More on James White and Islam

My last thread here on AF was not the first time I have commented on James White’s explorations into Islam. Back in 2003, James wrote an article for the Christian Research Journal (volume 25, number 3) concerning “the Bible and the Qur’an”. I had some difficulties with the article and wrote a letter to CRI; much to my surprise, my letter was published in the next issue. James’ original article is available online:

White’s CRJ article

My letter, and James’ subsequent response, are not online (at least I have not found them). The following is the letter I sent to CRI; my next post (the Lord willing) will include James’ published response, followed by some comments.

April 7, 2003

Dear Editor,

Today I received the Vol. 25, No. 03 issue of the Christian Research Journal. I have been a subscriber for many years, and though I have thought of writing responses to some of the articles that have appeared in the magazine in the past, this is the first time I have actually done so.

I feel compelled to respond to James R. White’s article, “Examining Muslim Apologetics” (pp. 32-41).

On page 35 we read, “Christians encourage textual study and discovery of new manuscripts, while Muslims show little interest in researching the history of their own scriptures, preferring traditional belief that the Qur’an is perfect in its current state.” And on page 36, “Belief in the perfection of the Qur’an precludes, by definition, interest in the study of its earliest manuscripts, as it is considered to entertain even the possibility that its early manuscripts differ in the slightest from the modern version.”

The above statements by Mr. White clearly indicate that he either is uninformed on the subject, or has purposely chosen to keep pertinent data from his readers. The statement that “Muslims show little interest in researching the history of their own scriptures” is patently false. In my own personal library I have books, by orthodox Muslims, which are devoted to the textual history of the Qur’an. They include: Variant Readings of the Qur’an: A Critical Study Of Their Historical and Linguistic Origins (Ahmad ‘Ali al Imam, The International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1998); An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an (Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi, The Alden Group, 1999); and Ulūm al-Qur’an – An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’ān (Ahmad Von Denffer, The Islamic Foundation, 1983). Further, Arabic works on the textual history of the Quran are numerous—an important early example is Ibn Abī Dawūd’s The Kitāb Al-Masāhif.

The noted 20th century Islamic scholar Arthur Jeffery’s monumental book Materials For The History Of The Text Of The Quran lists no less that 32 Arabic works which he used as sources for his work. Prior to the said list, Jeffery wrote:

“The material which follows is taken from the writer’s collections made with a view to a critical text of the Qur’an. They will of course appear in their place in the apparatus criticus to that text when it appears, but the assembling of them here under the individual names was essential that scholars might be able to deal critically with the evidence of each Codex as a whole. The main sources from which the variants have been drawn are…” (He then lists the above mentioned 32 works, some as large as 30 volumes!)

Another Islamic scholar had the following to say:

“From an early date Muslim scholars recognized the danger of false testimony and hence false doctrine, and developed an elaborate science for criticizing tradition. ‘Traditional science’, as it was called, differed in many respects from modern historical source criticism, and modern scholarship has always disagreed with evaluations of traditional scientists about the authenticity and accuracy of ancient narratives. But their careful scrutiny of the chains of transmission and their meticulous collection and preservation of variants in the transmitted narratives give to medieval Arabic historiography a professionalism and sophistication without precedent in antiquity and without parallel in the contemporary medieval West. By comparison, the historiography of Latin Christendom seems poor and meagre, and even the more advanced and complex historiography of Greek Christendom still falls short of the historical literature of Islam in volume, variety and analytical depth.” (Bernard Lewis, Islam In History: Ideas, People, & Events In the Middle East, 1993 edition, PP. 104, 105.)

And yet, Mr. White maintains that there is an “indisputable difference between the attitudes of Christian scholars and Islamic scholars” (p. 36). Unfortunately, Mr. White is relying on non-scholarly internet sources for his material, and then attempts to convince his readers that he is accurately representing legitimate Islamic scholarship.

Moving on to Mr. White’s treatment of the current version of the Qur’an (the Uthmanic text), once again, he seems to have relied on “popular” literature, rather than scholarly sources. Two prominent Islamic scholars had this to say about the Uthmanic text:

“Whatever may have been the form of the Qur’an previously, it is certain that the book still in our hands is essentially the ‘Uthmāmic Qur’an…If we remember that to preserve every smallest fragment of genuine revelation was an ineluctable requirement, the commission under Zayd must be adjudged to have achieved a wonderful piece of work.” (Watt and Bell, Introduction To The Qur’an, p. 44)

Watt and Bell also note that the Uthmanic text was completed before Uthman’s death (656 A.D.), which means, by any objective standard, that the Uthmanic text is much earlier to the original source, and considerably more pristine, than any Biblical text (let alone NT as a whole).

Now, before ending, I think it is important to note that Mr. White is correct in his portrayal of popular Muslim polemics concerning the Biblical text. I will agree with Mr. White that the vast majority of Muslim treatments on the Bible are deplorable. But, the same must be said of Mr. White’s treatment of the Qur’an.

In ending, Mr. White’s article is another example of misrepresentation by anti-Islamic apologists. Such examples have a long history, and must end. Instead of fostering real, scholarly dialogue between Christians and Muslims, it has, instead, added “fuel to the fire”. If I were an editor of the Christian Research Journal, I would seriously consider a retraction in the upcoming issue.


In Christ,

David Waltz


Grace and peace,

David