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For other uses, see The Quest of the Historical Muhammad

Quest for the Historical Muhammad, edited by Ibn Warraq, is an anthology of 15 studies examining the origins of Islam and the Qur'an.

The contributors listed in the Quest for the Historical Muhammad argue that traditional Islamic accounts of its history and the origins of the Qur'an are fictitious and based on historical revisionism aimed at forging a religious Arab identity.

Contents 1 Summary of arguments 2 Contents 3 Reviews 4 References 5 See also 6 Further reading

Summary of arguments

• Although the unreliability of the Arabic literary sources has been known for a century, only recently have scholars begun to explore its full implications, thanks largely to the ground-breaking work of the British scholar John Wansbrough.

• Philologists and scholars look skeptically at the Arabic written sources and conclude that these are a form of "salvation history" - self-serving, unreliable accounts by the faithful.

• Most of the material asserted by Islamic revisionist scholars is dubious ,written mostly to promote of a self serving religious agenda. The use of the historical methods disproves most of the traditional accounts to such a degree that Patricia Crone has written, that "one could, were one so inclined, rewrite most of Montgomery Watt's biography of Muhammad in reverse." For example, an inscription and a Greek account leads Lawrence Conrad to fix Muhammad's birth in 552, not 570. ^[1]

• Patricia Crone notes that the events of Muhammad's life did not took place in Mecca as believed by traditinalists but hundreds of miles to the north.

^[2]

• Yehuda D. Nevo and Judith Koren trace the origins of classical Arabic to the Levant rather than in what is today Saudi Arabia and that it only spread to Arabia through the military expansions of one of the early caliphs. ^[3]

• The Arab tribes who conquered great expanses of land in the seventh century were not Muslims, but pagans. ^[4]

• The Qu'ran is actually a collection of adaptations from earlier Judeo-Christian liturgical materials compiled by self serving later authors ^[5]

• Islam did not come into existence until two or three hundred years after the date claimed by traditional Muslim accounts (around CE 830 ). ^[6]

• Islam developed not in the far deserts of Arabia but through the interaction of Arab conquerors with the societies they overran. ^[7]

• Quest for the Historical Muhammad raises basic questions for Moslems concerning the prophet's role as a moral paragon; the sources of Islamic law; and the God-given nature of the Koran.

Contents

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

• Studies on Muhammad and the rise of Islam : a critical survey - Ibn Warraq
• Origins of Islam : a critical look at the sources - Ibn Rawandi

PART TWO:

• Muhammad and the origins of Islam - Ernest Renan

PART THREE:

• Koran and tradition : how the life of Muhammad was composed - Henri Lammens
• The age of Muhammad and the chronology of the Sira - Henri Lammens
• Fatima and the Daughters of Muhammad - Henri Lammens
• Matters of principle concerning Lammens' Sira studies - C. H. Becker

PART FOUR: MODERN PERIOD

• The quest of the historical Muhammad - Arthur Jeffery
• A revaluation of Islamic traditions - Joseph Schacht
• Abraham and Muhammad : some observations apropos of chronology and literary topoi in the early Arabic historical tradition - Lawrence I.Conrad
• The function of asbab al-nuzul in Quaranic exegesis - Andrew Rippin
• Methodological approaches to Islamic studies - Judith Koren and Yehuda D. Nevo
• The quest of the historical Muhammad -F. E. Peters
• Recovering lost texts : some methodological issues - Lawrence I. Conrad

PART FIVE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JOHN WANSBROUGH

• The implications of, and opposition to, the methods of John Wansbrough - Herbert Berg
• John Wansbrough, Islam, and monotheism - G.R. Hawting.

• Glossary
• Abbreviations
• Dramatis Personae: Explanatory List of Individuals and Tribes
• Genealogical Table
• Map of Western Asia and Arabia
• Chronological Table and the Islamic Dynasties
• Contributors

Reviews

In his review, Daniel Pipes praised the book as a "fascinating collection of essays" that raises "basic questions for Muslims concerning the prophet's role as a moral paragon". ^[8] Others, such as Fred Donner, a professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Chicago, criticize the book, describing it as a "monument to duplicity." Donner writes that Warraq unduly favors revisionist theories in order to advance "anti-Islam polemic," forwarding that "this lopsided character makes The Quest for the Historical Muhammad a book that is likely to mislead many an unwary general reader."^[9] Asma Asfaruddin, a professor of Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame, concurs: describing the book as a "partisan work," adding that Warraq "clearly has an ideological axe to grind."^[10]

References

1. ^ Lawrence I. Conrad Recovering lost texts : some methodological issues
2. ^ Daniel pipes The Quest for the Historical Muhammad Middle East Quarterly September 2000
3. ^ Judith Koren and Yehuda D. Nevo Methodological approaches to Islamic studies
4. ^ Judith Koren and Yehuda D. Nevo Methodological approaches to Islamic studies
5. ^ Herbert Berg The implications of, and opposition to, the methods of John Wansbrough
6. ^ Ibn Rawandi Origins of Islam : a critical look at the sources
7. ^ Ibn Rawandi Origins of Islam : a critical look at the sources
8. ^ http://www.meforum.org/article/1360 Daniel Pipes: The Quest for the Historical Muhammad
9. ^ Donner, Fred. (2001) Review: The Quest for the Historical Muhammad. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, University of Chicago.
10. ^ Asfaruddin, Asma (2001). "The Quest for the Historical Muhammad". Journal of the American Oriental Society 121 (4): 728-729. 

See also

• Historicity of Muhammad

Further reading

• The Quest for the Historical Muhammad Prometheus Books (March 1, 2000) ISBN 1-57392-787-2