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/lp/de-gruyter/the-awqala-and-the-syriac-version-of-zechariah-4-6b-7bsD2rwsOi
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- Publisher
- de Gruyter
- Copyright
- © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
- ISSN
- 0021-1818
- eISSN
- 1613-0928
- DOI
- 10.1515/islam-2022-0003
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
AbstractThe popular Islamic formula known as the ḥawqala (lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-Llāh) is first attested in Ḥadīth and other written sources from around the eighth century CE. A similar formula is Q: 18 (al-Kahf).39b (lā quwwata illā bi-Llāh). Some scholars in the first Islamic centuries were concerned that the non-Qurʾānic ḥawqala would be more venerated than Q: 18.39b or confused with it. In this essay, I suggest in what respect the ḥawqala is related to Q: 18.39b. I argue that the ḥawqala is perhaps influenced by Zech: 4.6b (lō be-ḥayil we-lō be-koʾaḥ kī im be-rūḥī) and its Syriac version. Past scholars have noted the similarity between the ḥawqala and Zech: 4.6b, but the exact relation between these two phrases has not been fully explored. I therefore discuss the linguistic and thematic similarities between both phrases and note some Islamic traditions in which the ḥawqala is said to be of Biblical provenance. By this, I show that there is good reason to suspect that the ḥawqala is partly influenced by Zech: 4.6b and its Syrac version, and that this probably occurred at an early stage in the development of Islam when Jewish scripture was more regularly consulted as a means of confirming Islamic revelation.
Journal
Der Islam – de Gruyter
Published: Apr 1, 2022
Keywords: ḥawqala; Sūrat al-Kahf; Book of Zechariah; Book of Isaiah; Ḥadīth; Isrāʾīliyyāt