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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. ‘ASSOCIATING’ WITH GOD IN ISLAMIC THOUGHT: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MUSLIM INTERPRETATIONS OF SHIRK JOSEF LINNHOFF / S0900863 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, NEW COLLEGE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM 2020 Declaration I confirm that this thesis has been composed by myself and is my own work. It has not been submitted, in whole or part, in any previous application for a degree. Except where stated otherwise by reference or acknowledgement, the work presented in the following pages is entirely my own. Josef Linnhoff Ph.D. Candidate i Acknowledgments This project started a long time ago, and, it often feels, in a galaxy far, far away. It was Autumn 2015. David Cameron was Prime Minister. Obama was President. The term ‘Brexit’ did not exist. It was a simpler time. Politics aside, it is impossible to work on a single piece of work for such a long period without amassing an enormous amount of gratitude and debt. In no particular order, I would like to thank my colleagues at Semples; Amy Plender, Ryan Tafilowski, Cameron Clausing, Steven Stiles, Tom Breimaier, George Walters-Sleyon. Each of these colleagues offered much needed laughs, support and friendship. They were exceptionally bright and passionate colleagues from whom I learnt a great deal. If I ever find another working environment like Semples, I will have done very well indeed. But I shall not be holding my breath. Another group of friends emerged in my final years at Edinburgh. I have benefited from the advice, support and the late-night-to-early-morning chats with Abdul Rahman Mustafa (ARM), Omar Anchassi, Muhammad al-Murakabi and Ataullah Khabbir - the ‘Four Imams’ of Edinburgh. ARM and Omar offered generous assistance and comments throughout. Khabbir gave his time, soon after the birth of his daughter, to read the Introduction and suggest improvements. Muhammad risked more than he should in bringing some of the rarer works of Sayyid Quṭb and Sulaymān ibn ‘Abdul Wahhāb out of Cairo. To all of them – a massive thank you. An enormous thanks to my supervisor, Professor Mona Siddiqui, who continued to support, challenge and develop me from a young and unruly undergraduate student to a (hopefully) more polished doctoral candidate. Professor Siddiqui taught me how to read, write and think to an academic standard; a priceless lesson that will long outlive this project and for which I will remain in her debt. I must also mention her pastoral support. How she manages to find so much time for students among her many roles and responsibilities remains a mystery that I haven’t been able to crack. My secondary supervisor Dr Joshua Ralston has been another source of guidance and support. Since joining New College, Dr Ralston has made an enormous contribution to the academic and social life of the department. The conferences, grants, external speakers and general dynamism that he brought to New College made this an ideal place for doctoral research. To both, my deepest thanks. I must thank all my family for their endless patience and support while I spent the best part of a decade avoiding the real world to explore a personal passion project in Islamic studies. To my brother, sister and cousins - Tom, Nina, Katie, Faye, David and the kids – thank you all. My nephew and niece, Malachy and Dena, both of whom arrived during this project, provided a beautiful reminder that there is more to life than a PhD thesis. I look forward to my new post-PhD role as babysitter. My in-laws, Saadia, Asif, Adam and the rest of the Nasiri/Usmani clan in the UK/US offered much love, support, incomparable food, a great many laughs and generally welcomed me into the family with open arms. ii This thesis is dedicated to three people in particular. For almost a decade now, my parents have been endlessly supportive. I’m sure they still do not understand the sudden passion for all things Islamic that took hold of their son, but they have provided nothing but care, help and encouragement throughout. Without their financial assistance, this thesis could have never got off the ground. My days drawing on the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ are, mercifully, coming to an end, but my gratitude for their support over the years will not. “Lord, have mercy on them, just as they cared for me when I was little” (17:24). Lastly, to my endlessly patient wife Leyla, who has been subject to more discussion on shirk, Quṭb and Ibn Taymiyya in two short years of marriage than most wives ever should be. She has suffered throughout this thesis – the highs, the lows, the ever-extending deadlines. I cannot thank her enough for her patience and I promise that she will never have to hear about shirk ever again. Ever. I apologise that this took so long, how she must have felt like a partner to Sisyphys and I promise her that now – finally - we can start a life and marriage together. God willing. iii Notes on transliteration and translation Qur’anic citations are taken, with slight alterations, from the English translation of M.A.S Haleem, The Qur’an (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Following Haleem, I prefer to use the English ‘God’ over the Arabic Allāh. The exception is in the relevant discussion in Chapter One (‘Reflections on shirk in the Qur’an’), where the Arabic Allāh is used to reinforce the theological point that both the Prophet and his opponents, the mushrikūn, worship the same divinity. Also, against Haleem, relevant Qur’anic verses are translated in their basic, etymological sense of 'shirk’ or to ‘associate’ with God. For presentation purposes to avoid an overly-cluttered text, all dates are provided in line with the Gregorian C.E. (Common Era) calendar. For the translation and transliteration of Arabic terms, I follow the guidelines of the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (IJMES), with the exception of some important adjustments. These include: - If an Arabic term has come to be widely used in English language, such as Qur’an or Sufi, I prefer to omit diacritical marks like hamzas and ʿayns. It is a firm belief that a term like ‘Qur’an’ is now firmly embedded in the English language. This involves a degree of subjectivity as to which terms can be considered as such, for which the readers understanding is sought. - In the same spirit the name of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, is used without diacritics. - All other Arabic/Islamic terms and phrases are transliterated in line with IJMES guidelines. This includes ‘ayns, hamzas and diacritical marks. It includes the names of all other historical figures and thinkers, titles of sources, books and institutions. - To preserve the integrity of the secondary sources, however, different transliteration systems are faithfully recorded when cited in this study. (for example: Qur’ān, Muḥammad). - I choose to use anglicized plurals to assist readers not familiar with the broken plural in Arabic. The sole exception is ʿulamā’ (scholars) to convey the plural of scholar (ʿālim). - For adjectives taken from Arabic terms, I use ‘ī’. For example: Salafī, Muʿtazilī, Ash‘arī, Ḥanbalī). The sole exception is Khārijite, to reflect the irregular Arabic khawārij. - Blessings that traditionally accompany mention of the both the Prophet and God, such as ‘peace be upon him’ (ṣallā ‘llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) in Muslim sources, both English and Arabic, are omitted. - I choose to spell out ‘ibn’ rather than shorten this to b. to indicate ‘son of’. iv Table of Contents Declaration.............................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. ii Notes on transliteration and translation ............................................................................................ iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. v Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Outline of topic .................................................................................................................................. 2 An overview of sources ..................................................................................................................... 4 Scope, method and outline of