Person
A German rabbi (1810–1874), founder of Reform Judaism, who wrote in 1833 that the Quran drew on Jewish sources.
What it means
Abraham Geiger’s prize essay Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen? (1833) collected parallels between the Quran and Jewish writings, and began a long tradition of Western scholarship tracing the Quran’s content to earlier sources.
What the sources say
Muslims respond that the Quran itself says it confirms the earlier scriptures (2:41, 3:3), that it tells shared stories because it comes from the same God, and that it is no surprise that a revelation to a people near Jews and Christians should speak of Abraham and Moses. Whether one accepts the claim depends on what one thinks of the origin of the Quran.