How might early Christian Arabic texts aid contemporary research scholars / students of the Qur an? Within a century of the Prophet s death, Christians were writing in Arabic. Although various recensions of the Covenant of Umar prohibit Christians from teaching the Qur an to their children, this very prohibition indicates that Christians were, in fact, teaching the Qur an to their children - for grammatical or theological purposes. During Abbasid times, representatives from various theological and philosophical schools would be summoned to debate the merits of their respective religions on...