Qur'an's Reformation of Judaism and Christianity

Published in 2019 by Routledge, a division of the Taylor & Francis Group, this academic volume emerged from the field of religious studies and late antiquity. Holger M. Zellentin, an Associate Professor of Rabbinic Judaism, authored the work to explore the complex theological interplay between the emerging Quranic tradition and the existing Jewish and Christian communities. It was written within the context of contemporary scholarship that seeks to move beyond traditional polemical readings, instead viewing the Qur'an as a participant in a broader, continuous discourse of late antique sectarian reform.

The design and conceptual framework of the book reflect a rigorous philological and historical-critical approach, typical of the Routledge Studies in the Qur'an series. Zellentin utilizes a meticulous comparative method, contrasting Quranic narratives with Rabbinic and Patristic sources to argue that the Qur'an acts as a moral and legal reformer of the preceding Abrahamic traditions. Upon its release, the volume was received by the academic community as a significant contribution to the study of early Islamic origins, noted for its detailed engagement with primary sources and its attempt to locate the text firmly within the religious landscape of the seventh-century Near East.