No God But God

by Reza Aslan

  The break with the Jews and Christians is examined in M. J. Kister, “Do Not Assimilate Yourselves …,” in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam (1989). For more on Muhammad’s monotheistic pluralism, see Mohammed Bamyeh, The Social Origins of Islam (1999), pp. 214–15. With the conquest of Persia, the Zoroastrians, who are given special mention in the Quran (22:17) and who have a “book” (the Gathas) which is older than both the Jewish and Christian texts, eventually become included in the ahl al-Kitab. Who the Sabians were is difficult to say. Apparently, some religious groups, including a few Christian and Hindu sects, eagerly took on the Sabian identity during the Muslim conquests in order to be counted as People of the Book and thus be considered dhimmi. Nabia Abbot’s research on the early Muslim relations with the Jews can be found in Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri, vol. 2 (1967). The practice of reading the Torah was, according to Abbot, characteristic of “the early Muslims’ preoccupation with non-Islamic thought and literature,” especially the literature of the Peoples of the Book.

  5. The Rightly Guided Ones

  The story of Muhammad’s death is derived from Ibn Hisham, trans. Guillaume, pp. 1012–13. Goldziher’s quote is from Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, pp. 31–32; see also his Muslim Studies (1971). John Wansbrough’s theories can be found in the previously cited Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (1977), as well as The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History (1978). Sarjeant’s review of Wansbrough’s Quranic Studies and Cook and Crone’s Hagarism is from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1978). Dale F. Eickelman provides a social anthropologist’s perspective on the “false prophets” in “Musaylima,” Journal of Economic and Social History of the Orient (1967). For more on the ahl al-bayt, see M. Sharon, “Ahl al-Bayt—People of the House,” in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam (1986). It should be noted that Sharon considers the term ahl al-bayt to be a designation that was not formulated until the Umayyad period. While this may be true, the sentiment behind the term (that it gave the Banu Hashim a preeminent role in society) was thoroughly understood even before Muhammad’s death. For the opposite view on the religious influence of the early Caliphate, see Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds, God’s Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam (1986).

  By far the best analysis of the succession question is Wilferd Madelung’s The Succession to Muhammad (1997). To say that this chapter relies on Professor Madelung’s work would be an understatement. I also recommend Rafiq Zakaria’s The Struggle Within Islam (1988); Abu Bakr’s speech is from page 47. Zakaria also provides a valuable analysis of Umar’s Caliphate on pages 48–53. See also M. A. Shaban’s Islamic History (1994), pp. 16–19, and Moojan Momen’s fabulous primer on Shi‘ism, An Introduction to Shi’i Islam (1985), pp. 9–22; Momen notes that Ibn Hanbal records ten different traditions in which Ali is referred to as Muhammad’s “Aaron,” p. 325. Watt’s quote is from Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, p. 36.

  Umar’s physical description as well as his quote regarding kinghood is taken from the New Encyclopedia of Islam, edited by Cyril Glasse, p. 462. For the affair of the necklace see al-Tabari, pp. 1518–28. Though traditions claim that Umar was the first Caliph to use the title Amir al-Mu’manin, there is evidence to suggest that this title was used by Abu Bakr as well.

  Noeldeke’s excellent essay on the Quran can be found in the Encyclopaedia

  Britannica, 9th ed., vol. 16 (1891); Caetani’s article “Uthman and the Recension of the Koran” is from The Muslim World (1915). For examples of variant readings of the Quran that have survived, see Arthur Jeffery, “A Variant Text of the Fatiha,” in Muslim World (1939). Once again, I am indebted in these pages to Wilferd Madelung’s analysis of Uthman’s assassination in The Succession to Muhammad, especially pages 78–140.

  There are many books on the life and Caliphate of Ali. Particularly helpful to this section was Momen’s An Introduction to Shi’i Islam, as well as S. Husain M. Jafri, The Origins and Early Development of Shi’a Islam (1979). See also Mohamad Jawad Chirri, The Brother of the Prophet Mohammad (1982). For more on the doctrine and history of the Kharijites, see Montgomery Watt, The Formative Period of Islamic Thought, pp. 9–37. Ali’s quote is from A Selection from “Nahjul Balagha,” translated by Ali A. Behzadnia and Salwa Denny, p. 7. Ali was not the first to be called Imam; all four Caliphs shared that title, though with Ali, the title of Imam emphasizes his special relationship to the Prophet.

  Sir Thomas W. Arnold’s quote is from The Caliphate (1966), p. 10. For various views on the relationship between religion and politics in Islam, see Abu-l Ala (Mawlana) Mawdudi’s Nationalism and India (1947), Abd ar-Raziq’s previously cited Islam and the Bases of Government, Sayyid Qutb’s Social Justice in Islam (1953), and Ruhollah Khomeini’s Islamic Government (1979).

  6. This Religion Is a Science

  There are numerous accounts of the inquisition of Ahmad ibn Hanbal before al-Mu’tasim, most of which are compiled and brilliantly analyzed by Nimrod Hurvitz in The Formation of Hanbalism: Piety into Power (2002). For biographies of both Ibn Hanbal and al-Ma’mun, see Michael Cooperson, Classical Arabic Biography: The Heirs of the Prophets in the Age of al-Ma’mun (2000). I draw my physical description of Ibn Hanbal, as well as the deathbed quote of al-Ma’mun, from Cooperson’s text. For more on the impact of the Inquisition, see Jonathan Berkey (2003), pp. 124–29, and Richard Bulliet, Islam: The View from the Edge (1994), pp. 115–27. The issue is also treated quite well by Patricia Crone in her newest work, God’s Rule: Government and Islam (2004). Malik ibn Anas is quoted in Mernissi, p. 59.

  Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s description of Islamic orthodoxy is from his Islam in Modern History (1957), p. 20. For general treatments of the Five Pillars, see Mohamed A. Abu Ridah, “Monotheism in Islam: Interpretations and Social Manifestations,” in The Concept of Monotheism in Islam and Christianity, edited by Hans Kochler (1982), and John Renard, Seven Doors to Islam (1996).

  There is evidence (apart from the apocryphal story of Muhammad’s ascension to heaven, when he negotiates the number of salats down from fifty to five) that the early tradition prescribed only three salats a day. The Quran says, “Hold the salat at the two ends of the day as well as at the ends of the night” (11:114). Eventually, two more salats must have been added, though no one is certain why or when. Ibn Jubayr’s quote about Mecca and the Hajj is taken from his Voyages (1949–51). Malcolm X’s quote is from The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965).

  Al-Ghazali’s The Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of God has been translated into English by David B. Burrell and Nazih Daher (1970), while his Revival of the Religious Sciences has been translated into English by Nabih Amin Faris as The Foundations of the Articles of Faith (1963). Ali Shariati’s reflections on tawhid can be found in his On the Sociology of Islam (1979).

  The debate between the Traditionalists and the Rationalists is wonderfully illuminated in Binyamin Abrahamov’s Islamic Theology: Traditionalism and Rationalism (1998). I also recommend the essays in Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam, edited by Wilferd Madelung (1985), as well as Montgomery Watt’s previously cited The Formative Period of Islamic Thought. The beliefs of the Mu’tazilah are discussed in detail by Richard S. Martin, Mark R. Woodward, and Dwi S. Atmaja in Defenders of Reason in Islam (1997), while the Ash‘arite position is laid out in Richard McCarthy, The Theology of the Ash‘ari (1953). Al-Tahawi’s quote, as well as the creeds of Abu Hanifah, Ibn Hanbal, and al-Ash‘ari, are all taken from Montgomery Watt’s invaluable compilation, Islamic Creeds: A Selection (1994). See also George F. Hourani, Islamic Rationalism: The Ethics of Abd al-Jabbar (1971).

  Excellent translations of Ibn Rushd include his commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, translated by Charles Genequand (1984); The Epistle on the Possibility of Conjunction with the Active Intellect, translated by Kalman P. Bland (1982); and Averroes’ Three Short Commentaries on Aristotle’s “Topics,” “Rhetoric,” and “Poetics,” tran
slated by Charles E. Butterworth (1977). It is important to note that the two-truth theory is a misnomer, because according to Ibn Rushd, philosophical truth is the only truth. For Ibn Sina, see his biography, The Life of Ibn Sina, translated by William E. Gohlman (1974), and his Treatise on Logic, translated by Farhang Zabeeh (1971).

  For more on oral peoples, see Denise Lardner Carmody and John Tully Carmody, Original Visions: The Religions of Oral Peoples (1993). For the role of poets and poetry in the cult of the Ka‘ba, see Michael Sells, Desert Tracings: Six Classical Arabian Odes (1989). Mohammed Bamyeh presents a wonderful discussion of the field of miracle in his chapter titled “The Discourse and the Path” in The Social Origins of Islam, pp. 115–40. My argument is completely indebted to his. See also Cragg, The Event of the Qur’an, p. 67. Daya’s quote is from Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger (1985), p. 67.

  As will become apparent, there are some Muslims whose devotionalism has led to a number of apocryphal stories about the miraculous acts of Muhammad and his Companions. However, orthodox Islam flatly rejects these stories, considering Muhammad to be just an empty vessel through which the Quran was revealed—someone who should be emulated, but not worshipped like Christ. Incidentally, al-Tabari narrates a particularly strange account of Muhammad snapping his fingers to uproot a date tree and transport it to himself (p. 1146). But this story, like similar ones about Ali raising people from the dead or walking on water, were primarily apologetic in nature and meant to silence those critics who were accustomed to prophets doing tricks to prove their divine mission.

  For a more comprehensive examination of the debate over the created Quran, I suggest Harry Austryn Wolfson, The Philosophy of Kalam, especially pages 235–78. My quotations of Ibn Hazm and Ibn Kullab are from Wolfson’s text. For more on the role and function of baraka in Islamic calligraphy, see Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality (1987). For general comments on baraka in the Quran, see the first chapter of John Renard, Seven Doors to Islam (1996). William Graham’s insightful article “Qur’an as Spoken Word” can be found in Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, edited by Richard C. Martin (2001). There are two kinds of Quranic recitation: tajwid (embellished) and tartil (measured). The latter is less musical and used primarily for worship. See Lois Ibsen al-Faruqi, “The Cantillation of the Qur’an,” in Asian Music (1987), and Kristina Nelson, “Reciter and Listener: Some Factors Shaping the Mujawwad Style of Qur’anic Reciting,” in Ethnomusicology (1987).

  There are six collections of hadith that are considered canonical: al-Bukhari’s; al-Hajjaj’s; as-Sijistani’s (d. 875); al-Tirmidhi’s (d. 915); al-Nasa’i’s (d. 915); and Ibn Maja’s (d. 886). Added to this list is the Shi‘ite compilation of Malik ibn Anas (d. 795), which was the first such collection to be written down. See Joseph Schacht, Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (1950) and An Introduction to Islamic Law (1964). Schacht’s quote is from “A Revaluation of Islamic Traditions,” in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1949). See also Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam, pp. 141–51. The Pakistani scholar is Abdul Qadir Oudah Shaheed, and his quote is from Criminal Law of Islam (1987), p. 13.

  Mahmoud Taha’s views on the Quran can be found in The Second Message of Islam (1996); see also Abdullahi an-Na’im, Toward an Islamic Reformation (1996). For Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, see his brief article, “Divine Attributes in the Qur’an: Some Poetic Aspects,” in Islam and Modernity, edited by John Cooper et al. (1998). Al-Ghazali’s quote is from Zakaria’s Appendix 1, page 303.

  For more on naskh see Ahmad Von Denffer, Ulum al-Qur’an: An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an (1983). There are scholars who reject the concept of naskh altogether; see Ahmad Hasan, The Early Development of Islamic Jurisprudence (1970), pp. 70–79. However, even Hasan recognizes the importance of historical context in interpreting the Quran.

  7. In the Footsteps of Martyrs

  My narrative of Karbala relies on Syed-Mohsen Naquvi, The Tragedy of Karbala (1992), and Lewis Pelly, The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain, 2 vols. (1879). For the development and function of the Muharram ceremonies in Shi‘ism, see Heinz Halm, Shi’a Islam: From Religion to Revolution (1997); Halm’s quote is from page 41. See also the sociological works on the subject done by Vernon Schubel, Religious Performance in Contemporary Islam (1993), and David Pinault, The Shi‘ites (1992), from which the two testimonials are taken (pp. 103–6). I also recommend Pinault’s The Horse of Karbala (2001). Ehsan Yarshater traces the origins of lamentation rituals in “Ta’ziyeh and Pre-Islamic Mourning Rites” in Ta’ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran, edited by Peter Chelowski (1979).

  There are a few superb introductory texts on Shi‘ism, including the previously cited Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi’i Islam (1985), and S. Husain M. Jafri, The Origins and Early Development of Shi’a Islam (1979). An English translation of Tabataba‘i’s work, Shi‘ite Islam, by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1977) is available. For Shi‘ite conceptions of Shariah, see Hossein Modarressi, An Introduction to Shi’i Law (1984). The concept of the “pre-existent Imam” is discussed in great detail in Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide in Early Shi‘ism (1994). For the Shi‘ite view of the Quran, see Tabataba‘i, The Qur’an in Islam (1987). Ja‘far as-Sadiq’s exegesis of the Verse of Light is taken from Helmut Gatje, The Qur’an and Its Exegesis (1976).

  However, very few books deal adequately with the origins and evolution of the Mahdi in Islam. The books most useful to this study include Jassim M. Hussain, The Occultation of the Twelfth Imam (1982), and Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina, Islamic Messianism (1981). Sachedina also deals with the role of the Imam’s deputies in The Just Ruler in Shi‘ite Islam (1988).

  Ibn Khaldun’s seminal history The Muqaddimah is available in complete and abridged English translations by the eminent Islamist Franz Rosenthal. Those interested in an in-depth look at the machinations of the clerical establishment in Iran should see Roy Mottahedeh’s marvelous book The Mantle of the Prophet (1985).

  There are too many general histories of the Iranian Revolution to list, though I recommend Said Amir Arjomand’s The Turban for the Crown (1988) and Charles Kurzman’s The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran (2004). For a more contemporary perspective see Dariush Zaheri, The Iranian Revolution: Then and Now (2000). Sandra Mackey provides a delightful and readable account of Iranian history in The Iranians (1996).

  For more on Khomeinism see Ervand Abrahamian, Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic (1993). For translations of Khomeini’s writings into English see Islamic Government (1979); Islam and Revolution (1981); and A Clarification of Questions (1984). Khomeini’s reinterpretation of Shi‘ism is severely criticized by Mohammad Manzoor Nomani in Khomeini, Iranian, Revolution, and the Shi‘ite Faith (1988). Khomeini’s poem is from Baqer Moin’s biography titled Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah (1999).

  8. Stain Your Prayer Rug with Wine

  There are a number of exquisite English translations of Nizami’s The Legend of Layla and Majnun, including Colin Turner’s (1970), R. Gelpke’s (1966), and James Atkinson’s lovely verse rendition (1968). Mine is a loose combination of the three along with my own translation of the Persian text. See also the critical analysis of the poem by Ali Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Layli and Majnun: Love, Madness and Mystic Longing in Nizami’s Epic Romance (2003). For a discussion of the early development of Sufism I suggest Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, The Elements of Sufism (1990) and Julian Baldick, Mystical Islam (1989). Baldick provides a useful analysis of the various religious and cultural influences on Sufism and also explores the meanings of the term. R. A. Nicholson’s texts include The Mystics of Islam (1914) and Studies in Islamic Mysticism (1921). Two of Idris Shah’s many invaluable texts on Sufism are The Sufis (1964) and The Way of the Sufi (1969). See also Martin Lings, What Is Sufism? (1993); Inayat Khan, The Unity of Religious Ideals (1929); Ian Richard Netton, Sufi Ritual (2000); Nasrollah Pourjavady and Peter Wilson, Kings of Love (1978); J. Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (1971); Carl Ernst,
Teachings of Sufism (1999); and Titus Burckhardt, An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine (1976).

  For the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rafa’i ash-Shadhili, see his Music of the Soul (1994). The historical and theological relationship between Shi‘ism and Sufism is outlined in Kamil M. al-Shaibi, Sufism and Shi‘ism (1991). Finally, there exists a helpful though not easily digested series of Sufi Essays by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1972).

  Al-Ghazali’s The Alchemy of Happiness is translated by Claud Field (1980), while The Niche of Lights is translated by David Buchman (1998). For more on al-Ghazali’s philosophy see Montgomery Watt, The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1953). Al-Hujwiri’s The Revelation of the Mystery is translated by Reynold Nicholson (1911). Without question the best translation of Farid ad-Din Attar’s The Conference of the Birds is by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (1984). The Persian scholar and Sufi Javad Nurbakhsh delves into the relationship between teacher and taught in his short tract Master and Disciple in Sufism (1977). On the stations along the Way, see Shaykh Abd al-Khaliq al-Shabrawi, The Degrees of the Soul (1997), and Abu’l Qasim al-Qushayri, Sufi Book of Spiritual Ascent, translated by Rabia Harris (1997). Al-Hallaj’s Kitab al-Tawasin is available only in a French translation by the great scholar of Sufism, Louis Massignon (1913). Massignon’s Essay on the Origins of the Technical Language of Islamic Mysticism (1997) is a helpful tool for those students already familiar with the rudiments of Sufism.

  The concept of monism in Sufism is discussed at length by Molana Salaheddin Ali Nader Shah Angha in The Fragrance of Sufism (1996). Ibn al-Arabi’s Fusus al-Hikam is available in English as The Wisdom of the Prophets (1975). For more on Rabia and other Sufi women, see Camille Adams Helminski, Women of Sufism (2003), and Margaret Smith, Rabi’a the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam (1928). Rabia’s poems are nicely collected and translated by Charles Upton in Doorkeeper of the Heart: Versions of Rabi’a (1988).