RBL 04/2020

Emran Iqbal El-Badawi

The Qur’ān and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions

Routledge Studies in the Qur’an

London: Routledge, 2014. Pp. xx + 280. Cloth. $160.00.

ISBN 9780415821230.

Abdulla Galadari
Khalifa University of Science and Technology

The book seeks to understand the Qur’an’s literary environment, which is hypothesized as having
emerged as a response to the quarrels of the various Syriac churches. Emran El-Badawi clearly
states in the preface that the main purpose of the book is a “literary and historical analysis of the
Arabic text of the Qur’ān in light of the Aramaic translations of the Gospels” (xiv). He warns that
it does not deal with the debate regarding the authenticity of the Qur’an or its dating. With this
clarification he attempts to disassociate the study from the likes of John Wansbrough or Christoph
Luxenberg. It is also commendable that El-Badawi brings together Western and contemporary
critical Muslim scholarship on the Qur’an, such as the scholarship of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, which
is, unfortunately, neglected by some Western scholars.

The book is divided into seven chapters based on four themes: prophets, clergy, the divine, and the
apocalypse. In the first chapter, El-Badawi introduces the sources and method used throughout
the book. He identifies four main sources of the book: (1) the Aramaic gospel traditions, (2) the
Qur’an, (3) Islamic sources, and (4) non-Islamic sources. He defines the Aramaic gospel traditions
as the canonical gospels translated from Greek into Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic. El-
Badawi provides a brief history of the Aramaic gospel traditions such as Tatian’s Diatessaron, the
Old Syriac gospels, and the Peshitta. A brief literary history of the Qur’an is also introduced. He
identifies the Islamic sources to include the rich historical, biographical, and exegetical literature
on the Qur’an, including its vocabulary, structure, and hermeneutics. The non-Islamic sources are

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the vast traditions that existed in the Qur’an’s milieu from various languages and dialects,
including the biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, which contain doctrines that El-Badawi
suggests the Qur’an espouses. Zoroastrian literature is also included as part of qur’anic milieu of
the Near Eastern heritage available during late antiquity.

Chapter 2 deals with the prophetic traditions that existed in the Near East, from which the Qur’an
emerged, which included Judeo-Christian, Zoroastrian, Manichaean, and other traditions. El-
Badawi emphasizes the Syriac-speaking churches’ prophetic traditions, called “mašlmānūtā,” as an
example for the Arabian prophetic tradition that became the Islam of Muhammad. El-Badawi
argues that there was a group of people who ascribed neither to one of the major organized
religious establishments nor to local pagan cults. It is from within this tradition that Muhammad
emerged, as part of an Arabic-speaking group attempting to unify the various traditions into one.

In chapter 3, El-Badawi discusses how Jesus is placed within a long line of Israelite prophets within
the Aramaic gospel traditions and how that is rearticulated in the Qur’an. For example, while Paul’s
doctrine is that Jesus is considered the second Adam undoing the original sin, according to El-
Badawi the Qur’an rejects this to show that Jesus is like Adam (e.g., Q 3:59). El-Badawi emphasizes
how the vocabulary of the Qur’an, such as using the Arabic term mathal (similitude or parable)
reflects the biblical use of parables. Thereby, the audience of the Qur’an would have been able to
relate to the Qur’an’s terminology, which is similar to the Aramaic vocabulary (e.g., matlā, parable),
as well. Nonetheless, while El-Badawi gives examples of similarity in vocabulary between the
Qur’an and the Aramaic gospels, he asserts that the Qur’an’s structure is rather unique in
comparison, in that it erratically jumps from one topic to another, unlike the Bible, yet remains
linguistically cohesive. According to El-Badawi, just as Jesus is situated within a long list of Israelite
prophets within the Aramaic Christian traditions, the Qur’an attempts to do something similar by
situating Muhammad alongside this prophetic line.

Additionally, El-Badawi argues that the Qur’an and the Aramaic gospel traditions associate
prophets with the righteous, who are usually oppressed by the status quo. El-Badawi gives various
examples of Aramaic terminologies used in the gospels and their similarity in the Qur’an, such as
al-ṣāliḥūn corresponding to the Aramaic šlīḥē (the righteous), al-ṣiddīqūn corresponding to the
Aramaic zdīqē (the sincere), ijtabā from the Aramaic gabyā (the elect), the shared term ṭūbā
(blessed), and masākīn corresponding to the Aramaic mēskīnē (poor).

Chapter 4 argues that, as the Aramaic gospel traditions incited condemnation against the clergy
and their materialism, the Qur’an also rearticulates this in its own message. Both traditions accuse
the clergy of being overbearing, hypocritical, and abusing their authority.

Chapter 5 discusses how the imagery and terminology of the divine are philologically related
between the Qur’an and the Aramaic gospel traditions. For example, the Qur’an uses the term

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malakūt for the divine dominion, similar to the Aramaic term used in the gospels, malkūtā, instead
of the typical Arabic term for kingdom, mamlakah. El-Badawi also states that the Qur’an uses
similar phraseology as appears in the Aramaic traditions, as the kingdom of the heavens and the
earth. The most notable example is the qur’anic phrase maqālīd al-samāwāt (the keys of the
heavens) (Q 39:63; 42:12), which El-Badawi compares with Aramaic qlīdē d-malkūtā da-šmāyā
(keys to the kingdom of heaven) (Matt 16:19). The term used in both, iqlīd, is itself actually a Greek
loanword (kleis). El-Badawi also compares some of the gospel parables and how they are
rearticulated in the Qur’an, as well as other themes, such as light, glory, and mercy.

Chapter 6 is dedicated to divine judgment and the apocalyptic genre of some of the qur’anic
chapters. It compares the themes of death, the final judgment, and heaven and hell between the
Aramaic gospel traditions and the Qur’an. El-Badawi views the qur’anic apocalyptic imagery to be
a rearticulation of Aramaic Christian literature. For example, the gospels sometimes suggest that
there could be some who would never taste death (e.g., Matt 16:24–28; Mark 9:1; Luke 9:23–27;
John 8:48–55), while the Qur’an suggests that every soul/self (nafs) shall taste death (e.g., Q 3:185;
21:35; 29:57). El-Badawi explains that the qur’anic text dogmatically rearticulates these passages to
denounce the immortality of Christian believers, whether literally or theologically, and to assert
that the apocalypse would not occur in one’s lifetime but is eschatological. El-Badawi presents
various parallels of apocalyptic imagery from the Hebrew Bible and Christian literature with those
represented by the Qur’an, such as an earthquake, heavens torn apart, a celestial army, along with
God and the angels descending upon a cloud. Additionally, just like in the gospels, the Qur’an
denies that anyone knows when the hour will occur except for God; neither the Son (according to
the gospels) nor the qur’anic receiver, who is warning of the hour’s approach, have any knowledge
of it.

The final chapter provides a typology of literary relationships and the conclusion. El-Badawi
illustrates that the qur’anic origin is not some Syriac text or that it is a Christian scripture for the
Arabs. Throughout the book El-Badawi appears diligently to avoid some of the older scholarly
concepts that the Qur’an “borrowed” or “was influenced” by other traditions. Instead, he prefers
to use the concept that the Qur’an “dogmatically rearticulates” or was “inspired” by these traditions.
El-Badawi also notes that broadening one’s appreciation of the Qur’an is to go beyond the
boundaries of traditional Muslim exegesis.

While El-Badawi emphasizes the Aramaic gospel traditions, I think that cannot mean that the
Qur’an is unaware of other gospel traditions, such as the Greek or Coptic traditions. There is
evidence that that Qur’an is aware of various Christian traditions and tensions that exist among
the debates of various churches. One may always question the authenticity of tradition, but if
Muhammad sent epistles to Byzantium and the Coptic Church, or if one of his wives was a Copt,
then it would suggest that the Qur’an is aware of many other Christian traditions beyond the

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Aramaic. After all, one of the first Muslim encounters with Christianity, according to tradition,
was with the Ethiopic Church.

This book is fascinating and points to many great intertextualities that one may find between the
Qur’an and the gospels, which El-Badawi demonstrates as the Qur’an being in dialogue with these
Aramaic traditions. The book is highly recommended for qur’anic scholars and students, as well
as those involved in interreligious dialogues. Most biblical scholars neglect the Qur’an as part of
the biblical reception history in their scholarship. This book could provide them with valuable
insights that should not be ignored.

This review was published by RBL ã2020 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a
subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.