Guide to Reading the Scripture of "The Other"

Guide to Reading the Scripture of “the Other”

Scripture means any writing regarded as “sacred” by a certain group of people.
The scriptures may contest between themselves claiming to be the only authority or more authentic than the others. That is expected from a scripture; otherwise it would deny its own existence as to why it would be there if the other scripture(s) were more true or authentic than itself.

I see no problem in the self claiming of the scripture as to be the divinely inspired guide to human beings. Rather, the problem may arise in the attitude a person takes when reading a particular scripture.

If one identifies herself/himself as the follower or supporter of a certain scripture and begins to read it, then some important problems begin to arise. When this person approaches a scripture that s/he identifies as the “scripture of the other” with the same attitude, then even more serious problems arise.

A- A General Guide When Reading a Scripture:

The Principles:

1- Reductionist approach to any scripture is the source of bias:

Every scripture, be it “our scripture” or “the scripture of the other” needs to be read as it claims to be. For example, the Gospel of Matthew claims to be inspired by God and written by Matthew. The Qur’an claims to be the Word of God, revealed by God to Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel. The reader is expected to read the text and decide whether this claim is justifiable or not. The confirmation or rejection of the self-claim of the text comes at the end, not in the beginning.

The benefit of this principle is that the reader does not impose her/his prejudgments on the text. S/he lets the text speak and demonstrate its contents so that the reader can reach an unbiased conclusion.

2- Imitator vs. Confirmer:

The Scripture is out there to be confirmed not to be imitated.

Every scripture, at least in the beginning, needs to be confirmed by its adherents for the consistency of its claims. To start with, the reader should have an open mind as to investigate the scripture whether its claims make sense to her/him. In order to reach a sound conclusion, the reader is expected to prepare herself/himself to read the text not to imitate it but, rather, to reach a conclusion about its reliability.

Only through this attitude can the reader save herself/himself from falling into prejudice because, by definition of being a divinely inspired guide, the scripture is meant to teach and educate its readers and not make them blind followers.

A relevant verse from the Qur’an asks the believers to confirm their belief in what they already claim to believe. Therefore, even if the reader believes in the authenticity of the claim of the scripture, s/he still has to read it with the expectation that it will provide even more evidence to confirm her/his belief in it.

The process of confirmation has two conditions:

The first condition which is in regards to the reader: S/he needs to look for the evidence in the scripture in order to confirm her/his belief in it, rather than to imitate whatever it claims.

The second condition which is in regards to the scripture: The reader needs to approach the scripture with the expectation that it will preserve the coherence of its claim in all of its parts.

4:136 “O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger, and the scripture which He has sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denies God, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Hereafter, has gone far, far astray.”

By addressing “O you who believe!” and then asking the “believer” to believe in the main claim of the Qur’an, it teaches its reader that s/he needs to read it in order to see the evidences of this claim.

3- Imitator vs. Learner:

Imitation is not the way to help human beings increase knowledge.

If the reader approaches the scripture with an intention to imitate its contents, rather than to receive the message, s/he takes the information out of it and adjusts it to her/his already existing ideas, thus learning nearly nothing new from it. The advantage of approaching the text with an open mind is that the reader can attain the message it has to offer and thus learn something new. Whether s/he will endorse the content of the message or repudiate it depends on her/his own judgment.

B- How to read the scripture of “the other”?

In addition to the general principles listed above, one needs to take into account some precautions before beginning to read the scripture of “the other”.

There are two ways of reading the scripture of “the other”:

1- To look for the faults, contradictions, corruptions in order to justify to herself/himself why s/he is not following this scripture.

With this attitude the reader learns nothing from the scripture but reinforces her/his prejudices about her/his attachment to her/his “own” scripture because the mistakes of “the other” do not bring any more evidence to support the truthfulness of her/his “own’ scripture.

2- Reading the scripture of ‘the other” with a sincere intention in order to see if there is anything good in it.

In this way the reader may learn something from the scripture of the other and use this information to support her/his own conviction about how scriptures in general help human beings receive guidance from God. This positive attitude cultivates the opportunity to support your fellow believers in the sacred, thus preventing the competition between the believers.

Rivalry between the followers of the scriptures brings about no benefit to any party and, instead, provides grounds for the unbelievers to attack the believers.

Educating, preparing the young (second) generation of the Muslim minority in a larger society:

The Qur’an teaches its reader the authenticity of the original form of the Scriptures. The Qur’an advises us to read the Scripture in order to see at least the partial truth or the remnants of the original truth. That means, rather than trying to find the corruption, or deviations, one should try to see the traces of the original divinely revealed truth in the text.

We need to establish a common ground, rather than scrutinizing the text to find the conflicting points. This is the only way to support our fellow believers in the sacred.

When contacting the followers of the Scripture of “the other”, we should always keep in mind that no one is perfect: Do not confuse the text and the people who claim to follow it.

Some verses from the Qur’an guide its reader how s/he should approach the scripture of “the other”:

5: 48 “And unto you [O Prophet] have We vouchsafed this divine writ, setting forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier revelations and determining what is true therein. Judge, then, between the followers of earlier revelation in accordance with what God has bestowed from on high, and do not follow their errant views, forsaking the truth that has come unto you. Unto every one of you have We appointed a [different] law and way of life. And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto, you. Vie, then, with one another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return; and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you differ.”

2:62 “VERILY, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians -all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds-shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

5:69 “for, verily, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Sabians, and the Christians - all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds - no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

5:65 “If the followers of the Book would but attain to [true] faith and God-consciousness, We should indeed efface their [previous] bad deeds, and indeed bring them into gardens of bliss;”

2: 41-42 “Believe in that which I have [now] bestowed from on high, confirming the truth already in your possession, and be not foremost among those who deny its truth; and do not barter away My messages for a trifling gain; and of Me, of Me be conscious!
(42) And do not overlay the truth with falsehood, and do not knowingly suppress the truth.”

5: 44 “Verily, it is We who bestowed from on high the Torah, wherein there was guidance and light. On its strength did the prophets, who had surrendered themselves unto God, deliver judgment unto those who followed the Jewish faith; and so did the [early] men of God and the rabbis, inasmuch as some of God’s writ had been entrusted to their care; and they [all] bore witness to its truth. Therefore, [O children of Israel,] hold not men in awe, but stand in awe of Me; and do not barter away My messages for a trifling gain: for they who do not judge in accordance with what God has bestowed from on high are, indeed, deniers of the truth!

5: 46 “And We caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow in the footsteps of those [earlier prophets], confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah; and We vouchsafed unto him the Gospel, wherein there was guidance and light, confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah, and as a guidance and admonition unto the God-conscious.”

Can we not summarize the message of the above verses as follows?

Try to see, even if you do not believe that the scriptures of “the other” are entirely true, at least, the remnants of this “light” and “guidance” in the “other” revelations.

“Vie, then, with one another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return.” (5:48)


In conclusion

If we are to support the truthfulness of belief in God, in the hereafter, and in the messengers, God’s Messages (revelation by God) in general without confining them to any particular religion, then we need to strengthen the belief aspect, itself. Whereas, if we support the truthfulness of our own belief by attributing it to our own religion only, excluding the “other” religions, criticizing their understanding of belief in God, etc. then we would be weakening the belief in God etc in general. By doing so we may only be contributing to shake the trust of the people who are in search of the Truth, belief in God, for example.

Tell your truth in the name of Truth, NOT in the name of a particular religion.

Ali Mermer