DOCSLIB.ORG

RQR | Review of Qur'anic Research

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
RQR | Review of Qur'anic Research RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor [email protected] www.iqsaweb.org Review of Qur’anic Research, vol. 7, no. 4 (2021) Gabriel Said REYNOLDS Allah: God in the Qur’an New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020 Pp. x + 327 Hardcover $30. ISBN 978-0-300-24658-2 Gabriel Said Reynolds’ most recent book, Allah: God in the Qur’an, explores Allah’s characterization in the Qurʾān through His relationship with creation. Reynolds frames his discussion around the dichotomy of divine mercy and justice (or vengeance) in the Qurʾān; but the book is more than an analysis of the Qur’ān’s presentation of these characteristics. Rather, the book offers a wide-ranging introduction to theological debates framed by the Qurʾān, with a methodological intervention by Reynolds as to how to reconcile these dichotomous elements and the contentious debates they engender. In the book’s introduction, Reynolds begins by presenting modern contexts for the debate surrounding the question of the predominance of Allah’s mercy or His justice. Reynolds frames the debate with discussions of what constitutes Allah’s primary quality—here, whether RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor [email protected] www.iqsaweb.org mercy, justice, or even vengeance—and, by extension, the primary quality of Islam as a religion. Reynolds presents not only the scholarly discomfort with and debates around these contradictory characteristics of Allah in the Qurʾān, but also the implications of these characteristics for political players, activists, reformists, and “Islamists.” After detailing various methods through which scholars deal (or do not deal) with these apparent contradictions, Reynolds presents his intervention: “The goal of this book is to uncover the theology of the Qur’an, to explore the Qur’an’s presentation of a God who is both merciful and wrathful” (16). Reynolds does a thorough job presenting the stakes of the argument, and the ways in which various players have clashed when trying to reconcile their differing views of Allah. Readers never lose track of the fact that the arguments of the book are not academic only but play out in larger socio-political circles. Following the introduction, the book is split into four parts, further divided into chapters. Each chapter opens with a quote, followed by an anecdote that introduces the chapter’s topic. The rest of the chapter is divided into thematic subtopics that range from specific issues regarding Allah’s characteristics, His actions in the Qurʾān, and the attempts of scholars, both those working with the exegetical tradition and those whose primary focus is elsewhere, to interpret some of the thorny paradoxical issues therein. Reynolds combines his analysis of the qurʾānic descriptions of Allah with classical debates on these issues, their presence in modern scholarship, and (to some extent) how they are related in the public sphere. Reynolds’ basic arguments are as follows: 1. The Qurʾān assumes a continuity with the Bible in terms of the narratives it uses and some of the tropes and positions it takes. However, it uses these narratives for different ends, primarily for exhortative and homiletic purposes; the Qurʾān encourages obedience to God in all cases, and it warns its audience against failing in this obedience. RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor [email protected] www.iqsaweb.org 2. Allah is presented in the Qurʾān as demonstrating the qualities of mercy and justice/retribution (among others). These qualities are not mutually exclusive, nor are they paradoxical; rather, Allah promises mercy and justice in accordance with the character and actions of His creations, His servants. 3. In this way, the character of Allah in the Qurʾān is not detached from humanity; rather, He takes on human characteristics in relation to their actions. He can be angry at them, and He can “trick” (190) and mislead them. The first part, “Allah and His Book,” presents readers with a general introduction to the subject of God’s presence in the Qurʾān, as well as the more general topic of qurʾānic revelation. Chapter 1, “The Qur’an and the Bible” compares the two scriptures in terms of address, style and format, and function. Chapter 2, “God and the Prophets,” focuses on the “character” of Allah in the Qurʾān; that is, here Reynolds analyzes the language of the Qurʾān in regards to Allah, and the way Allah and His actions (in relation to the prophets and their communities) are presented. Chapter 3, “Heaven or Hell,” is primarily descriptive; Reynolds spends most of the chapter explaining the eschatologyl found in the Qurʾān—what happens to the body after death, resurrection, and on the Day of Judgement. This section of the book is the most wide-ranging, providing background on the Qur’ān’s format, cosmological content, and relationship with other Abrahamic faiths, on the assumption that most readers will be essentially unfamiliar with Qur’ānic Studies. The second part of the book, titled “Mercy,” focuses on the definition of divine mercy and discusses to whom Allah’s mercy extends. Chapter 4 (“Divine Mercy”) categorizes the types of mercy extended, while Chapter 5 (“Allah and the Fate of Sinners”) and Chapter 6 (“Allah and the Fate of Unbelievers”) cover debates about those who are in an uncertain position regarding this mercy. Chapter 5 discusses Muslims who have sinned. Chapter 6 turns to the question of divine mercy for “infidels.” RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor [email protected] www.iqsaweb.org From here the discussion switches from those who might receive Allah’s mercy to those who definitely fall outside the realm of divine compassion and forgiveness. Part 3, “Vengeance,” looks at the other possible response to human sinning—Allah’s judgement and vengeance. Chapter 7, “Divine Wrath,” concerns those upon whom Allah’s vengeance descends; it emphasizes that Allah expresses wrath—explicitly and in clear and unambiguous Arabic—towards those who break their covenant with Him. Chapter 8, “Avenger,” discusses the ways in which Allah interferes in the lives of disbelievers and those who betray His covenant; it focuses not only on the different punishments given to them, but also on qurʾānic descriptions of these betrayers and Allah’s wrath towards them. Importantly, Reynolds recounts the numerous ways Allah seals the wrongdoers off from any type of redemption, including trickery and the hardening of hearts; Allah not only reserves His mercy for believers, but actively opposes and antagonizes disbelievers. These chapters function as a critique of those who wish to emphasize the mercy of Allah and ignore the presence of His vengeance. The fourth section, “A Personal God,” emphasizes the continued duality of these dichotomous characteristics of Allah in order to interrogate the effect of His depiction in the Qurʾān. The God of the Qurʾān is “personal” in that He both takes a personal interest in each of His creations, and that He responds to human actions in a visceral, anthropomorphic way—and this is central to the Qurʾān’s arguments encouraging piety and worship. Chapter 9, “God of the Bible and the Qur’an,” explores the implications of comparing the God of the Qurʾān to the God of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament,1 and focuses heavily on the duality of mercy and vengeance found in the Jewish and Christian traditions. Reynolds concludes that, while justice and vengeance are present in the Jewish and Christian depictions of God, the Qurʾān 1 There is also a short section on talmudic depictions of God. RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor [email protected] www.iqsaweb.org makes these qualities more central in its depiction of the divinity. The reason for this, elucidated in Chapter 10, “Reading the Qur’an,” is that this binary encourages believers to godwariness/godconsciousness (taqwā). The central concern of the Qurʾān, Reynolds argues, is to exhort readers to submit to Allah, and the language of the Qurʾān, its rhetorical devices and use of this binary, encourage this reading. Reynolds concludes his book with an epilogue, “The Qur’an on Peaceful Coexistence,” which discusses the topic of Allah’s mercy and vengeance in reaction to human behavior, and the Qurʾān’s expectations of believers. Just as Reynolds opens his study with the debates that the Qurʾān engenders among scholars and believers, he closes his book with the implications and ramifications of qurʾānic exegesis in the modern world, and how exegesis can be co-opted by ideological concerns and claims to religious authority. Reynolds relates the consequences that accusations of disbelief and blasphemy carry in the Muslim world, before arguing that judgement for transgressions of belief, according to the Qurʾān, is solely Allah’s purview—not that of humans. He ends the book by emphasizing Allah’s sovereignty, and a plea to, per Q al- Baqarah 2:148, “Vie one with another in good works” (263). Reynolds uses a close literary reading of the Qurʾān to establish his argument throughout the book. The Qurʾān is his base text, one that has a cast of characters, a range of purposes, and a variety of rhetorical features. Reynolds explicitly rejects a historically based argument, or one that tries to establish the development of the qurʾānic text or of theological systems in the early Islamic period. Using the current widely accepted text of the Qur’ān,2 he approaches the text as a cohesive whole, one that is in dialogue with pre-existing scriptures. 2 That is, the 1924 Cairo edition. Reynolds does not go into the debates over the variations found in early Qurʾān manuscripts. RQR | Review of Qur’anic Research Shari Lowin, Editor [email protected] www.iqsaweb.org Reynolds employs verses from throughout the Qurʾān as his primary evidence.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • On the Qur'anic Accusation of Scriptural Falsification (Tahrîf) and Christian Anti-Jewish Polemic
    On the Qur'anic Accusation of Scriptural Falsification (tahrîf) and Christian Anti-Jewish Polemic GABRIEL SAID REYNOLDS UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME According to the fully articulated salvation history of Islam, Moses and Jesus (like all prophets) were Muslims. Moses received an Islamic scripture, the Torah {tawrät), as did Jesus, the Gospel (injU). Their communities, however, suppressed their religion and altered their scriptures. Accordingly, a canonical h^dlth has the Prophet Muhammad declare: O community of Muslims, how is it that you seek wisdom from the People of the Book? Your book, brought down upon His Prophet—blessings and peace of God upon him—is the latest report about God. You read a Book that has not been distorted, but the People of the Book, as God related to you, exchanged that which God wrote [for something else], changing the book with their hands. ' This hcidïth refiects the idea found frequently among Muslim scholars, usually described with the term tahrîf, that the Bible has been literally altered. The same idea lies behind Yâqût's (d. 626/1229) attribution of a quotation on Jerusalem to a Jewish convert to Islam from Banü Qurayza "who possessed a copy of the uncorrupted Torah." •^ Muslim scholars also accuse Jews and Christians of misinterpreting the Bible by hiding, ignoring, or misreading it, and on occasion they describe such misinterpretation as tahrîf as well. Accordingly, in scholarly treatments of the subject a comparison is sometimes made between tahrîf al-nass, alteration of the text of scripture, and tahrîf al-ma'anî, misinterpre- tation of scripture. Yet Muslim scholars who accuse Jews and Christians of misinterpreta- tion do not mean to imply thereby that the Bible has not been altered.
    [Show full text]
  • COURSE SYLLABUS RELS 6631 Seminar in Islamic Studies W 3:30-6:15 Dr. John C. Reeves Macy 204B Office Hours
    COURSE SYLLABUS RELS 6631 Seminar in Islamic Studies W 3:30-6:15 Dr. John C. Reeves Macy 204B Office hours: WR 2:30-3:30; or by appointment [email protected] Home Page of John C. Reeves Course description: ‘Current and seminal issues related to the study of Islam.’ The topic for this spring’s seminar is Situating Islam Within Late Antiquity. Scholars have often used the appearance of Islam in the Mediterranean world of the seventh century as a marker of rupture signaling the violent demise of the classical societies of antiquity and the onset of what the West terms the ‘Dark Ages,’ an era when learning and ‘civilized life’ were supposedly supplanted by barbarism and fanaticism. We by contrast will study the emergence of Islam in the Near East in terms of its manifold ideological continuities with the monotheistic currents flowing through Roman, Iranian, Aksumite, and South Arabian religious communities in the sixth and seventh centuries of the Common Era. Early Islamic discourse and practice exemplifies the hegemony of what might be termed an ‘Abrahamic idiom’ of cultural expression; i.e., an articulation of one’s cultural identity in terms of an ethnic or religious association with the characters, locales, practices, and ideas found in and promoted by the various forms of Bible circulating within and beyond the Roman Empire during roughly the first half of the first millennium CE. Much of our work in this course will involve a close comparative exploration of the way Bible and Qur’ān render shared characters and narrative scenarios. We will juxtapose, isolate, and analyze their similarities and differences with a view toward unpacking their broader significance.
    [Show full text]
  • Course Syllabus EMT 3020/6020 HS Intertwined Texts: Bible and Quran in Dialogue Emmanuel College Toronto School of Theology Winter 2019
    Course Syllabus EMT 3020/6020 HS Intertwined Texts: Bible and Quran in Dialogue Emmanuel College Toronto School of Theology Winter 2019 Instructor Information Instructor: Shabir Ally, Ph.D. Office Location: EM 005 Telephone: TBA E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesdays 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm or by appointment Course Identification Course Number: EMT 3020/6020 HS L0101 Course Name: Intertwined Texts: Bible and Quran in Dialogue Course Location: EM 205 Class Times: Wednesdays 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 pm Prerequisites: None Course Description Interfaith dialogue has many avenues, of which reading each other’s sacred texts is one of the most conducive to building understanding. The scriptures of Islam, Judaism and Christianity are particularly suited to this venture, because of the shared narratives, which demonstrate both commonalities and profound differences. This course focuses on narratives shared between the Bible and the Quran and how major Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scholars have approached the relationship between the texts across the ages. The course examines scholars such as Tabari (d. 923), Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), Abraham Geiger (d. 1874), W. St. Clair Tisdall (d.1929), Angelika Neuwirth and others. Students will learn the difference between author- and reader-oriented approaches, influence theory and intertextuality, and how different presuppositions can impact how the texts and their relationship are read. Students will also have the opportunity to engage in scripture-based interfaith dialogue and to experience first-hand how some of the established and developing approaches are practiced. No prerequisites are necessary for this course. This course has been awarded a generous grant from the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College and The William and Mary Greve Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qurʾa¯N
    The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qurʾa¯n The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholarship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the field, and is presented in a style which is accessible to undergraduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward‐thinking style, providing a forum in which leading scholars in the field can make their views and research available to a wider audience. Recently Published The Blackwell Companion to Nineteenth‐Century Theology Edited by David Fergusson The Blackwell Companion to Religion in America Edited by Philip Goff The Blackwell Companion to Jesus Edited by Delbert Burkett The Blackwell Companion to Paul Edited by Stephen Westerholm The Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence Edited by Andrew R. Murphy The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics, Second Edition Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Samuel Wells The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology Edited by Bonnie J. Miller‐McLemore The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice Edited by Michael D. Palmer and Stanley M. Burgess The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions Edited by Randall L. Nadeau The Wiley Blackwell Companion to African Religions Edited by Elias Kifon Bongmba The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism Edited by Julia A. Lamm The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion Edited by Ian S. Markham, J. Barney Hawkins IV, Justyn Terry, and Leslie Nuñez Steffensen The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Interreligious Dialogue Edited by Catherine Cornille The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism Edited by Mario Poceski The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latino/a Theology Edited by Orlando O.
    [Show full text]
  • THE QUR'an in ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT.Pdf
    THE QUR’AN IN ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT The Qur’an in Its Historical Context is a remarkable work of primary source scholarship on the Qur’an. While most studies address the Qur’an through the retrospective lens of later Islamic commentaries, the present work presents a contextual perspective. The reader is challenged herein to consider, first, the great debates over the meaning of the Qur’an and, second, the new research that claims to present a definitive solution to those debates. In Part 1, the authors consider, and advance, theories for a new understanding of the Qur’an’s interpretation. The question of Christoph Luxenberg’s Syro-Aramaic reading is debated, as is the importance of newly discovered early Arabic inscriptions. In Part 2, the authors place the Qur’an within the Late Antique religious milieu, demonstrating its conversation with Jewish and Christian literature. In Part 3, the authors consider the Islamic tradition of Qur’an interpretation, and ask how scientific research relates to religious tradition. Collectively the essays herein present a new approach to the study of the Qur’an. This approach will allow scholars to shed new light on the Qur’anic passages that have been shrouded in mystery and debate. It will also illuminate the Qur’an’s relationship to Judaism and Christianity, thereby demonstrating the Qur’an’s place in a shared Jewish–Christian–Islamic tradition. As this collection of distinguished authors represents a distinct sub-field within Qur’anic Studies, students and specialists will welcome this volume in order to get to know the state-of-the-art methods within this specific sphere of scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • RRE 2017 Interaction the Qur'an and the Bible
    Interaction: The Qur’an and the Bible: interdependence and independence (10 ECTS) In this course the Qur’an will function as our point of departure. We will conduct comparative overviews and analyses between Islam’s main scripture, i.e. the Qur’an, and its closest intertextual co- scriptures, first and foremost Biblical literature in its broadest sense. The inquiries will be defined by the following subjects: • Methodological considerations: why and how to compare in general and in particular (i.e. Qur’an and Biblical literature). • Historical context to the comparative enterprise: epochal framework and regional history). • Thematic comparisons between important theological themes (e.g., creation, covenant, final apocalypse). • Protagonistic comparisons and the question of typology (e.g., Ibrahîm/Abraham, Îsa/Jesus, Shaytan/Satan). • Linguistic, stylistic, and rhetorical comparisons (e.g., vocabulary, composition, narrative). • Ritual comparisons (e.g. between Qur’ans and Bibles as material-ritual objects; concepts of ritual purity). The course will swing back and forth between close readings and synthesizing overviews. A red thread throughout the course will be the question of similarity and difference, of interdependence and independence. Time period Teaching: Week 5-18. There will be a break in week 15 (Easter). Responsible teacher and institution Thomas Hoffmann, Faculty of Theology, University of Copenhagen Registration: No later than January 16: E-mail both me ([email protected]) and your local coordinator/tutor. Compact seminar: Copenhagen, last week of March. Exam: Paper to be handed in no later than May 26; those with a fixed exam will receive the question on May 22. Learning outcome The student will acquire: · Knowledge of differences and parallelisms between at least two of the three religious traditions pertaining to an important theme within these traditions.
    [Show full text]
  • Qur'an, Crucifixion, and Talmud
    Qur’an, Crucifixion, and Talmud A New Reading of Q 4:157-58 Ian Mevorach, Emmanuel College Abstract This paper establishes and explores the inter-textuality of Sanhedrin 43a (a text from the Babylonian Talmud that contains a rabbinic counter-narrative to the New Testament story of Jesus’ death) with Q 4:157-58 (two verses of the Qur’an which have historically been read by Muslim and Christian scholars as a denial of Jesus’ death by crucifixion). The idea that the Qur’an denies the New Testament story of the crucifixion makes the two scriptures appear mutually exclusive. This article suggests that, rather than denying Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, the Qur’an may be defending this story from a counter-narrative. Keywords: Christian-Muslim relations, Abrahamic dialogue, Jewish-Christian relations, Qur’anic Jesus, Talmudic Jesus Introduction Muslim and Christian interpreters of the Qur’an have long held that it denies the New Testament account of Jesus’ crucifixion. This claim, which has been an obstacle for Christian-Muslim relations for centuries, is primarily based on two verses of the Qur’an, Q 4:157-58. In these verses, the Qur’an accuses “the Jews” of boasting, “‘We have killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of God” (Q 4:157a).1 It then denies the boast: “They did not kill him; nor did they crucify him, though it was made to appear like that to them; those that disagreed about him are full of doubt, without any knowledge to follow, only supposition: they certainly did not kill him.
    [Show full text]
  • Gabriel Said Reynolds Department of Theology, Malloy Hall University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, in 46556, USA [email protected] Tel
    curriculum vitae latest update: June 30, 2018 Gabriel Said Reynolds Department of Theology, Malloy Hall University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA [email protected] tel. 1.574.631.5138 Academic Position University of Notre Dame, Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology (from Aug. 2003, promotion to Associate May 2009, promotion to Professor May 2013) Lebanese American University, Beirut (visiting professor, Sep 2006-Jun 2007) Université de Saint Joseph, Beirut (visiting professor, Sep 2010-Feb 2011, May-Jun 2011) Université Libre de Bruxelles (visiting professor, Mar-Apr 2011, Mar-Apr 2013). Education Yale University (Sep. 1997 - May 2003) Program in Islamic Studies, Department of Religious Studies M.A. (May 2001) M. Phil. (Dec. 2001) Ph. D. (May 2003; Advisor: Gerhard Böwering) Columbia University (Sep. 1991 - Dec. 1994) B.A. in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (Dec. 1994), magna cum laude Languages Classical Arabic, Colloquial Arabic (Eastern), Syriac, Persian, Biblical Hebrew, Latin, New Testament Greek, German, French, Italian. Fellowships/Awards Henkels Grant to Host World Religions World Church conference “Ecumenical and Inter-religious Relations” (January 2018; $22,500). National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, “God of Vengeance and Mercy: On the Qur'an's Theology in Relation to Jewish and Christian Tradition” (2016-2017). Institute of Advanced Studies-Nantes (France), Residential Fellowship (2016-17). Notre Dame Global Collaboration Initiative Grant, “Islam, the Qurʾān, and Catholic Theology” (2016-18; $15,700) Small Henkels Grant to Host Notre Dame “World Religions World Church Colloquium” on Converts and Martyrs in the Islamic World (April 2014; $2190). Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar Grant, “The Qurʾān in the World of Late Antiquity” (2011-13).
    [Show full text]
  • A Geography of Religion Study of the Ancient Near Eastern Storm-God Baal-Hadad, Jewish Elijah, Christian St
    University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2016 Continuity and Contradistinction: A Geography of Religion Study of the Ancient Near Eastern Storm-God Baal-Hadad, Jewish Elijah, Christian St. George, and Muslim Al-Khiḍr in the Eastern Mediterranean Erica Ferg Muhaisen University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the History of Religion Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Muhaisen, Erica Ferg, "Continuity and Contradistinction: A Geography of Religion Study of the Ancient Near Eastern Storm-God Baal-Hadad, Jewish Elijah, Christian St. George, and Muslim Al-Khiḍr in the Eastern Mediterranean" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1167. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1167 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. CONTINUITY AND CONTRADISTINCTION: A GEOGRAPHY OF RELIGION STUDY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STORM-GOD BAAL-HADAD, JEWISH ELIJAH, CHRISTIAN ST. GEORGE, AND MUSLIM AL-KHIḌR IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN __________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Arts and Humanities University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Erica M. Muhaisen June 2016 Advisor: Andrea L. Stanton ©Copyright by Erica M. Muhaisen 2016 All Rights Reserved Author: Erica M. Muhaisen Title: CONTINUITY AND CONTRADISTINCTION: A GEOGRAPHY OF RELIGION STUDY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STORM-GOD BAAL-HADAD, JEWISH ELIJAH, CHRISTIAN ST.
    [Show full text]
  • The Green Man: What Reading Al-Khiḍr As Trickster Evinces About the Canon
    THE GREEN MAN: WHAT READING AL-KHIḌR AS TRICKSTER EVINCES ABOUT THE CANON Jibril Latif Gulf University for Science & Technology, West Mishref-Kuwait [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1710-2586 Abstract The Green Man is a deictic trans-historical figure and motif shared by both interconnected canons and folklores, as well as those seemingly disparate. Revered in varying capacities in mythology, literature, and architecture, the figure’s analogs and accretions have manifold associations to religiously significant personalities like St. George, Elijah, Gilgamesh, Buddha, Christ, and Melchizedek. Often bridging the sacred and profane, the figure’s literary function is unusually polyvalent and associative readings flexibly range from prophetic guide and reconciler of paradoxes, to boundary-crossing and subverting trickster. However, the trickster figure archetypally imparts moral lessons by upsetting conventions and norms; he can teach his lessons through terror, but he can also beguile. If this is the case only because his telos redounds to a pantheon of polytheism, how do these features obtain when bound by monotheistic-based canons? The enigmatic character in the Qurʾān, dubbed al-Khiḍr and revered in canonical contexts, similarly has a didactic trickster-like encounter with Moses, whom he guides on a journey of paradoxes and Ilahiyat Studies p-ISSN: 1309-1786 / e-ISSN: 1309-1719 Volume 11 Number 1 Winter / Spring 2020 DOI: 10.12730/13091719.2020.111.199 Copyright © Bursa İlahiyat Foundation Received: December 12, 2019 Accepted: April 17, 2020 Published: June 30, 2020 To cite this article: Latif, Jibril. “The Green Man: What Reading Khiḍr as Trickster Evinces about the Canon.” Ilahiyat Studies 11, no.
    [Show full text]
  • The Qur'anic Jesus: a Study of Parallels with Non-Biblical Texts
    Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 8-2013 The Qur'anic Jesus: A Study of Parallels with Non-Biblical Texts Brian C. Bradford Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the History of Religion Commons, and the History of Religions of Western Origin Commons Recommended Citation Bradford, Brian C., "The Qur'anic Jesus: A Study of Parallels with Non-Biblical Texts" (2013). Dissertations. 190. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/190 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE QUR’ANIC JESUS: A STUDY OF PARALLELS WITH NON-BIBLICAL TEXTS by Brian C. Bradford A dissertation submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Western Michigan University August 2013 Doctoral Committee: Paul Maier, Ph.D., Chair Howard Dooley, Ph.D. Timothy McGrew, Ph.D. THE QUR’ANIC JESUS: A STUDY OF PARALLELS WITH NON-BIBLICAL TEXTS Brian C. Bradford, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2013 This study examines which texts and religious communities existed that could well have contributed to Muhammad’s understanding of Jesus. The most important finding is that the Qur’anic verses mentioning Jesus’ birth, certain miracles, and his crucifixion bear close resemblance to sectarian texts dating as early as the second century.
    [Show full text]
  • The Qurʾānic Narratives Through the Lens of Intertextual Allusions: a Literary Approach
    The Qurʾānic Narratives Through the Lens of Intertextual Allusions: A Literary Approach by Waleed F. S. Ahmed A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Seminar für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft Georg-August-Universität Göttingen © Copyright by Waleed F. S. Ahmed 2014 All rights reserved Abstract The Qurʾānic Narratives Through the Lens of Intertextual Allusions: A Literary Approach Waleed F. S. Ahmed 2014 Intertextuality, as an overarching concept concerning the interrelations between texts, can be defined as the ways in which texts refer to and build on other texts. The narratives of the Qurʾān are amongst the clearest manifestations of this intertextual phenomenon. This is not only because they are concerned with pre-Islamic figures who have parallels in Jewish and Christian traditions, but also because many verses in these narratives obviously allude to such extra-Qurʾānic traditions. The present dissertation addresses this issue in Qurʾānic studies, which constitutes a main question in modern research on the intertextual allusions in Islam’s revealed scripture. Hence, it deals with the virtual absence of reliance upon a literary approach to these allusions, informed by contemporary allusional studies. In particular, the dissertation analyzes the intertextual allusions (to such extra- Qurʾānic traditions) evident in three groups of Qurʾānic narrative pericopes. These concern: (1) The story of the biblical Prophet Jonah (Q 68:48-50, 37:139-48, 21:87-8, 10:98, 6:86, and 4:163); (2) The creation account on the sin of the first human couple, Adam and Eve, and of God teaching Adam the names of everything (Q 20:120-121, 7:19-22, 2:31-3 and 2:35-6); and (3) The laughter of Sarah, wife of Abraham, and the story of Abraham’s intercession for Lot’s People (Q 51:24-30 and 11:69-76).
    [Show full text]