Rippin Andrew - Classical Islam: a sourcebook of religious literature

Classical Islam

This definitive sourcebook presents more than sixty authoritative new translations of key Islamic texts. Edited and translated by three leading specialists, Classical Islam features eight thematically linked sections covering the Qurn and its interpretation, the life of Muammad, adth, law, theology, mysticism and Islamic history. The new edition has been expanded to cover a fuller range of material illustrating the growth of Islamic thought from its seventh-century origins through to the end of the medieval period. It includes illustrations, a glossary, extensive bibliographies and explanatory prefaces for each text. Classical Islam is an essential resource for the study of early and medieval Islam and its legacy.

Norman Calder, who died in 1998, was Senior Lecturer in Arabic at the University of Manchester, UK. His Studies in Early Muslim Jurisprudence and numerous articles have had a lasting impact on the study of Islamic law.

Jawid Mojaddedi is Associate Professor of Religion at Rutgers University, USA. He received the Lois Roth Prize for translations of Rumis Masnavi and his books include The Biographical Tradition in Sufism (RoutledgeCurzon 2001).

Andrew Rippin is Professor of Islamic History at the University of Victoria, Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His books include Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (4th edition, Routledge 2012).

Classical Islam

A sourcebook of
religious literature

Second edition

Edited and translated by

Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi and Andrew Rippin

First published 2003
This second edition published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2003, 2013 Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi and Andrew Rippin

The right of Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi and Andrew Rippin to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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ISBN: 978-0-415-50507-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-50508-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-08368-0 (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-136-18677-6 (epub)

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Contents

Figures

Preface

The genesis of this book lies with Norman Calder, from shortly before he died in 1998. In 1997 Norman had been approached by a publisher to put together a book of readings on Islam. While neither a full prospectus nor a contract for the work had been finalized by the time of Normans death, a collation of some texts upon which he had been working and which he was planning to put into this book was among his papers. Many of these texts will be familiar to those who have studied Normans articles; he had reworked most of them with an eye to their publication in this setting and we have, on occasion, taken the liberty of making further alterations to make them fit within the overall context of this book. Other texts will be familiar to Normans students from their use in the classroom setting.

Upon Normans death, Jawid Mojaddedi, Normans last PhD student, with whom he had discussed publishing his translations as part of a collaborative project, contacted Andrew Rippin, a friend of Normans since they were completing their own dissertations, with the idea of finishing off the textbook which Norman had started (Norman had completed about one-third of the overall book). The goal was to put the material to good use and to honour Normans legacy at the same time. We were fortunate in getting the agreement of Normans sister and executor of his estate, Anne Hall, to agree to this plan; we are most grateful to her for entrusting this material to us and allowing us to publish this book under all three of our names.

In bringing this book to its completion, we have tried to follow what we understood Norman would have wanted to do in terms of the overall aim. This work has been conceived as a compilation of translated sources illustrating the development of Muslim scholarship through the form and content of its most celebrated examples. It is designed as a textbook for both undergraduate and graduate classes on Islam within the context of Middle Eastern and Religious Studies. While we have certainly not created the same work Norman would have in terms of its eloquence, incisive analyses and wit characteristics of all of Normans best work the attention to the structure of each text has been the driving force behind the presentation. While not attempting to provide a comprehensive overview of what Islam is about in terms of doctrine, we have tried to illustrate most of the genres of literature in which the development of the doctrines of Islam is expressed and the creative variations within those genres are elucidated.

In creating the second edition of this sourcebook, we have benefited greatly from the feedback provided by a variety of users. That has led us to provide additional material in every chapter of the book as well as update the bibliographies. Some fine-tuning of the translations has also been done throughout the text. While many of the texts in this work are not available elsewhere in translation, the rising demand for Islamic materials in English has led to a significant increase in the number of translated works available in general. All the texts are presented in our own translations although we certainly have benefited from the work that other scholars have done previously. We have aimed to provide a selection of extracts that can serve as material to promote discussion and analysis in one convenient package. In selecting the texts, some guidance has also been taken from Andrew Rippin,