognize the connection between the figures in the Qur’an and the Bible.
The book focuses on two main sources: the Qur’an and the ‘Stories of the Prophets’ genre. The latter source’s origin can be traced back to exegetical literature, Islamic historiography and to the oral sermons of where story-tellers who aimed to entertain people in the mosques. The authors seem to adopt a number of versions of these stories, written over the formative, medieval and modern periods of the Islamic history. Despite their aim of showing how Muslims imagined and reimagined the prophets throughout the Islamic history, the authors say little about the elements which shaped each version. If we consider the example of the fourteenth century scholar, Ibn- Kathīr’s version of the stories of the prophets in contrast to earlier versions written during the formative period of Islam, it seems that while the early authors rely confidently on biblical sources in shaping their tales, Ibn-Kathīr refuses to consider biblical material as reliable sources to be included in his version. According to him, those legends of the prophets can only be accepted if they are in accord with the Qur’an. His version therefore reveals the Quranic narratives rather than the Biblical narratives.
Finally, the book is a useful guide for those aiming to learn about the biblical prophets who are mentioned in the Qur’an. In particular, those who struggle with the Qur’anic format in which the elements of each story are scattered throughout the Qur’an, will find this book especially illuminating.