The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad

by Edited by Jonathan E. Brockopp

• ISBN13: 9780521713726
• ISBN10: 0521713722
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-19
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

As the Messenger of God, Muhammad stands at the heart of the Islamic religion, revered by Muslims throughout the world. The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad comprises a collection of essays by some of the most accomplished scholars in the field exploring the life and legacy of the Prophet. The book is divided into three sections, the first charting his biography and the milieu into which he was born, the revelation of the Qur'un, and his role within the early Muslim community. The second part assesses his legacy as a law-maker, philosopher, and politician and, finally, in the third part, chapters examine how Muhammad has been remembered across history in biography, prose, poetry, and, most recently, in film and fiction. Essays are written to engage and inform students, teachers, and readers coming to the subject for the first time. They will come away with a deeper appreciation of the breadth of the Islamic tradition, of the centrality of the role of the Prophet in that tradition, and, indeed, of what it means to be a Muslim today.

Author Biography

Jonathan E. Brockopp is associate professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. A specialist on early Islamic legal texts, he has written widely on Islamic law, ethics, and comparative religions. His books include Early Mamacr;liki Law: Ibn Abd al-Hakam and his Major Compendium of Jurisprudence (2000); Judaism and Islam in Practice: A Sourcebook (2000, coauthored with Jacob Neusner and Tamara Sonn); and two edited volumes on Islamic ethics. His article Theorizing Charismatic Authority in Early Islamic Law (2005) advances a new theory for understanding the role of Muhbdot;ammad in Islamic history.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xi
List of maps	p. xiii
Notes on contributors	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Mu&hbdot;ammad in his world
The Arabian context of Mu&hbdot;ammad's life	p. 21
Mu&hbdot;ammad's message in Mecca: warnings, signs, and miracles	p. 39
Glimpses of Mu&hbdot;ammadÆs Medinan decade	p. 61
Mu&hbdot;ammad in history
The Prophet as lawgiver and legal authority	p. 83
Personal piety	p. 103
Mu&hbdot;ammad as the pole of existence	p. 123
The Prophet Mu&hbdot;ammad in ritual	p. 139
Muslim philosophers' rationalist explanation of Mu&hbdot;ammadÆs prophecy	p. 158
Where earth and heaven meet: remembering Mu&hbdot;ammad as head of state	p. 180
Mu&hbdot;ammad in memory
Mu&hbdot;ammad in &Sbdot;ūfī eyes: prophetic legitimacy in medieval Iran and Central Asia	p. 201
European accounts of Mu&hbdot;ammad's life	p. 226
Religious biography of the Prophet Mu&hbdot;ammad in twenty-first-century Indonesia	p. 251
Images of Mu&hbdot;ammad in literature, art, and music	p. 274
Epilogue: Mu&hbdot;ammad in the future	p. 293
Index of Qur'an verses	p. 309
General Index	p. 313
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