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. ! · Skills in analysing and discussing such differences and parallelisms. ! · The ability to demonstrate such skills in practice and to communicate such knowledge in writing both !academically and to the general public. ! Prerequisites ! The same as for the programme in general. ! Form of teaching; course activities ! The teaching will combine: ! * Compact seminar in Copenhagen (see above for more details). ! * Tutorials at your home university.! * Distance learning, with written assignments. E.-tivities on the e.-learning platform CourseSiteses Required reading ! The syllabus will include approximately 1300 pages of secondary scholarly literature and primary texts in translation. Approximately 850 of these pages are defined by the teacher before the beginning of the term. Students doing free exams choose their remaining approximately 450 pages. The teacher will define for the students doing a fixed exam their remaining approximately 450 pages no later than one month before the deadline for submission of the exam paper (cf. article 6.7). ! Fixed syllabus ! It is recommended that students acquire A.J. Droge: The Qur’ân. A New Translation (Sheffield: Equinox 2014) and Heribert Busse: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations (Markus Wiener Publishers: Princeton 1998) The syllabus below is preliminary and may be subject to minor changes. · Michael Stausberg: “1.2: Comparison”, M. Stausberg (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion (Routledge 2011), 21-39 ! · Thomas Schmitz: “Chapter 5: Intertextuality”, Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts (Blackwell 2007), 77-85 ! · Gabriel Said Reynolds: “Introduction: The Golden Age of Qur’anic Studies?”, G.S. Reynolds, New Perspectives on !the Qur’an in its historical context ! · Robert Hoyland: “Chapter 6. Religion”, Arabia and the Arabs. From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam (London: !Routledge 2001), 139-166 ! · Reuven Firestone: “The Qur’an and the Bible: Some Modern Studies of Their Relationship”, J. C. Reeves (ed.) Bible !and Qur’ân. Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality (Society of Biblical Literature 2003), 1-22. ! · Vernon K. Robins & Gordon D. Newby: “A Prolegomenon to the Relation of the Qur’an and the Bible”, J. C. Reeves !(ed.) Bible and Qur’ân. Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality (Society of Biblical Literature 2003), 23-42 ! · Tryggve Kronholm: ”Dependence and Prophetic Originality in the Koran”, Orientalia Suecana XXXI-XXXII (1982-83), !47-70 ! · Angelika Neuwirth: “Rhetoric and the Qur’an”, J.D: McAuliffe (ed.), Enc. of the Qur’ân (Brill 2004), 461-476 ! · Michel Cuypers: “Semitic rhetoric as a key to the question of the nazṃ of the Qur"anic text”, Journal of Qur"anic !Studies 13 no 1 2011, p 1-24. ! · Gabriel Said Reynolds: “Reading the Qur’an as homily”, The Qur’ân and Its Biblical Subtext (Routledge 2010), 231- !258 ! · Sidney H. Griffith: “Chapter II: The Bible in Arabic”, The Bible in Arabic: The Scriptures of the “People of the Book” in !the Language of Islam (Princeton UP 2013), 54-96 ! · Róbert Simon: “Mâni and Muhammad”, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 21, 1997, 118-41 ! · Abdulaziz Sachedina: “The Qur’ân and Other Religions”, J.D. McAuliffe (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the !Qur’ân (Cambridge UP 2006),291-309 ! · Gabriel Said Reynolds: “CS4 Abraham the Gentile Monotheist”, The Qur’ân and Its Biblical Subtext (Routledge !2010), 71-87 ! · Joseph W. Meri: “Ritual and the Qur’an”, J.D. McAuliffe (ed.): Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ân, Leiden: Brill 2004, 484- !498. ! · David Freidenreich: “Holiness and Impurity in the Torah and the Quran: Differences within a Common Typology”, !Comparative Islamic Studies, 2010, 5-22 ! · Joseph E.B. Lumbard: “Covenant and Covenants in the Qur’an”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies 17.2 (2015): 1-23 ! · Marilyn R. Waldman: ”New Approaches to ”Biblical” Materials in the Qur’an”, in: William M. Brinner et al. (eds.), !Studies in Islamic and Judaic Traditions (Scholars Press:, Atlanta 1983), 47-64 !Examination form !If the student has participated regularly, actively and satisfactorily in a course (cf. article 6.2), she or he may choose between a free and a fixed written examination. A student failing to fulfil these requirements must sit a fixed written exam. !In the free written examination, the student writes a paper of between eight and ten pages on a subject, question or material chosen by the student and approved by the responsible teacher. !In the fixed written examination, the student is given four days to write a paper of between eight and ten pages on a subject, question or material provided by the responsible teacher. ! Preliminary Study Plan for interaction course The Qur’an and the Bible: Introduction to the Qur’an and its Biblical Contexts No. Topic Text Comparison Michael Stausberg: “1.2: Comparison”, M. Stausberg (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religon (Routledge 2011), 21-39 ! and the 1 mes(s)(h) of Thomas Schmitz: “Chapter 5: Intertextuality”, Modern Literary Theory and Ancient Texts (Blackwell 2007), texts 77-85 ! Introducing Gabriel Said Reynolds: “Introduction: The Golden Age of Qur’anic Studies?”, G.S. Reynolds, New Perspectives the Qur’anic- on the Qur’an in its historical context ! 2 Biblical field and its history Reuven Firestone: “The Qur’an and the Bible: Some Modern Studies of Their Relationship”, J. C. Reeves (ed.) Bible and Qur’ân. Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality (Society of Biblical Literature 2003), 1-22. ! of research Daniel Madigan: “Themes and Topics”, J.D. McAuliffe (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Qur’ân Thematic (Cambridge UP 2006),79-95 ! 3 comparison: God(s) NN: “God”, Leland Ryken et al. (eds.) Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (InterVarsity 1998),332-336. ! Patricia Crone: “The Religion of the Qur’ânic Pagans: God and the Lesser Deities”, Arabica 57, 2010, 151-200 ! Rhetoric- Vernon K. Robins & Gordon D. Newby: “A Prolegomenon to the Relation of the Qur’an and the Bible”, J. C. Genre Reeves (ed.) Bible and Qur’ân. Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality (Society of Biblical Literature 2003), 23-42 ! 4 comparison: Introductory Angelika Neuwirth: “Rhetoric and the Qur’an”, J.D: McAuliffe (ed.), Enc. of the Qur’ân (Brill 2004), 461-476 ! considerations Rhetoric- Michel Cuypers: “Semitic rhetoric as a key to the question of the nazṃ of the Qur"anic text”, Journal of Genre 5 Qur"anic Studies 13 no 1 2011, p 1-24. comparison: Semitics 1. (+2.) Aron Hughes: “Introduction”, 1-14; “Chapter 4: Modern Usage”, 1-16; Abdulaziz Sachedina: “The Qur’ân and Other Religions”, J.D. McAuliffe (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Qur’ân Sessions (Cambridge UP 2006),291-309 1(+2): 6 Ideological 3. Resources: Databases, Websites, Journals, Institutions, Projects etc. ! (compact issues!3: seminar) Resources!4: 4. Other comparables: 1) Arabian ‘religion’: 2) Manichaeism: Róbert Simon: “Mâni and Muhammad”, Other Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 21, 1997, 118-41; 3) Zoroastrianism: Marion H. Katz: comparables “Introduction”, Body of Text: The Emergence of the Sunnî Law of Ritual Purity (SUNY Press 2002), 1-13; 3) Arabian religion: Toshihiko Izutzu: Ethico Religious Concepts in the Qur’ân (McGill- Queen’s UP 2007, org. 1959), 16-41 ! Rhetoric- Genre Gabriel Said Reynolds: “Reading the Qur’an as homily”, The Qur’ân and Its Biblical Subtext 7 comparison: (Routledge 2010), 231-258 Contexts & Subtexts 8 Characters and NN: “Character Types”, Leland Ryken et al. (eds.) Dictionary of Protagonists: Biblical Imagery (InterVarsity 1998),137-38!· Sidney H. Griffith: “Chapter II: The Bible in Arabic”, The Bible in Intros Arabic: The Scriptures of the “People of the Book” in the Language of Islam (Princeton UP 2013), 54-96 Gabriel Said Reynolds: “CS4 Abraham the Gentile Monotheist”, The Qur’ân and Its Biblical Subtext Characters and (Routledge 2010), 71-87 ! Protagonists: 9 Khalil Athamina: “Abraham in Islamic Perspective: Reflections on the Development of Monotheism in Abraham/Ibra Pre-Islamic Arabia”, Der Islam 81, 184-205 ! him Shosh Ben-Ari: “The Stories about Abraham in Islam: A Geographical Approach”, Arabica LIV, 4, 536-553 ! Joseph W. Meri: “Ritual and the Qur’an”, J.D. McAuliffe (ed.): Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ân, Leiden: Ritual and Brill 2004, 484-498.