Between Muslim & Jew – The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam (Princeton Legacy Library) - Hardcover

Wasserstrom, Steven M

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691034559 ISBN 13: 9780691034553

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1995

Synopsis

This text undertakes a detailed analysis of the "creative symbiosis" that existed between Jewish and Muslim religious thought in the 8th to 10th centuries, bringing the disciplinary approaches of religious studies to bear on questions that have previously been examined by historians and by specialists in Judaism and Islam. The book's thematic approach provides an exmaple of how difficult questions of influence might be opened up for broader examination. In Part I, "Trajectories", the author explores early Jewish-Muslim interactions, studying such areas as messianism, professions, authority and class structure and showing how they were reshaped during the first centuries of Islam. Part II "Constructions", looks at influences of Judaism on the development of the emerging Shi'ite community. This is tied to the wider issue of how early Muslims conceptualized "the Jew". In Part III, "Intimacies", the author tackles the complex "esoteric symbiosis" between Muslim and Jewish theologies. An investigation of the milieu in which Jews and Muslims interacted sheds new light on their shared religious imaginings. Throughout, Wasserstrom expands on the work of social and political historians to include symbolic and conceptual aspects of interreligious symbiosis.

About this title

About the Author

Steven M. Wasserstrom is Moe and Izetta Tonkon Associate Professor of Judaic Studies and the Humanities at Reed College.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691034559
• ISBN 13: 9780691034553
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 308