Poverty in the Qur’ān: Medieval Islamic Interpretations and Uses

Project Information

PiQ

Grant agreement ID: 895313

DOI

10.3030/895313

Project closed

EC signature date 17 March 2020

Start date 1 March 2021

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 212 933,76

EU contribution

€ 212 933,76

Coordinated by

THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PiQ (Poverty in the Qur’ān: Medieval Islamic Interpretations and Uses)

Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2023-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This project explores the interpretations and uses of the Qur’ān in poverty-related discourses in medieval Muslim societies, covering the period from the 8th to the 13th centuries CE. Poverty in the medieval Islamic world, both as a socio-economic phenomenon and a complex set of ideas, remains an understudied subject. While historical study of the conditions and experiences of the poor is hindered by the paucity of sources from which one can retrieve the voices of the poor, Islamic religious literature offers a rich source for examining medieval Islamic perceptions of poverty. However, only a small part of this copious literature has been studied. This empirically oriented project furthers scholarship in this direction by examining the uses of the Qur’ānic text in poverty-related discourses in a corpus of medieval Arabo-Islamic religious sources.
The project particularly focuses on the ‘poverty versus wealth’ debates, traced in the literary sources since the late 8th – early 9th centuries, and the uses of the Qur’ān therein. The debates display a spectrum of views on the relationship between poverty, wealth, and religious merit, ranging from exalting poverty and highlighting the vanity of all worldly possessions to endorsement of material riches, considered as a reward or a gift from God. Significantly, they range across the boundaries of various Islamic intellectual traditions and literary genres. In the course of these debates, the proponents of the opposing views employed proofs (ḥujaj) from the Qur’ān. Their appropriation, adaptation, and interpretation of the text in line with their respective positions, highlights a dynamic and context-dependant process of the reception of the Qur’ān in Muslim societies.

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

The project’s objectives to explore the interpretations and uses of the Qur’ān in poverty-related discourses focusing on the ‘poverty versus wealth’ debates, were achieved through undertaking three major tasks. First, through the reconstruction of the ‘poverty versus wealth’ debates by identifying, locating, and analysing relevant source material, including manuscript sources and the published texts hitherto unexplored for this purpose. Second, by analysing argumentation and evidence, including Qur’ānic proof-texts, employed in the course of these debates. Lastly, through relating the ‘poverty versus wealth’ debates to the processes of asserting and contesting the status of poverty as a religious ideal and situating them within a broader intellectual context of the formation of religious virtues and moral orientations in medieval Muslim societies.
The project’s findings have been presented at five international conferences and research seminars in the fields of Qur’ānic studies, Middle Eastern studies, Medieval studies, and Study of Religions. They have also been disseminated through five outreach and communication activities reaching academic and non-academic audiences in the UK, Europe, and Asia.
The publications from the project up to date include a peer-reviewed academic article published open access. The forthcoming publications resulting from the research undertaken during the Fellowship include a peer-reviewed article, a monograph on poverty as a virtue in the medieval Islamic tradition, and an edition and annotated translation of the collection of 40 traditions on the merits of poverty. All of these will be made available to scholarly community and general public via open access publication.

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)

The project makes a scholarly contribution towards understanding the perceptions and attitudes to poverty in medieval Muslim societies by shedding light on the medieval Muslim debates surrounding the comparative merits of poverty and wealth and the uses of the Qur’ān and other authoritative texts therein. It also introduces new sources into the scholarly discussions on poverty, including manuscript sources. The project’s findings, disseminated through open access peer-reviewed publications and academic presentations in Europe and internationally, add to scholarship in the fields of Qur’ānic studies and Islamic studies.
The questions about the relationship between poverty, material wealth and morality that animated the medieval Muslim debates studied in this project – Is poverty caused by divine will and thus inevitable? Is it a punishment, a trial, or a sign of divine favour? Who are the poor and what is their position in the society? What is the relation between poverty and moral virtue? What does the Qur’ān say about poverty? – re-emerged in contemporary discussions among scholars, Muslim intellectuals, and the wider public on Islamic economic ethics, poverty alleviation, and social justice in Muslim societies. The project’s analysis of various responses that medieval Muslim scholars provided to these questions offers a historical perspective and insights for the discussion of these contemporary challenges.

Abū Zayd dressed as a Muslim ascetic. MS Arabe 3929, BNF, Paris, fol. 52v