Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology – serie

Taw?tur is the concept that information yields certainty if acquired through a sufficient number of independent channels. Taw?tur in Islamic Thought is an attempt to unravel the twisted historical threads of the conception and usage of taw?tur across diverse Islamic disciplines, in light of both Western academia and debates within Muslim scholarship. In the process, numerous salient questions in Islamic thought are tackled, such as epistemic certitude, scholarly consensus (ijm??), and the rationalism traditionalism relationship. The study culminates in the question of the extent to which taw?tur was used by Muslim scholars to define the boundaries of Islam and of orthodoxy. Taw?tur in Islamic Thought shows that the majority voices in Muslim scholarship, across sectarian boundaries, reached a steady-state conception of a two-tiered orthodoxy, corresponding to two tiers of taw?tur an outer tier that includes all who affirm a definitive kernel of Islam and an inner tier that is more exclusive.

Tawātur is the concept that information yields certainty if acquired through a sufficient number of independent channels. Tawātur in Islamic Thought is an attempt to unravel the twisted historical threads of the conception and usage of tawātur across diverse Islamic disciplines, in light of both Western academia and debates within Muslim scholarship. In the process, numerous salient questions in Islamic thought are tackled, such as epistemic certitude, scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ), and the rationalism–traditionalism relationship. The study culminates in the question of the extent to which tawātur was used by Muslim scholars to define the boundaries of Islam and of orthodoxy. Tawātur in Islamic Thought shows that the majority voices in Muslim scholarship, across sectarian boundaries, reached a steady-state conception of a two-tiered orthodoxy, corresponding to two tiers of tawātur – an outer tier that includes all who affirm a definitive kernel of Islam and an inner tier that is more exclusive.

While it may seem paradoxical to combine trust in rational religion with distrust of human reason, this is exactly what a group of understudied Muslim theologians proposed. Known as the Epistemists, they pushed for an inclusive epistemology that broadened the scope of knowledge. They argued that humans can acquire rational knowledge without discursive arguments, through an unconscious process of social exposure. In this, the Epistemists presented a radical alternative to other Islamic conceptions of rationalism, with immense promise for modern contexts. This book reconstructs a worldview prominent among the Epistemists, and explores how it correlates with their rise and fall as a theological trend. It examines the intellectual project of their premier advocate, al-J??i? (d. 868-9), offering a systematic reading of his oeuvre as an Epistemist, and situates it in the formative ?Abbasid moment of Islamic history.

While it may seem paradoxical to combine trust in rational religion with distrust of human reason, this is exactly what a group of understudied Muslim theologians proposed. Known as the Epistemists, they pushed for an inclusive epistemology that broadened the scope of knowledge. They argued that humans can acquire rational knowledge without discursive arguments, through an unconscious process of social exposure. In this, the Epistemists presented a radical alternative to other Islamic conceptions of rationalism, with immense promise for modern contexts. This book reconstructs a worldview prominent among the Epistemists, and explores how it correlates with their rise and fall as a theological trend. It examines the intellectual project of their premier advocate, al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 868-9), offering a systematic reading of his oeuvre as an Epistemist, and situates it in the formative ʿAbbasid moment of Islamic history.

The question of the Qur'an's geographical and cultural context has been hotly debated in the last few decades. Several authors have proposed that its place of origin may be somewhere other than the Hijaz in Western Arabia, the location stated within Islamic literary sources. Yet these theories have not engaged with the resources provided by numerous inscriptions in a wide range of ancient languages in the Arabian Peninsula and its environs.Bracketing theological claims about Qur'anic provenance and relying solely on securely datable material evidence from before the rise of Islam, this book shows that the Qur'an emerged from the Hijaz and addressed a Late Antique Arabian audience. Suleyman Dost argues for significant religious, cultural and linguistic continuities between pre-Qur'anic Arabian sources and the Qur'an, especially highlighting underappreciated parallels with religious idioms in South Arabia and Ethiopia. This book thus challenges revisionist perspectives that situate the Qur'an outside a Western Arabian milieu.

Epistemology has a distinguished history within Islamic philosophical and theological discourses. Muslim scholars sought to explain what knowledge was, where it came from, and how it could be justified. They were especially interested in religious knowledge and the core question of why human beings were justified in their belief in God and the Prophet Muhammad.In this volume, editors Safaruk Chowdhury and Ramon Harvey, alongside fifteen contributing authors, put this vibrant tradition of thought into sustained dialogue with contemporary analytic philosophy of religion and clarify what is at stake in their mutual interaction. The text acts, therefore, as a founding document for the new subfield of analytic Islamic epistemology. By bringing together the insights of intellectual historians, comparative religionists, philosophers of religion and analytic epistemologists, this book maps historical articulations of Islamic epistemology, the ongoing conversation with Christian counterparts, the advancement of key existing debates, and proposals for the future.

Ramon Harvey revisits the Muslim theologian Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944) from Samarqand and puts his system, and that of the Māturīdī school, into lively dialogue with modern thought. Combining rigorous study of Arabic Māturīdī texts with insights from Husserl’s phenomenology and analytic theology, Harvey explores themes from epistemology and metaphysics to the nature of God and specific divine attributes (omniscience and wisdom, creative action, divine speech and the Qur’an). His systematic treatment of these topics shows that a contemporary Muslim philosophical theology, or kalām jadīd, can be true to the past, yet dynamic in the present, and can provide original and constructive answers to perennial theological questions.

Constructs a contemporary philosophical theology from the M?tur?d? tradition of kal?mReconstructs the theological system of Ab? Man??r al-M?tur?d?Explores the development of the early and classical M?tur?d? traditionEngages with contemporary philosophy and theologyProvides a systematic treatment of the divine nature and attributesAdvances the fields of Islamic philosophy of religion and kal?m jad?dRamon Harvey revisits the Muslim theologian Ab? Man??r al-M?tur?d? (d. 333/944) from Samarqand and puts his system, and that of the M?tur?d? school, into lively dialogue with modern thought.Combining rigorous study of Arabic M?tur?d? texts with insights from Husserl's phenomenology and analytic theology, Harvey explores themes from epistemology and metaphysics to the nature of God and specific divine attributes (omniscience and wisdom, creative action, divine speech and the Qur'an). His systematic treatment of these topics shows that a contemporary Islamic philosophical theology, or kal?m jad?d, can be true to the past, yet dynamic in the present, and can provide original and constructive answers to perennial theological questions.

Explores key texts and critical themes of hadith commentaryRepresents a milestone for the field: the first-ever edited volume on the important subject of hadith commentaryPresents diverse case studies of hadith commentaries across time, place and sectDelivers new insights into themes of Islam and politics, Islamic mysticism, Islamic law, Islamic philosophy and the digital humanitiesOffers cross-disciplinary models of cutting-edge methods in textual studies from a group of international scholarsHadith commentary has been a central site of Islamic intellectual life for more than a millennium, across diverse periods, regions and sects. This is the first volume of scholarly essays ever collected on the key texts and critical themes of hadith commentary. The book unfolds chronologically from the early centuries of Islam to the modern period, and readers will discover continuities and changes as a group of international experts offer illuminating studies of Sunnis, Shi'i and Sufis who interpret and debate the meaning of hadith that spans a wide terrain: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, India, and further. The volume also models a variety of methodological approaches, including social history, intellectual history, the study of religion, and digital history. By highlighting both differences and commonalities as the practice of hadith commentary circulated across distant eras and lands, this volume sheds new light on the way Muslims have historically understood the meaning of Muhammad's example.

Hadith commentary has been a central site of Islamic intellectual life for more than a millennium, across diverse periods, regions and sects. This is the first volume of scholarly essays ever collected on the key texts and critical themes of hadith commentary. The book unfolds chronologically from the early centuries of Islam to the modern period, and readers will discover continuities and changes as a group of international experts offer illuminating studies of Sunnis, Shi'is and Sufis who interpret and debate the meaning of hadith over a wide terrain: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, India, and further. The volume also models a variety of methodological approaches, including social history, intellectual history, the study of religion, and digital history. By highlighting both differences and commonalities as the practice of hadith commentary circulated across distant eras and lands, this volume sheds new light on the way Muslims have historically understood the meaning of Muhammad's example.

This book investigates Muslim narratives on Qur?anic distortion through a meticulous analysis of hadith. Using isn?d-cum-matn analysis, Seyfeddin Kara discovers the historical origins of this disputed claim and illuminates the dynamic interplay between Sunni and Shi?i traditionists. He demonstrates that isn?d-cum-matn analysis is not only an important tool for dating hadiths but also crucial for uncovering forgeries. By identifying the individuals responsible, he provides new explanations of forgery culture in early Muslim society. Kara illuminates debates over the textual integrity and evolution of the written Qur?anic text, offering insights into the enigmatic early history of Islam. By pushing the boundaries of isn?d-cum-matn analysis, this book makes methodological advancements in the study of early Islamic history and contributes to its reconstruction on the question of the canonised Qur'an's integrity.

This book investigates Muslim narratives on Qur?anic distortion through a meticulous analysis of hadith. Using isn?d-cum-matn analysis, Seyfeddin Kara discovers the historical origins of this disputed claim and illuminates the dynamic interplay between Sunni and Shi?i traditionists. He demonstrates that isn?d-cum-matn analysis is not only an important tool for dating hadiths but also crucial for uncovering forgeries. By identifying the individuals responsible, he provides new explanations of forgery culture in early Muslim society. Kara illuminates debates over the textual integrity and evolution of the written Qur?anic text, offering insights into the enigmatic early history of Islam. By pushing the boundaries of isn?d-cum-matn analysis, this book makes methodological advancements in the study of early Islamic history and contributes to its reconstruction on the question of the canonised Qur'an's integrity.