Interpreting the Qurʾān with the Bible (Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Kitāb)

R. Michael McCoy III, DPhil. (2021), University of Oxford, was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. He has published various articles on the reception of the Arabic Bible in tafsir literature and quranic exegesis, including a recent contribution to Georges Tamer’s (ed.) The Handbook of Qurʾānic Hermeneutics (forthcoming).

Preface


Acknowledgments


Abbreviations





1 Introduction


 1 Methodology


 2 Reading Someone Else’s Kitāb


 3 Ibn Barraǧān: Life and Career


 4 Al-Biqāʿī: Life and Career





2 An Historical Survey of the Bible in Muslim Tradition


 1 Taḥrīf al-maʿnā and Taḥrīf al-naṣṣ


 2 Biblical Quotation in the Muslim Tradition


 3 Conclusion





3 Identifying the Arabic Versions of the Bible Used by Ibn Barraǧān and al-Biqāʿī: A Comparative Analysis


 1 The Torah Manuscripts


 2 The Gospel Manuscripts


 3 The Diatessaron Manuscripts for Ibn Barraǧān and al-Biqāʿī


 4 A Verse-by-Verse Analysis of Arabic Bible Manuscripts and Biblical Quotations in the Tafsīrs of Ibn Barraǧān and al-Biqāʿī





4 The Scriptural Hermeneutics of Ibn Barraǧān and al-Biqāʿī


 1 Al-Biqāʿī’s Defense of the Bible: The Aqwāl


 2 Reception History of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān (Q3:7)


 3 Ibn Barraǧān’s and al-Biqāʿī’s Scriptural Hermeneutics of the Qurʾān and Bible


 4 Conclusion





5 Adam in the Gardens of Paradise: Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Kitāb in Ibn Barraǧān’s and al-Biqāʿī’s Exegesis of Genesis 1–3


 1 Adam’s Garden Interpreted


 2 The Garden Narrative in Ibn Barraǧān’s Tafsīr


 3 The Garden Narrative in al-Biqāʿī’s Tafsīr


 4 Conclusion





6 The Parable of Muḥammad’s Vineyard: Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Kitāb in Ibn Barraǧān’s and al-Biqāʿī’s Exegesis of Matthew 19–20


 1 Ibn Qutaybah’s Matthean Quotations


 2 Ibn Barraǧān’s and al-Biqāʿī’s use of the Inǧīl


 3 The Parable of Muḥammad’s Vineyard in Ibn Barraǧān’s Tafsīr: Surahs al-Nisāʾ (Q4:85–7) and al-Ḥadīd (Q57:26–9)


 4 The Parable of Muḥammad’s Vineyard in al-Biqāʿī’s Tafsīr: Sūrat al-Aʿrāf (Q7:157)


 5 Conclusion





7 Conclusion


 1 Contexts for Biblical Engagement


 2 The Interpretive Tradition


 3 Arabic Versions of the Bible


 4 Scriptural Hermeneutics


 5 Case Studies


 6 Avenues for Future Research





Appendix I Table of the Arabic Bible Quotations (Genesis 3:1–7 & Matthew 19:30–20:9) from the Tafsīr of Ibn Barraǧān and the Tafsīr of al-Biqāʿī





Appendix II Table of the Arabic Bible Quotations (Genesis 3:1–7 & Matthew 19:30–20:9) from the Manuscripts Chosen for Comparison with Ibn Barraǧān and al-Biqāʿī


Bibliography



Index of Names and Subjects

Index of Bible References

Index of Qurʾān References