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The Messiah
and his prophet. The beginning of Islam volume I, p, - – volume II, p, - |
Studia
Arabica 1-2, series directed by Marie-Thérèse URVOY – author : Edouard-M. GALLEZ |
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Vol. I : From
Qumrân to Muhammad, Part 1 :
The «
essenian » file : a wood you can’t see for
the trees
Part 2 :
Origin and elaboration of the
messianistic ideology Vol. II
: From the Muhammad of the
Caliphs to the Muhammad of history : Part 3 + appendixes and indexes |
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This book was originally a thesis for a doctorate in Theology / History
of Religions (Strasbourg University II, The general title, that this study
throws light on, reflects the mystery which seems to surround the origins of
Islam. |
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after the supposed facts –, Muhammad
is said to have been brought up in Arabian surroundings that had mysteriously
remained pagan, as if he had not lived in the 7th Century AD but BC, and as if his tribe of
merchants had learnt nothing from the Jews and the Christians, whom it had met
regularly for a long time, at the very least for commercial reasons. Moreover,
according to this discourse, he suddenly professed himself a prophet, referring
to a Revelation received from God –
but nobody could have understood him since they were all supposed to be
polytheists, having no idea whatever of God ! What does all that
mean ? What is the reason for those apparent inconsistencies ?
During the last thirty years in
particular, studies have thrown light on various aspects of these questions,
but few researchers surmised that the answers in their respective fields were
convergent because theses fields were too isolated from one another. True,
there was a double difficulty to overcome : on the one hand, research had
to grasp and analyse the period of history before
Muhammad was born – which led to
reinvestigate the file of the Dead Sea Scrolls (erroneously called « of
Qumrân » or « Essenian ») as well as the studies concerning what
was considered as « deviating Judaism » (in fact the nazarean drift of early Judeo-christianity).
On the other hand, regarding the Koran after
Muhammad, it was essential to proceed
to a serious exegesis of its text, beyond its obscurities and other apparent
difficulties (that’s why the study had to quote or examine nearly 500 Koranic verses).
It thus appeared that, in the 7th century, what was not yet called
« Islam » was deeply rooted
in Judaism and Christianity, not directly though : through the drift of
some Judeo-christian circles of the second generation, that had transformed
biblical messianism into a political ideology of salvation – they were waiting
for the second coming of the Messiah inasmuch as he would dominate the earth,
submitting it to power of God i.e.
especially of His faithful.
In spite of the difficulties or the
misleading interpretations of a number of scrolls and archaeological remains –
particularly those of the Dead Sea –, it is possible for the historian to
follow this messianic thought which took shape in the 2d century BC, which appeared as a system of
thought at the end of the 1st century AD, and, at the end of the 6th century, which gave birth to the short-lived
Judeo-arabic Community which was the cradle of Islam. The research also shows
why and how, later on, the Koranic text and the Islamic comment took shape,
under the authority of the Caliphs of Damascus. So, this study takes into
account the diverse files, while it is bound to be developed in the future and
improved on points of detail ; no other approach is known to offer such a
global outlook – except of course for the Islamic discourse.
As a reminder, the latter essentially took shape
during the 8th century (Muhammad going up to Heaven, catching
sight of the Koran, having it
dictated by Angel Gabriel, and so on). Let us also point out that the only sure
and
precise datum concerning his life is the attempt he made to conquer the Holy
Land in 629. The standard books and articles hardly ever
mention that : from the point of view of the conventional discourse, what
was Muhammad doing on the way to Jerusalem
– a city towards which he himself used
to turn in order to pray –, when he was supposed to be only preoccupied with seizing Mecca ?
Indexes and cross references (to the text or to
the 1649 notes) make it possible to pass from one volume to the other.
Confronting available texts (Jewish, Islamic or otherwise), archaeological or
exegetical data et cetera opens out
new tracks which are necessary nowadays, away from religious or political
passions.
www.lemessieetsonprophete.com