Interlude B: What Islam Preserved

This chapter is part of the book The Sacred Editors: Christianity.

"We believe in what was revealed to you." —Qur'an 2:136

Baghdad, 10th century CE. The library of Bayt al-Hikma—the House of Wisdom—hums with the quiet intensity of scholarship that transcends religious boundaries. Dust motes dance in shafts of sunlight streaming through latticed windows as scribes carefully copy manuscripts in Arabic, Syriac, and Persian scripts.

At one cedar table sits a Nestorian Christian monk comparing variant readings of the Gospel of Matthew with Aristotle's Metaphysics, both texts commissioned for translation by the Abbasid caliph's scholarly patronage. At another, a Jewish physician trained in Talmudic interpretation discusses textual variants with Muslim imams and Eastern Christian theologians, their animated conversation moving effortlessly between Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek.

In an adjoining chamber, Muslim scholars pore over Qur'anic commentaries that quote liberally from the Psalms, while Christian dhimmi (protected religious minorities) serve as translators and scribal assistants, their expertise in ancient languages making them invaluable partners in the great translation movement that is transforming Islamic civilization.¹

This is not the clash of civilizations that later polemics would imagine. This is a crossroads of preservation, critique, and intellectual exchange where the boundaries between traditions remain clear but permeable. In an era when many early Christian texts were being lost, ignored, or systematically destroyed in the Latin West due to canonical standardization and theological suspicion, Islamic scholars were copying them, commenting on them, and often protecting them—not because they accepted their theology, but because they valued knowledge ('ilm) itself as a reflection of divine truth.

It represents a different kind of scriptural engagement, shaped simultaneously by theological critique and scholarly curiosity, by competitive analysis and custodial care. For centuries, this tradition would preserve Christian textual diversity that would otherwise have vanished from history.

The Qur'anic Foundation for Biblical Engagement

The Qur'an, composed in seventh-century Arabia, emerged as both continuation and correction of earlier Abrahamic scriptures, establishing a complex relationship with Jewish and Christian textual traditions that would influence Islamic scholarship for centuries. The text refers repeatedly to earlier revelations: the Tawrat (Torah given to Moses), the Zabur(Psalms of David), and the Injil (Gospel revealed to Jesus), acknowledging their divine origin while simultaneously accusing some Jewish and Christian communities of having "forgotten" (nasu) or "corrupted" (harrafu) portions of their received revelations.²

Yet even as the Qur'an challenges specific Christian doctrines—particularly the Trinity, divine sonship, and the crucifixion—it affirms Jesus as Messiah (al-Masih), born of a virgin (Maryam al-'Adhra'), performing miracles by divine permission, and destined to return at the end of days as a sign of the final resurrection. The Qur'an honors Mary with greater attention than most New Testament texts, devoting an entire chapter (Surah Maryam) to her story and portraying her as the supreme example of human surrender to divine will.³

This theological framework created both obligation and opportunity for Muslim engagement with Christian texts. Qur'anic verses instructed believers to say: *"We believe in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to you and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes, and what Moses and Jesus received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we devote ourselves."*⁴ Such passages established theological mandate for Muslims to understand and engage seriously with Jewish and Christian scriptures, even while maintaining the Qur'an's corrective authority.

During the Islamic Golden Age (eighth through thirteenth centuries), this scriptural mandate combined with broader intellectual curiosity and imperial patronage to produce unprecedented scholarly engagement with biblical and parabiblical traditions. Muslim scholars working in multicultural cities like Baghdad, Córdoba, Cairo, and Damascustranslated not only Greek philosophical works but also Christian gospels, commentaries, and apocryphal writings. They incorporated biblical narratives into historical chronicles, cited Christian sources in theological disputes, and developed sophisticated comparative approaches to scriptural interpretation.

Prominent figures like al-Tabari (d. 923), al-Jahiz (d. 869), and al-Ghazali (d. 1111) referenced Christian gospels, patristic commentaries, and apocryphal traditions in their own works, often with remarkable familiarity and textual precision. Jewish and Christian scholars living under Islamic rule contributed extensively to this intellectual exchange, serving as translators, physicians, administrators, and theological consultants who helped bridge linguistic and cultural divides.⁵

The Mechanics of Preservation and Transmission

The practical mechanisms through which Islamic civilization preserved Christian textual traditions were complex and varied, reflecting different motivations and institutional contexts across the vast territories under Muslim rule. Monasteries in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt continued to function under Islamic governance, often maintaining extensive libraries that preserved both canonical and non-canonical Christian literature in Greek, Syriac, and Coptic languages.

Translation movements sponsored by Abbasid caliphs, particularly during the reigns of Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and al-Ma'mun (813-833), included Christian texts alongside philosophical and scientific works. While the primary focus remained on Greek philosophical and medical treatises, Christian writings were often translated as part of broader efforts to understand the intellectual heritage of conquered territories.

Polemical literature (radd or refutation texts) required detailed knowledge of Christian doctrines and scriptures, leading Muslim authors to study and quote Christian sources extensively. Works like al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim's refutation of Christianity (early ninth century) and Ibn Hazm's detailed critique of biblical textual traditions (eleventh century) preserved substantial quotations from Christian texts that provide modern scholars with valuable witnesses to early manuscript traditions.⁶

Christian communities under Islamic rule developed their own scholarly traditions that often involved translating Christian texts into Arabic for local use while maintaining connections to broader Christian textual traditions. Melkite, Jacobite, and Nestorian churches each developed distinctive approaches to preserving and transmitting their scriptural and theological heritage under Islamic political authority.

The dhimmi system, which granted "protected" status to Christians and Jews as "People of the Book" (Ahl al-Kitab), created legal and social frameworks that generally permitted the preservation and study of their religious texts, though with varying degrees of freedom and restrictions depending on local circumstances and political conditions.⁷

Specific Examples of Textual Preservation

The concrete results of this preservation effort can be documented through specific texts that survived in Arabic manuscript traditions after disappearing from Latin and Greek Christian libraries due to canonical standardization, theological suspicion, or simple neglect.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

This second-century text, which elaborates on Jesus's childhood with stories of miraculous but sometimes troubling demonstrations of divine power, was gradually suppressed in Western Christianity due to theological concerns about its portrayal of the child Jesus. However, Arabic manuscripts preserved substantially complete versions that modern scholars have used to reconstruct early forms of the text that would otherwise be entirely lost.

Tony Burke's critical edition demonstrates how Arabic versions sometimes preserve readings earlier than surviving Greek fragments, suggesting that Islamic scribal traditions maintained textual fidelity even while the text was being marginalized in its original linguistic contexts.⁸

The Gospel of James (Protoevangelium of James)

This influential second-century narrative about Mary's birth, childhood, and the circumstances surrounding Jesus's birth survived primarily through Eastern Christian and Arabic manuscript traditions after being relegated to secondary status in Western canonical development. Islamic scholars cited this text in discussions about Marian traditions, preserving not only its narrative content but also awareness of its early Christian authority.

The text's detailed descriptions of Mary's temple service and perpetual virginity influenced both Eastern Christian theology and Islamic understandings of Mary's special status, creating interesting points of convergence between Christian and Muslim Marian traditions.⁹

The Gospel of Barnabas

Perhaps the most controversial example, this medieval text (likely composed in fourteenth-century Italy or Spain) presents a radically different account of Jesus's mission that aligns closely with Islamic theological positions, including denial of the crucifixion and affirmation of Jesus's prophetic rather than divine status. While clearly not an authentic early Christian document, its preservation in Arabic manuscripts illustrates how Islamic scribal culture maintained texts that offered alternatives to orthodox Christian narratives.

The text's survival demonstrates how intellectual curiosity and theological interest could preserve even problematic or inauthentic materials that provided windows into Christian textual diversity and theological controversy.¹⁰

Patristic and Theological Works

Beyond gospel literature, Arabic translations preserved substantial portions of early Christian theological works that would otherwise have been lost. John of Damascus (d. 749), writing under early Islamic rule, produced theological syntheses that preserved quotations from earlier Christian authors whose works subsequently disappeared.

Syriac Christian communities under Islamic rule maintained extensive theological libraries that included both canonical and non-canonical materials, often translating important works into Arabic for broader circulation within Islamic intellectual networks.

What Would Have Changed?

Understanding the historical reality of Islamic preservation of Christian textual traditions opens space for considering how different patterns of Christian-Muslim intellectual engagement might have affected both religious traditions and their ongoing relationships.

Greater Mutual Understanding and Theological Dialogue

If Christian scholars had reciprocated Islamic interest in comparative scriptural study, treating Islamic texts and interpretations as legitimate sources for theological dialogue rather than simply as polemical targets, both traditions might have developed richer understanding of their shared Abrahamic heritage.

The shared reverence for figures like Jesus, Mary, Abraham, Moses, and David that appears in both biblical and Qur'anic traditions provided substantial foundation for theological conversation that was only partially explored due to mutual suspicion and institutional competition. Gabriel Said Reynolds argues that deeper comparative study reveals how both traditions preserved and developed different aspects of ancient Near Eastern religious heritage, with each offering insights that could enrich the other.¹¹

Such engagement might have prevented some of the theological oversimplifications and mutual caricatures that developed as both traditions defined themselves increasingly in opposition to each other rather than in conversation with shared sources and concerns.

Preservation of Early Christian Textual Diversity

Without Islamic-era copying and preservation efforts, significant portions of early Christian literature would have vanished entirely from historical record. The alternative gospels, apocryphal acts, and theological treatises that survived in Arabic manuscripts provide modern scholars with crucial evidence for understanding the diversity of early Christian thought and practice.

Sidney Griffith demonstrates how Arabic manuscript traditions often preserve textual variants and complete works that supplement and sometimes correct the partial evidence available through Greek and Latin manuscript traditions.¹² This preservation effort has proven invaluable for contemporary biblical scholarship and Christian historical studies.

Had Christian institutions maintained greater openness to textual diversity rather than pursuing canonical standardization and theological uniformity, many of these texts might have been preserved within Christian rather than Islamic scholarly traditions, potentially maintaining their influence on Christian theological development rather than relegating them to historical curiosity.

Alternative Approaches to Scriptural Interpretation

Islamic development of tafsir (Qur'anic commentary) methodology involved sophisticated approaches to interpreting ambiguous, metaphorical, and contextually challenging texts that often surpassed contemporary Christian hermeneutical techniques in analytical rigor and interpretive creativity.

Jane McAuliffe and other scholars have documented how Islamic commentators developed systematic approaches to handling scriptural difficulties, variant readings, and theological problems that could have enriched Christian biblical interpretation if there had been greater scholarly exchange.¹³

Early exposure to Islamic hermeneutical methods might have encouraged Christian scholars to develop more pluralistic approaches to biblical interpretation, potentially preventing some of the rigid doctrinal formulations that would later prove divisive during the Reformation and Enlightenment periods.

Reframing of Christological and Trinitarian Debates

Islamic theological challenges to Christian doctrines of Trinity, Incarnation, and divine sonship were often more sophisticated and philosophically informed than Christians recognized, drawing on careful analysis of biblical texts and logical examination of theological claims.

David Thomas documents how Islamic critiques prompted important clarifications and developments in Eastern Christian theology, particularly among Melkite and Jacobite theologians who were required to defend their positions against well-informed Muslim interlocutors.¹⁴

Had these theological challenges been more widely engaged in Western Christianity, they might have encouraged more nuanced and philosophically sophisticated approaches to Christological and Trinitarian doctrine, potentially preventing some of the oversimplifications and logical difficulties that later critics would exploit.

Scholar Debate: Preservation, Polemic, or Partnership?

Contemporary scholars continue to debate the motivations and implications of Islamic engagement with Christian textual traditions, reflecting broader disagreements about how to interpret interfaith intellectual relationships in medieval contexts.

Gabriel Said Reynolds emphasizes the preservational significance of Islamic engagement, arguing that the Qur'an both preserves and creatively reinterprets biblical narratives in ways that provide valuable witnesses to early Christian traditions otherwise lost to history. In Reynolds's assessment, Islamic scholarship created an "archive of echoes" that preserved forms of scriptural interpretation and textual tradition no longer available in Western manuscript collections.¹⁵

Sidney H. Griffith focuses on the practical mechanics of preservation, documenting how Arabic translations of Christian texts, particularly in Eastern monasteries and Islamic libraries, maintained access to documents that disappeared from Latin Christian collections. Griffith's research demonstrates that this preservation often occurred regardless of theological agreement, reflecting Islamic civilization's broader commitment to knowledge preservation and intellectual inquiry.¹⁶

David Thomas offers a more complex assessment that emphasizes how polemical motivations and scholarly preservation were often intertwined rather than opposed. Muslim theologians studied Christian texts carefully in order to critique them effectively, but this critical engagement required detailed preservation and analysis that inadvertently served custodial functions. "The most effective polemics required the most careful preservation," Thomas observes.¹⁷

Mark N. Swanson provides additional perspective on the selectivity of Islamic preservation efforts, noting that while Muslim scholars preserved significant Christian materials, their choices often reflected specific theological interests and polemical purposes rather than comprehensive archival intentions. Not all Christian texts received equal attention, and Islamic preservation was often filtered through particular interpretive frameworks that shaped what survived and how it was transmitted.¹⁸

Bart D. Ehrman situates Islamic preservation within the broader context of early Christian textual diversity, emphasizing how Arabic manuscript traditions provide crucial evidence for reconstructing the full spectrum of early Christian literature. Some Arabic copies preserve readings earlier than those found in surviving Greek or Latin codices, making them essential sources for modern textual criticism and historical analysis.¹⁹

The emerging scholarly consensus recognizes that Islamic engagement with Christian texts involved multiple motivations and produced diverse outcomes. While theological disagreement and polemical purposes certainly shaped this engagement, the net result was often preservation of Christian textual traditions that would otherwise have disappeared from historical record.

The Continuing Significance of Islamic Custodianship

Understanding the historical reality of Islamic preservation of Christian textual traditions has implications that extend beyond academic historical interest to contemporary interfaith relations and religious self-understanding within both communities.

For modern Christianity, recognizing Islam's custodial role challenges simplistic narratives of religious competition and theological opposition that often characterize popular understanding of Christian-Muslim relations. The historical record demonstrates that Islamic civilization served as an important preserver of Christian intellectual heritage during periods when Christian institutions themselves were pursuing theological uniformity through textual suppression and canonical standardization.

This recognition doesn't blur theological boundaries between the traditions or suggest doctrinal equivalence, but it does highlight shared responsibility for preserving religious heritage and the complex ways that different communities have contributed to maintaining access to ancient religious texts and traditions.

For contemporary Islamic scholarship, acknowledging this preservational heritage provides foundation for continued engagement with Christian textual traditions as legitimate objects of scholarly investigation rather than merely polemical targets. The medieval Islamic tradition of serious Christian textual study offers precedent for contemporary Muslim scholars who seek to understand Christianity as a complex historical phenomenon rather than a theological monolith.

For biblical scholarship more broadly, Islamic manuscript traditions continue to provide essential evidence for reconstructing early Christian textual history. Modern critical editions of apocryphal and canonical texts increasingly rely on Arabic manuscripts to fill gaps in Greek and Latin manuscript traditions, making Islamic preservation efforts directly relevant to contemporary scholarly work.

Perhaps most significantly, the history of Islamic preservation demonstrates that faithful religious commitment doesn't require suppression of alternative traditions or elimination of theological diversity. Islamic scholars were able to maintain clear boundaries around their own theological commitments while still preserving and engaging seriously with Christian texts that challenged or contradicted those commitments.

This historical example offers a model for contemporary interfaith engagement that maintains theological integrity while still practicing intellectual hospitality toward different religious traditions. Sometimes the most faithful act is indeed to keep someone else's book alive, not because one agrees with its contents but because one recognizes the value of preserving human testimony to encounters with the divine across different cultural and historical contexts.

The scribes working in medieval Islamic libraries who carefully copied Christian gospels and theological treatises were participating in a form of religious stewardship that transcended doctrinal boundaries while respecting them. Their quiet work of preservation ensured that voices from early Christianity continued to speak across centuries, even when Christian institutions themselves had chosen to silence them.

In our contemporary context of religious polarization and interfaith suspicion, this medieval example of preservation across difference offers both challenge and inspiration for how communities might maintain their own theological convictions while still serving as custodians of broader human religious heritage.

Notes

For the multicultural character of Islamic scholarly institutions, see Dimitri Gutas, Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early 'Abbasid Society (London: Routledge, 1998), 53-96.
Qur'an 2:75, 5:13. For the Qur'anic concept of scriptural corruption (tahrif), see Gabriel Said Reynolds, The Qur'an and the Bible: Text and Commentary (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018), 145-167.
For Qur'anic Christology and Mariology, see Geoffrey Parrinder, Jesus in the Qur'an (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976), 56-89.
Qur'an 2:136, trans. M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
For Islamic engagement with Christian sources, see David Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology(Leiden: Brill, 2008), 23-67.
For Islamic polemical literature and its preservation of Christian texts, see David Thomas, "The Bible in Early Islamic Anti-Christian Polemic," Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 7, no. 1 (1996): 29-38.
For the dhimmi system and its impact on Christian scholarship, see Mark R. Cohen, Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), 52-74.
Tony Burke, De Infantia Iesu Euangelium Thomae Graece (Turnhout: Brepols, 2010), lx-lxxviii.
For the Gospel of James in Islamic contexts, see Stephen J. Shoemaker, The Life of the Virgin: Maximus the Confessor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 45-67.
For the Gospel of Barnabas, see Jan Slomp, "The Gospel in Dispute: A Critical Evaluation of the First French Translation (1977) of an Italian Manuscript (1634) of the 'Gospel of Barnabas,'" Islamochristiana 4 (1978): 67-111.
Reynolds, Qur'an and the Bible, 234-267.
Sidney H. Griffith, The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the 'People of the Book' in the Language of Islam(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 89-134.
Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Qur'anic Christians: An Analysis of Classical and Modern Exegesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 145-178.
Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, 156-189.
Reynolds, Qur'an and the Bible, 289-312.
Griffith, Bible in Arabic, 198-234.
Thomas, Christian Doctrines in Islamic Theology, 234.
Mark N. Swanson, "Beyond Prooftexting: Approaches to the Qur'an in Some Early Arabic Christian Apologies," The Muslim World 88, no. 3-4 (1998): 297-319.
Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 57-78.