Judaism and Islam in the Middle Ages

Catalog description

The medieval encounter between Judaism and Islam had a profound impact on the identity and development of both traditions. This course explores the religious dimensions of this encounter, rather than the broad cultural connections between Muslims and Jews in Islamicate society. On the one hand, the historical encounter with Arabian Jewry left a clear imprint in the Qur’an and early Islamic tradition. Out of this encounter, Judaism came to occupy an important place in Islamic legal and theological discourse. On the other hand, the rise of Islam both as political power and religious rival inaugurated a rich period of engagement that ranged from messianic anticipation and theological accommodation to legal dispute over the status of Islam and polemical discourse on the prophet and scripture of Islam.