This book offers a comparative theological exploration of the challenges and opportunities presented by the Qur'anic representation of Christianity as the People of the Book, ahl al-kitab, in the Qur'anic commentary tradition. The research is divided into three parts. The first part explores the Qur'anic understanding of the People of the Book through traditional Islamic exegesis, known as tafsir, of four Islamic scholars whose work spans more than a thousand years. Part two takes a closer look at the pre-Islamic period, the occasion of revelation of the Qur'an as well as the Arabic speaking Christian response to Islam in the post-conquest period. Part Three explores the modern use of the term People of the Book by several scholars in the context of our increasingly interconnected and pluralist societies.

Dr. Richard Lawrence Kimball is a founding member of the Galway Interfaith Alliance. His interest in Muslim Christian relations began while serving as a U. S. Peace Corps volunteer in Gabes, Tunisia in the 1980s. Here he came into contact with the Christian community of southern Tunisia and in particularly Père Dominique Tommy-Martin of the White Fathers of Africa who has inspired Richard. Père Dominique taught Richard, as well as many others throughout his more than 60 years of ministry, that it is indeed possible to be Christian and to love and respect Islam. He recently received his PhD in Philosophy from the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College, Dublin. Richard is currently working on an English translation of Al-Tabari's Jami' al-bayan 'an ta'wil ay al-Qur'an with Dr. Ali Selim.