Category: Islam Watch
Historical Methodology and the Believer Part 3
In previous installments of this article, Ibn Warraq chronicled a series of seemingly disingenuous comments by Qur’anic scholars insisting that their findings regarding the history of the Qur’an and Islam itself have no bearing on the truth or falsity of the religion. He discussed the necessary role of autonomy if historical scholarship is to achieve …
Historical Methodology and the Believer, Part 2
In Part 1 (June/July 2010), Ibn Warraq chronicled a series of seemingly disingenuous comments by scholars of the Qur’an insisting that their findings regarding the history of the Qur’an and Islam itself have no bearing on the truth or falsity of the religion. He referred to a letter in the New Statesman by scholar Michael …
Historical Methodology and the Believer, Part 1
A few years ago, I was invited to a conference at The Hague by Professor Hans Jansen, the great Arabist. After listening to grim papers all day long, Jansen and I headed for the nearest bar. I was to give my talk the next day, and I asked him what I should talk about. He …
Probing the Roots of Islam, Part 2
In the previous issue of Free Inquiry, I began my report on a conference, “The Qur’an in Its Historical Context,” held at the University of Notre Dame in April 2009. That conference featured, among others, the controversial scholar Christoph Luxenberg (a pseudonym). I noted that the papers offered by many of the presenters were exciting …
Notre Dame Conference Probes the Roots of Islam; Part 1
The Catholic Notre Dame University of South Bend, Indiana, does not eschew controversy. In 2004, the university offered the Swiss Muslim Islamicist Tariq Ramadan a tenured position at its Institute for International Peace Studies. To the disappointment of his many supporters, Ramadan never took up his position because his visa was revoked by the State …
The Significance of the Non-Muslim Evidence for Qur’anic Studies (Part 3)
Below, the author concludes an examination of significant figures in the medieval West’s appraisal of Islam. Parts 1 and 2 appeared in the previous two issues.—Eds. Riccoldo Da Monte Croce (1243–1320) Riccoldo was born in 1243 in Florence. He joined the Dominican Order at the age of twenty-four and traveled in the Middle East as …
The Significance of the Non-Muslim Evidence for Qur’anic Studies, Part 2
With this article, Ibn Warraq continues the examination of significant figures in the medieval West’s appraisal of Islam that he began in the December 2007/Jan uary 2008 issue. In this installment, he focuses on Robert of Ketton (who probably died in the second half of the twelfth century) and Mark of Toledo (fl.1193–1216).—Eds. The Abbot …
The Significance of the Non-Muslim Evidence for Qur’anic Studies
Alphonse Mingana, surveying the writings of Christians of the seventh century—the colloquy between an Arab general and the Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, John I; the letters of Isho`yahb III, patriarch of Seleucia; and the chronicles of John Bar Penkaye—came to the conclusion that “the Christian historians of the whole of the seventh century had no …
Islamic Anti-Semitism
In Part 1, which appeared in the June/July 2007 issue of Free Inquiry, Ibn Warraq explored the history of Islamic anti-Semitism. In part 2, which ap peared in the August/September 2007 issue, he examined its underpinnings in religious texts and culture. Here, that analysis is concluded.—Eds. By way of review, I distinguish three Islams. “Islam …