The reality of the Arab invasions – from non-Islamic sources – 2
THIS WAS THE CONJUNCTION between the Byzantine succession crisis in Constantinople that erupted in 638 AD, and the outbreak of…
The reality of the Arab invasions – from non-Islamic sources – 1
THE FAMOUS IRAQI HISTORIAN Jawād ‘Alī in his book Al-Mufaṣṣal fī Tārīkh al-‘Arab says: “It may be that Muslim historians…
Josef van Ess and the diagnosis of the Islamic problem – 2
THIS CURRENT PREVAILING image, however, should not deceive us, as we labour under the illusion that the entire history of…
Josef van Ess and the diagnosis of the Islamic problem – 1
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between two disciplines: the ‘ilm al-kalām, and the ‘ilm al-fiqh. They are not the same thing,…
The Islamic triumphalist approach to history
THE SUBJECT OF ISLAM and how to handle the Qur’ān has remained the preserve of traditional jurists and scholars (the…
Opening up ijtihād – opening up the mind – 2
FUNDAMENTALIST REVIVALISTS have been exaggerating and emphasizing their claims to the point that you now see and hear people who…
Opening up ijtihād – opening up the mind – 1
THE SCHOLARS OF THE PRINCIPLES of jurisprudence also made important efforts here to specify what the forms of analogy were…
When did Islam emerge? – 3
ABD AL-MALIK LATER established what is known as the ‘Mosque of the Rock’, an imposing structure with eight ribs and…
When did Islam emerge? – 2
ONE CANNOT RELY on these sources because they were not written for the purpose of history, but mostly for the…
The early history of Islam – Introduction to the problems – 2
THIS IS THE ATTEMPT to form a picture of what took place. Thus, in addition to the methodologies which scientific…