Forged Scripture and False Belief? The Qurʾānic Conception of ‘the Other’ as a Challenge to Interreligious Dialogue

The textual basis of Islamic interreligious hermeneutics is found considering the concepts of ‘the Other’ in the Qurʾān. To be able to substantiate interreligious hermeneutics in an Islamic way, it is necessary to examine Qurʾānic verses that deal with people of other faiths from the original community of the Qurʾān. In Muslim scholarship, the Qurʾānic verses on the Christians and Jews of the Arabian Peninsula are mainly interpreted for the purpose of claiming absoluteness and establishing a Muslim identity. Obvious consideration of the Qurʾān leads to the impression that the adherents of the monotheistic faith traditions of the Ḥiǧāz form a milieu of origin which is characterized, above all, by the mystical objectivity and falseness of their theological arguments. In the centuries to come, the activity of Muslim exegetes shows that the formation of Islamic identity is related to the perspective of the People of the Book—mainly Arab Jews and Syro-Aramaic Christians. Apologetic tracts focus on the Qurʾānic charge of taḥrīf (forgery), which is still present in Muslim thought today. The Qurʾānic term taḥrīf is mainly understood as a falsification of divine revelation, in this case as a deliberate modification of texts or oral traditions of the ‘book’ (al-kitāb) revealed to a prophet. Here, the accusation of the Qurʾān refers to al-inǧīl, which is often understood as ‘gospel’. However, to better classify the culture of discussion in the Qurʾān and to create a hermeneutic basis for understanding ‘the Other’, it must be clarified what the Qurʾān means by ‘falsification’ and al-inǧīl. A detailed look at the verses in the Qurʾān in which the terms al-kitāb, al-inǧīl, and at-taḥrīf are mentioned reveals a discrepancy with the interpretation of the early Muslim exegetes. In my contribution, I would like to dare to consider the Qurʾānic taḥrīf thought, which elicits the textual immanence of the verses mentioned and embeds them in their revelational context. This article will also take up the Qurʾānic accusation of taḥrīf against Christians and its reinterpretation by early Muslim exegetes up to the 9th century AD. So: How different is ‘the Other’ in the Qurʾānic sense, and how can considering the taḥrīf verses serve as the theological basis for Islamic interreligious hermeneutics?