The quicksilver, reverential, justificatory mentality – 1
AS LONG AS ORDINARY Muslims swallowed these uncritically and without applying reason, any contradiction that emerged in the Qur’ān or…
The early history of Islam and the scarcity of material artefacts – 2
KEEP IN MIND that this literature included the art of public speaking and sermons and dealt with social and moral…
The early history of Islam and the scarcity of material artefacts – 1
AND THEREIN LIES the dilemma of the early history of Islam, a history founded mainly upon oral narration, repetition, transmission…
Makka in history – 4
THE ‘AMR IBN AL-‘ĀS MOSQUE in Fusṭāṭ, built in 641 AD, was modernized in 673 AD during the reign of Mu‘āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān who…
Makka in history – 3
BY THE END of the first century AD maritime trade via the Red Sea was flourishing because it was cheaper…
Makka in history – 2
IN THE WRITINGS of the Greeks and Romans, and also in the Torah, southern Arabia was depicted as a rich…
The obscure and the distorted in Arab historiography
THE HISTORY of the pre-Islamic era (the ‘jāhiliyya’) that they set down is a forgery from A to Z, and was…
Taha Hussein – On science and dogma – 2
THE CONTROVERSY RAISED by Taha Hussein’s book goes beyond its subject matter, and its true importance lies in his establishing…
The problem of documentation, credibility and interpretation
THIS APPROACH of following, imitation, repetition and regurgitation is evident, and its results have become patent. Simply put, this is…
Makka in history – 1
SOME PROPONENTS of Qur’ānic miracles have imbibed this illusion and claimed that Makka indeed stands at the centre of the…