Lexington Books
Pages: 238
•
Trim: 6½ x 9⅜
978-0-7391-9715-8 • Hardback • December 2014 • $128.00 • (£98.00)
978-0-7391-9716-5 • eBook • December 2014 • $121.50 • (£94.00)
Khaleel Mohammed is professor of religious studies at San Diego State University.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Formative Period
Chapter 3: The Golden Age of Classical Tafsīr: al-‛Aṣr al-Dhahabī
Chapter 4: The Era of the Qur’ānic Supercommentaries
Chapter 5: From Modernity to Late Modernity
Chapter 6: From Flawed to Flawless: The Evolving David of Judaism and Christianity
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Khaleel Mohammed’s book, David in the Muslim Tradition.... helps to reveal the “biblical subtext” of the Qurʾān. Mohammed shows how Muslim interpretations shifted over time from acknowledging David’s sin, to granting it was a minor error, to finally absolving David of any transgression. Mohammed identifies three reasons for this shift in attitude: (1) an increasing skepticism toward material of Jewish and/or Christian origins (isrāʾīlīyyāt); (2) the rise of the doctrine of prophetic inerrancy (ʿiṣma); and (3) the doctrine of the corruption of earlier biblical scriptures (taḥrīf). He demonstrates that Islamic creedal principles and skepticism regarding other sources led to the declining importance of the Bible as a source for Muslim commentators.
— Reading Religion
Perhaps the greatest virtue of Mohammed’s David in the Muslim Tradition is the clarity with which he demonstrates the increasing predominance of theological concerns in Muslim exegetical literature (tafsīr) as he meticulously demarcates the major stages in the evolution of the traditional view of this episode. This approach is valuable because it shows exactly how early commentators’ ambivalence about the possibility that the Qur’an alludes to David committing a serious sin came to be superseded by an insistent denial of any significant wrongdoing at all on his part – a ‘metamorphosis from censure to exculpation’ (4).
— Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
This is the first monograph study of the story of David in Islam. It is a masterful analysis of the image of King David in the Qur’anic exegetical tradition. This is a wonderful addition to the study of biblical figures in Islam, nuanced, sophisticated, and exhaustive. It is also a wonderful read.
— Walid Saleh, University of Toronto
Mohammed engages the broader subject of Islamic exegesis and breaks new ground in offering a detailed analysis of changing Muslim exegesis over time related to a key figure in all three Abrahamic faith traditions. This book will give readers unprecedented insight into the evolution of Muslim exegesis. It will appeal to readers interested in Islamic studies, Jewish studies, Qur’ānic studies, and Biblical studies, providing the depth and clarity needed to understand the complex workings of Muslim exegesis over time.
— Aisha Y. Musa, Colgate University