The Quran and the Aramaic Gospels, Part II

I gave a khutbah in April about the work of two scholars – Neil Douglas Klotz and Emran El-Badawi - who have focused on the relationship between language and meaning – especially the Aramaic language that was commonly used in the Middle East during the time of prophets Jesus and Mohammed.  I had first become interested in the idea of translation as a distorter of original meaning through reading Klotz’s work.  He offers a much more nuanced, non-didactic interpretation of biblical texts like the Lord’s Prayer (Prayers of the Cosmos) and the Gospels, (The Hidden Gospel:  Decoding the Spiritual Message of the Aramaic Jesus).  Klotz’s interpretations reinforced for me the notion that the foundational texts of the monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – are indeed a continuum of a single faith trajectory.  But Klotz is a Sufi scholar (The Sufi Book of Life:  99 Pathways of the Heart for the Modern Dervish, is a meditation on the 99 names of Allah), not an academic researcher. 

Emran El-Badawi’s work has taken the “continuum” hypothesis to the level of focused academic research.  The book that followed from his doctoral dissertation, The Quran and the Aramaic Gospels, is a comparative analysis of the Quran’s Arabic text and the Aramaic text of the Gospels, a scientific study of linguistics.  I consider this work to be a seminal contribution to our understanding of Quranic revelation and it’s place in the evolution of human spirituality. 

By studying both meaning and linguistic structure in the Quran and the Aramaic Gospels, El-Badawi was able to discern the main verses that form the backbone of the interface, or “dialogue” between the two scriptures.  He described four categories of meaning that apply to both scriptural traditions:  1/ the prophets and their righteous entourage, 2/ the evils of the clergy, 3/ the divine realm, and 4/ divine judgment and the apocalypse. 

In his linguistic analysis, El-Badawi looks at whole passages, clauses or phrases, and short phrases that share multiple relationships.  El-Badawi’s study provides a detailed analysis of the concentration, distribution and frequency of these types of relationships, and summarizes the findings in several graphs.  Short phrases form 71 % of all the relationships that he found.   He also looks at words that are derived from the same root words or borrowed words; these comprise 27 % of the relationships.  Finally, he examines rhymes and repetitions that are related between the scriptures.  These are comparatively miniscule, however the repetition of the curse formula against the ‘scribes and hypocrites’ in Matthew 23 (and Luke 11:44) and its parallel against the ‘disbelievers’ in Q 77 puts those texts in dialogue.

El-Badawi concludes that “Quran is in close dialogue with the text and context of the Gospels through their transmission in the Syriac and Christian Palestinian dialects of Aramaic….  This dialogue was mediated through a literary and hermeneutical (interpretive) strategy that he calls ‘dogmatic re-articulation.”  His conclusion is that “the Quran does not demonstrate a superficial awareness of the Gospel texts.” 

His evidence shows that the Prophet and his companions were familiar with the prophetic tradition of the Jews and the Christians around them, especially texts from the Bible like the books of Psalms, Isaiah, Acts, Romans, Revelations, and related Aramaic traditions of Rabbinical commentary and Christian preaching.  The Quran is familiar with the events in the Acts of the Apostles, the doctrines of Paul’s epistle to the Romans and the apocalyptic imagery of the book of Revelations.  In other words, the Quran reveals a “broader conception of al-injil beyond just the Gospel Traditions to include the New Testament as a whole.” 

El-Badawi found parallels between the experiences of Muhammad and his community of believers, and the Old Testament prophets.  Prophet Muhammad and his followers experienced expulsion, fear, and hunger, after which they were rewarded with a (new) ‘secure sanctuary’ (haram amin) and many fruits (Q 24: 53-57; 28:57; 106) – just like Abraham and his people. 

         Surah 106  Quraysh

         So that the Quraysh might remain secure [1]

         Secure in their winter and summer journeys [2]

         Let them, therefore, worship the Sustainer of this Temple [3]

Who has given them food against hunger, and made them safe from danger. [4]

They received ‘mercy after hardship,’ fleeing upon land and sea (Q 10:21-23; Q 17:70) – just like Noah and his family, and not unlike Jonah in the belly of the fish.”

         Surah 17:70  Al-Isra  The Night Journey

Now indeed, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam, and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favored them far and above most of Our creation…

El-Badawi found that, contrary to the predominant focus of contemporary Muslim preaching, the Quran’s main focus is not with the pagan cults of cities and towns in or near the Prophet’s surroundings (Mecca, Yathrib, Taif, and so on).  These cults, maintains El-Badawi, were – unlike the image portrayed in the Sirah – probably in serious decline by the time of the prophet Muhammad.  El-Badawi contends that the Quran’s reference to the so-called ‘names’ (asma) of the daughters of Allah (Manat, Lat, and Uzza; Q 53:19-23; 37:149-50; further Q 12:40) likely reflected only one trend of the diversity in the Quran’s time and culture in any case.

The predominate conversation in Quran is with surrounding Christian dogma and Jewish law.  Rival camps of Jewish, Christian, and Hanafite monotheists seem to have constituted the standard form of religious practice in the Quran’s milieu, and polytheistic pagan cults its exception. 

The evidence from El-Badawi’s study “makes it clear” that traditions from the Aramaic Christian sphere intersected with the Quran’s environment early, on multiple occasions, and from different individual sources.  [This is]… best illustrated in the opening verses of the so called ‘Meccan Surahs,’ including Q 51:1-9 which integrates terminology from Syriac, and [other dialects] of Aramaic into the Arabic grammatical constructions (maf’ul mutlaq) that are a hallmark of the … prophetic speech employed in the Quran.” 

         Surah 51:  Adh-Dhariyat  The Dust Scattering Winds

Bismil-lahir-Rahmanir-Rahim 

Wadh-dhariyati dharwa [1] - Consider the winds that scatter the dust far and wide

Fal-hamilati wiqra [2] – and those that carry the burden [of heavy clouds]

         Fal-jariyati yusra [3] – and those that speed along with gentle ease

Fal-muqassimati amra [4] – and those that apportion [the gift of life] at [God’s] behest

Innama tu’aduna lasadiq [5] – Truly, that which you are promised is true indeed

         Wa innad-dina lawaqi [6] – and truly, judgment is bound to come!

Was-samaa ‘i dhatil-hubuk [7]- Consider the firmament full of starry paths!

Innakum lafi qawlim-mukhtaliff [8]- Truly you are deeply at variance as to what to believe

Yu faku anhu man ufik. [9] – perverted in view is the one who would self-deceive.

El-Badawi shows that Qur’an itself is part of a prophetic continuum. 

“The Qur’an may be appreciated as both a collection of divine revelations as well as a product of religious cross-pollination.  Therefore, it is not the finality of an individual prophetic tradition nor its written legacy – scripture – but rather the continuity of prophetic tradition and scripture that bestows upon us the broadest perspective from which to appreciate them both.”

“The broadest appreciation of Qur’an – which goes beyond the confines of classical exegetical literature (Tafsir) and contributes truly original insights to the genre of Qur’anic Sciences (Ulum al-qur’an) is to perceive its dogmatic re-articulation of the scriptures coming from earlier prophetic traditions as well as its contribution to later prophetic traditions.  It is to appreciate a complicated text whose inspiration from the divine realm and articulation onto the plane of human history make it one of the greatest manifestations of scripture, both in the world of late antiquity and in our world today.  Wa allahu a’alam.” 

El-Badawi’s work provides support and concrete evidence that the monotheistic faith traditions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – cannot be separated, and can best be understood when viewed in relationship with each other. 

Innal-ladhina amanu wal-ladhina Hadu wan-Nasara was-Sabi’ina man ‘amanu billahi wal-Yawmil-Akhiri wa ‘amila salihan-falahum ajruhum inda Rabbihim wa la Khaqfun ‘alayhim wa la hum yahzanun.  [2:62]

Truly, those who attain to faith, as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians – all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds – shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have and neither shall they grieve.  [2:62]