EMQ » October–December 2021 » Volume 57 Issue 4
[memberonly folder=”Members, EMQ2YearFolder, EMQ1YearFolder, EMQLibraryInstitution”]By Gordon D. Nickel
Zondervan Academic, 2020
670 pages
US$41.99
Reviewed by Rev. Benjamin Lee Hegeman PhD, SIM missionary in Sahelian regions of French West Africa since 1990, and lecturer in Islamic history and the Quran since 2005 at Houghton College, Wesley Biblical Seminary, and in partnership with the Lilias Trotter Center.
Ever since George Sale translated the Arabic Quran into English in 1734, Christian translators have sought to offer their readers a Christian commentary. Sale announced this in his subtitle, “With explanatory notes, taken from the most approved commentators. To which is prefixed a preliminary discourse.”
In this rich tradition, Nickel has offered a key and most welcome Evangelical voice, joining a distinguished list of Christian-published annotated editions of the Quran. This is a very welcome reference text.
In the introduction, Nickel helps readers to grasp the Quran’s literary nature. Then he explains his methodology. Before each of the 114 Surah-chapters, Nickel summarizes its content and then adds generous footnotes to the Quran text.
The annotations often reply to the frequent Quranic accusations against Christians. Nickel’s text often includes possible replies to the typical polemical responses and interpretations suggested by Muslims.
In addition, twenty short articles on relevant themes are scattered throughout the book, written by Nickel and other Evangelical authors.
Concerning the disputed origins of the Quran, Nickel claims that “there is no way to be certain of its historicity” (16); concluding that following the Islamic chronological approach to the Quran is not essential. Nickel prefers to give voice to “what the greatest Muslim commentators interpret it to mean” (17). This choice places the center of Islamic interpretation centuries after the life of Muhammad. In so doing Nickel helps the reader understand the Quran from the point of view of the Sunni Muslim theologians in the later classical Abbasid era (750–1258). This approach would be similar to Christians reading a New Testament Study Bible by relying on the wisdom of the Church Fathers, the classical Christian theologians, and historic creeds. This approach offers readers a historic and panoramic view of the Quran.
This reference work is best used as a commentary for understanding a text in the Quran. Very few people read the Quran as literature, so having an erudite consultant immediately at hand is quite valuable. It is so helpful that, since reading it, I have made sure to keep it within arm’s reach whenever I consult the Quran.
