The following information is about a conference at the Riverside Church in Manhattan on May 15-17, 2009. Tabsir commentator and newly tenured professor Amir Hussein (pictured above) will be giving a presentation on Saturday, as noted below. Note that unlocking the key to these Forensic Scriptures is not free, but requires registration.

Forensic Scriptures presents the Qur’an as a sacred resource increasingly accessible to Jewish and Christian scholars and students of the Scriptures. It is a template of scriptural production from the last major culture to spring from the ancient Middle East, in which reliable information about scriptural development has never disappeared from view. To illustrate the model, Muslims believe Muhammad was illiterate and that nearly all Surahs of the Qur’an may have been written down by the women of his household, lead by Hafsah, who was entrusted with preservation of the Qur’an and transmission of it to the world. The Hadith presents conversations and actions of the Prophet as recorded by his Companions, male and female, including another wife, Ayisha. Recognition that such materials were penned by women does not rely on secondary sources or conjecture. Islamic primary sources, under rigorous re-evaluation by Islamic scholars today, have a potential to reveal whole new paradigms that may now be applied to Biblical texts, beginning with these historic Riverside symposia, supported by surrounding seminaries and by noted scholars.

This conference is not a dialogue of mutual sharing, of which there have been many, but a focused design where leading Jewish and Christian scholars will pose searching questions to respected Muslim colleagues. Like the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library over the last fifty years, the Muslim Scriptures, over the next fifty years, may yield valuable information about the Bible. From the Qur’an we may now receive answers to biblical conundrums, and from the Hadith we learn ancient lore of the Middle East, including material possibly omitted from and compatible with biblical texts.

A Friday evening plenary precedes three Saturday symposia. Jewish and Christian scholars, clergy, students and others will engage respected Muslim scholars from the Middle East, South Asia and North America on defined topics. Sunday activities include additional guests from nearby synagogues and mosques. Riverside thanks presenters, respondents, participants and all who are assisting, as well as co-sponsors, the Multi-faith Center of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York, Cascade Books, The SnowStar Institute in Canada and St. Andrew’s Theological College in Trinidad, West Indies.

Friday Introductory Session

6:00 – 6:45pm • Isha’a Prayers
Led by Muslim feminist Raheel Raza.

7:00 – 7:30pm • Welcome Reception
Late Registrations and book signing.

7:30 – 7:45pm • Welcome Address
Rabbi Justus Baird, Director of the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary

7:45 – 9:15pm • Roundtable Discussions
Moderated by Dr. Brad Braxton, senior minister of Riverside, Mahmoud Ayoub, Max Stackhouse and Phyllis Trible discuss Han Kung’s belief that if the nations cannot find peace until religions achieve peace, what might a better appreciation of each others’ scriptures contribute to the process?”

Saturday Symposia

1:00 – 2:30pm • Qur’an & Hadith as the ‘New’ Dead Sea Scrolls and the ‘New’ Nag Hamadi Library
Hosted by Riverside minister Rev. Robert Colemanand moderated by Brian Arthur Brown, with the panel of Mahmoud Ayoub, Amir Hussain, Hussein Rashid and Kurt Anders Richardson in discussion with James Christie, Elias Mallon, Judith Plaskow and Max Stackhouse.

3:00 – 4:30pm • Islamic Texts Respectfully Examined by Creative Employment of Critical Methods
Hosted by Dr. Arnold Thomas of Riverside, moderated by Brian Arthur Brown, with a panel of Mahmoud Ayoub, Laleh Bakhtiar, Amir Hussain and Hussein Rashid in discussion with Adam Gregerman, Judith Hauptman, Rod Hutton and Fred Weidmann.

7:30 – 9:00pm • Muslim and Other Women as Purveyors and Transmitters of Abrahamic Scripture
Desirée Baxter, member of Riverside’s Mission and Social Justice Commission, as host, moderated by Brian Arthur Brown: Laleh Bakhtiar, Ellen Frankel, Carol Meyers and Phyllis Trible on rhetorical criticism; Joy Abdul-Mohan, Lucinda Mosher, Raheel Raza, and Indira Sinton with a reflection by Adam Gregerman.

Sunday Public Worhip and Conference Closing

9:00 – 10:30am • Final Plenary, Scriptures of the Family of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar and the “New Ecumenism” of World Religions.
Breakfast followed by a round table on public uses of shared Scripture, Moderated by Brian Arthur Brown, with publishers Ellen Frankel, K.C. Hanson, Laleh Bakhtiar and Henry Carrigan, Professors Christie, Hutton, Dale Irvin and Fred Weidmann, and public interest interlocutors Ali Yurtsever, Lisa Harper, David Galston, Daisy Khan and Chris Bullock.

10:45 – 12:15pm • Public Worship Service
1,000 Muslim and Jewish guests at Riverside, Cantor Eric Meyers, Muezzin Sheikh Ahmed Dewidar and Leo Thorne, representing the American Baptist Church, hosted by Rev. Brad Braxton with Brian Arthur Brown preaching.

12:30 – 1:15pm • Book Launch of Forensic Scriptures

For more details, click here.