Spring 2021 · Vol. 50 No. 1 · pp. 112–113
Book Review
The Quran with Christian Commentary: A Guide to Understanding the Scripture of Islam
Gordon Nickel. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020. 672 pages.
This is a most valuable book, especially for Christians seeking to understand Islam. It includes the entire Quran in a highly respected English translation by A. J. Droge, along with footnote commentary by Nickel. In addition, it is interspersed with twenty short one-page reflections on topics such as Abraham in the Quran, Salvation in the Quran, Creation in the Quran, Women in the Quran, and Eschatology in the Quran. These short essays are written by Nickel and other Islamic scholars, including Peter Riddell, Jon Hoover, David Cook, Daniel Brubaker, and Linda Darwish. They give succinct and helpful glimpses into Quranic teachings that may be especially interesting to the Christian reader.
The book engages with the Quranic text in a manner that helps the reader understand today’s practice by Muslims who take the Quran seriously. For example, why do Muslims not practice sabbath rest like Jews and Christians do? Because the Quranic creation story does not have God resting on the seventh day. There is no weariness with God, hence, no need to rest. This does not mean that humans should not rest; it only means that the human need for rest is not an emulation of God. This is but one example of the radical separation of the human and divine in the Quran. It has no bridging figure like Jesus Christ; that is, no incarnation intimately connecting the divine and human. Of course, Allah is absolute authority for human living and can be seen in the entire created order. But Allah remains transcendent and humans, finite.
This is an important book for several reasons. Let me cite three. First, it includes the entire text of the Quran in easily readable English. This is important because while many Christians have access to {113} the Quran in English it is sometimes hard to read because it differs stylistically and structurally from Christian scriptures. The Sura (chapter) headings like, “The Cow,” “The Fig,” “The Jinn,” and so on, are not precise indicators on what is being talked about in the text. Nickel helps the reader to situate each of these Suras in relation to the whole. He also often connects the material in the Quran to the biblical stories highlighting the differences and similarities between the two versions of the same stories.
Second, the book itself is an important model of interfaith dialogue. Presented in a scholarly manner, it engages the other critically and empathetically. You see little of the oftentimes polemical engagement where each theological nuance must be differentiated or harmonized with the Christian faith. While Nickel does not hesitate to point out differences—often stark differences—from common Christian affirmations and beliefs, he resists the temptation to resolve them. The book models the open and frank engagement befitting productive dialogue.
Third, it is at once scholarly and accessible to lay readers. The commentary is well researched and demonstrates awareness of the vast literature and debates within Islamic scholarship and history. That itself is no small feat. Nevertheless, it is Christian commentary, meaning that it is intended to help Christians understand the Quran and Islamic theology and practice.
I have been involved in formal Shia Muslim-Mennonite dialogue for the past ten years. I am not a Quranic scholar and when I prepare an essay for Shia-Mennonite dialogue seeking to give a Christian account of a particular theme to Muslims, I often wonder what they believe about the subject, or what the Quran says. But when I attempt to find out I very quickly get lost in the vastness of Islamic thought. Nickel’s book will be a helpful resource in the future.
I commend this book as a valuable resource for the Christian scholar teaching Islamic studies, the student wanting a glimpse into Islamic thought, and for the lay person wondering what the Quran actually says. My hope is that it will receive extensive distribution throughout the Christian world.
