How should Christians read the Qu’ran?

On Face book I have seen videos and text from
the Koran Surah 2 verses 190-196

The thing that happened in London last night was murder
and I think that overwhelmingly the Muslim
community deplores what happened as murder.

I have put the following together for mainly Christians
who want to have a go at reading the Qu’ran and to be
a bit more sympathetic as far as it is possible
Before I start St Paul in Romans 12 said

Love in Action



17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
As Chrsitians we need to have a particular attitude an attitude of love
towards all people because they were also created in the image of God.

When looking at any ‘holy Scripture’ even if we don’t agree, we need to show a
bit of respect. If we show respect to Shakespeare which isn’t seen
as holy scripture shouldn’t we show other ancient texts the same respect.

From the Christian tradition especially with Calvin who is seen as the
father of modern day biblical exegesis he would have a rule we all follow today.
To find the real meaning using exegesis of the text… Asking questions such as
who wrote it? why was it written? To whom was it written for? What did this word mean
to the original readers and so forth. That way we get back to the real meaning

Or eisegesis… I don’t agree with this text because… I had a dream and God
showed me that this text is evil…

One method is scientific the other is dream land. We have to be careful.
So there are tools that the ulama (Scholars of islam) also use
and ways of thinking.
some of them are


The consensus of the Muslim community
Who wrote it? What did the early Muslim community make of it?
How should it be interpreted today?

The consensus of the scholars

Ijmāʿ (Arabic: إجماع‎‎) is an Arabic term referring to the consensus or
agreement of the Muslim scholars basically on religious issues.
(Taken from Google- I already knew about this and other facts)


Deductive analogy of the Koran and Hadith

In Islamic jurisprudence, qiyās (Arabic: قياس‎‎) is the process
of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the Hadith are
compared and contrasted with those of the Qur’an, in order
to apply a known injunction (nass) to
a new circumstance and create a new injunction.



Having said all this Surah 2from verses 190 – 196 was
in context of the Battle of Badr. The Muslim community
I think at that time were more interested in survival.
The other fact is the battle was between polytheists and
theists who were at war. Yes there was an enemy…

The situation in London is different: It is murder and
the consensus of the Islamic community as a whole sees it
as murder. There was no enemy, and no one carried a weapon.
The murderers didn’t take into account anyones point of view
as it was cold blooded murder.

I found this interesting:

This is a commentary on those verses



I also found this interesting:
This is a cartoon version of the Battle of Badr

My Lord and Saviour is Jesus Christ and I serve him.
We are commanded by God to live at peace with everyone
as far as it is possible.

Let us show love and respect for other communities
as well as our own



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