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Herbert Berg

Herbert Berg Foreword HERBERT BERG The methods and theories that John Wansbrough introduced in his Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (1977) and further applied in his Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History (1978) undermine nearly all previous scholarship on the first three centuries of Islam. His literary approach to Islamic texts will not be unfamil- iar to biblical scholars who employ the tools of form, redaction, and literary criticisms. Yet his method and the consequent reconstructions of the canoni- zation process of the Qur'an, the biography (and historicity) of Muhammad, the development of classical Arabic, and the history of Qur'anic exegesis seem to have impinged upon the faith of both Muslims and Islamicists alike. Perhaps most controversial are his assertions that much of the Qur'an is a product of a sectarian milieu, that this material was canonized some 150 years after the date given by tradition, and that Muhammad is a construct, a fiction designed to place the origin of Islam in Arabia instead of Iraq. Many scholars have chosen simply to dismiss the implications of Wansbrough's work and to continue to believe in the historical reliability of early Islamic literature. An increasing number http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Method & Theory in the Study of Religion Brill

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1997 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0943-3058
eISSN
1570-0682
DOI
10.1163/157006897X00016
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Foreword HERBERT BERG The methods and theories that John Wansbrough introduced in his Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (1977) and further applied in his Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History (1978) undermine nearly all previous scholarship on the first three centuries of Islam. His literary approach to Islamic texts will not be unfamil- iar to biblical scholars who employ the tools of form, redaction, and literary criticisms. Yet his method and the consequent reconstructions of the canoni- zation process of the Qur'an, the biography (and historicity) of Muhammad, the development of classical Arabic, and the history of Qur'anic exegesis seem to have impinged upon the faith of both Muslims and Islamicists alike. Perhaps most controversial are his assertions that much of the Qur'an is a product of a sectarian milieu, that this material was canonized some 150 years after the date given by tradition, and that Muhammad is a construct, a fiction designed to place the origin of Islam in Arabia instead of Iraq. Many scholars have chosen simply to dismiss the implications of Wansbrough's work and to continue to believe in the historical reliability of early Islamic literature. An increasing number

Journal

Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1997

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