Responses to Islamic Awareness

Comments On Geiger & Tisdall's Books On The 'Sources' Of The Qur'ân


In this article, the "Islamic Awareness" team attempts to use the work of "Modern Scholars" (in this, case book reviews!), in their never-ending attempt to extricate the Qur'an from the charge of borrowing from other religious traditions. One must always read "Islamic Awareness" articles with scepticism. More often then not, these papers "quote-mine" several sources, selecting only phrases which fit their agenda, while ignoring the context in which these statements appear as well as the general theme of the article. Sadly, this article is no exception.

What Do Modern Scholars Say About Tisdall's Work?

Herbert Berg's review of Ibn Warraq's The Origins of the Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book was, generally positive. Berg was very critical of W. St. Clair-Tisdall's essay. However, Berg praised Geiger's essay - a fact not mentioned by Dr. Saifullah. Perhaps this did not fit Dr. Saifullah's agenda? Berg tells us:

The third part of the collection consists of three essays. Geiger's contribution, originally part of his Judaism and Islam (Madras 1898) traces all the biblical, talmudic and midrashic parallels in the Qur'an. This excellent and still very informative essay could have been improved if the editor had updated some unclear names and references ...

Herbert Berg does not save the Qur'an from the accusation of borrowing. In fact, he suggests that Ibn Warraq should have included other essays which would have supported this charge:

Perhaps it would have been more useful if Ibn Warraq had included a selection from Bell's The Origin of Islam in its Christian Environment (London, 1926) or an essay by Wellhausen, Rudolf, or Speyer instead.

What About Geiger's Book? Or, Let's Discredit Rabbi Geiger!

Herbert Berg's book review, when honestly quoted, does not provide any criticisms of Rabbi Geiger's work. In fact, Berg praised Geiger's essay! So, the "Islamic Awareness" team must now go on a "quote-mining" expedition in order to attack Geiger. The "Islamic Awareness" team turns, once again, to an article by Norman Stillman, which they have badly misquoted in other articles.

According to the "Islamic Awareness" team, Stillman says:

... it did tend to give exaggerated view of the Jewish contribution to the Qur'an. Many of the traditions that he cites are in oriental Christian as well as talmudic and haggadic literature. Our chronology of rabbinic literature is better today than in Geiger's, and many more texts - Muslim, Jewish, and Christian - have since being published. In the light of this we know now that in some instances what was thought to be a Jewish haggadic influence in an Islamic text might well be quite the reverse. The Pirqe de Rabbi Eli'ezer, for example, would seem to have been finally redacted after the advent of Islam.[5]

Does this mean that Stillman completely dismisses the borrowing of Jewish material by Muhammad and his Qur'an - as the Islamic-Awareness team implies in so many articles? No, the paragraph previous to the one quoted above tells us:

"Scholars have long recognized Muhammad's spiritual debt to the Judeo-Christian heritage. There is hardly a line of the Qur'an which does not reflect this deep indebtedness. Of course, this in no way denies the originality of the Arabian prophet's message. To be sure, he consistently uses materials and patterns with a long and documented history in Jewish and Christian tradition, but at the same time he remolds and re-creates them. What he borrowed he assimilated, made his own, and subconsciously recast. His genius was that he could take from others what was germane to his own personality and needs." [page 231; bold emphasis ours]

The "Islamic Awareness" team continues to partially quote Stillman:

In conclusion, it should be emphasized that one should be extremely cautious about assigning specific origins to the story discussed here - or for that matter, any other story in the Qur'an.[6]

However, this quotation is not complete because Stillman's conclusion continues:

Julian Obermann has justly pointed out that "what with the vast overlapping of Jewish and Christian lore, especially in the period and area involved... Old Testament and even rabbinical materials might have been transmitted to Arabia by the Christian channels; while seemingly New Testament matter might easily have been derived from rabbinical homilies. As stated from the outset, the parallels brought here are not necessarily to prove direct source. They are cited to emphasize a similarity of approach and demonstrate the more or less direct translocation of homiletic values. [page 239]

Norman Stillman's article does not save the Qur'an from the charge of borrowing. In fact, the article supports the claim. To learn more about Stillman's article, and how it has been gross misquoted and intellectually abused by the "Islamic Awareness" team, please read this article.

Feigning concern for good academic research, the "Islamic Awareness" team concludes:

The position of the modern scholarship is never quoted by the Christian missionaries "as a rule"; or else who will buy the 'good' news?

Good research, whether "classical" or "modern" stands, or falls, on its merits. Good and honest research must accurately quote source material and not simply "quote-mine" phrases, out of the context of the paragraph and article in which they appear, to support a narrow agenda. These tactics are not practiced by honest academics or by followers of a Holy God.

Please remember,

God not only knows best, He knows everything, including what we think, say, and write.

Maybe you should also ponder the words of Jesus:

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:36-37

The members of "Islamic Awareness" might want to argue this warning does not apply to them, because they have not been careless at all, but have invested much effort in their work and had chosen their quotations extremely carefully. But somehow, I doubt, carefully crafted deception will fare any better.

Andrew Vargo

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