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For additional information about this book http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781451408126

Access provided by Yale University Library (15 May 2015 22:10 GMT) preface

The story of the emergence of , as it biographical information on or is usually told, is rather straightforward. his companions. Other Islamic sources, such Muhammad was born in , a pagan as quraanic commentaries or biographies of city in western Arabia in 570 ce. At the age the , often seem to be based on the of forty, he began to proclaim revelations Quraan (and not records of an independent from the one true God, the God of , process of oral transmission). Non-Islamic , and . Because most of the Meccan sources from the time of Islam’s emergence pagans refused his message, Muhammad trav- are curiously silent. They simply make no eled to , a city to the north of Mecca, mention of a prophet in Mecca. in 622. There he won the fidelity of theA rabs, In light of these complications, scholars overcame Jewish tribes who resisted him, and today have an important choice to make when eventually attacked and overcame the forces they set out to describe Islam’s origins. They of the pagan Meccans. When Muhammad might choose simply to follow the traditional died in 632, he had established a small state Islamic biographies of Muhammad, selecting based on Islam, the given to him by those portions of the biography they consider God. His successors, the caliphs, launched most reliable and adding their own commen- a great campaign of conquests and carried tary. This is the approach, for example, of Islam throughout the Middle East and across Karen Armstrong in her work Muhammad: North Africa. A Prophet of Our Time (2006). Armstrong The question of how much of this story is emphasizes those elements of the traditional historically accurate, however, is less straight- biography that might make the Muslim forward. Our sources for the study of Islam’s prophet appealing to a modern Western audi- emergence are unlike those for the study ence. It is also the approach of Robert Spencer of Judaism or , and they pre­ in his work The Truth About Muhammad sent scholars with particular difficulties. The (2006). Spencer, however, emphasizes those Quraan is an ancient text, and it certainly elements of the traditional biography that contains authentic material from the time of might make him unappealing to a modern Islamic origins, but it offers almost no explicit Western audience. Scholars might also cast

ix x v Preface

aside the traditional Islamic biographies and of Islam’s rise, from the birth of Muhammad present new scenarios for the rise of Islam. to the death of his cousin and son-in-law, uAli This is the approach of The Hidden Origins of (according to the traditional dates, 570–661 Islam (2010), a collection of articles in which ce); this introduction is divided according to a number of authors argue that the quraanic the life of Muhammad in Mecca (570–610 ce; word muhammad (which in means chapter 1), the life of Muhammad in Medina “the praised one”) is not the name of a new (610–632 ce; chapter 2), and the career of the prophet but an adjective referring to Jesus. first four caliphs (632–661 ce, chapter 3). In The Muhammad of Islamic tradition, in their the course of this presentation, however, I estimation, never existed. discuss how and why pious Muslim schol- Francis Peters takes a different approach. In ars wrote the story of Islam in this manner. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam (1994), Whenever possible, I indicate which elements Peters first acknowledges how little can be reli- of the traditional account of Islam’s origins ably known about Islam’s origins: “However are plausible and which are less so. At the long the search has gone on, the ‘quest of the same time, this section of the book is meant historical Muhammad’ is still surrounded by to offer readers an appreciation of the Islamic enormous difficulties from both the growth understanding of Muhammad and his pious and encrustations of centuries of pious regard successors. and the difficulty of the source material” (xii). In part 2, I provide a critical scholarly per- Yet Peters decides to postpone any discussion spective on the rise of Islam through a pre- of these difficulties. In the body of the book, sentation of the Quraan, our most ancient he proceeds “as if” the traditional story were source for Islam’s emergence. I first offer historically reliable: “This is an issue that must the reader a general presentation of the be addressed, but it is highly technical, and Quraan’s religious message, and the strate- rather than put such daunting stuff between gies the Quraan uses to convince the reader the reader and the subject of this book, I have of that message (chapter 4). Then I illustrate placed [it] in an appendix” (xii). Thus in the the Quraan’s close relationship with biblical body of his book, Peters provides the reader literature and biblical traditions (chapter with a thoroughly classical account of Islam’s 5). This illustration—which suggests that origins, an account that he judges to be funda- the Quraan was preached in a context where mentally unreliable. Jewish and (especially) Christian traditions were well known—leads to a reconsideration of the traditional biography of Muhammad Approach of this Book (chapter 6). Finally, I ask what the Quraan itself might teach us of the story of Islam’s The approach of the present work is differ- origins (chapter 7). By this point we will have ent. In part 1, I present the traditional story done things in a manner perfectly contrary Preface v xi to the manner in which they are usually English word God when referring to the God done. Whereas most scholars see the Quraan of Islam. through the lens of the traditional history Biblical citations are from the New of Islam’s emergence, we will see the history Bible. Quraanic translations are of Islam’s emergence through the lens of the generally those of Arthur Arberry, although Quraan. I have altered his translation by substituting The present work also offers the reader “Quraan” for “Koran” (as this latter spelling is insight into contemporary Islamic visions of rarely used today). When he uses an especially the Quraan and Muhammad’s life. In part 3 antiquated word (such as “haply”), I offer a (chapter 8), I illustrate how Islam’s interac- modern equivalent in brackets “[perhaps].” In tion with the West has led Muslims to develop some cases, however, I present my own trans- new ideas about the Quraan and the prophet lation in order to clarify a point in the under- Muhammad today. lying Arabic. (Such cases are identified with a parenthetical note.) Instead of using footnotes or endnotes, I present the sources of quota- Features in this Book tions in abbreviated form in parentheses. The full form of these (and other) sources, and a Before turning to the main body of the work, brief description of them, can be found in the the reader might benefit from some practical section “Bibliography and Further Reading” remarks about it. For the most part, I have at the end of the book. avoided technical Arabic terms. When I do The present work includes a number employ such terms, I generally define them at of other supplementary features that offer their first occurrence. In addition, readers will unique insights on Islam’s emergence. The find a glossary at the end of this work with opening of the work includes a reference map technical Arabic terms, English terms used in of the Middle East, a timeline that offers an a specialized manner, and a brief identifica- overview of the traditional chronology of tion of the main historical and religious per- Islam’s development, and a chart that pre­ sonalities of early Islam. sents Muhammad’s family background, and In many recent English publications, the his descendants, according to the traditional God of Islam is named , as though Allah Islamic account of his life. were the personal name of the God of Islam More resources are found in the body of the alone (an idea that inspired a 2007 law in work itself. Interspersed in the text are pho- Malaysia prohibiting non-Muslims from call- tographs of Islamic manuscripts and monu- ing God Allah). In fact, Allah is simply the ments, reproductions of classical objects of word “God” in Arabic (for which reason it , and charts/maps meant to illus- is used also by Arabic-speaking Christians). trate Islamic ideas and traditions. Readers will Accordingly, in this work, I simply use the also discover three types of text boxes: excerpts xii v Preface

of original Islamic sources (some of which are above a, i, and u to differentiate long Arabic presented here in English for the first time); vowels from short Arabic vowels. In the pres- simple introductions to basic topics of Islamic ent work, which is not meant to be technical, religion (such as the to Mecca, I include neither dots nor macrons. However, the notion of jinn or “genies,” and the idea of I do include the sign u to indicate the Arabic jihad); and brief biographies of key Muslim consonant uayn (which represents a sound figures in text boxes identified as “Personalities close to the bleating of sheep), as in the name in Islam.” Furthermore, at the end of each uAli, and the sign a to indicate the Arabic con- chapter, study questions are included for indi- sonant hamza (which represents a sound that vidual reflection or group discussion. takes the place of “tt” in the cockney pronun- At the end of this work (in addition to the ciation of “bottle” [“boael”]), as in the word section “Bibliography and Further Reading”), Quraan. The combination ay represents the readers will find an index of people, places, diphthong found in the English word may, and subjects, along with a glossary of proper and the combination aw represents the diph- names and technical terms. Finally, readers thong in the English word doubt. should note that additional resources relevant Arabic words that have an Anglicized form to The Emergence of Islam, including links to (such as caliph), or that are now commonly reliable educational websites, can be found used in English (such as jihad or ), are online at www.fortresspress.com/reynolds. presented as English words and not as trans- literations of Arabic words. The reader might find it helpful to know that theA rabic word Note on Transliteration, Translation, uabd—commonly found in names such as and Abbreviations uAbdallah—means “servant” (thus uAbdallah means “servant of God”). The Arabic word The present work uses a simplified translit- abu (or abi) means “father” (thus Abu Talib eration system to represent the twenty-eight means “the father of Talib”), and the Arabic letters of the Arabic alphabet. To indicate a word ibn means “son.” The Quraan and particular Arabic letter, Western scholars gen- Islamic tradition refer to Muhammad with erally use the closest equivalent Latin letter two different Arabic words: nabi and rasul. (or, in some cases, pairs of letters such as sh or These are generally translated “Prophet” th) according to English pronunciation. When and “Messenger,” respectively. However, in the same English letter is the closest equiva- some English translations of classical Islamic lent to more than one Arabic consonant, sources (several of which are cited in this scholars often add a dot to the English letter work) the English word “Apostle” is used to to indicate the emphatic Arabic consonant. translate rasul. Finally, the reader might take Similarly, scholars generally add a macron note of the following abbreviations: Preface v xiii ah anno hegirae (“in the year of the hijra”), the present work has at least in part justified a reference to the years of the Islamic the confidence placed in me. calendar This work is the product of the intellec- Ar. Arabic tual mentoring that I have received from b. Ar. ibn (“son”) colleagues, friends, and scholars. I am particu- Q Quraan larly indebted to Samir Khalil Samir, who has taught me the importance of clear thought and scholarly precision, although I am hardly Acknowledgments his equal in either regard. I have also benefited from many conversations with my friend I conducted most of the research for this Mehdi Azaiez, a scholar of great perspicuity book, and wrote most of its narrative, during and a person of immense kindness. Similarly a year of sabbatical leave from the University I am grateful for my friendship with Emran of Notre Dame, during which time I was in El-Badawi, likewise a scholar of remarkable residence in Jerusalem, Beirut, and Brussels. I insight. am accordingly obliged to Notre Dame for the I have learned much (and I am still learn- opportunity to take this leave. I am particu- ing) through the classes that I have taught in larly grateful to John Cavadini, former chair the Department of Theology at Notre Dame. of the Department of Theology, and his suc- My presence as an Islamicist, and scholar of cessor Matt Ashley, both of whom have sup- the Quraan, in a faculty of Catholic theol- ported me in my scholarly work and in my ogy has allowed me to see Islam—and the vocation as a teacher. At Notre Dame I have Quraan in particular—in a wider perspec- benefited time and again from the remark- tive. Whereas most Departments of Religion able work of Cheron Price and Lauren Fox, or Near Eastern Studies teach Islam only in administrative assistants in the Department the light of Islamic tradition, at Notre Dame I of Theology. I have also been greatly aided have been challenged to think of the relation- by DeVan Ard and Nathaniel Johnson, both ship of Islam’s origins in the light of Jewish exceptionally hardworking and talented and Christian tradition, and to think of the Teaching Assistants, not to mention good Quraan in the light of Biblical literature. At friends. I am grateful to Hannah Hemphill the same time Notre Dame has often dem- Barrett, who provided invaluable assistance onstrated, in and out of the classroom, how on proofreading the manuscript of this work a Catholic university—a university rightly when I was in the greatest need of help. My dedicated to its own tradition—can approach research leave was made possible by a gener- another tradition with a certain apprecia- ous grant from the Louisville Institute, for tion and sympathy that exceeds the approach which I am profoundly grateful. I hope that generally found at secular universities. I xiv v Preface

discovered something similar at the Institut Lourdes. I am grateful with all my heart for Islamo-chrétien at Université de Saint Joseph the love she has shown me and for the price- in Beirut, where I taught as a visiting profes- less gift of our children, Luke, Emmanuel, sor during the academic year 2010–11. Theresa, and René. I would also like to thank As this work has moved toward its final our friends, the Kahyas, the Mattas, the stages, I have increasingly relied on the Aboukhaleds, the Elias, the Bualuans, and excellent team at Fortress Press, including the Metcalfes. I am grateful also to my par- Ross Miller, Senior Acquisitions Editor, and ents and stepparents—Gary, Carole, Lazarus, Marissa Wold, Senior Project Manager. The and Nancy—and to the parents of Lourdes, present work is atypical of introductions to Elias and Renée. To all of them and to the Islam, and yet they have nevertheless been Missionaries of Charity in Sad el-Baouchriye supportive and helpful throughout. (Beirut), who tenderly care for children bereft Yet I have received no greater support than of parents, I dedicate the present work. that given to me each day by my lovely wife A map of the Middle East in the early seventh century.