BOOKS by Emran El-Badawi
Oneworld, 2022
Arab noblewomen of late antiquity were
instrumental in shaping the history of the world.
Between ... more Arab noblewomen of late antiquity were
instrumental in shaping the history of the world.
Between Rome’s intervention in the Arabian
Peninsula and the Arab conquests, they ruled
independently, conducting trade and making
war. Their power was celebrated as queen,
priestess and goddess. With time some even
delegated authority to the most important holy
men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism,
Christianity and Islam.
Empress Zenobia and Queen Mavia supported
bishops Paul of Samosata and Moses of Sinai.
Paul was declared a heretic by the Roman
church, while Moses began the process of mass
Arab conversion. The teachings of these men
survived under their queens, setting in motion
seismic debates that fractured the early churches
and laid the groundwork for the rise of Islam.
In sixth-century Mecca, Lady Khadijah used
her wealth and political influence to employ a
younger man then marry him against the wishes
of dissenting noblemen. Her husband, whose
religious and political career she influenced, was
the Prophet Muhammad.
A landmark exploration of the legacy of female
power in late antique Arabia, Queens and
Prophets is a corrective that is long overdue.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2024
This is the first book to examine how pre-Islamic/Late Antique goddesses shaped the Qur’an, inclu... more This is the first book to examine how pre-Islamic/Late Antique goddesses shaped the Qur’an, including its basic theology and cosmology. Exploring the traces found in the text of cultic veneration to goddesses of Arabia and the Ancient Near East, this book analyses what these traces tell us about female power in late antique Arabia, and how this power changed on the advent of Islam. While recent studies on the Qur’anic God have typically considered the question of divinity separately from gender, this book bridges the gap between these two questions, and is therefore an essential constructive mission. This mission adduces literary and documentary evidence—including recent scholarly revolutions in Syriac literature and Arabian epigraphy—and builds upon the critical insights of preceding studies in conversation with post-biblical and Near Eastern traditions.
Communities of the Qur'an: Dialogue, Debate and Diversity in the 21st Century, 2019
What is the nature of the Qur'an? It might seem a straightforward question, but there is no conse... more What is the nature of the Qur'an? It might seem a straightforward question, but there is no consensus among modern communities of the Qur'an, both Muslim and non-Muslim, about the answer. And why should there be?
On numerous occasions throughout history, believers from different schools and denominations, and at different times and places, have agreed to disagree. The Qur'anic interpreters, jurists and theologians of medieval Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba coexisted peacefully in spite of their diverging beliefs. Seeking to revive this 'ethics of disagreement' of Classical Islam, this volume explores the different relationships societies around the world have with the Qur'an and how our understanding of the text can be shaped by studying the interpretations of others. From LGBT groups to urban African American communities, this book aims to represent the true diversity of communities of the Qur'an in the twenty-first century, and the dialogue and debate that can flow among them.
The Qur'an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions
ARTICLES by Emran El-Badawi
Oasis 26, 2018
L’establishment religieux du monde musulman a considéré pendant des siècles les études critiques... more L’establishment religieux du monde musulman a considéré pendant des siècles les études critiques du Texte sacré comme une mécréance de dérivation occidentale : intellectuels et savants ont été attaqués devant les tribunaux, sur les mass-médias, dans les universités. Mais asphyxier la liberté intellectuelle n’a pas entravé la pensée : cela l’a simplement transférée sur Internet et les réseaux sociaux.
Routledge Companion to the Qur’an, 2021
مجلّة المشرق الرقميّة, 2020
هل يجوز الحديث عن الحريَّة الفكريَّة من جهة، وهي قيمة إنسانيَّة نابعة من صميم العصر التنويريّ الأ... more هل يجوز الحديث عن الحريَّة الفكريَّة من جهة، وهي قيمة إنسانيَّة نابعة من صميم العصر التنويريّ الأوروبيّ، ودراسة القرآن من جهة أخرى، وهو نصّ مقدّس عند المجتمعات الإسلاميَّة؟ بعبارة أخرى، هل يصح دراسة القرآن حسب المناهج العلميَّة النقديَّة الحديثة دون قيود عقَدِيّة؟ وألا يفتح ذلك المجال أمام التشكيك والكفر والفتنة؟ لو أجبنا على هذا السؤال بـ"لا" فهذا يعني أنه يجب على تلك المجتمعات فرض مفهوم جامد عن النص (أي العقيدة) ومحاكمة كل من يختلف معه، وهذه هي حالتنا المأسويَّة اليوم. في هذا الصدد، إذا بحثنا عبر الإنترنت في مسألة "الحريَّة" بالعربيَّة بصفة عامة مثلًا، ناهيكم عن الحريَّة في دراسة القرآن، فسنجد أن معظم الآراء والأقوال والمرئيات صادرة عن رجال الدين. ويُبدي لنا هذا الاختبار البسيط انحرافًا شديدًا لماهية الحرية في العالم العربيّ الإسلاميّ؛ إذ يلعب رجال الدين دورًا أكبر من حجمهم بكثير في تلك المجتمعات.
Tafsir Center for Qur'anic Studies, 2020
في هذه الورقة يتبع عمران البدوي التقليد الاستشراقي في محاولة تسييق القرآن في إطار الكتب السابقة، ... more في هذه الورقة يتبع عمران البدوي التقليد الاستشراقي في محاولة تسييق القرآن في إطار الكتب السابقة، وخصوصًا في التراث السرياني، عبر تحديد مدونة محدّدة للمقارنة مع القرآن، وهي إنجيل متّى السرياني، فيقارن بين النصّين في سياق محدّد هو سياق الإدانة الموجهة لليهود في عدم التزامهم بالناموس.
New Trends in Qur’anic Studies: Text, Context and Interpretation, 2019
“From clerical to scriptural authority: The Qur’an’s dialogue with the Syriac New Testament,” New... more “From clerical to scriptural authority: The Qur’an’s dialogue with the Syriac New Testament,” New Trends in Qur’anic Studies: Text, Context and Interpretation. Ed. Mun‘im Sirry. Atlanta: Lockwood Press, 2019, pp. 83-93.
The Medieval Review (http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/tmr) 18.11.05
Tieszen, Charles... more The Medieval Review (http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/tmr) 18.11.05
Tieszen, Charles. Cross Veneration in the Medieval Islamic World: Christian Identity and Practice
Under Muslim Rule . The Early and Medieval Islamic World. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2017. pp. 224.
ISBN: 978-1-78453-662-6 (hardback).
Reviewed by:
Emran El-Badawi
University of Houston
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected] )
For a long time now, the religious establishment in the Muslim world has deemed the critical stud... more For a long time now, the religious establishment in the Muslim world has deemed the critical study of the Qur'an a type of Western imported heresy. Despite the repression of intellectual freedom, however, free thought has flourished on the Internet and social media. Is it permissible to combine intellectual freedom a humanist value arising from the core of the European Enlightenment and the study of the Qur'an, a sacred book for Muslims? In other words, is it possible to use the scientific and critical method in the study of the Qur'an with no dogmatic restrictions? Doesn't this pave the way for doubt, unbelief and sedition (fitna)? If the answer to this last question is yes we must conclude that Muslim societies are required to impose a rigid interpretation of the text (which is supported by dogma), prosecuting whoever disagrees with it. This is precisely the tragic situation we face today. If we browse Arabic internet sites or search the word " freedom " online, let alone intellectual freedom to study the Qur'an, we find that the majority of opinions, and declarations, come from the clergy. This simple experiment alone shows the malaise of freedom in the Arab-Muslim world. In this world, religious men play a role which greatly surpasses their numbers. Many of them affirm that intellectual freedom leads to freedom of expression and, hence, to freedom of belief. This is true. However, what they really mean is that freedom corrupts doctrine and religion. This is false. Their concern is finding ways to impose doctrine so as to create a society of believers molded after the standards set by their religious dogma. As the data indicates this concern is a tremendous illusion. In many Arab-Muslim societies, in fact, we witness the rise of atheism all while religious fundamentalism and terrorist hotbeds spread as well.[1]Moreover, the Arab-Muslim world is today one of the most active on social networks like Twitter, due to widespread repression and the ensuing lack of intellectual freedom in daily life.[2] By now, many Arab
L’establishment religioso del mondo musulmano ha considerato
per secoli gli studi critici del Tes... more L’establishment religioso del mondo musulmano ha considerato
per secoli gli studi critici del Testo sacro una forma di miscredenza
di derivazione occidentale: intellettuali e studiosi sono stati attaccati
nei tribunali, sui mass media, nelle università. Il soffocamento
della libertà intellettuale tuttavia non ha impedito il pensiero: lo ha
semplicemente trasferito su Internet e i social network.
"OBITUARY, Andrew Rippin, 1950–2016" Review of Middle East Studies 51.1 (2017): 1-3.
“Communities of interpretation: The case of the Qur’an,” American Journal of Islamic Social Scien... more “Communities of interpretation: The case of the Qur’an,” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 33.4 (2016): 145-53.
How did renewed autocracy in Egypt and civil war in Syria
impact liberals differently? What lesso... more How did renewed autocracy in Egypt and civil war in Syria
impact liberals differently? What lessons can be learned about the nature of liberalism in the greater Arab context from this comparative survey? This chapter seeks to answer these questions, first by following the reaction of liberals to the so-called Arab Spring, comparing a handful of intellectuals and academics in Egypt as well as Syria. The chapter goes on to focus on two of the most prominent liberals in each context, namely Gaber Asfour and Burhan Ghalioun. In each case, the role played by the armed forces vis-à-vis the public was critical to their
rapid accession to power, and equally rapid fall.
From the beginnings of Wahabism in the 18th century to the so called Islamic State of Iraq and th... more From the beginnings of Wahabism in the 18th century to the so called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS) violence has occasionally been justified in the name of Islam, which is problematic for secular and traditional scholars alike. This paper demonstrates that there are three complex, interrelated causes for this violence: foreign military intervention, Salafi-Jihadism and a utopian state founded upon faith and justice, i.e. a caliphate.
Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, 2009
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BOOKS by Emran El-Badawi
instrumental in shaping the history of the world.
Between Rome’s intervention in the Arabian
Peninsula and the Arab conquests, they ruled
independently, conducting trade and making
war. Their power was celebrated as queen,
priestess and goddess. With time some even
delegated authority to the most important holy
men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism,
Christianity and Islam.
Empress Zenobia and Queen Mavia supported
bishops Paul of Samosata and Moses of Sinai.
Paul was declared a heretic by the Roman
church, while Moses began the process of mass
Arab conversion. The teachings of these men
survived under their queens, setting in motion
seismic debates that fractured the early churches
and laid the groundwork for the rise of Islam.
In sixth-century Mecca, Lady Khadijah used
her wealth and political influence to employ a
younger man then marry him against the wishes
of dissenting noblemen. Her husband, whose
religious and political career she influenced, was
the Prophet Muhammad.
A landmark exploration of the legacy of female
power in late antique Arabia, Queens and
Prophets is a corrective that is long overdue.
On numerous occasions throughout history, believers from different schools and denominations, and at different times and places, have agreed to disagree. The Qur'anic interpreters, jurists and theologians of medieval Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba coexisted peacefully in spite of their diverging beliefs. Seeking to revive this 'ethics of disagreement' of Classical Islam, this volume explores the different relationships societies around the world have with the Qur'an and how our understanding of the text can be shaped by studying the interpretations of others. From LGBT groups to urban African American communities, this book aims to represent the true diversity of communities of the Qur'an in the twenty-first century, and the dialogue and debate that can flow among them.
ARTICLES by Emran El-Badawi
Tieszen, Charles. Cross Veneration in the Medieval Islamic World: Christian Identity and Practice
Under Muslim Rule . The Early and Medieval Islamic World. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2017. pp. 224.
ISBN: 978-1-78453-662-6 (hardback).
Reviewed by:
Emran El-Badawi
University of Houston
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected] )
per secoli gli studi critici del Testo sacro una forma di miscredenza
di derivazione occidentale: intellettuali e studiosi sono stati attaccati
nei tribunali, sui mass media, nelle università. Il soffocamento
della libertà intellettuale tuttavia non ha impedito il pensiero: lo ha
semplicemente trasferito su Internet e i social network.
impact liberals differently? What lessons can be learned about the nature of liberalism in the greater Arab context from this comparative survey? This chapter seeks to answer these questions, first by following the reaction of liberals to the so-called Arab Spring, comparing a handful of intellectuals and academics in Egypt as well as Syria. The chapter goes on to focus on two of the most prominent liberals in each context, namely Gaber Asfour and Burhan Ghalioun. In each case, the role played by the armed forces vis-à-vis the public was critical to their
rapid accession to power, and equally rapid fall.