How and when did Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) emerge as a literary genre of its own? To what extent was it influenced by other disciplines, such as law, theology, or philosophy? How did different political or theological agendas shape works of tafsir, and in what ways did the genre develop over time and in different regions? These are some of the major questions which this book seeks to address. This book constitutes the first comprehensive attempt at describing the genre of Qur'anic exegesis in its broader intellectual context. Its aim is to provide a framework for understanding the boundaries of tafsir and its interaction with other disciplines of learning, as well as the subgenres and internal divisions within the genre. It discusses the emergence of the genre in the beginnings of Islamic history and the changes and potential ruptures it has experienced in later times, the role of hadith, law, language, philosophy, theology, and political ideology for the interpretive process, the regional dimension, the influx of modernist ideas and the process of writing tafsir in languages other than Arabic. Among the fifteen authors who have contributed to the volume are leading scholars in the field as well as young researchers, which makes for a unique and fresh perspective on a field that has long been reduced to its instrumental value for understanding the Qur'an. Covering the time from the formation of Qur'anic exegesis until the present, it is a valuable resource for advanced students and scholars in the field.

Tafsir and Islamic Intellectual History: Exploring the Boundaries of a Genre (Qur'anic Studies Series)

Religion & Spirituality

Pink, Johanna

Görke, Andreas

Islam

OUP in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies

An Introduction to Hadith (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys)

Did you know that hadiths - the reports of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad - form the backbone of Islamic religious, legal and ethical thought? Although the Qur'an was always considered to be the most authoritative source, it is in fact the hadith that had the largest impact on what Muslims considered to be desirable behaviour and thought. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of hadith. It explains how hadiths emerged, how they were transmitted, and how Islamic thought and hadith influenced each other. It explores the roles of hadith as a normative source for Muslims as well as a historical source for the history of early Islam and early Islamic thought.

Edinburgh University Press

The main part of this book consists of a compilation and evaluation of the corpus of traditions about the life of Muhammad attributed to the early scholar 'Urwa ibn al-Zubayr (c. 643-c. 712). 'Urwa was the nephew of the Prophet's wife 'A'isa, who was also his most important informant. The authenticity of a large part of these traditions is certain, since they were handed down independently from each other by two or more tradents of 'Urwa. They are thus the oldest authentic Muslim reports about the Prophet. The authors argue that 'Urwa's reports by and large correctly reflect the basic features of the historical events described. Somewhat older than 'Urwa's traditions about Muhammad is only a report in a non-Islamic Armenian source attributed to the chronicler Sebeos (wrote around 660). This and other external evidence partly agree with the Islamic sources, sometimes providing new perspectives on the life of the Prophet. But there are also contradictions. The authors can show that in such cases the 'Urwa transmission is preferable. The crux of the much-discussed so-called Hagarism hypothesis, which proposes an alternative narrative of the origins of Islam (Muhammad, after having established a community which comprised both Arabs and Jews, set off with these allies to conquer Palestine) is demonstrably based on a misreading of a Sebeos passage..

Earliest Writings on the Life of Muhammad: The 'Urwa Corpus and the Non-Muslim Sources

Politics & Social Sciences

Schoeler, Gregor

Social Sciences

Gerlach Press

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