Islam Before Muhammad

Quranic studies, a vibrant field of research essential to the humanities and to contemporary culture, is deeply polarized roughly along the same lines that defined biblical studies in the past two centuries: one camp holds the Quran to be revealed verbatim, while the other camp operates within a historicizing paradigm focusing on origins and external influence. Putting it crudely, one could argue that the extreme adherents to the traditional approach do not allow any challenges to the integrity of the text and instead focus on medieval commentaries, while the extreme adherents of the revisionist approach hardly grants the text any degree of cohesion and autonomy and instead sees it as the barely cohereing imitation of specific aspects of preceding religious movements.

The key to moving the discussion forward may be found in a middle position which, on the one hand, recognizes the coherent hermeneutics and intellectual independence of the Quran, and on the other hand recognizes that the Quran stands in a demonstrable continuous intellectual tradition with previous religious movements. The fact that the Quran explicitly affirms its own traditional nature allows for such a moderate approach. As a scholar trained broadly in the history and literature of Late Antique Judaism, Christianity, and early Islam, I bring a specific perspective to the study of the Quran that allows me to argue for a new field of inquiry, focusing on "deep" continuities between Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic literature from Late Antiquity to the Quran. My innovative approach to the Quran is complemented by a simultaneous re-examination of the ethnic, ritual, and Christological concepts handled in Late Antique literature such as the Didascalia.

My research in this field began in 2006. I have presented preliminary results in a series of lectures and a conference dedicated to the subject matter of Jewish and Muslim cultural exchange which I co-organized in Berkeley from 2007 to 2010. The Quran's claim that it is a mere "confirmation of what was before it" (tasdiq alladhi bayna yadayhi, Q. 10:37, 12:111) can indeed be justified by a close examination of the Syriac Didascalia and related documents, a fourth century church order which circulated widely throughout Late Antiquity. In this literature we find specific aspects of many Quranic phrases as well as a broad range of ritual, ethical, legal and Christological concepts which anchor the Quran securely in previous religious tradition.

I will be on research leave in the period preceding the proposed AHRC fellowship. I have completed all textual studies and much of the analysis of the collected data already, and have already partially drafted just under half of the chapters of the proposed monograph. The present proposal seeks to evaluate my research results with a cross-disciplinary perspective, through collaboration with leading academic as well as religious scholars on Quranic and Late Antique studies in Europe and the US, and to complete my monograph. I will organize a conference at the University of Nottingham and participate in a seminar under the direction of Gabriel Said Reynolds (Notre Dame). In addition, the project will bring together religious scholars working together with the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme in order to transmit the research to practitioner groups.

Cultural communication is a key factor ensuring the well being of any diverse society. Such communication includes the transmission of cultural competence from minorities to the majority and vice versa. "Islam Before Muhammad" addresses the cultural history of Christianity and Islam, touching on the very core of British and European societal debates. Illustrating the intrinsic historical cohesion of parts of the Christian tradition and of Islam, the project, in conjunction with its partners, has the potential to contribute to arguments about religious diversity and the status of minorities. Impact is also conceivable in the long run in countries like Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt, in which the search for a new consensus about the status of Christian minorities may benefit from a more informed account of the historical relationship between Christianity and Islam. As specified in "pathways to impact," however, the exceedingly complex and dynamic cultural and political landscape in some of these countries precludes even tentative predictions in this respect.

The research advanced in the project will be of significance for the following non-academic users and beneficiaries:

Religious institutions like the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and the plethora of organizations under umbrella of the Muslim Council of Britain would greatly benefit in their attempts at interaction from the proposed research, as would the local organizations affiliated with them. Potential aspects of impact include informing theology and preaching, the Muslim-Christian dialogue, and interfaith initiatives. In detail, several organizations dedicated to interfaith-dialogue (such as the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme, see "pathways to impact") will assist in the initial transmission of the research results to practitioner groups. Likewise, national television, radio and print media such as the BBC and the Guardian would be invited to disseminate parts of the research in various ways. Coverage of the Nottingham conference would allow for direct impact (see "pathways to impact"). Moreover, programming dedicated to the history of religion would likely be enhanced by the cultural implications of the research results, leading to additional potential channels of research dissemination which I will pursue in due course.

In the longer term, new ways of presenting the intimate historical relationship between Christianity and Islam could be integrated into the curriculum of religious education offered in state as well as in faith based Christian and Muslim schools.

The interested wider public most of all would be challenged by the research results of the projects to reconsider its perception of the relationship of Christianity and Islam. In its various research outputs, the project seeks to present accessible concrete data about the existence of proto-Islamic tendencies throughout Late Antiquity. Transmission of this information to the wider public through media and publication channels (see "pathways to impact") is intended to initiate public rethinking of the often bifurcated perception of the Christian and Muslim religious tradition.

Policy makers and governments in the UK, in continental Europe, in the US, and possibly beyond, which are dealing with public policy involving Muslim or Christian minorities would benefit from an amelioration in cross-cultural understanding. Especially, the project's potential to illustrate the historical proximity of Christianity and Islam could contribute to changing the perception of Islam in the UK, in continental Europe, and in the US, and underpin a more effective response to Islamophobia and religious intolerance. Transmission of knowledge to governing bodies would equally occur via media and publication channels.