Lectures on Islam

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The book Lectures on Islam by the Islamic scholar Ignaz Goldziher was published for the first time in 1910. In his preface to the second edition, published posthumously in 1925, the Berlin Islamic scholar Carl Heinrich Becker praises not only the book mentioned as a “standard work in Islamic studies”, but also the author as the one who - together with his friend Snouck Hurgronje - first created this branch of science .

construction

First chapter

The first chapter of the book begins under the title “Muhammad and Islam” with the definition of the word Islam as “the devotion of believers to Allah ”. The main focus is on the development of Muhammad's religious ideas .

second chapter

The second chapter “The development of the law” begins with a quote from Anatole France : “Qui fait une religion ne sait pas ce qu'il fait” and is translated or paraphrased by Goldziher as follows :

"Seldom is a religious founder aware of the great world-historical significance of his creation."

This chapter then deals with the emergence and development of the Islamic legal system as a result of the rapid spread of Islam . The author describes the Koran and Sunna as the main sources of Islamic law, handed down in the traditional form of the hadith as well as in some elements adopted from the conquered peoples. In particular, the methods of this huge crystallization process, the procedures of casuistry and the conception of the consensus of Islamic legal scholars ( Idschmāʿ ) are analyzed .

third chapter

The chapter Dogmatic Development deals first with the theological development of Islam. It describes the development of theological dogmas and philosophical ideas such as free will , predestination , the ethical value of scriptures, anthropomorphism , attributes of God and the essence of the Koran. The metaphysical world of thought is cultivated by different schools of Islamic orthodoxy: Achbarites , Kaisanites , Jabrites , Mutazilites , etc.

Chapter Four

In the next chapter of his book, which is entitled Asceticism and Sufism , Goldziher deals with the fact that at the time of the emergence of Islam the idea of asceticism was dominant and important . In connection with the emergence of Sufism, its Christian, Neoplatonic and Buddhist elements are traced. The contents of the beliefs and practice of Sufism, its position vis-à-vis Islamic orthodoxy and different reactions to excessive mysticism among Quschairi and Ghazali are also examined .

Fifth chapter

The following chapter, titled Sectarianism, deals with the Kharijites and the Shiites as the two most important sects of Islam. A fundamental term of Shia is the title of imam , a religious and political leader inherited within that of the family of Caliph Ali . Some imams are known, others are hidden . Mention is also made of the Mahdi , a messianic figure with innumerable appearances throughout history. Ignaz Goldziher focuses less on the political and more on the religious side of the Shia and describes its main groups: Zaidites , Ismailis , Druze , Fatimids , Assassins , etc.

Sixth chapter

In the last chapter, Later Forms , it is shown that the centuries-long struggle between tradition and innovation ( Bidʿa ) continues to our day. The Arab Wahhabism , in which the traditional customs are observed, is compared with the Persian Babism , the further development of which is spreading in the Bahaitum as a universal religion in Europe and America. A few brief remarks on the religious movement of Islam in British India and the Dutch East Indies , from the Mughal Mughal Akbar I to the Ahmadiyya movement that emerged shortly before , conclude this masterpiece.

Impact history

Immediately after its publication, the book gained lasting esteem in the professional world; it has been translated into numerous languages ​​both in the West and in the Islamic culture. In his review of the lectures , the orientalist Max van Berchem misses , for example, statements on North African maraboutism , the phenomenon of dervishes or the religious movement of Islam in Russia and China, but finally describes Goldziher as the undisputed master of Islamic studies .

There are several Arabic versions, including an online version from 2009. A Hebrew version, translated by Martin Plessner , appeared in 1951. There are other versions in Italian, Indonesian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Hungarian and Uzbek, among others.

expenditure

  • Ignaz Goldziher: Lectures on Islam. Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1910 (= Library of Religious Studies , Volume 1) - ( digitized version ).
  • Ignaz Goldziher: Lectures on Islam. Second, revised edition by Franz Babinger with a picture of the author and a foreword by CH Becker. Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1925 ( urn: nbn: de: kobv: 517-vlib-7077 ).
  • Ignaz Goldziher: Lectures on Islam (unchanged photomechanical reprint of the 2nd, revised edition Heidelberg 1925), WBG Wissenschaftl. Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1963 DNB 451611543 .

Papers and reviews

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lectures on Islam by Dr. Ignaz Goldziher, Heidelberg 1925, Carl Winter's university bookstore. S. VIII
  2. ^ Lectures on Islam , p. 2
  3. ^ A b c d e f Max van Berchem: Lectures on Islam In: Journal des savants. Volume 9. No. 7, 1911, p. 333.
  4. ^ Max van Berchem: Lectures on Islam In: Journal des savants. Volume 9. No. 7, 1911, p. 334.
  5. ^ Arabic Online
  6. ^ Directory in WorldCat