Anthropomorphism in Islam
The Challenge of Traditionalism (700-1350)
More than any other issue in Islamic theology, anthropomorphism (tashbih) stood at the heart of many theological debates, and was mostly discussed within the circles of traditionalist Islam. The way a scholar interpreted the anthropomorphic descriptions of God in the Qur’an or the Hadith (for instance, God’s hand, God’s laughter or God’s sitting on the heavenly throne) often reflected his political and social stature, as well as his theological affinity. This book presents an in-depth literary analysis of the textual and non-textual elements of aḥadith al-ṣifat – the traditions that depict God and His attributes in an anthropomorphic language. It goes on to discuss the inner controversies in the prominent traditionalistic learning centres of the Islamic world regarding the way to understand and interpret these anthropomorphic traditions. Through a close, contextualized, and interdisciplinary reading in Hadith compilations, theological treatises, and historical sources, this book offers an evaluation and understanding of the traditionalistic endeavours to define anthropomorphism in the most crucial and indeed most formative period of Islamic thought.
Key Features- Includes case studies of anthropomorphic traditions, tribal heritage and lore, the Hashwiyya and the traditionalists
- Explores non-textual elements in the anthropomorphic traditions (including body-gestures and mimicry)
- Studies rhetorical devices and rationalized argumentations in the writings of traditionalist theologians
- Provides the first in-depth literary and linguistic analysis of the anthropomorphic material in the Hadith
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Narrator and the Narrative: A Literary Analysis of Ahādīth al-sifāt Introduction I. A Preliminary Remark on Hadith and NarratologyII. The Framing NarrativeIII. The Embedded Narrative IV. The Narrator and His AudienceV. The Motives of the Narrator VI. The Narrator’s Role
Chapter 2: A Tale of Two Narrators: Some Historical, Geographical, and Cultural Considerations IntroductionI. Two Different Narrators II. The Proliferation of the Abu Razin Narrative III. Two Narrators and One Narrative: The Tribal Connection IV. The Proliferation of the Jarir NarrativeV. The Jarir Narrative and the Miḥna
Chapter 3: Gestures and Aḥādīth al-Ṣifāt IntroductionI. The Prophet’s Gestures: Iconic, Metaphoric, and Deictic II. ‘The Instance of Narrating’: The Narrator and His Audience III. The Performing Trend IV. The Ultimate Performer of Aḥādīth al-Ṣifāt V. The Predicament of the Traditionalists
Chapter 4: The Diversified Solution to the Challenge of Islamic Traditionalism: Aḥādīth al-Ṣifāt and Bi-Lā Kayfa IntroductionI. Drawing the Borderlines of the Traditionalistic Discourse II. The Earliest DebateIII. Transmission, Censorship, and EuphemismsIV. The All-Inclusive Tanzīh: The Ashʿarite Solution V. Expanding the Borders of the Traditionalistic Discourse
Chapter 5: Iconic Books and Gestures: Aḥādīth al-Ṣifāt in the Public SphereIntroductionI. The Iconicity of the Qadiri CreedII. The Three Dimensions of Kitāb al-Tawḥīd III. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s Response to Kitāb al-Tawḥīd IV. Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Ḥamawiyya al-Kubrā and Two Iconic Gestures V. Iconic Gestures and the Hashwiyya
Final Remarks and ConclusionsAppendix I: Full Translations of Lengthy Traditions 1. A Marginal Version of Ḥadīth al-Nuzūl 2. The Lengthy Ḥadīth al-Ruʼya3. The Lengthy Ḥadīth Fidāʼ al-Muʼmin from Ibn ʿAsakir’s Tārīkh DimashqAppendix II: Full Translation of ‘the Ḥadīth of Allegiance’ of Abu Razin Appendix III: Chains of TransmissionAppendix IV: Chains of TransmissionAppendix V: Chains of Transmission
BIBLIOGRAPHYI. Primary SourcesII. Secondary Sources
Livnat Holtzman takes a comprehensive and innovative view on aḥādīth al-ṣifāt during the formative and classical age of Sunnī Islam [...] The primary goal of Holtzman’s book is to reveal the theological debates behind aḥādīth al-ṣifāt, which she pursues with impressive clarity and persuasiveness.
[...] Livnat Holtzman has given us a dense and rich book behind which lays an impressive amount of work. [...] the book sets in motion a variety of approaches that open up different possibilities about how to read and make sense of these traditions. On the whole, it is no small thing.
[A] pioneering literary and theoretical study of anthropomorphic hadith [...] Holtzman’s work convincingly captures a distinct marker of Hanbali theology that greatly helps us to grasp what sets it apart from the rest of Sunni theology.
An informative and engaging study of the Islamic tradition’s attempts to grapple with conceptions of anthropomorphism across a range of historical settings… it represents a formidable survey of a complex topic that has for centuries defined classical Islamic theological discourses.
