Chapters in collections by Gordon D Nickel
Die Entstehung einer Weltreligion VII: Abschied von der Heilsgeschichte, 2023
Frequently described as the earliest complete Muslim commentary on the Qur'an, the Tafsīr attribu... more Frequently described as the earliest complete Muslim commentary on the Qur'an, the Tafsīr attributed to Muqātil ibn Sulaymān (d. 767) tells a story of the response to Islamic truth claims by non-Muslim communities. Whether these communities reject the Muslim truth claims or accept them, and even when there is evident confusion and uncertainty about the source of the recitations, the Tafsīr Muqātil finds creative ways to bring all responses into support of the Islamic Heilsgeschichte.
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Prophets in the Qur'ān and the Bible, 2022
John Wansbrough wrote in 1977 that in the Quran "variant traditions are present in such quantity ... more John Wansbrough wrote in 1977 that in the Quran "variant traditions are present in such quantity as to deserve some attention in a description of the process" by which a collection of units of what he described as "prophetical logia" became Muslim scripture. More recently Joseph Witztum repeated the appeal, arguing that "a systematic study of parallel passages in the Qur'an is long overdue in order for us to answer basic questions concerning the formation of the Qur'an." Curious, then, that there seems to have been no great scholarly interest in exploring the many repetitions of individual prophetic narratives in the Quran and the striking differences between them. This chapter is part of a fascinating collection titled "Prophets in the Qur'ān and Bible," available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1666732613/
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Christian-Muslim Relations A Bibliographical History Volume 15. Thematic Essays (600-1600), 2020
Eastern Christian writers living under Muslim rule, especially those whose first language was Ara... more Eastern Christian writers living under Muslim rule, especially those whose first language was Arabic, raised issues with the Quran that are seldom found among the writings of Western Christians in medieval times. For example, Eastern Christian writers were able to offer a meaningful evaluation of Muslim claims for the inimitability of Quranic language. They knew of Muslim tradition which suggested an uncertain picture of the early development of the Quran. And they raised questions about the violence of Muslim rule alongside a standard of non-Constantinian Christian faith and practice. Eastern Christian engagement with the Quran left a legacy that is a treasure for the entire global Church, especially Christians who relate on a daily basis to Muslims in Muslim-majority societies.
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Arab Christians and the Qur'an from the Origins of Islam to the Medieval Period, 2018
Q 7.157 mentions the Torah and the Gospel and claims, "they find him written with them" in those ... more Q 7.157 mentions the Torah and the Gospel and claims, "they find him written with them" in those scriptures. This article explores the understanding of this verse in the Islamic Interpretive Tradition and asks whether that understanding has influenced the ways in which Muslims have interacted with Arab Christians in daily life. My research suggests that Q 7.157 encouraged both claims for prophecies of Islam's messenger in the Bible and accusations that Jews and Christians have erased or changed the prophecies. I am posting the pre-publication version of the article in accordance with Brill's rules. But the article was published earlier in 2018 in Arab Christians and the Qur'an from the Origins of Islam to the Medieval Period, edited by Mark Beaumont.
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Islamic Studies Today: Essays in honor of Andrew Rippin, 2017
Muslim tradition tells a story about Muhammad's marriage to the ex-wife of his adopted son Zayd. ... more Muslim tradition tells a story about Muhammad's marriage to the ex-wife of his adopted son Zayd. Muslim commentaries on the Quran connected this story with Q 33.36-40. One of the questions that the commentaries discussed is whether the behaviour in this story is proper for a prophet.
In this essay, I describe and analyze the interpretation of the Quran passage in the commentary of Muqātil ibn Sulaymān. I wrote this essay as a tribute to Dr. Andrew Rippin, my friend and supervisor of my PhD dissertation on Muqātil, published as "Narratives of Tampering in the Earliest Commentaries on the Qur'ān" (Brill 2011). amazon.com/dp/9004192387
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The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an, Second edition, 2017
The study of Jesus in the Qur'an might profitably begin with the fact that there he is called not... more The study of Jesus in the Qur'an might profitably begin with the fact that there he is called not the expected Arabic Yasu' but rather the unaccountable 'Isa. From there the reader of the Qur'an may wonder to what extent the writer of the materials on Jesus was familiar with the canonical Gospel accounts that had circulated widely and extensively in the Middle East during the six centuries preceding the emergence of Islam. The Qur'anic portrait of Jesus is full of mysteries, lacunae, and intriguing questions.
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The Character of Christian-Muslim Encounter: Essays in honour of David Thomas, 2015
Alphonse Mingana's 1915 investigation into the traditional Muslim stories of how the Qur'an came ... more Alphonse Mingana's 1915 investigation into the traditional Muslim stories of how the Qur'an came together went against the scholarly "consensus" of the time based largely on Nöldeke's sanguine approach to Muslim tradition. During the past 40 years, however, Mingana's study has enjoyed steady citation in major scholarly works on the Qur'an. I wrote this essay out of respect for Dr. David Thomas.
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Islam and Christianity on the Edge: Talking points in Christian-Muslim relations into the 21st century, Apr 2013
In 2007 a group of Muslims posted to the internet a statement known as "A Common Word between Us ... more In 2007 a group of Muslims posted to the internet a statement known as "A Common Word between Us and You." Most Christians familiar with the statement have appreciated the initiative taken by the Jordanian Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, and many Christians have sought to reply to the statement in some way. This article describes some of the questions that the Muslim statement raises and the efforts that a number of Christian groups have made to respond authentically to its appeal.
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Sacred Text: Explorations in Lexicography, Jan 1, 2009
One of the most facile assumptions about religions, especially in the West, is that concepts of "... more One of the most facile assumptions about religions, especially in the West, is that concepts of "God" would be more or less the same in the various famous scriptures. What would actual study and analysis of the scriptures, however, reveal about their portrayals of the deity related to such qualities as love? This essay compares the contents of the New Testament and the Quran on this important theme. I was motivated to do this research after the Muslim "Common Word" statement (2006) claimed that "love of God" was the effective meeting point for Islam and Christianity. I thank my Spanish colleague Juan Pedro Conferrer-Sala for giving me this opportunity to explain what I discovered.
https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Text-Sprachwissenschaft-interkulturellen-Kommunikation/dp/363159741X
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The Islamic World, Jan 1, 2008
That Dr. Andrew Rippin would invite me to co-author an article on the Qur'an for the collection o... more That Dr. Andrew Rippin would invite me to co-author an article on the Qur'an for the collection of articles he solicited and edited (Routledge 2008) is a sign of his generosity and ability to work with others from a wide range of personal beliefs. This essay is a bit of a handoff of valuable perspectives on a difficult topic, and has been foundational in my teaching and writing on the Qur'an culminating recently in the publication of my book, The Quran with Christian commentary, amazon.com/dp/0310534720
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The Bible in Arab Christianity, 2007
The title of this article does not actually accurately represent the content of the material I re... more The title of this article does not actually accurately represent the content of the material I reported from the early Qur'an commentary of Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 767). In fact, Muqatil did not find "tahrif" in the four Qur'an verses that contain the Arabic verb harrafa, or in most of the other verses that Muslim polemicists have cited in an effort to attack the integrity of the Bible. I presented this material at the Mingana Symposium in 2005, a very pleasant and interesting scholarly gathering that used to be held every four years at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, England.
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Papers by Gordon D Nickel
International Journal of Asian Christianity, 2022
The journals and letters of Abdul Masih (1776-1827) provide a lively and fascinating entry into c... more The journals and letters of Abdul Masih (1776-1827) provide a lively and fascinating entry into consideration of the themes of faith and humility in South Asian Christianity. These themes were strong in the training Abdul received from evangelical chaplains of the East India Company prior to British permission for Christian mission in India. However, it is in Abdul's reports of personal encounters with a wide variety of Muslim, Hindu, and Catholic interlocutors that the quality of meekness especially comes alive. Abdul perceived that the quality came from the teaching and example of Jesus. How was this quality to be shown in authentic faith conversation that revealed a clash of truth claims and even public calls for punishment of an 'apostate'? When ambushed with polemic in excitable public settings? As Abdul conceived it, the 'meekness and gentleness of Christ' (2 Cor 10:1) dovetails nicely with a 'boldness' in gospel witness and a clear proclamation of the only faith that brings salvation. Remarkable, though wholly in line with his approach, was the way in which Muslim interlocutors who frequently came to dispute or reproach expressed satisfaction with Abdul by the end of the conversation. Meanwhile, Abdul humbly and faithfully ministered among Indian Christians in Agra and elsewhere as a catechist for the Church Missionary Society over a period of fourteen years.
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Journal of the Institute of Islamic Studies, 2021
I am posting this article just a few days after the violent attack on Salman Rushdie in New York ... more I am posting this article just a few days after the violent attack on Salman Rushdie in New York (12 Aug 2022), though I published the article a year ago in a German academic journal. You'll see that I mention both Rushdie and his "Satanic Verses" right away, and I believe that my examination of the roots of violence and murder against people accused of "blasphemy" in relation to Islam holds true for the case of Rushdie. "The Islamic Punishment for Blasphemy" is a reworked and expanded version of an article published under the same title in "Dynamics of Muslim Worlds" (IVP Academic 2017). I attempted to remove the particularly missiological focus of the earlier article and to address the subject more directly for the general reader.
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Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Jan 1, 2011
Muslim commentary on the Quran can be tremendously interesting, and none more so than the amazing... more Muslim commentary on the Quran can be tremendously interesting, and none more so than the amazing commentary of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1209), Mafātīḥ al-ghayb. This article explores and explains what al-Rāzī wrote on verses that touch on four lively topics in interfaith conversation: violence in matters of faith, the authenticity of the Torah, and the death and deity of Jesus.
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Numen, Jan 1, 2011
The story about a letter sent by Muhammad to the Byzantine emperor Heraclius appears right at the... more The story about a letter sent by Muhammad to the Byzantine emperor Heraclius appears right at the beginning of the hadith collection of Bukhari. But the story first caught my attention when I was investigating commentary interpretations of Q 3.64, where both al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir mention the story. I decided to trace the double meaning of "submit" in the text of the alleged letter--submit to Islamic rule, become a Muslim, or both?
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Islam and Christianity - Journal of the Institute of Islamic Studies, 2011
Stories in early Muslim genres such as Tafsir, Sira, Hadith and Asbab al-nuzul portray a scenario... more Stories in early Muslim genres such as Tafsir, Sira, Hadith and Asbab al-nuzul portray a scenario in which the People of the Book were found culpable of failure to acknowledge the authority of Muhammad based on the claim that they knew of the mention of Muhammad in their own intact scriptures. The attraction of portraying the People of the Book as dishonest and obstinate was more attractive even than the accusation that their scriptures were corrupt and falsified.
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Collectanea Christiana Orientalia, Jan 1, 2006
A fascinating story of the meeting of Muhammad with a group of Christians from the town of Najrān... more A fascinating story of the meeting of Muhammad with a group of Christians from the town of Najrān in the southwestern corner of the Arabia peninsula is featured in the "Sīra" of Ibn Isḥāq, one of the best-known Muslim narratives of Islamic origins. When I saw the same story in the Quran commentary of Muqātil ibn Sulaymān (who wrote in approximately the same time period as Ibn Isḥāq, mid-eighth century), I wanted to describe Muqātil's version and compare it with other Muslim versions. One of the most interesting parts of the story is the response of the Christians to a rather threatening challenge from Islam's messenger over the true identity of Jesus.
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Collectanea Christiana Orientalia, Jan 1, 2009
When the Muslim statement "A Common Word between us and you" appeared on the internet in October ... more When the Muslim statement "A Common Word between us and you" appeared on the internet in October 2007, I found it to be dissonant to what I had read in early Muslim commentary on Q 3.64. I decided to investigate the interpretation of this "common word" verse across a wide range of commentaries on the Quran. Though interpretations vary, none of the commentaries understands Q 3.64 to refer to a theological concept held "in common" with non-Muslims.
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Zeitschrift des Instituts für Islamfragen, 2021
"Im ersten Artikel hebt der Islamwissenschaftler Gordon Nickel hervor, dass sich Blasphemie-Fälle... more "Im ersten Artikel hebt der Islamwissenschaftler Gordon Nickel hervor, dass sich Blasphemie-Fälle im islamischen Kontext in aller Regel nicht mit Gotteslästerung, sondern mit vermeintlichen Beleidigungen Muhammads befassen. Bezüglich der Bestrafung liefern die islamischen Primärquellen Koran und Sunna nach Nickel kein eindeutiges Bild. Anders sieht es im islamischen Recht aus. In den traditionellen sunnitischen Rechtsschulen besteht (trotz einzelner Meinungsverschiedenheiten) ein Konsens bezüglich der Todesstrafe. Die Gründe dafür erkennt der Autor vor allem in einer immer weiter gesteigerten Verehrung Muhammads."
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Islam und Christlicher Glaube, Zeitschrift des Instituts für Islamfragen, 2016
One of the most facile assumptions about religions, especially in the West, is that concepts of "... more One of the most facile assumptions about religions, especially in the West, is that concepts of "God" would be more or less the same in the various famous scriptures. What would actual study and analysis of the scriptures, however, reveal about their portrayals of the deity related to such qualities as love? This essay, offered in two parts, compares the contents of the New Testament and the Quran on this important theme. I am very grateful for the translation into German by editor Dr. Carsten Polanz. The article was first published as "The Language of Love in Qur'ān and Gospel," in Sacred Text: Explorations in Lexicography (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2009), pp. 223-48.
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Chapters in collections by Gordon D Nickel
In this essay, I describe and analyze the interpretation of the Quran passage in the commentary of Muqātil ibn Sulaymān. I wrote this essay as a tribute to Dr. Andrew Rippin, my friend and supervisor of my PhD dissertation on Muqātil, published as "Narratives of Tampering in the Earliest Commentaries on the Qur'ān" (Brill 2011). amazon.com/dp/9004192387
https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Text-Sprachwissenschaft-interkulturellen-Kommunikation/dp/363159741X
Papers by Gordon D Nickel
In this essay, I describe and analyze the interpretation of the Quran passage in the commentary of Muqātil ibn Sulaymān. I wrote this essay as a tribute to Dr. Andrew Rippin, my friend and supervisor of my PhD dissertation on Muqātil, published as "Narratives of Tampering in the Earliest Commentaries on the Qur'ān" (Brill 2011). amazon.com/dp/9004192387
https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Text-Sprachwissenschaft-interkulturellen-Kommunikation/dp/363159741X