The Bible: An Islamic Perspective: Introduction to the Old Testament

Introduction to the Old Testament provides the historical background, social context, and other relevant information for the volumes of The Bible: An Islamic Perspective series about the stories of the Old Testament. After a survey of the sources and nature of the Islamic traditions about these stories, from the time of the Prophet and the Quran to the Middle Ages (represented by the Commentary of Surabadi), we then consider how ancient Canaan became Palestine. We next examine the canon and textual history of the heterogeneous Old Testament before looking at a variety of extra-canonical materials and other sources. Topics include: the origin of the Jews of the Hejaz, the role of oral literature, the name of the Bible, the results of the lower and higher criticisms, the Documentary Theory, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and much else. Though this volume is intended as a foundation for the examination of the individual stories in the other Old Testament volumes, it may stand on its own as a short survey of early Islam and the Old Testament.