Abstract
Muslim heresiographers present Ibn al-Rfwandi (3rd/9th cent.) as a heretic who denied the phenomenon of prophecy. In modern scholarship some doubts have been raised concerning the validity of this negative image of Ibn al-Rawandi. The present study is an attempt to reexamine the sources on Ibn al-Rawandi and his Kitab al-Zumurrud. In particular, it offers an analysis of the fragments relating to the discussion of the mubahala verse in the K. al-Zumurrud. This analysis shows that the K. al-Zumurrud was written as a dialogue with the Manichaean Abu 'Isa al-Warraq, a dialogue in which Ibn al-Rawandi took the role of the defender of the possibility of prophecy. Nevertheless, it is argued, Ibn al-Rawandi was indeed a heretic who denied the possibility of prophecy, and the K. al-Zumurrud was written in order to expound his heretical views.
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