Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism

Abstract

As the compilers of this dictionary point out, Qur’anic and Islamic viewsof prophecy have been studied largely in isolation, despite the obvious connectionsbetween Islam and the Biblical tradition. Comparative studieshave focused on what Islam has taken, or borrowed, from Biblical sources,often implying that this material has been manipulated for tendentiousmotives.The present dictionary works toward a less polemical comparativestudy of prophecy, investigating the complex relationships between Islamic, Biblical, and other Near Eastern views. The dictionary has beendesigned to examine shared traditions, promote interdisciplinary dialogue,and include a wide range of material not only from the Qur’an andthe Bible, but also from extra-Biblical and extra-Qur’anic texts, withoutclaiming to be comprehensive. Such texts include Rabbinic literature ofmany types; Christian pseudepigrapha, apocrypha, and commentaries;Qur’anic commentary (tafsir), histories, geographies, biographical dictionaries,stories of the prophets (qisas al-anbiya’), and theological discussionsof prophetology (dala’il al-nubuwah).It also includes several extremely useful additions: a general introduction(pp. xxiii-xxxvii), a chronology (pp. xix-xxii), a brief history ofprophecy in the Near East (pp. xxiii-xxxvii), a list of entries (Appendix I:pp. 357-64), a list of prophets (Appendix II: pp. 364-68), a bibliography,and an index. The bibliography, arranged by topic, is extensive andextremely useful for those interested in exploring the topic further (pp.368-480) ...