The Qur’an and Judaism Page 1 of 13 PRINTED FROM OXFORD HANDBOOKS ONLINE (www.oxfordhandbooks.com). © Oxford University Press, 2018. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 09 June 2020 Print Publication Date: May 2020 Subject: Religion, Islam, Literary and Textual Studies, Judaism Online Publication Date: Jun 2020 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199698646.013.31 The Qur’an and Judaism Reuven Firestone The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies Edited by Muhammad Abdel Haleem and Mustafa Shah Abstract and Keywords This chapter consists of two parts. The first examines the historical-phenomenological re lationship between the Qur’an and Judaism (the Qur’an and Judaism), while the second examines perspectives expressed by the Qur’an toward Judaism (the Qur’an on Judaism). The former includes perspectives offered by pre-modern and contemporary non-Muslim researchers regarding the Qur’an and its relationship to the religion and culture of Ju daism; the latter considers how the Qur’an itself appears to evaluate Judaism. Both are considered within an explicit evaluative framework of assessment that reflects on the problematic of tension inherent in the relationship between established religion and emergent religion Keywords: Covenant, Torah, People of the Book, Rabbis, Jews, New Religious Movements (NRMs) The Qur’an and Judaism THE Qur’an includes many characters and narratives, laws, notions, and even language that are familiar from the Bible, but they appear differently in their Qur’an contexts. Moreover, episodes from biblical stories may not appear in Qur’anic renderings, or Qur’anic stories may include material that does not appear in biblical renderings. So too, similar laws are often immediately recognizable but distinctive in each scriptural context. The remarkable likeness unsurprisingly raises the question of relationship. How does the Qur’an fit into the history of monotheist tradition and the relationship between monothe ist expressions? How does one explain their striking similarities and equally glaring dif ferences? The Qur’an itself seems to reflect a consciousness of association with Jewish and Christ ian scripture, thought, and practice. The Qur’anic awareness also conveys a certain level of anxiety: ‘Surely it [the Qur’an] is a communication sent down from the Lord of the worlds, which the trustworthy spirit has brought down on your heart [Muḥammad] so you will be one of the warners in a clear Arabic tongue. It is most certainly in the scriptures of