Secular Study of Early Islam - Revision history

DavidB4-bot: /* top */Spelling, grammar, and general cleanup, typos fixed: a 7th century → a 7th-century

2019-05-19T20:24:20Z

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DavidB4-bot: /* Skepticism about authorship of the Qur'an */HTTP --> HTTPS, replaced: http://www.bbc.co.uk → https://www.bbc.co.uk

2019-04-03T18:37:13Z

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DavidB4-bot: /* top */correcting hyphen usage, as requested, replaced: th-century → th century

2016-09-02T16:24:59Z

top: correcting hyphen usage, as requested, replaced: th-century → th century

DavidB4-bot: Spelling/Grammar Check, typos fixed: acount → account, Furthermore → Furthermore,, a 7th century → a 7th-century, , → , (3), Ummayad → Umayyad, well-known → well known

2016-08-22T12:34:49Z

Spelling/Grammar Check, typos fixed: acount → account, Furthermore → Furthermore,, a 7th century → a 7th-century, , → , (3), Ummayad → Umayyad, well-known → well known

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DavidB4-bot: clean up & uniformity

2016-07-13T19:06:26Z

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Conservative: Reverted edits by 16range (talk) to last revision by DavidCalman

2015-05-18T16:42:46Z

Reverted edits by 16range (talk) to last revision by DavidCalman

16range at 16:39, May 18, 2015

2015-05-18T16:39:39Z

DavidCalman: CE to AD

2012-07-05T17:19:51Z

CE to AD

Joaquín Martínez: /* The Dome of the Rock */

2009-12-30T14:53:56Z

The Dome of the Rock

Stirlatez at 19:01, September 5, 2008

2008-09-05T19:01:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:24, May 19, 2019
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−	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[Islamic]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.	+	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[Islamic]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th-century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.

	This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.		This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.

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 One of the more contentious findings of secular scholars is that historical evidence suggests that the Qur'an as it exists today differs significantly from the text that was in existence in the late seventh century, the evidence suggesting that the text was a work still in progress over the eighth and ninth centuries,<ref>John Wansbrough,  Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1977 pg.160-163</ref> for instance one of the early [[Arab]] observers in the late 7th century Umayyad court [[John of Damascus]] commented in his writings on sections of the Qur'an that existed during the age of  the [[Umayyad]] caliphate which have vanished in modern versions.<ref>John of Damascus "Concerning Heresy" (peri aireseon) – (Chapter 101) On the Heresy of the Ishmaelites. Circa 720 AD ''Then there is the book of The Camel of God. [112] About this camel he says that there was a camel from God and that she drank the whole river and could not pass through two mountains, because there was not room enough. There were people in that place, he says, and they used to drink the water on one day, while the camel would drink it on the next. Moreover, by drinking the water she furnished them with nourishment, because she supplied them with milk instead of water. Then, because these men were evil, they rose up, he says, and killed the camel. However, she had an offspring, a little camel, which, he says, when the mother had been done away with, called upon God and God took it to Himself. Then we say to them: ‘Where did that camel come from?’ And they say that it was from God. Then we say: ‘Was there another camel coupled with this one?’ And they say: ‘No.’ ‘Then how,’ we say, ‘was it begotten? For we see that your camel is without father and without mother and without genealogy, and that the one that begot it suffered evil. Neither is it evident who bred her. And also, this little camel was taken up. So why did not your prophet, with whom, according to what you say, God spoke, find out about the camel—where it grazed, and who got milk by milking it? Or did she possibly, like her mother, meet with evil people and get destroyed? Or did she enter into paradise before you, so that you might have the river of milk that you so foolishly talk about? For you say that you have three rivers flowing in paradise—one of water, one of wine, and one of milk. If your forerunner the camel is outside of paradise, it is obvious that she has dried up from hunger and thirst, or that others have the benefit of her milk—and so your prophet is boasting idly of having conversed with God, because God did not reveal to him the mystery of the camel. But if she is in paradise, she is drinking water still, and you for lack of water will dry up in the midst of the paradise of delight. And if, there being no water, because the camel will have drunk it all up, you thirst for wine from the river of wine that is flowing by, you will become intoxicated from drinking pure wine and collapse under the influence of the strong drink and fall asleep. Then, suffering from a heavy head after sleeping and being sick from the wine, you will miss the pleasures of paradise. How, then, did it not enter into the mind of your prophet that this might happen to you in the paradise of delight? He never had any idea of what the camel is leading to now, yet you did not even ask him, when he held forth to you with his dreams on the subject of the three rivers. We plainly assure you that this wonderful camel of yours has preceded you into the souls of asses, where you, too, like beasts are destined to go. And there is the exterior darkness and everlasting punishment, roaring fire''</ref>
-Secular scholars, such as [[John Wansbrough]], [[Michael Cook (historian)|Michael Cook]] and [[Patricia Crone]], have challenged traditionalistic notions that the text of the Qur'an would have been collected under Uthman per traditional accounts, since the earliest surviving copies of the complete Qur'an are centuries later than Uthman. (The oldest existing copy of the full text is from the ninth century.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/texts/quran_1.shtml The Qur'an], ''bbc.co.uk'', retrieved February 17, 2007</ref>)
+Secular scholars, such as [[John Wansbrough]], [[Michael Cook (historian)|Michael Cook]] and [[Patricia Crone]], have challenged traditionalistic notions that the text of the Qur'an would have been collected under Uthman per traditional accounts, since the earliest surviving copies of the complete Qur'an are centuries later than Uthman. (The oldest existing copy of the full text is from the ninth century.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/texts/quran_1.shtml The Qur'an], ''bbc.co.uk'', retrieved February 17, 2007</ref>)
 Crone and Cook co-authored a book called ''[[Hagarism]]'' (1980), which was extremely controversial at the time, as it challenged not only Muslim orthodoxy, but the prevailing attitudes among secular Islamicists. They alleged that Islam was formed slowly, over the centuries after the Muslim conquests, as the Islamic conquerors elaborated their beliefs in response to Jewish and Christian challenges.<ref>P. Crone and M. Cook, ''Hagarism: The Making Of The Islamic World'', 1977, Cambridge University Press</ref>

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:24, September 2, 2016
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−	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[Islamic]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th-century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.	+	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[Islamic]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.

	This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.		This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:42, May 18, 2015
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[~~Jizzlamic~~]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.	+	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[Islamic]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.

	This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.		This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:39, May 18, 2015
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[~~Islamic~~]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.	+	The study of the origins and development of early Islam can be said to fall into two major schools of thought. The first view is the [[traditionalist]] [[Muslim]] [[pious]] view which argues that the Islam is unquestionably a work of divine origins revealed by the [[Jizzlamic]] deity [[Allah]] to a 7th century [[Arab]] trader [[Muhammad]]. The other view is a [[secular]] scholastic view which seeks examine evidence and primary sources and apply the [[historical method]] to the study of the early origins and development of [[Middle Eastern]] religions.

	This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.		This article will examine the secular scholastic aaproach to the study of early development of the Islamic religion leaving the traditionalist religious point of view to other articles.

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 ==Oldest copy known today==
-Several manuscripts, including the [[Samarkand manuscript]], are claimed to be the original copies sent out by Uthman<ref>[http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Text/Mss The Qur'anic Manuscripts], ''islamic-awareness.org'', retrieved April 2, 2006</ref> in the 7th century CE. Some non-Muslim scholars, however, doubt that any of the Uthmanic originals remain.
+Several manuscripts, including the [[Samarkand manuscript]], are claimed to be the original copies sent out by Uthman<ref>[http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Text/Mss The Qur'anic Manuscripts], ''islamic-awareness.org'', retrieved April 2, 2006</ref> in the 7th century AD. Some non-Muslim scholars, however, doubt that any of the Uthmanic originals remain.
 Having studied early Quran manuscripts [[John Gilchrist (Islamic Studies)|John Gilchrist]] states: "The oldest manuscripts of the Quran still in existence date from not earlier than about one hundred years after Muhammad's death." ("Jam' Al-Qur'an", page 153) He comes to this conclusion because two of the oldest manuscripts, the Samarqand and Topkapi codices are both written in the [[Kufic|Kufic script]]. It "can generally be dated from the late eight century depending on the extent of development in the character of the script in each case." (Ibid. page 146)
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 As for the copies that were destroyed, Islamic traditions say that [[Abdallah Ibn Masud]], [[Ubay Ibn Ka'b]], and [[Ali ibn Abi Talib|Ali]], Muhammad's son-in-law, had preserved versions that differed in some ways from the Uthmanic text. Muslim scholars record certain of the differences between the versions; those recorded consist almost entirely of orthographical and lexical variants, or different verse counts. All three (Ibn Masud, Ubay Ibn Ka'b, and Ali) are recorded as having accepted the Uthmanic text as authoritative.
-Uthman's version was written in an older Arabic script that left out most vowel markings; thus the script could be interpreted and read in various ways. This basic Uthmanic script is called the [[rasm]]; it is the basis of several traditions of oral recitation, differing in minor points.The Quran is always written in the Uthmanic [[Rasm]](Rasm al Uthman). In order to fix these oral recitations and prevent any mistakes, scribes and scholars began annotating the Uthmanic rasm with various [[Diacritic|diacritical marks]] indicating how the word was to be pronounced. It is believed that this process of annotation began around 700 CE, soon after Uthman's compilation, and finished by approximately 900 CE. The Quran text most widely used today is based on the [[Rasm Uthmani]](Uthmanic way of writing the Quran) and in the Hafs tradition of recitation, as approved by [[Al-Azhar University]] in Cairo in 1922. (For more information regarding traditions of recitations, see ''Quranic recitation'', below.)
+Uthman's version was written in an older Arabic script that left out most vowel markings; thus the script could be interpreted and read in various ways. This basic Uthmanic script is called the [[rasm]]; it is the basis of several traditions of oral recitation, differing in minor points.The Quran is always written in the Uthmanic [[Rasm]](Rasm al Uthman). In order to fix these oral recitations and prevent any mistakes, scribes and scholars began annotating the Uthmanic rasm with various [[Diacritic|diacritical marks]] indicating how the word was to be pronounced. It is believed that this process of annotation began around 700 AD, soon after Uthman's compilation, and finished by approximately 900 AD. The Quran text most widely used today is based on the [[Rasm Uthmani]](Uthmanic way of writing the Quran) and in the Hafs tradition of recitation, as approved by [[Al-Azhar University]] in Cairo in 1922. (For more information regarding traditions of recitations, see ''Quranic recitation'', below.)
 == References ==

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 Secular scholars pinpoint the actual beginnings of the classical Islamic identity to the ninth century, thus the formative stage of Islam, was not within the lifetime of Muhammad but evolved over a period of two to three centuries <ref>R. Stephen Humphreys Islamic History, a framework for Enquiry, Princeton, 1991 pg.83-89</ref>.
-== The Dome of the Rock ==
+== The [[Dome of the Rock]] ==
 It was built by Abd al-Malik in 691 and still is an imposing structure even by nowadays standard. First, we have to notice that the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque since it hasn't any prayer's direction, suggesting it was built as an octagon with eight pillars to walk around.

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 Crone and Cook co-authored a book called ''[[Hagarism]]'' (1980), which was extremely controversial at the time, as it challenged not only Muslim orthodoxy, but the prevailing attitudes among secular Islamicists. They alleged that Islam was formed slowly, over the centuries after the Muslim conquests, as the Islamic conquerors elaborated their beliefs in response to Jewish and Christian challenges..<ref>P. Crone and M. Cook, ''Hagarism: The Making Of The Islamic World'', 1977, Cambridge University Press </ref>
-Thus the general consensus is that the Qur'an was could not have been revealed to just one individual, but rather was a compilation of later redactions  formulated by a group of authors, over the course of a few hundred years<ref>[[Andrew Rippin]] , "Literary Analysis of Qur'an, Tafsir, and Sira, the Methodologies of John Wansbrough", Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, Richard C. Martin (ed.), Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1985 pg 155 </ref>
+Thus the general consensus is that the Qur'an was could not have been revealed to just one individual, but rather was a compilation of later redactions  formulated by a group of authors, over the course of a few hundred years<ref>[[Andrew Rippin]] , "Literary Analysis of Qur'an, Tafsir, and Sira, the Methodologies of John Wansbrough", Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, Richard C. Martin (ed.), [[Tucson]], [[University of Arizona]] Press, 1985 pg 155 </ref>
 <ref> Andrew Rippin  Muslims, Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, vol. 1, London, Routledge, 1990 Pg 60</ref> <ref>John Wansbrough,  Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1977 pg 160-163</ref>
 == Evolutionary hypothesis  ==