A Critical Study on Patricia Crone’s Views as a Revisionist

Subject Areas : The Journal of Islamic History and Civilisation

Sepideh Nosrati ¹ , Ghorban Elmi ² , naser gozashteh ³

1 - Ph.D in Comparative Religions and Mysticism, Tehran University, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Faculty Member of the Encyclopedia Islamica Foundation, Tehran, Iran
2 - Associate Professor of Religions and Mysticism, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor of Religions and Mysticism, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2017-01-16 Accepted : 2017-04-17 Published : 2017-08-23

Keywords: Patricia Crone, Revisionism, Hadjarism, Meccan Trade, Islamic studies,

Abstract :

Patricia Crone’s views as a revisionist have profoundly influenced on Islamic studies, particularly on historical investigations of early Islam. Crone, influenced by the former critical studies, questioned the validity of traditional Islamic sources and sought to find the most important historical factors such as the collecting of Qur’an, Muhammad's life and the association of Islam with other religions based on non-Islamic tradition. Reviewing Crone’s sources and methods and inspecting her loyalty to the methods of critical study as well as the results of adopting this approach, shows that her reconstruction of the history of early Islam is based on sources and claims that their accuracy, originality and authenticity cannot be proven and therefore her views are historically in doubt. References Cook, Michael, Muhammad, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1983. Crone, Patricia, “Zindigī-nāma-yi Khūdniwisht”, Trans. Masoud Jafari Jazi, Bukhārā, Vol.18, No.108, Mihr & Ābān 1394/ September & October 2015. Crone, Patricia, Cook, Michael, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1980. Idem, Roman Provincial and Islamic Law, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002. Idem, Slaves on Horses: the Evolution of the Islamic Polity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003. Idem, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, New Jersey, Gorgias Press, 2004. Idem, “What do we actually know about Mohammed?”, retrieved from:https://www.opendemocracy.net/faith-urope_islam/mohammed_3866.jsp Donner, Fred M., Muhammad and the believers, Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010. Idem, “Review of Hagarism”, Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, V.40 2006. DSB (Dictionary of Scientific Biography), s.v. “Māshā’allāh”, by: David Pinger, New York, Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1981. Holmberg, Bo, “Hagarism Revisited”, in: Verbum et calamu, Semitic and Related Studies in Honour of the Sixtieth Birthday of Professor Tapani Harviainen, Studia Orientalia 99, ed. by Juusola, Hannu; Laulainen, Juha and Palva, HeikkI, Helsinki: The Finnish Oriental Society, 2004. Hoyland, Robert G., Seeing Islam as Others saw it: a Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam, Princeton, New Jersey, the Darwin Press, 1997. Ibid, “Writing the biography of the Prophet Muhammad: Problems and Solutions”, History Compass, V.5 (8 February 2007). Humphreys, R. Stephen, Islamic History, London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, 1995. Liaquat Ali Khan, “Hagarism: The Story of a Book Written by Infidels for Infidels”, retrieved from: http://archive.thedailystar.net/2006/04/28/d60428020635.htm Mazor, Amir, “The Kitab futuh al-sham of al-Qudamias a Case Study for the Transmission of Traditions about the Conquest of Syria”, Der Islam, 84 (2008).   Nevo, Yehuda D., “Towards a Prehistory of Islam”, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol.17, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1994. Peters, F. E., Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, New York, State of University of New York Press, 1994. Rippin, Andrew, “Literary Analysis of Qur’an, Tafsīr, and Sīra: the Methodologies of John Wansbrough”, in: Approaches to Islam in its Religious Studies, ed. by: R. C. Martin, Tuscon, University of Arizona Press, 2001. Robinson, Chase F., “Patricia Crone and the End of Orientalism”, in: Islamic cultures, Islamic contexts, ed. by: Behnam Sadeghi, Asad Q. Ahmed, Adam Silverstein, Robert Hoyland, in: Islamic History and Civilization, vol. 114, Leiden: Brill, 2015. Robinson, Neal, Discovering the Qur’an: A contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, London, SCM Press, 2003. Rubin, Uri, “Meccan Trade and Quranic Exegesis (Quran 2:198)”, BSOAS, 53 (1990). Saḥḥāb, Fiktūr, Iylāf-i Ḳuraysh Riḥla al- Shshita wa- l- Ṣṣayf, Beirut, Kumbiyū nashr wa al- Markaz al- Thaḳāfa al- ʿArabī, 1992 AD/ 1412 AH. Schoeler, Gregor, Charakter und Authentie der Muslimischen Überlieferung über das Leben Mohammeds, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1996. (Translated and revised by Uwe Vagelpohl, and edited by James Montgomery as The Biography of Muhammad: Nature and Authenticity, New York, Routledge, 2011). Serjeant, Robert Bertram, “Review of Hagarism by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook”, in: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1978. Idem, "Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam: Misconceptions and Flawed Polemics", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol.110, no.3 (Jul - Sep, 1990). Thompson, Thomas, The History of the Patriarchal Narratives: the Quest for the Historical Abraham, Berlin and New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1974. Tom Holland’s Obsession with Islam’s Origins: a Critical Response, http://thedebateinitiative.com Van Ess, Josef, “The Making of Islam”, Times Literary Supplement, 8 September 1978, cited from: Seeing Islam as Others Saw it: a Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on early Islam, Princeton, New Jersey, the Darwin Press, 1997. Waines, David, An Introduction to Islam, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995. Wansbrough, John, The Sectarian Milieu, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1978a. Idem, “Patricia Crone and Michael Cook: Hagarism: the Making of the Islamic World. ix, 268 pp. Cambridge, etc.: Cambridge University Press, 1977”, in: BSOAS, vol. 41 (XLI), no.1, 1978b; Idem, Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation, foreword, translation and expanded notes by: Andrew Rippin, New York, Prometheus Books, 2004. Watt, W. Montgomery, Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford, Oxford University Press, reprinted in Pakistan, Karachi, Moiez Press, 1979.                            

References:

کتابشناسى

 سحّاب، فکتور، ایلاف قریش رحلة الشتاء و الصیف، بیروت، کمبیونشر و المرکز الثقافی العربی، 1992م.

 کرون، پاتریشیا، «زندگی‌نامه خودنوشت»، ترجمه مسعود جعفری جزی، بخارا، سال هجدهم، شماره 108، مهر و آبان 1394ش.

Cook, Michael, Muhammad, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1983.

Crone, Patricia, Cook, Michael, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1980.

Idem, Roman Provincial and Islamic Law, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Idem, Slaves on Horses: the Evolution of the Islamic Polity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Idem, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, New Jersey, Gorgias Press, 2004.

Idem, “What do we actually know about Mohammed?”, retrieved from:https://www.opendemocracy.net/faith-urope_islam/mohammed_3866.jsp

Donner, Fred M., Muhammad and the believers, Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010.

Idem, “Review of Hagarism”, Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, V.40 2006.

DSB (Dictionary of Scientific Biography), s.v. “Māshā’allāh”, by: David Pinger, New York, Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1981.

Holmberg, Bo, “Hagarism Revisited”, in: Verbum et calamu, Semitic and Related Studies in Honour of the Sixtieth Birthday of Professor Tapani Harviainen, Studia Orientalia 99, ed. by Juusola, Hannu; Laulainen, Juha and Palva, HeikkI, Helsinki: The Finnish Oriental Society, 2004.

Hoyland, Robert G., Seeing Islam as Others saw it: a Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam, Princeton, New Jersey, the Darwin Press, 1997.

Ibid, “Writing the biography of the Prophet Muhammad: Problems and Solutions”, History Compass, V.5 (8 February 2007).

Humphreys, R. Stephen, Islamic History, London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd, 1995.

Liaquat Ali Khan, “Hagarism: The Story of a Book Written by Infidels for Infidels”, retrieved from:

http://archive.thedailystar.net/2006/04/28/d60428020635.htm

Mazor, Amir, “The Kitab futuh al-sham of al-Qudamias a Case Study for the Transmission of Traditions about the Conquest of Syria”, Der Islam, 84 (2008).  

Nevo, Yehuda D., “Towards a Prehistory of Islam”, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol.17, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1994.

Peters, F. E., Muhammad and the Origins of Islam, New York, State of University of New York Press, 1994.

Rippin, Andrew, “Literary Analysis of Qur’an, Tafsīr, and Sīra: the Methodologies of John Wansbrough”, in: Approaches to Islam in its Religious Studies, ed. by: R. C. Martin, Tuscon, University of Arizona Press, 2001.

Robinson, Chase F., “Patricia Crone and the End of Orientalism”, in: Islamic cultures, Islamic contexts, ed. by: Behnam Sadeghi, Asad Q. Ahmed, Adam Silverstein, Robert Hoyland, in: Islamic History and Civilization, vol. 114, Leiden: Brill, 2015.

Robinson, Neal, Discovering the Qur’an: A contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, London, SCM Press, 2003.

Rubin, Uri, “Meccan Trade and Quranic Exegesis (Quran 2:198)”, BSOAS, 53 (1990).

Schoeler, Gregor, Charakter und Authentie der Muslimischen Überlieferung über das Leben Mohammeds, Berlin, De Gruyter, 1996. (Translated and revised by Uwe Vagelpohl, and edited by James Montgomery as The Biography of Muhammad: Nature and Authenticity, New York, Routledge, 2011).

Serjeant, Robert Bertram, “Review of Hagarism by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook”, in: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1978.

Idem, "Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam: Misconceptions and Flawed Polemics", Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol.110, no.3 (Jul - Sep, 1990).

Thompson, Thomas, The History of the Patriarchal Narratives: the Quest for the Historical Abraham, Berlin and New York, Walter de Gruyter, 1974.

Tom Holland’s Obsession with Islam’s Origins: a Critical Response, http://thedebateinitiative.com

Van Ess, Josef, “The Making of Islam”, Times Literary Supplement, 8 September 1978, cited from: Seeing Islam as Others Saw it: a Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on early Islam, Princeton, New Jersey, the Darwin Press, 1997.

Waines, David, An Introduction to Islam, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Wansbrough, John, The Sectarian Milieu, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1978a.

Idem, “Patricia Crone and Michael Cook: Hagarism: the Making of the Islamic World. ix, 268 pp. Cambridge, etc.: Cambridge University Press, 1977”, in: BSOAS, vol. 41 (XLI), no.1, 1978b;

Idem, Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation, foreword, translation and expanded notes by: Andrew Rippin, New York, Prometheus Books, 2004.

Watt, W. Montgomery, Muhammad at Mecca, Oxford, Oxford University Press, reprinted in Pakistan, Karachi, Moiez Press, 1979.

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[1]. تاریخ دریافت: 27/10/1395، تاریخ پذیرش: 28/1/1396

[2]. رایانامه (مسؤول مکاتبات): [e-mail]

[3]. رایانامه: [e-mail]

[4]. Patricia Crone

[5]. Ignaz Goldziher

[6]. Joseph Schacht

[7]‌ .‌ Rippin, idem, 156; Hoyland, “Writing the biography”, 582-583; Holmberg, 57.

[8]. Nabia Abbott

[9]. Fuat Sezgin

[10]. Emikam Elad

[11]. Hugh Kennedy

[12]. Montgomery Watt

[13]. Gautier Juynboll

[14]. Harald Motzki

[15]. Mazor, 17-18; Schoeler, 8-9, Holmberg, 57-58.

[16]. literary qualities

[17]. Rippin, “Literary analysis”, 152.

[18].Thompson, 328; Roppin, idem, 155.

[19]. Wansbrough, TheSectarianMilieu, 119; Crone, Meccantrade, 204; Nevo, 108.

[20]. Quranic studies

[21]. c.f. Wansbrough, 1-52; Rippin, idem, 157.

[22]. Hagarism: the Making of the Islamic world 

[23]. Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam

[24]. Roman Provincial and Islamic Law: the Origins of the Islamic Patronate

[25]. Slaves on Horses: the Evolution of the Islamic Polity

[26]. God’s Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam

[27]. Ch. Robinson, 597-598.

[28] . c.f. Cook, Muhammad, 73; Crone, idem, 15; Neal Robinson, 47; Schoeler, 5.

[29]. Crone, idem, 15-16.

[30]. Crone, Slaves on Horses, 11; Schoeler, 5.

[31]. Crone and Cook, 3-38.

[32]. Doctorina Jacobi/ Teachings of Jacob

[33]. Cartage

[34]. Syrian chronicle

[35]. Chronica Minora

[36]. Jacob of Edessa

[37]. Michael the Syrian

[38]. Chronique de Michel le Syrien

[39]. Abulfathi Annales Samaritani

[40]. Fertile Crescent

[41]. docetist

[42]. Pentateuch

[43]. Crone and Cook, 19-20.

[44]. Shechem

[45]. patriarch

[46]. Ibid, 21-26.

[47]. Ibid, 26-28.

[48]. History of Heraclius

[49]. bishop Sebeos

[50]. Histoire d’Héraclius

[51]. Lettre de Jacques d’Edesse sur la généalogie de la sainte Vierge

[52]. apocalypse

[53].Secrets of Rabbi Simon ben Yohay

[54]. Ishmaelites

[55]. c.f. Crone, 1980, pp.3, 6.

[56]. Wansbrough, The sectarian milieu, 58-59; ibid, Quranic Studies, 160-163; Crone and Cook, 3, 29-34; c.f. Rippin, idem, 154.

[57]. Crone and Cook, 3-38; N. Robinson, 49-51; Holmberg, 59-60.

[58]. c.f. Watt, 30-33; Peters, 57-65, 68-75.

[59]. Historia ecclesiastica

[60]. Sozomen

[61]. Crone, Meccan trade, 134, 170-199.

[62]. Idem, 45,241.

[63]. c.f. Watt, 72-76.

[64]. c.f. Watt, 72-76.

[65]. Crone, Meccan Trade, 170-199.

[66]. صافات، 133-137؛ انبیاء، 21؛ هود، 74-82؛ حجر، 71؛ ذاریات، 35-36؛ قاموس کتاب مقدس، ذیل «سدوم» و «عموره».

[67]. Crone, “What do we actually know about Mohammed?”

[68]. Liaquat Ali Khan

[69]. کرون، «زندگی‌نامۀ خودنوشت»، 56.

[70]. Humphreys, 84-85.

[71]. N. Robinson, 56, 59.

[72]. Waines, 273-274; Ch. Robinson, 603; N. Robinson, 47.

[73]. Holmberg, 58; N. Robinson, 51.

[74]. Rippin, idem, 152.

[75]. c.f. Hoyland, Seeing Islam, 124-128.

[76]. c.f. Ibid, 55-61.

[77]. c.f. Ibid, 162-163.

[78]. Wansbrough, The sectarian milieu, 116-117.

[79]. Van Ess, 998.

[80]. Serjeant, Review of Hagarism, 76-78.

[81]. Wansbrough, “Patricia Crone and Michael Cook: Hagarism”, 155-156.

[82]. Ch. Robinson, 603.

[83]. historiography of minority

[84]. Rolinson, 603.

[85]. Schoeler, 13.

[86]. Seeing Islam as others Saw It: a Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam

[87]. c. f. Hoyland, Seeing Islam, 591-598.

[88]. c.f. Crone and Cook, 13,18.

[89]. Wansbrough, 155-156.

[90]. Crone and Cook, 5, 34.

[91]. Idem, 155-156.

[92]. The astrological history of Māshā’allāh, c.f. DBS. 9/160.

احتمالا ترجمه‌ای است از کتاب فی القرانات و الادیان و الملل

[93]. N. Robinson, 54.

[94]. c.f. Crone, Meccan trade.

[95]. c.f. Crone, Meccan trade, 21-24.

[96]. Tom Holland’s obsession with Islam’s origins: a critical response, http://thedebateinitiative.com

[97]. Donner, Muhammad, 241.

[98]. سحّاب، 421-432؛ Rubin, 426-427 .

[99]. Serjeant, “Meccan trade”, 472-486.