Content Further Informationen Perhaps the quintessen al issue that has divided the scrip- Venue Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar tural monotheisms has been the authority of scripture. If University of Zurich God is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-good, why would Rämistrasse 59 God reveal diff erent scriptures that appear to convey con- 8001 Zürich fl ic ng messages about the divine will? The usual response Room: RAA-G-01 of religious thinkers has been to reject the scripture of Polemics and others while exal ng one’s own – only one’s own conveys OrganizaƟ on the true and undistorted will of God. But because others Sigi Feigel Visi ng Professorship for Jewish Studies and claim the same, that only theirs conveys the true and un- Department of Religious Studies, University of Zurich: Prophethood distorted will of God, a ra onale must be found for reject- Prof. Dr. Reuven Firestone, Prof. Dr. Christoph Uehlinger, ing the claims of others. Various ra onales of rejec on Sarah Werren, lic. phil. in Judaism, Chris anity, and Islam have been developed over the centuries, one of the most common being the cri que of the vehicle of prophecy: If Contact the prophet is false, then his message must be false as well. Sarah Werren Interna onal Conference Surprisingly, this issue has yet to be carefully studied in the Religionswissenscha liches Seminar academy, so it is “the problema c of prophecy” that is the Kantonsschulstrasse 1 May 14–16, 2018 topic for this conference. Par cular emphasis will be put 8001 Zürich on rival percep ons and strategies of mutual delegi miza- Tel. + 41 (0)44 634 09 33 on deployed in Jewish and Muslim texts, lesser known in e-mail: [email protected] Western scholarship. RegistraƟ on Please register un l May 7, 2018: [email protected]. Apéro riche (May 14) and lunch (May 16) will be provided at the conference. Par cipa on is free of charge. With the support of – Faculty of Theology, University of Zurich – Swiss Na onal Science Founda on Illustra on courtesy Bibliothèque na onale de France: Muhammad leads the Israelite prophets in prayer in Jerusalem Sigi Feigel-Gastprofessur für Jüdische Studien Folio from an Eastern Turkish Miʿrāj Nāma, Herat, 15th c. (Supplément turc 190, f. 7r) 11:00 Ruggero VimercaƟ Sanseverino (Eberhard-Karls- Wednesday, May 16 Conference Program Universität Tübingen) “And Have We Not Raised High Your Renown?” (Qur’an 94:4) – Muslim Discourses of the Eminence Session E: The “Problem of Purity” Monday, May 14 of the Prophet Muḥammad and Their Meaning and Chair: James Weaver (University of Zurich) Func on in Contemporary Islamic Thought 9:00 Hamza Zafer (University of Washington, Sea le) 16:00 Welcome 11:45 Discussion The Prophet and the Patriarch: The Axial Tension in Qur’anic Narra ve 12:15 Lunch Session A: The ProblemaƟ c of Prophecy in the Scriptural 9:45 Younus Mirza (Allegheny College, Washington D.C.) Monotheisms The End of the Isra’iliyat: How Modern Abridge- Chair: Christoph Uehlinger (University of Zurich) Session D: ComparaƟ ve Prophethood ments of Tafsir Ibn Kathir Remove Jewish Material Chair: Ulrich Rudolph (University of Zurich) 16:15 Holger ZellenƟ n (University of Cambridge) 10:30 Coff ee / Tea Break Prophecy: Divine Assault on the Human Tradi on in 13:15 Stefan Schreiner (Eberhard-Karls-Universität Islam, Chris anity and Judaism 10:45 Liran Yadgar (Yale University, New Haven) Tübingen) Ibn Kammuna’s Posi on on Prophecy and His 17:00 Reuven Firestone (University of Zurich) Moses – the Father of all Prophets vs. Mani and Chris an and Muslim Opponents How to “Diss” a (False) Prophet: Protec ng Religion Muḥammad – the Seals of the Prophets: On the by Rejec ng God’s Messengers Development of an Apologe c-Polemical Concept 11:30 Discussion 17:45 Discussion 14:00 Lejla Demiri (Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen) 12:00 Lunch “Closest to the Best Should be Be er Than the Rest”: 18:30 Apéro riche A Medieval Muslim Assessment of the Prophethood of Moses, Jesus and Muḥammad Session F: InnovaƟ ons in Argument Chair: Daniel Barbu (Centre na onal de la recherche scien - 14:45 Coff ee/Tea Break Tuesday, May 15 fi que, Paris) Session B: “First is Best” 13:30 Robert Chazan (New York University) Chair: Monika Amsler (University of Zurich) Chair: Sarah Werren (University of Zurich) The Innova ve Turn in Thirteenth-Century Chris an 15:00 Iqbal Abd el-Raziq (Tel Aviv University) An -Jewish Polemics 8:30 David Berger (Yeshiva University, New York) “The One with the Mantle” – Dhū al-Kifl in Early Prophecy, Law, and Messianism: Judaism’s Iden - 14:15 Barbara Roggema (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) and Classical Muslim Sources: An Etymological fi ca on and Assessment of Prophets in Its Encounter False Prophets or False Followers? The Idea of Con- Examina on with Chris anity and Islam spiracy in Interreligious Kalam 9:15 Daniel J. Lasker (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 15:45 Pim Valkenberg (The Catholic University of America, 15:00 Coff ee / Tea Break Be’er Sheva) Washington D.C.) Polemics with People of Scripture in the Qur’an: 15:30 Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau (Université de Strasbourg) Verifi ca on Prophecy and Interreligious Polemics in “He Is Demon-Possessed”: Evangelic and Qur’anic the Thought of Saadia Gaon and Judah Halevi Jewish and Chris an Objec ons to a New Scripture and a New Prophet – and the Qur’an’s Replies to Argumenta ve Bases for Tradi onal Defense of 10:00 Coff ee / Tea Break these Objec ons Prophe cal Authority 16:30 Discussion 16:15 Christoph Uehlinger (University of Zurich) Session C: “The Best is Saved for Last” Convergences, Dead Ends, and Dilemmata – with Chair: Farida SƟ ckel (University of Zurich) 19:00 Conference Dinner an Opening on Secularism and Modern (Western) States 10:15 Rana Alsoufi (University of Lucerne) The Seal of Prophecy in Islam and Its Repercussions 16:45– Final Discussion on Muslims’ Percep ons of Divine Prophecy 17:30 Concluding Words (Reuven Firestone).