Rick Sopher
Rick Sopher and Abdulla Galadari are the authors of the new book Illuminating Scriptural Connections: A Qur'anic Commentary on the Torah. Sopher is a fellow of the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, UK, and Galadari is an associate professor of Islamic Studies at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.
Q: How did the two of you end up working together on Illuminating Scriptural Connections?
Rick: My passion for exploring scriptural connections between the Qur’an and the Bible is relatively recent - I am actually a career banker. So it was important to me to have the ideas emanating from my passionate explorations properly scrutinised, researched, and elaborated on in greater depth.
In 2020 I therefore convened a “Reading Group” of the top academic researchers in this area, under the umbrella of the Woolf Institute, Cambridge, an organisation dedicated to improving relations between the Abrahamic religions.
Abdulla, an established leading scholar in this field with several important books and papers already published, was introduced to the group and rapidly became its leading light. I think we bonded well together.
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| Abdulla Galadari |
Abdulla: I first met Rick virtually during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, when our mutual friend and the distinguished scholar of Jewish and Islamic traditions, Rabbi Professor Reuven Firestone, introduced us. At the time, Rick was organizing a virtual Torah–Qur’an reading group.
The book itself was very much Rick’s initiative. As the project developed, however, Rabbi Firestone suggested that, if it were to have a broader and more enduring impact, it would benefit from having a Muslim co-author who could bring a more scholarly foundation and I was delighted to collaborate on the project.
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
Rick: In addition to the Reading Group, and the access to scholars that it gave us, most of the book was shaped in dialogue with Abdulla. Over several years we were able to share with each other existing ideas and published research on which we were able to build the ideas that appear in our book.
I learnt a lot in the process. Some very basic findings surprised me, especially as they seemed to contradict tropes circulating publicly. For example, the Qur’an did not seem to call for the outright destruction of Jews (or Christians).
And it consistently revered what it called the “previous scriptures,” which includes the Torah (the five books of Moses, part of the Hebrew Bible), saying that “guidance and light” was to be found in them. Our Reading Group came to the conclusion that the Qur’an did not contradict anything fundamental in the Torah.
Abdulla: One of the conclusions that became increasingly clear to me throughout this project is something my co-author, Rick, often says: the similarities between the Torah and the Qur’an far outweigh their differences.
Of course, important distinctions remain, but reading the two scriptures alongside one another reveals a remarkable degree of shared ethical concerns, narrative traditions, and theological commitments that are often overlooked.
We should remember that the Qur’an did not emerge in the time of the biblical authors, but rather the community that received them by the 7th century. As such, some of the differences we find between the Torah and the Qur’an reflect rabbinic (or also Christian) interpretations. As such, to many Jews at the time, they may not have always perceived a difference solely because the Qur’an had a distinct narrative from that of the Torah.
Q: In the book, you write, “May this commentary serve as a small step toward a future in which Jews and Muslims can celebrate their shared scriptural heritage, and nurture a more harmonious relationship with each other.” Can you say more about that, and about your hopes for this book?
Rick: Relationships between Jew and Muslim in the Middle East and around the world today are under strain and probably worsening. A ray of hope may lie in the connections between the foundational scriptures.
It is perhaps an area of untapped potential: few Jews have read the Qur'an, which is surprising given the Qur'an's extensive engagement with the Torah; and few Muslims have read the Torah, which is even more surprising as the Qur'an praises it (Qur’an 5:48) and asks for it to be consulted in case of doubt (Qur'an 3:93).
This ignorance can lead to suspicion by non-Muslims about the Qur’an – we have called this “Qur’anophobia” - the irrational fear or hatred toward the Qur’an, treating it as a current threat to all non-Muslims; perhaps perceiving it as some kind of war manual, or blueprint for takeover of the West. It is not.
Our book seeks to uncover for Jews and Muslims alike the profound interconnectedness of their faiths.
Abdulla: We live in a deeply divided world. Contemporary societies are fractured along many lines—race, nationality, religion, social class, and political affiliation, among others.
Religious divisions are often intensified by these broader social and political dynamics, and it is no secret that political concerns frequently shape theological interpretation. This has been true throughout history and remains true today.
When political agendas become intertwined with the interpretation of scripture, they can create interpretive lenses that sometimes obscure what the texts themselves are seeking to communicate.
One of our aims in this book was, therefore, to approach both the Torah and the Qur’an primarily as historical and scriptural texts, allowing them to speak on their own terms rather than through the prism of contemporary political debates.
Q: What are you working on now? Will you work together on future
projects?
Rick and Abdulla: Our book is the culmination of a process which has emerged in an academic context and discussed, so far, mainly in that context.
Rick: I now hope to use the book to reach public audiences of Jews,
Muslims, religious leaders, policymakers, and others with the ultimate aim of improving Jewish-Muslim relations in particular. The Drumlanrig Accords between Imams and Rabbis in the UK, entered into last year and with which I was closely involved, shows what can be done to build bridges.
Q: Anything else we should know?
Rick and Abdulla: Read our book, or the scriptures themselves. You may be surprised.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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