The Qur'an and the Bible

A groundbreaking comparative study that illuminates the connections between the Qur'ān and the Bible

While the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are understood to be related texts, the sacred scripture of Islam, the third Abrahamic faith, has generally been considered separately. Noted religious scholar Gabriel Said Reynolds draws on centuries of Qur'ānic and Biblical studies to offer rigorous and revelatory commentary on how these holy books are intrinsically connected.

Reynolds demonstrates how Jewish and Christian characters, imagery, and literary devices feature prominently in the Qur'ān, including stories of angels bowing before Adam and of Jesus speaking as an infant. This important contribution to religious studies features a full translation of the Qur'ān along with excerpts from the Jewish and Christian texts. It offers a clear analysis of the debates within the communities of religious scholars concerning the relationship of these scriptures, providing a new lens through which to view the powerful links that bond these three major religions.

“An important resource for anyone who wants to grasp the deep, organic connections between these two sacred books and among the three Abrahamic faiths.”—Bill Tammeus (“Faith Matters” blog)

“This book fills a gaping hole to revelatory effect. Essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between the Qur’ān and the religious context of late antiquity.”—Tom Holland, author of In the Shadow of the Sword

"Gabriel Reynolds’s concise commentary on the Qur’ān text offers an indispensable key to many parallel Biblical and para-Biblical traditions and clarifies the Qur’ān’s unique relationship to these earlier traditions and texts."—Fred M. Donner, University of Chicago

“Gabriel Reynolds is one of the world’s leading Qur’ānic scholars, and this learned and readable commentary sheds great light on the religious impulses that shaped Islam at its beginnings and on the relationship between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in Muhammad's day.”—Gary A. Anderson, author of Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition

“This important and unprecedented book demonstrates that the Qur’ān cannot be fully appreciated without an awareness of its Biblical backdrop.”—Suleyman Dost, Brandeis University

“This major contribution to our understanding of the Qur’ān makes a powerful argument for the profound influence of Biblical traditions, and especially Christian traditions, on the Qur’ān.”—Devin Stewart, Emory University