In the beginning was the Word. The phrase is biblical, but the idea is also qurʾanic. Before anything else was, God spoke. Christians and (most) Muslims also agree that God’s speech is uncreated and eternal. But what is the nature of this eternal Word, and how do we encounter it? Here we quickly part ways. For Christians the eternal Word is ultimately a person, for Muslims, a book. We can’t avoid this crucial divergence for long, but let’s first begin with something we hold in common: We do both call a particular set of writings the “Word” of God. That is, we both read books that we believe are in some sense spoken by God, and we come to these books as reliable and authoritative guides to what ultimately matters most. In our doctrines, whether Christian or Muslim, scriptures hold a primary place; they are a foundation for everything else that we believe. There are good theological reasons to start our conversations with the Bible and with the Qur’an.
Why not start with God?
God obviously comes before the Book, and so why wouldn’t we start with a chapter on God? Good question, and both traditions give us reason to take the question seriously. Paul tells us that the basic attributes of the Creator are known to humans from the creation, and that we are therefore without excuse when we substitute idols for God; the Qur’an similarly spends a great deal of space calling attention to “signs” in the creation that point to the Creator. But a quick glance at actual human beliefs and real human lives suggests that when left to their own devices people develop crazy and conflicting ideas about the spiritual world. The religions of India provide an excellent laboratory, as do the modern gods and goddesses of the post-Christian west. We may have no excuse to be consistently wrong about God, but when we are left on our own, we inevitably are. For both Muslims and Christians, the only antidote is an intervention by the Creator. The only way to have an accurate understanding of God and his will is via revelation. We have no choice but to start with the Word.
There are also practical reasons to begin with our books. In practice, Muslims who want to know about Christianity will assume they should start with the Bible. Similarly, Christians who want to learn about Islam will assume that they should read the Qur’an.
But when we actually start to read the Qur’an, or the Bible, we often come away confused, or worse, condescending and dismissive, with our biases confirmed. Our confusion is understandable. When Christians read the Bible, we read it against the background of a well-developed worldview, informed by years of training about how to read scripture, and often with minds and memories full of Sunday School stories that help us make sense of it. We send pastors to seminary to learn how to read the Bible correctly, and each Sunday we listen to those same pastors pass those lessons on to us in simplified form.
Muslims do something similar when they come to the Qur’an. In other words we each bring a great deal of prior knowledge to our reading of Scripture, and much of that prior knowledge will not be known to first-time readers. Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians are sometimes more honest about this than either Protestant Christians or Muslims. In Catholic and Orthodox understanding, the Scripture does not stand alone, but must be interpreted via the life and experience and authority of the Church. In practice, as we will see, Muslims also do not rely on the Qur’an alone, but read it through the lens of centuries of Muslim tradition, law and doctrine. And although, in theory, Protestants affirm Sola Scriptura, scripture alone, real-life Protestant reading of the Bible is shaped by shared assumptions, doctrines, and history. Few of these shared assumptions will be obvious to the Muslim reader, nor will Muslim assumptions about how to approach the Qur’an be obvious to the Christian reader.
So a Christian should not be surprised to find the Qur’an a frustrating book. On first reading you may find it hard to enjoy. The language is difficult. Translations often don’t help. Some of the most common translations read like bad imitations of the King James Bible, and even the best translations are a constant reminder that literature like this is really hard to translate. You will come to the Qur’an accustomed to familiar biblical literary structures like stories, letters, history, poetry or proverbs. The Qur’an has few of these. The text jumps from topic to topic. The context is often completely opaque; the text gives us no history, except in the most indirect way. When we do come across a narrative, the Qur’an often seems to omit critical details, leaving us puzzled.
You have probably never encountered literature anything like it. This is not surprising. There is no other literature like it.
If you are a Christian, what was your first reaction upon reading the Qur’an, and does the above ring true? If you have never yet read any of the Qur’an, give it a try. First impressions are often very telling, and I’m interested to know them.
I think it’s a really good idea to start with a chapter on The Book as this is how most people will start their investigation into the other’s faith.
I know when I first read the Qur’an I thought that it was illogical and mixed up. This was exacerbated by the fact that, to my shame, I looked on it with disdain even before I read it. I expected it to be similar to the Bible and with a clear train of thought or line of reason. When I did my research for the Islam module on how Christians in Britain read the Qur’an, I generally had the same reaction from those taking part. They felt that it was confusing, out of all the people who responded to my questionnaire only 2 understood how a Muslim would read it. Everyone else found it confusing and expected it to be like the Bible. Only 1 person knew that Muslims believe that the Qur’an has come directly down from God and the implications that that has for it’s holiness.
When doing the research for the Islam project a couple of people felt that they couldn’t appreciate anything about Islam and had to give a Christian response to my questions regardless. I think that people like this would feel that they are being disloyal or even unGodly to listen to the Qur’an being chanted, or even worry that they will be affected in a spiritual way. I think it would be really helpful for people to understand the deep veneration that it is held in and why it is chanted.
You state ‘The Qur’an is intended to be read and understood, not merely appreciated for its aesthetic qualities’. I got the impression that most Muslims do not feel that they can simply read and understand the Qur’an, hat this is something that only experts can do. Did I misunderstand this?
I think the more dogmatic element of Protestants may be tempted to dismiss you at this statement: “although, in theory, Protestants affirm Sola Scriptura, scripture alone, real-life Protestant reading of the Bible is shaped by shared assumptions, doctrines, and history.” Maybe a line or two of additional clarification might make it more palatable, or it might not. 🙂
My first impression of the Qur’an was one of distortion, that someone had read and twisted the stories of the Bible, probably from ignorance. There was also a sense that this was a harsh and ritualistic universe, perhaps more similar to the Mosaic Law than to the Bible more broadly.