Early Islam

Muhammad (570-632) died without arranging his succession to lead the Islamic Ummah (nation, i.e., the international religious community). One of his close associates, Abu Bakr, established the Caliphate (succession). He assumed the position of Caliph in 632 and died two years later. Omar succeeded him and died in 644. He was followed by Uthman, who died in 656, and Ali, who died in 661. The first four caliphs are known as "Al-Rashidun" (The Rightly Guided).

Determining the precise Qibla direction is essential in mosque construction, as correct orientation is required for valid prayer. Although this study covers a limited number of mosques, it provides important insight into the accuracy of Qibla alignment in existing buildings. Many mosques-particularly those outside major cities-are inaccurately oriented, and the issue has received little systematic research beyond isolated fatwas addressing individual cases. The study examined mosques in the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Region using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Google Maps Application (GMA). A total of 243 mosques located along seven major roads extending from Makkah City, including those in nearby settlements, were assessed. Mosques were classified according to their degree of deviation from the Qibla: 41% were correctly aligned, while the remainder showed deviations ranging from slight misalignment to more than 49. Recommendations were developed based on the degree of deviation, the mosque's distance from the Holy Mosque, and the structural condition of each building. Finally, the applied method provides a reliable approach for accurately orienting both newly planned and reconstructed mosques toward the direction of the Qiblah.

This article addresses and responds to the criticism raised by the Canadian scholar of Islam Andrew Rippin on the conclusions from the application of the isnād-cum-matn analysis in my article on the tradition of the story about Surāqa’s pursuit of the Prophet Muḥammad during his flight from Mecca to Medina. Because of the very small number of studied variant versions of the story, he considers my conclusions “highly speculative historical writing”. The present study will show that an exhaustive isnād-cum-matn analysis applied to all available traditions describing the pursuit, on the one hand, still confirms my previous conclusions, but on the other hand, it provides a more detailed and alternative explanation for the differences.

This study examines Jesus' teaching concerning his body and blood in light of the biblical and Jewish context in which these words were originally spoken. While contemporary Christian discussions often contrast symbolic and realistic interpretations of the Eucharist, this paper argues that Jesus' eucharistic teaching is best understood through the theological framework of Passover, the manna in the wilderness, and the New Exodus.

Drawing upon the Gospels, John 6, the writings of Saint Paul, Jewish Passover traditions, and the testimony of the early Church Fathers, the study explores how the command to eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood is rooted in the fulfillment of Old Testament patterns. Particular attention is given to the Passover lamb, whose sacrifice was completed through its consumption, and to the manna from heaven, which sustained Israel during its journey to the Promised Land and foreshadowed a greater heavenly bread.

The paper further investigates the biblical meaning of memorial (anamnesis), arguing that in the Jewish context it signifies more than a psychological recollection of past events, involving instead a real participation in God's saving acts. Finally, the study examines early Christian testimony regarding the Eucharist in order to assess how the earliest generations of believers understood the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.

This reflection situates the Eucharist within the broader narrative of salvation history and proposes that it stands at the heart of the fulfillment of the Passover, the manna, and the New Exodus inaugurated by Jesus Christ.

Keywords: Eucharist, Lord's Supper, Passover, Manna, New Exodus, John 6, Real Presence, Anamnesis, Early Church Fathers, Jewish Roots of Christianity.

We invite individual contributions for a workshop to be held at the XX. International Conference on Patristic Studies in Oxford, 2-6 August 2027.

The overall theme is, "Experiencing and Coping with Trauma, Grief and Death in Late Antiquity (250-800 CE)".

We are particularly interested in contributions covering this topic in:

• Late antique Philosophy;
• Early Christianity;
• Gnostic and Manichaean traditions;
• Late antique Zoroastrianism;
• Early Islamic culture.

We invite proposals on topics exploring (but not limited to):

• Trauma and Grief as Religious and Cultural Responses to Suffering and Death;
• Philosophical and/or Religious Discourses on Illness, Death, Trauma and Grief;
• The fate of the Soul and the Body at Death;
• Martyrdom, Torture, and the Experience of Violence and Pain;
• Individual and/or Societal Responses to Loss through ritualised acts of Mourning, Grief, and Commemoration;
• Trauma as a Transformative or Redemptive Experience;
• Soteriological Interpretations of Death.

More information can be found in the CfP published here.

If interested, please send an abstract (max. 300 words) with a title and a short bio (max. 150 words) to [email protected] and my colleague [email protected].

Deadline for submission: 15 July 2026.

Applicants will receive notifications of acceptance/rejection by 15 August 2026.

Please feel free to share the CfP with whoever you think might be interested in participating. Thank you kindly.

The book of Romans begins and ends talking about the "obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:5 and Rom. 16:26). In chapter 1 Paul says, "We have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles." (Rom. 1:5 NAS) In Rom. 16 he speaks of the gospel being made known to all nations with the purpose being "obedience of faith." (Rom. 16:26 NAS) Obedience of faith is simply the obedience that grows out of or is the result of faith. No man obeys God who does not first believe in God and believes what God says. Without faith, there is no motivation for obedience. Where there is no faith the natural man prevails-our fleshly human nature. We do what pleases us without thought of God.

Excavations conducted in 2017 and 2019 near Tel Shalem in northern Israel revealed the impressive remains of a Roman fort. The fort was constructed during the early 2nd century CE and functioned until its planned dismantling and abandonment in the mid-3rd century CE. According to a wealth of archaeological and epigraphical finds, during the last two phases of occupation the Alae VII Phrygum, an auxiliary unit of the Roman army, was stationed at the fort. Impressive remains of glass windowpane fragments were discovered inside the regimental shrine, within the principia, the headquarters complex of the fort. The windowpanes were set prior to its refurbishment during the third phase, in 199-200 CE, and were used until its abandonment. This article focuses on the overall analysis of the windowpane fragments, which constitute one of the earliest attestations of glass windowpanes in the Levant. Their secure dating and welldocumented context contribute to our understanding of the early production technique and use of such windowpanes in a military sacred context in the Southern Levant. The online supplement presents the conservation processes of the windowpane fragments.

The city of Sepphoris is situated in the heart of the Galilee region of ancient Palestine. Among the extensive remains of public and private architecture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's excavations at the site have uncovered significant cultic buildings, including a temple, a synagogue, and two churches. These buildings, constructed and used by the pagan, Jewish, and Christian communities of the city, illustrate its religious diversities and evolutions. The focus of this volume is the result of the excavations in the insula southeast of the intersection of the city's two colonnaded streets, where six construction phases were revealed, dating from the first through the early eighth centuries CE. Key findings include a Roman temple, a large church, a residential quarter, and shops. The studies of the architectural phases, decorative elements, and material culture presented in this volume provide significant insights into the city's socio-cultural and economic characteristics. The findings underscore Sepphoris's role as a significant urban center, reflecting its historical transformations and the complex interplay of religious and cultural identities. Beyond Sepphoris, the results of this study bear implications for broader understandings of changing religious landscapes, offering new perspectives on the nature and processes through which religious architecture and social structures are transformed. Zeev Weiss is the Eleazar L. Sukenik Professor of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in Roman and late antique art and architecture in the southern Levant. His interests lie in various aspects of town-planning, architectural design, mosaic art, synagogues, and Jewish art, as well as in the evaluation of archaeological finds in light of Jewish socio-cultural behavior and its dialogue with Graeco-Roman and Christian cultures. Weiss's ongoing excavations at Sepphoris since 1990 have uncovered remains of the ancient city that flourished from the Roman period and throughout late antiquity. Shulamit Miller holds a Ph.D. in classical archaeology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research interests include houses and daily life, urban planning and development, urban agriculture and sustainability, mosaic art, religious art and architecture, and other aspects of social and economic life in Roman and late antique cities. Miller's fieldwork has focused primarily on

Light banishes darkness and reveals what is hidden; it represents the presence of the divine and awakens feelings of exaltation and optimism. The dual nature of light, at once tangible and abstract, has earned it a significant place in religious belief, as attested by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim literary sources, iconography, and the way light is used in synagogues, churches, and mosques. The various lighting devices on view in the exhibition Lighting the Way in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and their symbolic visual representations reveal the significance of light for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, their common cultural heritage, and, above all, cross-cultural relations between the three faiths over the course of history. It is my hope that the exhibition will afford visitors a welcome pause filled with beauty, hope, and faith in the human spirit, which never ceases to strive toward the light. The objects on view in the exhibition were culled from the collections of the Israel Museum's Archaeology Wing and Jewish Art and Life Wing, as well as the collections of public institutions and private individuals. We are grateful to all the lenders, who generously shared their treasures with us, and to the archaeologists who allowed us to display items from excavations prior to

Organisation: Franz Mali (UniFr), Rosario del Rocio Daga Portillo (UniFr), Andreas Ellwardt (UniFr), Alexey Morozov (UniFr), Daniel Vaucher (UniFr).
Diese Konferenz wird im Rahmen des vom Schweizerischen Nationalfonds (SNF) geförderten Projekts „Lebendige Tradition: Der pseudoklementische Oktateuch als historisches Dokument von der Spätantike bis ins arabisch-muslimische Mittelalter“ (SNF-Projekt Nr. 215246) organisiert.

Die koptische Kirche Ägyptens hat die apostolischen Kirchenordnungen stets hoch geachtet und durch ihre Übersetzungen ins Koptische und Arabische altchristliche Texte vor dem Untergang bewahrt. Frühchristliche Kirchenordnungen wie das Testamentum Domini oder die Traditio Apostolica sind in ihrer Ursprungssprache Griechisch verloren gegangen, sind aber unter anderem in der Sammlung des Mönchs Makarius (14. Jahrhundert) in Arabisch erhalten geblieben. Die Erschliessung der christlich-arabischen Übersetzungsliteratur befindet sich nach wie vor in einer Anfangsphase. In diesem Zusammenhang ist es von grosser Bedeutung, sich der Makariussammlung anzunehmen. Diese Überlieferung in Kombination mit der Parallelüberlieferung in anderen orientalischen Sprachen ist von entscheidender Bedeutung für die Rekonstruktion und das Verständnis des frühchristlichen Kirchenrechts. Andererseits gilt es, die orientalischen Versionen frühchristlicher Kirchenordnungen als Texte ihrer Zeit zu interpretieren. Für die Kopten unter islamischer Herrschaft stellten die apostolischen Texte noch immer die Grundlage ihres Kirchenrechts dar. Die Übersetzung ins Arabische war dabei nicht nur eine Rezeption antiker Texte, sondern auch eine Adaption und Transformation innerhalb eines neuen islamischen Kontextes. Die vorliegenden Übersetzungen ins Arabische liefern demnach auch Hinweise auf das Verhältnis von Kopten und Muslimen im ägyptischen Mittelalter. Die Konferenz will dieses Themenfeld unter drei Blickwinkeln untersuchen: unter historischen Fragestellungen, unter liturgischen und kirchenrechtlichen Aspekten sowie unter philologischen Fragestellungen. Der zeitliche Horizont reicht dabei von der Spätantike bis in die Moderne, da die Kirchenrechtsquellen eine lebendige Tradition darstellen, welche die christlichen Kirchen verschiedenster Konfessionen während bald zwei Jahrtausenden geprägt haben.

This paper evaluates the textual composition, linguistic origins, and historical emergence of the Qur'an through a critical, philological lens. It argues that the Qur'an is fundamentally a "text without context," characterized by a discontinuous, non-linear structure and an ambiguous underlying consonantal script (rasm) that relies heavily on external Biblical knowledge to be understood. Drawing on contemporary linguistic and historical scholarship, the paper demonstrates that the text's vocabulary and themes are overwhelmingly rooted in a late-antique, heterodox Judeo-Christian (specifically Ebionite) milieu rather than a native Arabian one. This background is evidenced by the stark statistical dominance of Biblical figures over the Prophet of Islam, as well as distinct narrative conflations and anachronisms resulting from the oral transmission and reworking of Aramaic and Hebrew sources into the Old Hijāzī dialect. Furthermore, the paper examines traditional Sunni and Shia accounts to highlight historical uncertainties regarding the integrity, preservation, and standardization of the Uthmanic recension. Challenging traditional Islamic geography, the paper concludes that Islam developed from a northern messianic movement that was only later localized in Arabia and formalized into a distinct religion under the Marwanid caliphs, leaving a text that remains inherently obscure and open to subjective interpretation and that the Qur'an operates as an obscure document stripped of geographical and narrative context, arguing that its inherent ambiguity allows it to function primarily as a mirror for diverse reader interpretations.

Midianites and the Children of Israel in the Qur'ān: The Missed Encounter at Horeb Although the Qurʾānic material concerning the history of Midian is dispersed across several suras, a close reading reveals a striking internal coherence. The Midianites occupy a pivotal role in this narrative, which unfolds in three interrelated stages. First, the Qurʾān implicitly abrogates the account of Midian's annihilation by the Israelite army under Moses, as narrated in Numbers 31. This abrogation aligns with interpretive principles attested in the Pseudo-Clementine Writings, according to which neither God-understood as good and merciful-nor His messenger, could command the indiscriminate slaughter of women and children. Second, while rejecting the biblical depiction of total destruction, the Qurʾān nonetheless affirms that the Midianites, having committed repeated acts of injustice, deceit, and violence against the peoples with whom they traded, were subjected to a divine punishment during the Mosaic period. Qurʾānic terminology indicates that those guilty of wrongdoing perished as a result of a cataclysmic event, being swallowed up by fissures caused by an earthquake. Third, this ordeal is presented as coinciding with the bestowal of the Second Tablets of the Law, at the foot of a volcanic Horeb located on the Arabian Peninsula, within the framework of an encounter between the two messengers, Moses and his father-in-law Shuʿayb (the biblical Jethro). This meeting appears to have been intended to affirm a shared participation of the Arabs and the Children of Israel in the Abrahamic inheritance-an outcome ultimately thwarted by the Midianites' rejection and rebellion against God.

El origen de al-Ándalus, su conquista, su expansión, ha dado lugar a toda una serie de debates intelectuales entre arabistas y expertos, que sigue jugando un papel fundamental en el estudio de esta peculiar formación histórica. De todos estos conceptos, queremos fijar nuestra atención en los relativos a los términos de conquista árabe/conquista islámica, y al problema de la progresiva islamización que tuvo lugar en al-Ándalus a lo largo de sus siglos de existencia.

El origen de al-Ándalus, su conquista, su expansión, ha dado lugar a toda una serie de debates intelectuales entre arabistas y expertos, que sigue jugando un papel fundamental en el estudio de esta peculiar formación histórica. De todos estos conceptos, queremos fijar nuestra atención en los relativos a los términos de conquista árabe/conquista islámica, y al problema de la progresiva islamización que tuvo lugar en al-Ándalus a lo largo de sus siglos de existencia.

This research note demonstrates the existence of an advanced integrity control system and structural timestamping keys embedded within the textual architecture of the traditional 604-page Quranic codex. By applying information theory operators and mathematical modular indirection to the physical positions of interconnected verses—specifically starting from Surah Al-Qasas (28:57) on page 392—this study reveals a rigorous mathematical matrix governed by the book's central axis (Index 57, Al-Hadid).

The cybernetic computation structurally connects Surah Al-Qasas, Surah Quraysh (106), and Surah Ar-Rum (30) to extract a precise chronological milestone: the number 538.

This paper establishes that this absolute matrix result corresponds strictly to the year -538 BC, the historical date of the Edict of Cyrus. Consequently, this study offers three groundbreaking historical re-evaluations: (1) the term *Quraysh* does not denote a local Arabian merchant tribe but rather constitutes an honorific memory of King Cyrus II (Koresh); (2) the *Haram* (sanctuary) and the *Bait* (House) designate the Second Temple of Jerusalem restored under Persian authority; and (3) *Ilaf* signifies the official Persian imperial edict of protection and religious tolerance granted to the historical Judeo-monotheistic community.

Astrology and History in Early Islam: Aligning Heaven and Earth focuses on the construction of historical knowledge during the first centuries of Islam (7th–10th centuries CE) and sheds light on the much-neglected genre of astrological histories. It contends that astrologers played a significant, albeit totally overlooked, role in the making of Islamic historiography. The volume documents a unique moment in historical writing and reveals enduring legacies of this exceptional corpus of texts and historical horoscopes. The flourishing and eventual vanishing of astrological histories reveal broader historiographical trends, most notably a shift of cultural brokers serving as arbitrators of (historical) knowledge and a change of regime of historicity. Astrology and History in Early Islam: Aligning Heaven and Earth also reveals the forgotten legacies of a moment in early Islamic historiography, when history was being written according to celestial omens and planetary conjunctions.

This study is based on the critical edition and analysis of an Arabic manuscript preserving an originally eleventh-century composition on the virtues and traditions of Jerusalem, attributed to Abū al-Maʿālī al-Musharraf ibn al-Murajjā al-Maqdisī. The manuscript was edited, reconstructed, and prepared for publication by Ofer Livne-Kafri, whose work is characterized by an exceptionally meticulous and systematic collection of textual material, particularly within the field of hadith and Islamic historiographical traditions.

The article explores the existence of the Collyridians (Philomarianites/Marianites) and the potential reflection of their teachings in Quran 5:116 (Surah Al-Ma'idah). The objective of the research is to determine whether the aforementioned Ayah represents merely a polemical, hyperbolic formulation or if it responds to a specific historical-religious group that attributed divine status to Mary and performed sacrifices in her name. dogmatic passage, and its content may be linked to Collyridian doctrine. The theoretical significance of the research lies in the clarification of the history of Christian-Muslim polemics, while its practical value lies in the development of a more precise historical model for interpreting the Quranic verse within its Christian context.

This paper is meant as a contribution to the field of heresiological studies, especially the transcultural transmission of heresiological writings and the renovating notion of heresy over time. It is devoted to the edition, translation and source analysis of an unedited Syriac catalogue of heresies penned by a polymath of the Syriac Renaissance, Jacob bar Šakko (d. 1241). Despite its thematic angle (i.e. the incarnation of Christ), this catalogue features a large conception of heresy, as it includes groups preceding the coming of Christ and beginning at the creation of the world. Such a wide conception, as well as many of the selected groups and the short descriptions related to each of them, show that bar Šakko extensively used the heresiological writings of the fourth-century Greek theologian Epiphanius of Salamis. A comparison with the Syriac version of his Anakephalaiosis (in turn, an abridgment of his Panarion) circulating in a sixth-century manuscript, demonstrates that bar Šakko probably relied on this text, without using, however, the version transmitted by the only known manuscript. His catalogue is thus an indirect witness to the existence of other Syriac translations of Epiphanius's Anakephalaiosis, otherwise unattested. The analysis of the descriptions of the heresies post-dating Epiphanius' epoch shows, for its part, which other sources, this time Syriac ones, were deemed useful by a West Syrian theologian living in thirteenth-century Northern Iraq under Abbasid rule.

Cette note de recherche met en évidence l'existence de deux codes de contrôle d'intégrité mathématique (checksums) et d'une clé d'horodatage intrinsèques à la structure physique et textuelle du Coran (codex standardisé de 604 pages). En combinant l'analyse topographique du support, la microstructure d'une directive textuelle spécifique (Sourate 15, verset 87), et la médiane géométrique associée à l'élément Fer (Sourate 57), nous démontrons l'existence d'une matrice mathématique inviolable. Ce système double verrouille à la fois l'origine temporelle historique du texte (l'an 610) et sa structure structurelle interne (les 114 sourates). Ces symétries arithmétiques récurrentes remettent en question les modèles probabilistes d'un assemblage tardif, humain ou fragmenté du texte.

This research note highlights the existence of two mathematical integrity control codes (checksums) and a timestamping key intrinsic to the physical and textual structure of the Quran (standardized 604-page codex). By combining the topographical analysis of the medium, the microstructure of a specific textual directive (Surah 15, verse 87), and the geometric median associated with the element Iron (Surah 57), we demonstrate the existence of an inviolable mathematical matrix. This dual system locks both the historical temporal origin of the text (the year 610) and its internal structural framework (the 114 surahs). These recurring arithmetic symmetries challenge probabilistic models of a late, human, or fragmented assembly of the text.

The argument known as the “Islamic Dilemma” holds that the Qurʾan confirms, endorses, and guarantees
the preservation of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, then contradicts them, and so must be false either
way. This paper argues that the dilemma is an artefact of translation, not of the Arabic. Its proponents read
the Qurʾan in English versions descending from the Latin of Ludovico Marracci (1698) and George Sale
(1734), in which key terms are rendered so as to make the Qurʾan appear to speak about the Bible. Read in
Arabic, the central verse (Q 5:48) concerns the book confirming what is within its own bounds and
dominating its own domain: يديه بني) bayna yadayhi) is “between its two hands,” not “in its presence”;
هيِمنُم
(muhaymin) is “dominating,” not “preserving.” Four independent locks then close the question: the
three universal modes of يديه بني ;the morphology of هُمُ
ُيعِّل
(yuʿallimuhu) in Q 3:48 sealing the referent of
التوراة in Q 3:50; the conjunction و) wa) in Q 3:3 separating two distinct divine acts; and the Qurʾan’s own
verdict that deifying Jesus is unbelief (5:72–73), as the earliest reception confirms. Each closes
independently. The dilemma requires the Qurʾan to be set against a second text; the Arabic supplies no
second term.

This article reconsiders the report in which the Prophet Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬ declares that, were Moses alive "among you," he would follow him. Against readings that treat this as automatic abolition of Torah-sharīʿah for Jews, the study argues that the phrase "among you" locates Moses within the Muhammadan ummah, where no prior lawgiver may function as a rival legal authority. Drawing on Qurʾān 2:208, 5:43-48, the double-reward ḥadīth, the Muʿādh-to-Yemen report, and Mahdī traditions, it distinguishes prophetic recognition from legal absorption. Jews must affirm Muḥammad ‫ﷺ‬ and what he brought as true, yet the sources do not explicitly command Jews as Jews to abandon Torah law. The article proposes a multi-covenantal model: one dīn, universal taṣdīq, and differentiated revealed sharāʾiʿ within the final Qurʾānic criterion and divine Abrahamic order of revelation.

This article examines an early tafsīr report on Qurʾān 2:208 transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās through Ibn Abī Ḥātim, focusing especially on the phrase: "Sufficient for you is belief in the Torah and what it contains." The study argues that the report preserves a distinction between covenantal affirmation and covenantal legal observance. While continued independent Torah legal practice is restricted after recognition of Muḥammad ‫,ﷺ‬ Torah-faith itself remains explicitly affirmed. By comparing this report with al-Ṭabarī's theology of taṣdīq in his commentary on Qurʾān 2:41 and 2:62, the article reconstructs an early Islamic model of cumulative revelation grounded in confirmation rather than annihilative supersessionism. The resulting framework suggests a multi-covenantal understanding of revelation in which prophetic continuity and differentiated covenantal laws coexist within one Abrahamic revelatory order.

Le Coran ou le Testament des Califes Genèse du sacré dans le proto-islam Le Coran décréé Ismaël, fils d'Abraham, père des Arabes L'équipe de « scribes-auteurs et les Califes Rappelons tout d'abord, le rôle des équipes de « scribesauteurs » et de celles des lecteurs du ductus coranique ; ces équipes commanditées et pilotées par Les Califes sont de facto entièrement soumises à leurs exigences politiques variables. Ces équipes ont pu arranger le script coranique initial, facilement par l'ajout de diacritisme puisque ce dernier n'existait pas dans l'état originel des parchemins. L'ajout du diacritisme et l'effacement ou l'ajout de mots ont pu rectifier le sens, voire le modifier totalement montre C. Luxenberg.

Muhammad died in June 632. Abu Bakr established the Caliphate and died in 634. Omar succeeded him and launched the Conquests (Futuhat) of Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt. He was assassinated in 644 by a Persian slave.
Uthman became the third Caliph in 644 and established the official version of the Qur’an. After Uthman’s assassination in 656, Ali succeeded him. Muawiya, the governor of Syria, opposed Ali’s assumption of the Caliphate, alleging that Ali was involved in Uthman’s assassination.

Klasik sahih hadis tanımı "Adâlet ve zabt sahibi ravilerin muttasıl bir senedle rivayet ettikleri şâz ve illetli olmayan hadistir" şeklindedir. Bu tanım hadisin birinci bölümü olan sened kısmı ile ilgili problemleri büyük ölçüde çözmüştür. Fakat hadisin ikinci kısmı olan metin konusu için böyle bir şey söylemek mümkün değildir. Bunlardan hareketle karşı karşıya olduğumuz sahih hadis tanımı problemini çözmeye katkı sağlayacak yeni bir tanım önerisinde bulunulmuştur. Yapılan yeni sahih hadis tanımında kasik tanımın kriterleri yanında ayrıca Kur'an'a ve ma'rûf (meşhur ve mütevatir) sünnete, İslam'ın genel esaslarına, insanlığın ulaşmış olduğu bilimsel verilere, akıl, icmâ' ve umûmu'l-belvâya, tarihi verilere, dil kurallarına ve Hz. Peygamber'in misyonu ve konumuna uygun olması gibi kriterler de yer almıştır.

Klasik sahih hadis tanimi “Adâlet ve zabt sahibi ravilerin muttasil bir senedle rivayet ettikleri sâz ve illetli olmayan hadistir” seklindedir. Bu tanim hadisin birinci bolumu olan sened kismi ile ilgili problemleri buyuk olcude cozmustur. Fakat hadisin ikinci kismi olan metin konusu icin boyle bir sey soylemek mumkun degildir. Bunlardan hareketle karsi karsiya oldugumuz sahih hadis tanimi problemini cozmeye katki saglayacak yeni bir tanim onerisinde bulunulmustur. Yapilan yeni sahih hadis taniminda kasik tanimin kriterleri yaninda ayrica Kur’an’a ve ma’ruf (meshur ve mutevatir) sunnete, Islam’in genel esaslarina, insanligin ulasmis oldugu bilimsel verilere, akil, icmâ’ ve umumu'l-belvâya, tarihi verilere, dil kurallarina ve Hz. Peygamber’in misyonu ve konumuna uygun olmasi gibi kriterler de yer almistir.

This is an English Translation of Farāhī's Im'an fi Aqsam al-Qur'an. Ḥamīd al-Dīn Farāhī (d. 1930), a Qur’ānic scholar from the Indian Sub-continent, revisits the long contested questions on the nature and significance of the Qur’ānic oaths. Previously, the Muslim scholarship generally explained the Qur’ānic oaths by contending that there is a certain glory in the objects the Qur’ān swears by. Farāhī, however, adopts a different stance. He claims to have followed a principled stance and offered a coherent explanation of the Qur’ānic oaths. Tracing the origin of the oath, surveying the conventions not only in the Qur’ānic text and classical Arabic literature but also the non-Arabic sources, for instance classical Greek and Biblical Hebrew, he attempts to establish that conventionally, glorification of the object of oath is not its necessary element. Oaths are employed to evoke an object as evidence to the veracity of the claims that follow, but are not always mentioned explicitly. Farāhī’s achievement is not confined to answering an old question about the nature and purpose of the Qur’ānic oaths. His work contains a number of interesting examples of his interpretive approach that has become the hallmark of the exegetical school he founded.

This study examines the foundational struggle between independent jurists and caliphal power during the Umayyad-Abbasid transition as a critical juncture in Islamic political thought. Through a qualitative historicalcomparative analysis that process-traces the principled resistance of Imams Abū Ḥanīfa and Mālik ibn Anas, it demonstrates how their refusal of state appointments, endurance of torture, and assertion of law above the ruler forged an enduring "separation of powers." The analysis reveals that their stances institutionalised the ulama as autonomous guardians of Sharia, insulating legal pluralism-the four Sunni schools-from executive manipulation and creating a proto-constitutional order centuries before Western analogues. The study further traces how this dynamic shaped legitimacy bargains, financial independence, and the soft power of transnational scholarly networks, yielding a normative architecture that constrained tyranny and preserved a vibrant legal tradition. Contemporary implications are drawn for judicial independence, academic freedom, and accountable governance in Muslim-majority states, anchoring global rule-of-law principles in indigenous Islamic heritage.

This volume showcases a wide range of contemporary approaches to the identification of literary structures within Qur'anic surahs. Recent academic studies of the Qur'an have taken an increasing interest in the concept of the surah as a unity and, with it, the division of complete surahs into consecutive sections or parts. Part I presents a series of case studies focusing on individual Qur'anic surahs. Nevin Reda analyzes the structure of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān (Q 3), Holger Zellentin looks at competing structures within Sūrat al-ʿAlaq (Q 96), and A.H. Mathias Zahniser provides an exploration of the ring structures that open Sūrat Maryam (Q 19). Part II then focuses on three discrete aspects of the text. Nora K. Schmid assesses the changing structural function of oaths, Marianna Klar evaluates how

Following our three previous studies devoted to the birth of Jesus according to the Quran and to the motif of the Vaticinans Puer (the Infant Jesus who already prophesies from the cradle), we now examine more profoundly the theme of the birth of Jesus under a palm tree.

Nach unseren drei vorangegangenen Studien über die Geburt Jesu im Koran und über das Motiv des Vaticinans Puer (das Jesuskind, das bereits in seiner Wiege prophezeit) untersuchen wir nun insbesondere das Thema der Geburt Jesu unter einer Palme.

Suite à nos trois études précédentes consacrées à la naissance de Jésus selon le Coran et au motif du Vaticinans Puer (l'Enfant Jésus qui prophétise déjà depuis le berceau), nous étudions en particulier le thème de la naissance de Jésus sous un palmier.

Peace and Harmony have always been the essential elements for sustainable development. A society deprived of Peace means, a society full of extremism, radicalism, and unjust. Terrorism, Radicalism, and extremism are causing social and economic destabilization. Keeping in view the importance of peace, Prophet Abraham AS, pleaded for the bestowing of peace for the City of Makkah, as Allah SWT says: "O My Lord! Make this City the City of Peace" (Al-Baqarah: 126). Today, Restoration of Peace is the voice of the town for the world community to overcome extremism and terrorism, which not only badly affected Muslims around the globe, but also the inhabitants of the state of Pakistan. To combat the ongoing War on terror and to restore peace and tranquility the economy of Pakistan has been horrifically disturbed, as more than US$ 123 billion were spent for the last 15 years. Various theories and methods have been introduced to eradicate Terrorism and violence, but the best method to overwhelm this ulcer is to follow the instructions laid down by the Prophet (PBUH) for the restoration of peace and eradication of violence and extremism. This article investigates how Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) restored peace & harmony and eradicated violence and extremism. It is found that the Prophet Muhmmad (PBUH) used various methods of internal and external monitoring systems, warfare effective monitoring strategies, Diplomacy, Accords, raiding operations, preaching, Ruse of war, and single combat, etc., known as International Humanitarian Law, to overcome the terrible challenge of extremism and terrorism, consequently established the peaceful state of Madinah, where the law of justice, fundamental rights, rights of combatants and non-combatants were preserved.

46 inscriptions are transmitted in the Description of the Holy Land written by John of Würzburg, a German cleric, during the 1160s. In this respect, this work stands out from the abundant literature resulting from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The transmission of epigraphic texts is one of the author’s explicit aims in his perspective of updating the holy places after the great works of (re)construction and Latinisation undertaken by the Franks. Through the use of ekphrasis and hypotyposis, he allows readers to see the places and to make a mental pilgrimage. Each building is an opportunity to recall the founding biblical event, and to imprint or even seal it by inscription on the monument-reliquary. But John of Würzburg’s interest in epigraphy is undoubtedly linked to his taste for liturgy, the two going hand in hand in his work, as in the two appendices, the precise role of which still remains enigmatic.

This paper proposes a critical reconstruction of sīrah and tafsīr narratives transmitted by two of the most influential early Shiʿi authorities, Muḥammad al-Bāqir (d. 114/732–733) and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765), through the application of recent methodological developments in ḥadīth studies. While modern scholarship has developed increasingly sophisticated tools for dating and contextualizing early Islamic traditions, these methods have been applied unevenly across sectarian corpora, with Shiʿi ḥadīth literature often treated as either derivative or methodologically opaque. This paper argues that such assumptions are no longer sustainable and that contemporary critical techniques can, with careful adaptation, yield historically meaningful results for Shiʿi transmission material.
The first part of the paper introduces Isnād-Cum-Matn Analysis (ICMA) as a unified methodological framework for reconstructing transmission history. By examining the co-development of chains of transmission and textual variants, ICMA allows scholars to isolate common narrative cores, identify secondary expansions, and propose relative chronologies for traditions. The paper further explores how this method can be refined by incorporating the concept of the Imām’s hypomnēma: a working notebook or proto-tradition register in which exegetical, legal, and historical materials may have been recorded, recalled, and pedagogically deployed. Rather than presuming full textual fixation, the hypomnēma is treated as a mnemonic–textual interface mediating between oral instruction and later written transmission.

The second part of the paper addresses the problem of sources. It investigates which bodies of evidence are most promising for reconstructing early Shiʿi sīrah and tafsīr traditions associated with al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq, including early compilatory strata, fragmentary transmission units, and instances of cross-sectarian circulation. Special attention is given to how later Shiʿi compilations may preserve traces of earlier instructional materials structured around such hypomnēmata, even when embedded within later doctrinal or editorial frameworks. Rather than treating later sources as irretrievably late or doctrinally overdetermined, the paper argues that, when analyzed comparatively and stratigraphically, they can function as indirect witnesses to earlier layers of transmission.

The third and final part presents a focused case study. A single tafsīr or sīrah-related tradition attributed to one of the two Imams is reconstructed using ICMA, tracing its textual variants, isnād configurations, and citation patterns across a range of sources. Particular attention is paid to recurring structural features, formulaic expressions, and pedagogical clustering that may point to derivation from a shared hypomnēma-like source. By mapping points of convergence and divergence, the analysis proposes a plausible reconstruction of the tradition’s earliest recoverable form and evaluates the strength of its attribution to the Imam in question.
Overall, the paper aims to contribute to a more integrated historiography of early Islam by demonstrating that Shiʿi ḥadīth, sīrah, and tafsīr traditions are not methodologically exceptional. Instead, when approached through a unified isnād–matn analytical framework supplemented by controlled hypotheses about early mnemonic and proto-textual practices, they offer a rich field for historically grounded reconstruction using the most advanced critical tools currently available in Islamic studies.

Living within Living: Along the shores of the Red Sea, the coastal towns of Yanbu, Umluj, al-Wajh, and Duba reveal a distinctive architectural and urban heritage shaped by environmental, historical, and cultural conditions. This book explores these settlements, where houses constructed from coral stone, formed by once-living reef organisms, along with shaded streets and intricately carved wooden façade elements, embody a deep understanding of environmental adaptation and social life.

Beyond documentation, the book offers a timely reflection on the relevance of this heritage today. As coastal development accelerates, it calls for a more thoughtful approach, one that draws from the lessons of these towns to inform sustainable and context-sensitive design for the future.

Richly illustrated and grounded in field research, this book is an essential resource for architects, planners, scholars, and all those interested in the enduring legacy of Red Sea architecture and urbanism.

This study examines the strategies employed by Prophet Muhammad to respond to hostility, misrepresentation, and social exclusion, and explores their relevance for addressing Islamophobia in contemporary societies. The research investigates how attitudes comparable to Islamophobia were managed during the Meccan and Medinan periods and identifies historically grounded lessons applicable to modern pluralistic contexts. Using a qualitative historical approach, the study analyzes primary Islamic sources including the Qur'an, Hadith literature, and classical Sirah works, supported by contemporary academic scholarship. The findings reveal that the Prophet's responses to fear-driven hostility were structured around ethical patience, nonviolent engagement, dialogue, and community-centered responsibility. In the Meccan period, moral restraint and ethical conduct functioned as strategies for maintaining legitimacy under conditions of persecution. In the Medinan period, principles of pluralism, inclusive governance, and shared civic responsibility were institutionalized to manage diversity and social cohesion. The study argues that these strategies form a coherent framework for addressing prejudice and exclusion. By interpreting Prophetic experience through an analytical lens, this article contributes to contemporary Islamophobia scholarship and offers ethically grounded insights for promoting coexistence and social harmony in modern multicultural societies.

This paper examines the development of gender politics in the formative centuries of Islam, arguing that many restrictive gender norms associated with Islamic tradition emerged during the Abbasid period rather than in the time of the Prophet. Through an analysis of foundational hadith collections and early historiography, including the works of Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabari, and al-Masʿudi, the study explores how Abbasid scholars reshaped narratives about women, authority, and gender nonconformity to reflect the social and political values of their own era. Drawing on the scholarship of Nabia Abbott, Leila Ahmed, Asma Sayeed, Everett K. Rowson, and others, this paper traces the decline of women's public and intellectual roles alongside the increasing marginalization of gender-nonconforming individuals such as the mukhannathun. It argues that Abbasid historiography and hadith literature retroactively projected later patriarchal norms onto the prophetic past, creating an idealized vision of Islamic society that shaped subsequent Muslim thought. By critically examining these texts as ideological constructions rather than transparent historical records, this study seeks to recover a more nuanced understanding of gender relations in early Islam.

Textiles were crucial economic drivers in the late antique and early medieval Mediterranean. While the majority of studies of the textile trade in this period have focused on luxury materials, non-elite textiles were also economically significant; the circulations of both raw materials and finished products connected local economies in expanding overlapping networks. This has increasingly been the subject of study in the imperial Roman and later medieval periods, but a lack of sources from the sixth through eighth centuries has hindered our understanding of the textile industy at the end of antiquity and led to assumptions of general continuity. This article pieces together the available evidence within the social and economic contexts of a period of profound political, social, and economic transformation to examine how patterns of circulation were being formed, why, and who the agents of these processes were.

The past two decades have seen an extraordinary efflorescence of scholarship on the history of relics in Islam and the practices associated with them. Relevant publications have proliferated across the fields of anthropology, art history, and religious studies, signalling a sea-change in scholarly interest from virtual neglect to the burgeoning of what constitutes an emerging genre of scholarship. The bulk of these recent publications have focused on the early modern and modern periods; Ottoman relic collecting and associated devotional practices have received particular attention, while their Mamluk antecedents have been the subject of fewer but no less significant studies. 2 By contrast, this welcome contribution focuses on the formative period of Islam between the seventh and tenth centuries CE, offering a nuanced survey of emerging (and often diverging) attitudes to relic veneration and tomb visitation within the early Muslim community. 3

The glass finds from the excavation along Highway 3 include a single cast bowl of the late Hellenistic-Early Roman periods and vessels dated to the Late Roman-early Byzantine, Byzantine and late Byzantine-Early Islamic periods. Additionally, the excavation yielded Late Islamic-Ottoman-period glass bracelets, as well as various beads. Especially noteworthy are a Byzantine-period cylindrical beaker, which complements the only other documented example from Israel, and a trough-shaped bar, for which no analogous examples from other excavations have been located so far. Furthermore, the number, variety and quality of the Late Islamic-Ottoman-period bracelets are notable, as not many such finds have been published from the southern part of the country.

Most of the glass finds recovered from Area S2 of the paved Byzantine-period street, south of the Temple Mount, date to the late Byzantine-Umayyad periods. These finds include various bowls, wineglasses and bottles, many of which are decorated with applied and fused-in trails, as well as jugs, lamps, windowpanes and a single tessera. The glass vessels and artifacts are characteristic of the period, and they reflect conventions observed in other contemporaneous glass corpora from Jerusalem and its environs. Nonetheless, a multisided vessel with a rather uncommon design is noteworthy, as very few examples of this type have been documented in scientific excavations.