The Qur’an as a Source for Late Antiquity

Project Information

QaSLA

Grant agreement ID: 866043

DOI

10.3030/866043

EC signature date 3 March 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 30 September 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 969 101,00

EU contribution

€ 1 969 101,00

Coordinated by

EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - QaSLA (The Qur’an as a Source for Late Antiquity)

Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Qur’an is the most important among a small number of literary sources that have survived from late antique Arabia. The resulting scarcity of information on the religious practices of pagan, Jewish and Christian denizens of Arabia addressed by the Qur’an has made it difficult for scholars to assess both the Qur’an’s historical context and its message to its contemporaries. The EU-funded project QaSLA seeks to connect the evidence provided by the Qur’an itself to a host of non-Arabian literary sources as well as to Arabian epigraphic and archaeological evidence in order to identify the religious beliefs and practices of pagans, Jews and Christians in late antique Arabia. The resulting insights will allow for a broadened historiography especially of Judaism and Christianity, as well as for more secure interpretations of the Qur’an’s historical message, a subject matter whose importance transcends the confines of the academy.

In detail, the Qur’an’s message to the populations of Mecca and Medina can only be fully understood in the context of its sustained and critical engagement with the Jewish and the Christian traditions. QaSLA complements and redevelops this approach from the ground up by utilizing the Qur’an across disciplines as witness to the history of Judaism and Christianity. Its innovation is twofold. The Qur’an, firstly, will become the primary literary source allowing us to sketch the religious landscape of the Arabian Peninsula, for which no comparable late antique witness exists. Secondly, the Qur’an’s testimony to the religious culture of its contemporaries will enable us to approach the development of Jewish and Christian traditions throughout Late Antiquity from a new perspective.

QaSLA’s main innovation consists in turning the table on the predominant hermeneutics of Western approaches to the Qur’an, which tend to focus on the question of how the Qur’an is influenced by Judaism and Christianity. By taxonomizing the religious profiles reflected in the demonstrable interface between the Qur’an and its Jewish and Christian contemporaries, the project first reorients and then revamps this approach. QaSLA initially analyses the affinity between the Qur’an and known forms of Judaism and Christianity surrounding Arabia in order to identify which biblical, exegetical, homiletic, legal, narrative, ritual, and poetic discourses and practices circulated within the peninsula. It then employs the Qur’an as a new vantage point from which to reconsider broader late antique religious trends across the Middle East. QaSLA combines expertise across disciplines to create a novel local Arabian and an enhanced longitudinal Middle Eastern understanding of Rabbinic Jewish and Syriac, Ethiopic and Arabic Christian cultures. In a final step, the project then returns to portray the Qur’an in sharper contradistinction to more clearly defined forms of Judaism and Christianity.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Professor Holger Zellentin, the PI, has published a monograph, four papers, and delivered nine keynote lectures at various national and international conferences. He has co-organized one of the QaSLA conferences of which he is currently co-editing the proceedings, and has presented his research, the Qur’an’s view of the 'Israelites' and its relationship to late antique Judaism and Christianity at fourteen national and international conferences and workshops. He continues to play a prominent role in the field, serving as the chair of the board of the International Qur'anic Studies Association and co-chairing a Senior Research Seminar series at the University of Tubingen.

Ana Davitashvili´s research focuses on the similarities between the Qurʾan and pre-Islamic Syriac literature. She has published a journal article in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association, as well as two book reviews. She was the sole organiser of one of the QaSLA conferences and co-organizer of another one, and she is currently co-editing the proceedings of both. She has presented her research widely at conferences and seminars. Most recently, Ana participated in the conference ‘Unlocking the Byzantine Quran’ held at the University of Paderborn, where she presented a paper on martyrs in the Quran and Syriac texts.

Nadja Abuhussein has been working on her PhD project on the Qurʾān and Arab Christianity, translating and analyzing poems attributed to pre-Islamic Arabian poets. She has identified conceptual similarities between the Qur’an’s representations of God and depictions of God in pre-Quranic Christian Arab poetry. Nadja presented her research at conferences and seminars, and was co-organizer of our international conference, ‘Epigraphy, the Qur'an, and the Religious Landscape of Arabia’, where she also chaired one of the conference’s panels.

Nicolai Sinai has conducted preliminary research on the question of the identity of the Meccan Israelites and the related issues of the degree and nature of Jewish traditions reflected in the Meccan surahs of the Qur’an. Alongside the advice Nicolai provides to the QaSLA post-doc scholars, he continues to present his research at conferences, and is working towards publishing his research in the form of a journal article and conference proceeding paper.

To keep the public informed about the project, QaSLA has established a website, qasla.eu.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

QaSLA adopts an interdisciplinary perspective that challenges and reorients the prevailing approach to the study of the Qur'an, presenting a significant departure from previous research. It builds upon insights on the Qur'an's connections with late antique Judaism and Christianity, which have been developed by scholars since the 19th century. Previous generations of scholars have provided salient insights, yet were often guided by erroneous assumptions about the nature of the Qur’an and of late antique Arabian religions. The project's innovation lies in a shift of method and focus, transforming the Qur’an from a mere object of study into a valuable historical source for Late Antiquity. QaSLA meticulously investigates the overlaps between specific sections of the Qur'an and the rich and internally diverse Aramaic traditions of Rabbinic Judaism and Syriac Christianity. It also engages with previously neglected sources, such as more securely dated Ethiopic materials and Christian and pagan "Israelite" elements found in Arabic poetry. By compiling a comprehensive and detailed body of comparative data from multiple disciplines, QaSLA establishes the Qur'an as new evidence for understanding Arabian Judaism and Christianity.

Furthermore, the project offers a historically grounded interpretation of some of the most significant Qur'anic passages related to Judaism and Christianity. Through thorough analysis, it subjects the Qur’an’s role as a pivotal bridge between Late Antiquity and classical Islam to renewed scrutiny. This comprehensive approach has the potential to reshape our understanding of the history of Judaism, Christianity, the Qur’an, and Early Islam. These topics hold immense historical relevance, both within the academic sphere and beyond.

QaSLA remains committed to the dissemination of knowledge. It aims to continue to publish academic monographs and articles, sharing its findings with the scholarly community. Moreover, the project is organising conferences and workshops that facilitate dialogue and further the exploration of the Qur’an as a valuable source for Late Antiquity.

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