Scriptura Scripturam Interpretatur [scripture interprets scripture]: an analysis of the Arabic Bible as used in the TafsÄ«rs of Ibn BarrajÄn (d. 536/1141) and al-BiqÄÊ¿Ä« (d. 885/1480)

The Bible remains an indispensable part of the Muslim tradition as a scripture with which the QurʾÄn is in close dialogue. From the earliest period of qurʾÄnic interpretation, questions concerning the exact nature of the Bible and its relationship to the QurʾÄn provoked classical Muslim scholars to either defend the text or condemn it for the sake of their own sacred book and prophet. Recent scholarship on Ibn BarrajÄn (d. 536/1141) and al-BiqÄÊ¿Ä« (d. 885/1480) has provided fertile ground for cultivating new perspectives on the relationship between qurʾÄnic and biblical hermeneutics within tafsÄ«r studies. This dissertation further tills this ground by exploring Ibn BarrajÄnâs method of qurʾÄnic interpretation, known as naáºm al-qurʾÄn, and that of al-BiqÄÊ¿Ä«, called Ê¿ilm al-munÄsabÄt, and by examining how the Arabic Bible is used in their reading of the QurʾÄn. Moreover, this exploration is facilitated through an original comparative analysis between the two authorsâ biblical quotations and several Arabic Bible manuscripts believed to have circulated in the milieux of Ibn BarrajÄn and al-BiqÄÊ¿Ä«. How each author transmits and integrates biblical material into their tafsÄ«r will shed light on the reception history of the Bible in the Islamic tradition. Therefore, whether their citations remain true to the biblical source text or, rather, become an islamicised version of the Bible is of primary importance to discover.