ABSTRACT
This study originally set out to review and analyse the use of the Qur’an in Christian-Muslim dialogue during the first three centuries of Islam and the most recent century. To this end, we have concentrated on Qur’anic interpretation in dialogue and the Qur’an’s own voice in dialogue according to the occasions of its revelation and other historical sources. Varying voices in what is now clearly a polylogue have been organized thematically, and categorized by tone. The exclusive tones, polemical and apologetical, have been the dominant tones in the dialogue, but they have not earned the highlight in this study. The inclusive tones, ecumenical and pluralistic, have been more in focus here, and draw attention to innovations in Qur’anic interpretation or dialogical reasoning that may otherwise fade away as minority voices. In drawing attention to ecumenical tones and innovative Qur’anic interpretations, those voices which attempt to employ the Qur’an as a tool for constructing bridges of thought between Christianity and Islam have been amplified. This amplified ecumenical tone in concert with occasional historical contextual analysis of the Qur’anic voice is both original in the academic field of the history of religions, and arguably desperately needed in the present socio-political context of the increasing interaction between Muslim and Christian civilizations.
