The Author

M.A. (Cantab), B.A. (London School of Theology/CNAA), M.A. (London School of Theology/Brunel), Ph.D. (Edinburgh)

I am director of CMCS, and also an associate member of the Theology and Religion faculty of Oxford University and a Research Fellow at Regent’s Park College Oxford.

Following degrees in English Literature, Christian Theology, and a doctorate in Islamic Studies, I currently work on Muslim perceptions of the Bible and Christianity. I also have strong interests in the history of Muslim-Christian relations more widely, and am always eager to persuade people that in the field of Muslim-Christian relations, we really do need to understand the past in order to engage properly with the present.

I teach undergraduates and supervise postgraduates both within Oxford University and for other institutions.

(Source: https://www.cmcsoxford.org.uk/about-us/our-team/publications-martin-whittingham/)

Presentation

This book is the first of two volumes that aim to produce something not previously attempted: a synthetic history of Muslim responses to the Bible, stretching from the rise of Islam to the present day. It combines scholarship with a genuine narrative, so as to tell the story of Muslim engagement with the Bible.

Covering Sunnī, Imāmī Shī’ī and Ismā’īlī perspectives, this study will offer a scholarly overview of three areas of Muslim response, namely ideas of corruption, use of the Biblical text, and abrogation of the text. For each period of history, the important figures and dominant trends, along with exceptions, are identified. The interplay between using and criticising the Bible is explored, as well as how the respective emphasis on these two approaches rises and falls in different periods and locations.

The study critically engages with existing scholarship, scrutinizing received views on the subject, and shedding light on an important area of interfaith concern.

Contents

(Credit Photo: Haley Black)