Illuminating Scriptural Connections

“An extraordinary resource reflecting sophisticated scholarship and accessible erudition, Illuminating Scriptural Connections is a perfect tool for bringing communities together to dig deeply into the fascinating similarities and no less important distinctions between the great religious civilizations of Judaism and Islam. Learn and consider the many parallels in narratives, values, spiritual aspirations, religious commitments, and actions such as prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and celebration.“—Reuven Firestone, Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles

“In an era when religious difference is too often weaponized, this groundbreaking work offers something transformative: a scriptural foundation for cooperation, mutual respect, and peace rooted in concrete textual evidence that Jewish and Muslim communities share far more than what divides them: a common reverence for the One God, shared prophets, overlapping sacred wisdom, and a commitment to deep spirituality and divine truth.“—Mehnaz M. Afridi, professor of religious studies and director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University

“An inspirational masterpiece born of friendship and shared seeking—a Muslim scholar and a Jewish scholar journeying together to uncover the deep connections between the Torah and the Qur’an and the sacred uniqueness of each faith—foundations for the healing our world so deeply needs.“—Rabbi Yakov Nagen, director, Ohr Torah Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue

“By offering a framework for understanding the Qur’an as part of an ongoing commentary on the Torah, and by combining scholarly depth with accessibility, Illuminating Scriptural Connections is sure to advance both intertextual study and Jewish-Muslim dialogue.“—Imam Sayed Razawi, Chief Imam of Scotland, director-general of the Scottish Ahlul-Bayt Society, and leader of the 2025 Drumlanrig Accords between rabbis and imams

“At a time of resurgent prejudice and ignorance about Judaism and Islam, Illuminating Scriptural Connections is a deeply important and invaluable work.“—Ed Kessler, founder and president, Woolf Institute, Cambridge

“A textured, knowledgeable, well-documented account of the Qur’an’s relationship with the Torah that brings the two scriptures into conversation in creative, original ways.“—Walid Saleh, professor in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto

Rick Sopher is a key figure in interfaith scriptural dialogue, especially known for fostering relations between Jewish and Muslim communities. He is a fellow of the Woolf Institute, an academic institute in Cambridge, England, dedicated to the study of interfaith relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. In 2007 French President Jacques Chirac awarded him with the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur for his work in religious education.

Abdulla Galadari is an associate professor of Islamic studies at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi. He is the author of Qur’anic Hermeneutics: Between Science, History, and the Bible; Metaphors of Death and Resurrection in the Qur’an: An Intertextual Approach with Biblical and Rabbinic Literature; and Spiritual Meanings of the Ḥajj Rituals: A Philological Approach.

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