Unfertige Studien II: Bemerkungen zum Korankommentar des Aṣamm

Abu Bakr al-Asamm’s (d. 200/816 or 201/817) commentary of the Qur’an is one of the oldest of its genre. It originated in Basra but seems to have become a “book” only when, in the middle of the 3rd century H., it was transferred from Baghdad to Eastern Iran. There it was used by a number of authors, Sunni as well as Shii. The greatest number of quotations is found in Maturidi’s (d. 333/944 ?) Ta’wilat. The article deals with the material found in this source, its tendency as well as its relationship to quotations in later authors up to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1210). The work has not survived, and we can only speculate where and for how long several copies, complete or incomplete survived

SKEPTICISM IN ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS THOUGHT

It is not clear that how and in which ways did Ancient skepticism comeinto Islamic thought. Because we do not have any knowledge that the worksof Greek skeptics were translated into the Arabic. This is, probably, becauseof the fact that Moslem theologians have overlooked the skepticism.However, the cultural condition of Iran in pre-islamic period provided theskepticism with a favorable atmosphere for its penetration undercover intoIslamic era. Thus, all whom called as “sofestai” is Shi'i. It came to bepossible to get a place for “skepticism for belief” in Islamic thought withBatinites in that they had assigned true knowledge to “innocent imam” andrefused to accept the speculation. Ghazali maintained to use Aristotelian logicagainst them. Henceforth Batinite thoughts lost their significant and value

Unfertige Studien I: Wer sind und was bedeutet al-māriqa?

AbstractFor centuries on end we find, in Islamic sources, the habit of calling the Khārijitesal-māriqa. The expression seemed fit to convey the negative image with which they had been burdened. Our oldest testimony is a prophetic saying which, however, presents itself in several different contexts. Moreover, the meaning which is connected with this word there seems to be a secondary one. The epithet was originally applied to people who had joined Islam early on but then abandoned the new religion. This was not true for the Khārijites; they had rather become famous for their enduring, though somewhat idiosyncratic, piety. Consequently, we find, in second century Iraq, besides outright condemnation also a more positive attitude towards them, where they are understood as people who were simply led astray by their strange and pseudo-profound ideas (al-taʿammuq). This less disparaging conception was, however, a phenomenon linked to theirconvivenciain towns like Kūfa or Baṣra and did not last beyond the exodus of the (Ibāḍī) Khārijites to Oman or the Maghrib.</jats:p

La peste d'Emmaüs. Théologie et « histoire du salut» aux prémices de l'Islam

van Ess Josef. La peste d'Emmaüs. Théologie et « histoire du salut» aux prémices de l'Islam. In: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 144ᵉ année, N. 1, 2000. pp. 325-337

Unfertige Studien 6: Der Brudermord des Kain aus theologischer Sicht

Unconcluded Studies: The Fratricide of Cain from a Theological ViewThe story of Cain and Abel as it is told in the Qurʾān (Q 5:27–32), which follows closely that in the Bible (Gen 4:1–16), became the topic of various discussions among early Muslim theologians, especially Abel’s statement when threatened by Cain: “I wish you to take both your sin and my sin and become one of the companions of the Fire.” In the context of civil war, Abel’s pacifism became a paradigm of ideal behavior, and the notion of ridding oneself of sin through victimhood appeared attractive. It was used as a model in stories concerned with battles between Muslims, such as the battle of al-Ḥarra (683 CE), in which many Qurayshi notables and Qurʾān reciters from Medina were killed by the Syrian army. According to advice from the prophet Muḥammad, the correct behavior would have been not to participate in the fighting and, in the face of death, to quote Abel’s words. Whoever acts in this manner attains Paradise. However, some theologians denied the possibility that the burden of somebody’s sin could be transferred to another. The story was thus reinterpreted. In his commentary on the Qurʾān, al-Ṭabarī (d. 923 CE) proposed that Abel’s sentence should be understood differently: “I wish you to take your [previous] sin[s] and the sin against me …”, since he could accept neither that Abel committed a sin, nor the transfer of sin to somebody else

Conférence de M. Joseph van Ess

van Ess Josef. Conférence de M. Joseph van Ess. In: École pratique des hautes études, Section des sciences religieuses. Annuaire. Tome 88, 1979-1980. 1979. pp. 287-289