Reformist Muslim approaches to the polemics of the Qur'an against other religions

This dissertation examines Muslim reformers' interpretation of a number of difficult passages in the Qur'an that have often been regarded as obstacles to inter-religious relations. As is known, several passages of the Qur'an are polemical in nature, especially against Jews and Christians. The basic contention of this study is that scriptural polemics are primarily intended as a means by which to establish and consolidate the identity of a religious community. What do scriptural polemics mean in the modern context? How have the Qur'an's polemical texts been interpreted by modern Muslim reformers? To what extent have their modern and local contexts shaped, and been shaped by, their understanding of the Qur'an? Is there room for interpreting the Qur'an's polemical texts for non-polemical interactions among different religious communities in the modern world? These questions form the major concern of this dissertation.;Six modern tafsirs (Qur'an commentaries) written by Muslim reformers from different parts of the Muslim world are examined, namely, Mah&dotbelow;asin al-ta'wil by Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (d.1914) from Syria; Tafsir al-Manar by Rashid Rid&dotbelow;a (d.1935) from Egypt; Tarjuman al-Qur'an by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (d.1958) from India; al-Tafsir al-Kashif by Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya (d.1979) from Lebanon; al-Mizan fi tafsir al-Qur'an by Muh&dotbelow;ammad H&dotbelow;usayn T&dotbelow;abat&dotbelow;aba'i (d.1981) from Iran; and Tafsir al-Azhar by Haji 'Abd al-Malik Karim Amrullah, known as Hamka (d.1981) from Indonesia. Since the Qur'anic polemics involve many contentious issues of inter-religious engagements, this dissertation focuses on certain aspects that are central to the understanding of the polemical elements of the Qur'an, including (1) seemingly exclusivist views of other religions, (2) charges of scriptural falsification, (3) theological disputes over Jesus and the Trinity, and (4) restrictions on inter-religious interaction and cooperation. However, before dealing with these four major themes, the polemical context and nature of the Qur'an are also examined. This dissertation will shed light on some difficulties that Muslim reformers had faced in their interpretation of the Qur'an's polemical passages as well as on the diversity of their approaches to the contextualization of the Qur'an in the modern time.