Abstract

Jewish and Christian religious material from the Old and New Testament and other Midrashic works was absorbed into Muslim literature to serve manifold aims. Quotations from the Old Testament, which constitute the lion's share of the quoted material, were designed to corroborate some dogmatic issues in Islam. Verses from the Books of Genesis and Deuteronomy, as well as verses from the later prophets, Isaiah, Habakkuk, and Haggai, were intended mainly to prove the authenticity of the mission of Muhammad and the truthfulness of his prophecy. Quotations from the Book of John came to convince the ordinary Muslim believer that the name of Muhammad was mentioned in the Bible, and to confirm that Jesus had already foretold his coming. Other quotations served controversial political factions and oppositional parties. The Shi'ite faction especially made extensive use of the biblical material to corroborate their claims for the throne in the Muslim state. The use of the biblical material was not restricted only to dogmatic or political goals; rather, it was deliberately used to strengthen the scholars' argumentation in questions of theology, historicity, genealogy, morality, ethics, editing, literature, etc.

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