The Qur’anic approach to prophecy challenges Jewish and Christian perspectives for various reasons. First, the Qur’an seemingly presents a few concrete features of prophets that are only partially in harmony with Biblical tradition. Moreover, the selection of prophets within the Qur’an is seemingly idiosyncratic and confusing from the Jewish and Christian perspectives. On the one hand, a few of the most important Biblical prophets, such as Isaiah1 and Jeremiah, do not appear by name in the Qur’an. However, Biblical figures that are called prophets are not recognised as such in the Bible. For example, the Bible presents Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as patriarchs, while it features David and Solomon as kings instead of prophets.
However, the selection of the prophets in the Qur’an may be explained by considering the Qur’anic dialogue along with the Rabbinic literature and patristic tradition, such as the Syriac Mêmrê, especially those by Jacob of Serugh.2 Jacob seemingly considers prophets very similarly to the Qur’an. The Biblical prophets selected by the Qur’an are also seemingly typologically interpreted in terms of Christ in the sermons of the Church Fathers. Jonah’s night in the belly of the whale is interpreted as a prefiguration of Holy Saturday. Similar to Jesus, Job is understood as a suffering servant of God, while the claim of Jesus as the Messiah can only be upheld if he is understood in the tradition of David. Conversely, prophets, such as Isaiah or Jeremiah, are never interpreted typologically in terms of Christ.
However, not only indications of entanglements exist between the Qur’an and the Syriac Fathers but also certain interactions occur between the Qur’an and Rabbinic texts. Thus, the Qur’an is considered to be deeply intertwined in interreligious debates in Late Antiquity and the current understanding of the historical meaning of Qur’anic intervention still must be deepened in light of this dialogue. Hence, the basic objective of this book is to promote a historically situated understanding of Qur’anic prophetology. This concept includes not only the textual elements of Qur’anic proclamation but also the contextualisation of the prophetic figure of Muhammad within the wider political and religious developments of Late Antiquity. Thus, we pose the question of how major historical events and political developments (e.g. the Roman-Persian war) formed the Qur’anic concept of prophetology in general and its understanding of eschatology and apocalypticism in particular.
Within the context of Islamic exegesis, such a strong intertextual reference to the development of the understanding of the prophets is not uncontroversial. The Islamic prophetology of scholastic theology is not only oriented towards the Qur’an but also views numerous normative points of reference in tradition for its thinking. Accordingly, this book is not only about an independent Islamic theological prophetology but also historical exploratory investigations whose relevance for Islamic theology still needs to be determined. Only initial reference points are noted for Jewish theological thinking as well.
However, even if many implications for Islamic and Jewish theology must remain open in this book, a better historical understanding of the development of Qur’anic ideas evidently challenges traditional Christian methods for addressing the prophets. The Qur’an seemingly reacts to the typological readings of the prophetic figures in the preaching of the Church Fathers and establishes prophetology as a form of counter-discourse to Christology. Today, many Christians know that a typological reading of the Biblical prophetic literature can easily be understood in a supersessionist manner. Hence, the Qur’anic typological reading of the Biblical tradition is not only a challenge for the Christian tradition but may also be understood as a call for a new understanding of the role of the prophets.
Currently, no systematic theological attempt exists in Christianity to develop a theology of prophecy that considers the proprium of Christian theology along with the insights of Israel theology on the intrinsic value of prophecy. Nevertheless, a Christian prophetology of this type should be able to draw on the potential of prophetic accounts to broaden the Christian view of Jesus Christ. From the perspective of Christian doctrine, Jesus is evidently the fulfillment of all humanity and prophecy. However, as limited beings, humans will never come to a final knowledge of the unlimited and, therefore, must assume that many dimensions of Jesus Christ exist which they have not understood fully or will never fully understand in their Christologies. Certain aspects will always exist in the accounts of the prophets that Christians have not yet recognised in Jesus Christ, which, nevertheless, represent God’s Word to them. If Jews articulate why they challenge the Christian reading of Christ as a fulfillment of the prophetic figures in the Bible, then Christians may be able to learn from these interventions to rebuild Christology in a non-supersessionist manner.
For Catholics, recent developments in magisterial theology encourage their recognition of the intrinsic value of the Jewish tradition and discovery of the prophets as a source of theological knowledge. For example, the 2015 Vatican document of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews clearly states that the Catholic Church needs to appreciate Judaism today. Accordingly, a document from the first magisterial reception of Nostra Aetate in 1974 precisely emphasizes this point when it states the following:
The crucial and new concern of this document consists in becoming acquainted with Judaism as it defines itself, giving expression to the high esteem in which Christianity holds Judaism and stressing the great significance for the Catholic Church of dialogue with the Jews […].3
This statement emphasizes not only – as is typically the case – the importance of ancient Israel for the Church and the emergence of the Church from Israel but also the appreciation for Judaism today. First, this aspect requires willingness to engage in dialogue and to carefully listen. And then it needs a willingness to learn from Judaism today. The Christian theological evaluation at the end of the book occurs precisely due to such an attitude towards Judaism and Islam.
If Muslims present the Qur’anic way of reading the prophetic tradition as a non-supersessionist model, then Christians may be inspired to reframe their typological interpretations. Therefore, the Qur’anic approach to prophetology can be extremely helpful for the current debates on the reorientation of the Christological reading of the Old Testament, because it could provide ideas on maintaining the specificity of the prophets within a typological approach. At the same time, such approaches could render visible the function of typological discourses without a promise-fulfillment scheme. Conversely, Muslims may learn from the Jewish and Christian understanding of the prophetic tradition in terms of understanding their tradition as a constructive partner within a discourse with Judaism and Christianity.
This book is intended to be the first step of a larger research project that endeavours to achieve a better historical understanding of Qur’anic prophetology. It has three objectives. First, it aims to reframe Muslim prophetology based on a close reading of the Qur’an in dialogue with Christian and Jewish texts from Late Antiquity. It also intends to develop a Christian prophetology that is responsive to Qur’anic interventions and to the Jewish critique of the typological reading of the prophets. Lastly, it attempts to explore constructive Jewish readings of the prophetic tradition for Jewish thought today.
The book aims to generate an advanced level of dialogue and exchange of ideas in the three dimensions. In the first part, the authors address the Rabbinic concepts of prophecy to explore their potential contribution to Jewish thought today as well as challenge Muslim and Christian theologies of prophecy and provide background information for Qur’anic interventions.
Charlotte E. Fonrobert examines the manner in which Rabbinic tradition addresses prophecy. The author follows two texts, namely, a tannaitic account and a later Babylonian Talmudic sugya and demonstrates the interplay between the vanishing and permanent powers of the prophetic spirit in the Talmudic tradition. She illustrates how pessimism and optimism of the historical and epistemological types alternate.
Holger Zellentin examines the miracles of Jesus as described in the Qur’an and Toledot Yeshu. He argues that the Qur’an presents Jesus in a prophetic context, which not only criticises imperial Christianity but also challenges polemical Jewish accounts of Jesus. He interprets that the Qur’an provides insights into Rabbinic disagreements about Jesus. Zellentin aims to analyse the Qur’an as a literary work from Late Antiquity, specifically in comparison with the Babylonian Talmud. Additionally, Zellentin seeks to re-examine the discussions between Jews and Christians by exploring the Qur’anic portrayal of Jesus. It helped to address several inconsistencies in the manuscripts of Toledot Yeshu.
In an article, Elisa Klapheck analyses how the teaching of the seven female prophets highlights a few lesser known, even suppressed, elements, which can, however, only be unlocked by those that possess the knowledge and skills of Rabbinical hermeneutics. She writes, ‘But once the code is cracked, it today provides us with the seeds of a Rabbinic gender theory as the condition for an alternative messianic prophetic paradigm’.
Catherine Hezser’s article is dedicated to the role of Moses as a prophetic predecessor of Jesus and Muhammad in early Islam. Her focus on Moses as a typological figure subsequently prompts a postulation to his connection with eschatological imagination. In this context, the author examines the various motives associated with Moses and their representation in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. At the same time, the author offers a summary of contemporary research on the subject.
The second part of the book discusses Qur’anic concepts with a special focus on their relationships with Syriac and Rabbinic intertexts.
Fatima Tofighi puts forward an important proposition that the symbolism of the story of Balaam occurs in Sūrat Al-A’raf. Tofighi agrees with Muslim exegetes who identified the protagonist of the Sūrat as Balaam and argues that the Qur’an reacts to the question of the possibility of a gentile prophet. The concept being demonstrated is that although prophethood is essentially a matter of divine will, a person needs to possess a number of character traits for the fulfillment of prophethood. Therefore, the story of Balaam is used to set the conditions of prophethood and establish the boundary between true and false prophecies. Additionally, Tofighi argues that Sūrat Al-A’raf is related to the question of the relationship between prophecy and genealogy and dismisses any link between the two.
Angelika Neuwirth and Dirk Hartwig examine the role of Iblīs and evil in the Qur’anic story of Adam. They comprehensively explore the context and the particular purpose and function of the story of Iblīs in the Qur’an at the time of revelation. Their observation indicates that the story significantly differs between Meccan and Medinan surahs. The central focus of the new understanding of the Meccan community about evil is rebellion. Although the story is narrated again, the focus in the Medinan period is shifted towards the primordial tragedy of man in which Adam reappears with dignity. The authors concluded that the Qur’anic message presents a new perception of humanity, which is primarily determined using epistemic instead of moral standards.
Saqib Husain draws attention to the manner in which verses 17–48 of Sūrat Ṣād present excerpts on David, Solomon and Job and proceeds to discuss previous interpretations of these verses prior to putting forward his reading. An important suggestion is the proposition by Hussain of the unity of Sūrat Ṣād, which is evident from lexical repetitions that span across prophetic stories as well as occur outside of them. Thus, the argument is that stories are linked and complement on another and should be understood in light of the Sūrat Ṣād as a whole.
Starting with underlining the limits of prophetic knowledge, as demonstrated in the Qur’an, Zishan Ghaffar scrutinises the prophethood of Muhammad in Late Antiquity and the anti-apocalyptic nature of his prophetic wisdom. He highlights the Qur’anic statements on knowledge against the background of Syriac material and focuses on illustrating the resistance of the Qur’an to all forms of apocalyptic discourses, which is notable in the early Meccan surahs. The historical context of the Roman-Persian war is central to the arguments of Ghaffar.
Ali Aghaei attempts to demonstrate that establishing a basis in pre-Islamic traditions is not necessary for all aspects of Biblical narrations in Muslim sources. The cornerstone of this argument is the existence of Islamic traditions that do not contain any fitting parallel to pre-Islamic traditions, although they resemble pre-Islamic haggada in terms of content and form. Aghaei proposes that oral tradition serves to explain the philological and conceptual difficulties of Biblical text as well as to broaden and elucidate theological issues.
Nora Schmidt discusses body and wisdom in relation to the prophecy of Joseph in the Qur’an. The author also reflects on the narrative of Lady Wisdom, who seemingly plays an allegorical role in the life of Joseph. She also raises questions of methodological interest for Qur’anic studies, while introducing considerations from Old Testament studies. From a hermeneutical point of view, Schmidt argues that Lady Wisdom can be understood as the one who accomplished the transmission process of stories related to Joseph.
Suleyman Dost contends that the Arabian context of early Islam cannot be reduced to geographical, ethnical and linguistical categories, regardless of how doing so may be tempting. Dost’s analysis reveals a different interpretation of the term Arabian, which originates from the early days of western critical scholarship and defines the Arabian more by its absence than its presence. Dost’s major argument states that pre-Islamic Arabian inscriptions can offer an important contextualisation of the engagement of the Qur’an with polytheists and with Judaism and Christianity.
Finally, the book presents two Christian endeavours to develop a Christian theology of prophecy beginning with the New Testament or using a number of Qur’anic insights in the Joseph narrative.
Klaus von Stosch demonstrates the relational aspect of Christology and finds that it is represented in the Qur’an. Jesus and his Biblical type, Joseph, can be experienced as our brothers and not only as figures of absolute authority. He particularly emphasizes the function that Qur’an places upon itself, that is, as a bridge. For its proclaimer, the Jewishness of Jesus reinforces his venerability. The Qur’an exemplifies this concept by dismissing and condemning the attempt to elevate Joseph above his brothers and, consequently, the Church above Israel. Their harmonious reconciliation entails the true beauty of Joseph’s story in the Qur’an.
Christian Blumenthal approaches the phenomenon of prophecy from the perspective of New Testament studies, which concentrate on the Letter of Jude. The distinctive multi-faceted nature of the ways in which prophecy is approached in Early Christianity forms the background against which the Letter of Jude renders it. Eventually, the author provides a few parallels to the Qur’an, such as Q 111 and Q 85:4–6, which are compared to the Letter of Jude with regard to the question of whether or not they form together an anticipatory judgement sermon.
In the end, we would like to thank all who helped in the realisation of this book. First, we must mention the Federal Ministry of Research in Germany and the German Research Foundation, which funded the conference that was held in 2021 as a preparation for this book. We also thank Dr. Martina Kayser for her great cooperation with the publisher and Dr. Cordula Heupts for her work on the project. A special thanks goes to Dr. Elizaveta Dorogova, Dr. Abdul Basit Zafar and Leonhard Banowski, who undertook all formal corrections in the book and together with Kemal Kikanovic, the summarisation of the articles. We also acknowledge support for the publication cost by the Open Access Publication Fund of Paderborn University.
Paderborn/Bonn, June 2024
Zishan Ghaffar and Klaus von Stosch
For Isaiah in Muslim tradition see Günther, “‘Wehe dieser sündigen Gemeinde, die nicht weiß, ob ihr Gutes oder Böses widerfährt’: Jesaja, ein alttestamentlicher Prophet und seine Botschaft in der islamischen Tradition.”
See Griffith, Syriac Mêmrê and the Arabic Qur’ān: Late Antique Biblical Exegesis in Counterpoint.
Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, ‘The Gifts and the Calling of God are irrevocable’ (Rom 11:29). A Reflection on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic-Jewish Relations on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of ‘Nostra aetate’ (No. 4), in: http://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/commissione-per-i-rapporti-religiosi-con-l-ebraismo/commissione-per-i-rapporti-religiosi-con-l-ebraismo-crre/documenti-della-commissione/en.html. The respective number is cited, here 4.