Abstract
The paper presents the way the Christian religious minority of the early 9th century approached the Qur'an, the holy text of Muslims. It presents the life and work of the principal figure of Arab Christianity, Theodore Abu Qurra (755-830) and his approaches to this Muslim text.
The basic reference text is a written controversy (Mudjadala), which he had with theologians and Caliph al-Maʼmun (786-833), which allegedly took place in 829 at the Episcopal seat in Harran. The paper also includes a sketch of literary criticism and the issue of Mudjadal's authorship, as well as extracts from Theodore's treatment of the text of the Qur'an.
Theodore draws attention to the text of the Qur'an, which states how Muslims should speak to Christians (Q 29:46; 16:125), interprets the Qur'an often positively towards Christians (they are believers in God) and finds support for the trinitarian and Christological beliefs in the text. Not only Abu Qurra's rationality, but also his excellent knowledge of the Qur'an are fundamentally inspiring even today.