Jonathan A.C. BrownMisquoting Muhammad
The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy
Jonathan A.C. Brown is Professor and Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is the author of Slavery & Islam, Misquoting Muhammad and Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World.
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Notes on dates, transliteration, abbreviations and citations
1 The Problem(s) with Islam
A world full of God
Taking Islamic scripture and its interpreters seriously
2 A Map of the Islamic Interpretive Tradition
The word of God, the teachings of His Prophet and the mind of man
Obey God and obey His Messenger
The beginnings of the Islamic interpretive tradition
Abu Hanifa and the Partisans of Reason
Malik and the authority of custom
The power of reason: the Greek legacy and Islamic theology
Shafi'i and the beginnings of Sunni Islam
The collection and criticism of Hadiths
Putting reason in its place in Sunni theology and law
The great convergence of Sunni Islam
Legal theory and its discontents
Sufism and inspiration from God
The iconoclasts and Islamic revival
Twilight of an era
3 The Fragile Truth of Scripture
A crisis of confidence
Canons and reading scripture with charity
The turning over of an era
Reading scripture so it's true
The Islamic science of epistemology and interpretation (Usul al-Fiqh)
The language of God and the rhetoric of His Prophet
The Qur'an: valid for all times and places
Hadiths and interpreting the life of the Prophet
Changing times and the reasons behind scriptural law
The interaction of the Qur'an and Hadiths in time
Into the weeds: the case of raising one's hands in prayer
The summer of the liberal age
4 Clinging to the Canon in a Ruptured World
Upstarts at the end of time
The treason of interpretation
Heresy acceptable: ruptures in canonical communities
Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them: jihad and (re)interpreting scripture
Women cannot lead: historicizing scripture versus God's inscrutable law
Sex with little girls: interpreting scripture amid changing norms
The ulama, the state and Shariah authenticity without scripture
The court must not be political - morality and truth in a ruptured world
5 Muslim Martin Luthers and the Paradox of Tradition
The paradox of interpretive control
The rule of interpretation in the conflict between Sunni and Shiite Islam
Tradition as governor, scripture as subject
Killing one's children: tradition betraying scripture
Reconsidering the penalty for apostasy: tradition redeeming scripture
Women leading prayer: should scripture trump tradition?
The 'Qur'an Only' movement
No escaping tradition
The price of reformation
The guide of tradition: a necessary but thankless job
6 Lying about the Prophet of God
The truth, what's that?
Noble Lies and profound truths
The ulama as guardians
Appealing to the flesh: using unreliable Hadiths in Sunni Islam
A familiar habit: assisting truth in Western scriptur
