Editorial

In our current landscape, Christian-Muslim relations deserve attention, study, and cultivation. These two religious traditions have overlapping stories of origin and theological understandings. The Prophet Muhammad’s public life and the outgrowth of early Muslim communities occurred alongside networks of Christians. Subsequent centuries have seen remarkable examples of solidarity and cooperation as well as violence and misunderstanding. Certain fundamentalist factions within Islam have committed egregious acts against Christians, and Christian responses to their Muslim neighbors have too often involved violence, caricature, and overt acts of Islamophobia.

The current issue of Interpretation brings together five important voices to address Christian-Muslim relations in all their complexity, tragedy, and promise. We include historical retrospectives, textual engagement with the Bible and Qur’an, and strategies for contemporary dialogue. The authors for this issue are not just academic experts; they have actively worked to build awareness and mutual understanding between Muslims and Christians.

First is the essay by Younus Mirza, a leading voice among younger Muslim scholars. He explores the portrait of Mary/Maryam in the Qur’an and the fascinating implications of her depiction. Mirza demonstrates the significance of Mary in early Islamic traditions: her birth is celebrated in the Qur’an (unlike in the Bible), and she has a genealogy and miracles associated with her. These passages in the Qur’an make Mary a pivotal figure in Islamic tradition, even apart from the arrival of Jesus/‘Īsā.

Mitri Raheb provides an important Arab-Christian perspective on the earliest Muslim communities in the Middle East in the sixth and seventh centuries CE. Raheb offers an illuminating study of the geopolitical and ecclesial circumstances out of which Muhammad and his followers emerged on the Arabian Peninsula, during a period of warfare and complex Christian networks. Raheb shows how events among Christians in Medina led to the eventual emergence of one of the major world religions.

In a penetrating theological exploration, Joshua Ralston encourages Christians to dialogue with Muslims in a non-confrontational and respectful manner. Specifically, he highlights a comparative theology that engages in “border crossing.” Rather than seeking to protect Christian understandings of knowledge and salvation, it is more helpful to explore Islam on its own terms, with a dialogical willingness to learn. Moreover, as Ralston argues, “The Qur’an itself—which Muslims view not only as Scripture, but as a divine address—calls and invites Christians to give an account of our beliefs and actions.” This essay provides a helpful template for engaging these complex but necessary theological conversations.

Stan Skreslet offers a thorough survey of Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt. As a missiologist who taught for many years in Egypt, Skreslet understands the layered complexities of this relationship and makes them understandable for the novice. He explores the class issues, political dynamics, and theological conversations that have characterized this fascinating dance between Christians and Muslims. Skreslet’s eye for detail and vast knowledge offer insights from antiquity to the present day, and he includes careful attention to the history of the Coptic church.

Finally, Deanna Womack directs our attention to the Protestant Reformation and the foreign Christian missions of the nineteenth century. She focuses on descriptions of Muslims and Islam during these periods, with specific attention to theological differences, the treatment of women within Islam, and the unfortunate association of Muslims with violence. Rather than finding a never-ending stream of Christian triumphalism and prejudice, Womack demonstrates a more nuanced portrayal. Some of the missionaries who had close contact with Muslims, such as Emily Jane Humphreys in India, offered at times respectful and descriptive portraits. Womack does not minimize the harsh criticism of many of the Reformers, but she does retrieve certain witnesses who can provide a more constructive model for contemporary Christian-Muslim conversations. She rightly suggests that our religiously pluralistic age requires thoughtful engagement with both texts and each other.