PART 4: THE QURAN OR THE BIBLE? TWO DIFFERENT SCRIPTURES

 SESSION 4  

Main Focus Summary 

PART 4: THE QURAN OR THE BIBLE? TWO DIFFERENT SCRIPTURES 

Chapters 13-16 

***Note to leaders: this is a significant difference between Muslims and Christians. Try to keep the reverence of Muslims for the Quran in view. What corresponds to this reverence in Christianity? 

"The place the Quran holds in the heart of Muslims is beyond the estimation of most Westerners, and so is the offense of burning it. There is nothing flammable on earth that Christians revere as much as Muslims revere the Quran. Thatis not to say that Christians do not highly revere the Bible, because they certainly do. But the traditional Muslim reverence for the Quran is almost inestimable. To understand this, we have to remember a point from the previous two chapters: The Quran is, to Muslims, the eternal Word of Allah himself. It is the closest thing to God incarnate. To Christians, the eternal Word of Yahweh is Jesus. The Quran holds in Islam the place that Jesus holds in the Christian faith. So let's put it together: To comprehend the insult of burning a Quran, a Christian would have to imagine someone burning Jesus" (105). 

"Muslims believe that the Quran primarily serves as a guidance for mankind, of course, but since they do not usually exegete it themselves it is fair to classify this as an indirect purpose for the average Muslim. Rather, it is the mystical value of the Quran that serves as its primary purpose. This is illustrated by devote Muslims' average encounter with the Quran: its recitation in Arabic, even if the Muslim does not speak Arabic. In this case, it is not guidance but blessings that Muslims seek" (111).