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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
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ISBN 9780197522011
135798642
Note on Transliterationviii
Preface 1
Chapter Eight – R
eason, Revelation, and Inspiration 131
Acknowledgements 211
Endnotes 214
Index 242
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A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
Note on Transliteration
viii
preface
PREFACE
1
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
2
preface
3
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
4
preface
5
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
than through the prism of modern values. This is not to deny the
contemporary relevance of Islamic intellectual history, but rather
to recognize that, as Noel Malcolm has put it, ‘to understand
the present we must understand the past, and we cannot do that
properly if we try to force the past to conform to the standards
of the present.’15 By telling the story of one of the world’s major
faiths, this book aims to help us better understand both the
present and the past.
6
the word of allah
Chapter One
7
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
8
the word of allah
9
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
10
the word of allah
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A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
12
the word of allah
First, there is the Christian Trinity. ‘He begot none, nor was
He begotten’ seems to be a backhanded swipe at the ‘begotten,
not created’ formula of the Nicene Creed, the basic statement
of Christianity adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325.17
Second, there is the pagan idol-worship of the Arabs, which
the Qur’an describes as polytheism or shirk – literally, the practice
of ‘ascribing partners’ to Allah by worshipping deities alongside
Him. In the Qur’anic view, this is an unforgiveable sin (4:48),
and those who persist in it are heading straight for hell (17:39).
Alongside ‘the One’, the Qur’anic God has many other ‘most
beautiful names’ (7:180). These are traditionally numbered at
ninety-nine, 1,001, or said to be innumerable. One of the most
significant is al-khallaq, ‘the Creator’ (15:86). Allah, the Qur’an
announces, has created everything, and everything in the heavens
and on earth belongs to Him. Although the Qur’an contains
no extended creation account like those found in Genesis, the
first book of the Hebrew Bible, it does repeatedly say that God
‘created the heavens and the earth in six days and then settled
upon the Throne’ (7:54, 10:3, 32:4, etc.). In distinction from the
Biblical tradition, however, where God rests on the seventh day,
the Qur’an elsewhere makes the point that the act of creation
did not tire Allah (46:33; 50:38), for creation is an easy task for
an omnipotent deity.18 When Allah wishes to create something,
we are told, ‘He need only say “Be!” and it will be’ (2:117,
36:82, etc.).
The Qur’an insists that Allah created the world not for ‘idle
sport’ (21:16), but a specific purpose. Again and again it calls on
its listeners to reflect on the ayat or ‘signs’ of Allah in creation
13
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
– the alternation of night and day, the sun, moon, and stars, the
wind, rain, and lightning, animals and vegetation, the milk of
cattle and the honey produced by bees, wakefulness and sleep,
the diversity of languages and skin colours – and encourages
them to see these things as ‘traces of Allah’s mercy’ (30:50),
and so to give thanks and render obedience to the divine being
who created them.
Among the things created by Allah, the Qur’an, like the
Bible, puts special emphasis on the creation of human beings.
It approaches this subject from two angles, one that ennobles
mankind and one that humbles him. In several instances – seven
to be precise – the Qur’an tells the story of the creation of
Adam, the first human being.19 In one of the seven accounts,
it is announced that Allah has made man His ‘deputy’ (khalifa)
on earth and taught him the names of all things. In another,
Allah, like the God of Genesis (2:7), is said to have ‘breathed His
spirit’ into Adam (15:29, 32:9). In all of them, in contrast to the
Biblical book of Psalms (8:5), man is said to be higher than the
angels, whom Allah commanded to bow down before Adam. All
did so, we are told, except Iblis, a character identified with the
Biblical Satan. (The Arabic word comes from the Greek diabolos.)
In this way, humanity is put on a lofty pedestal. Nevertheless,
in the Qur’anic view, humans undoubtedly remain inferior to
Allah, their creator. This comes out forcefully in the other,
‘humbling’ type of creation account – those passages in which
the Qur’an describes the stages of the creation of man:
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the word of allah
into a lump of flesh. We turned the flesh into bones, and then
clothed the bones in flesh, thus creating another creature.
Blessed be Allah, the best of creators (23:12–15).
15
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
at other times with the image of a kind and forgiving deity. The
name al-Rahman – ‘the Merciful’ – is used almost interchangeably
with Allah (55:1). The prophet Joseph is quoted as calling
Allah ‘the most merciful of the merciful’ (12:92). Allah ‘has
decreed mercy for Himself ’ (6:12, 6:54), Muhammad informs
his listeners, and His ‘mercy encompasses all things’ (7:156).
Except for chapter nine, every sura of the Qur’anic text opens
with the formula, Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim, ‘In the name of
Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate’.
While Allah’s mercy is open to all, however, it is conditional
on those who have rejected Him mending their ways (5:39).
Allah, it constantly reminds us, loves the gooddoers, the penitent,
the pure, and the pious, but not the evildoers and those who
sow corruption on earth.
16
the word of allah
sent to the tribe of ‘Ad soon after the time of Noah – had been
charged with telling a mere ‘tale of the ancients’ (26:137), both
accusations that would later be hurled at Muhammad too. Noah,
Abraham, and Moses had all been threatened with stoning. Yet
these earlier messengers, the Qur’an notes, ‘patiently endured
unbelief and persecution, until Our help came to them’ (6:34).
So too, then, should Muhammad and his followers. Despite the
best efforts of the evildoers, the truth of monotheism would
always triumph over the falsehood of unbelief.
17
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
18
the word of allah
and stories like the Exodus from Egypt and the miracles of
Jesus. And it acknowledges that the Jews and Christians, like
the followers of Muhammad, are monotheists in possession
of a scripture; hence it calls them ‘People of the Book’ (ahl
al-kitab) (e.g. 2:109, 3:69–71), a moniker that indicates not just
that Judaism and Christianity are scriptural religions like Islam,
but more fundamentally that the Jews and Christians have
received a form of the same eternal ‘Book’ as has been given
to Muhammad.23
In light of these affinities, the Qur’an has many positive things
to say about the Jews and Christians. It tells us that they have
been chosen, blessed, and guided by Allah, and that they were
the only two religious communities to have previously been given
the Book (6:156). ‘And when you debate with the People of the
Book,’ Muhammad and his followers are told, ‘be courteous,
except with those among them who do wrong. Say: “We believe
in what has been revealed to us and in what was revealed to
you. Our God and your God is one, and to him we submit”’
(29:46). Those who doubt the truth of Muhammad’s message
are advised to consult the People of the Book, for they know
what a true prophet and scripture looks like; indeed, they know
Allah ‘like they know their own children’ (6:20).
This spirit of ecumenism extends to both of the earlier
monotheistic communities. Repeating the central message of
the Hebrew Bible, the Qur’an announces that Allah had made a
covenant with the Jews, exalted them above the nations, assigned
them the Holy Land, and bestowed on them a scripture, the
Torah, which was a source of ‘guidance and light’ (5:44, 6:91).
As for the Christians, the Qur’an echoes their belief in the
Virgin Birth and that Jesus was the Messiah and the ‘Word’
19
A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT
20
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liiankin kauvan ja sille on suotu kunnioitusta semmoista, joka ei sovi
maallisille ja sieluttomille kappaleille. Tietysti on puu kaadettava.
*****
*****
— Ja miksi?
— Kutsuakseni kokoon perhettä hartaushetkiin, joita olen
päättänyt pitää. Soitinkello tarvitaan sitä varten, koska olemme niin
hajalla. Sinä ehkä istut maalarimajassasi, äiti hommaa aitassa ja
ruokakammiossa, Margit ehkä laiskottelee laiturilla ja Svanten
Gunnar telmii vallatonna ullakoilla jossakin tai häiritsee pajoissa
seppäin työtä. Siis: Soitinkello on tarpeen.
— Minä näen sen. Ala, mies, työtäsi toisti maisteri Lauri, ja siihen
katosi kohta sipilla ja enkelit.
*****
*****
SOITTOKELLO.
*****
— Tervetultua, isä, hän sanoi. Minä olen nyt vihdoinkin tehnyt sen,
josta me keskenämme sovimme: olen toimittanut Maariankuvan ja
pirunkuvan pois päädyistä…
— Olemmeko siitä sopineet?
— Kyllä, etkö muista, että minä kohta kotiin tultuani sanoin että se
oli tehtävä? Etkä sinä väittänyt vastaan. Etten ennen asiaan ryhtynyt,
siihen oli syynä toivoni että sinä itsestäsi ymmärtäisit antaa siitä
käskyä; mutta nytpä en saattanut kauvemmin kestää. Kuules, isä,
jaksaako tuo hevoskaakki vielä todella sinua kantaa?
— Niinkuin näet.
*****