Stefan Sperl

Scripture and Modernity: Editorial Preface

Religious scripture in all cultures where it exists is habitually seen as the repository of Truth. It often explicitly claims this distinction for itself and offers explanations, instructions and promises which those who are “of the truth” – namely its followers – are encouraged to accept and make their own. A closer look at the exegetical traditions spawned by religious scripture in any of the great cultures shows, however, that the truth scripture purports to bring is far from easy to circumscribe. In fact, the ultimate elusiveness of the full and true meaning of scripture often becomes an article of faith in itself. With respect to the Quran, for instance, the elucidation of the first sura alone would, according to a saying attributed to the Caliph ‘Alī, require seventy camel loads of commentary.

Man's "hollow core": ethics and aesthetics in hadith literature and classical Arabic adab

Classical Arabic Ḥadīth literature is largely composed of micro-narratives recording the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muḥammad. This study seeks to examine their literary form by focusing on selected examples listed in the canonical Ḥadīth compendia under the heading of adab , a term which may be rendered here as “practical ethics” but which is also commonly used to designate classical Arabic belles-lettres . While the latter is a type of literature quite distinct from the literature of Ḥadīth the texts here studied point to a certain interface between them. The ethical dimension of adab as it appears in Ḥadīth is examined further in the light of Haydon Whites theory on the relation between narrativity and law. Contrasting the micro-narrative of Ḥadīth with the “macro-narrative” of the epic provides further insight into its approach to adab and serves to highlight its distinct literary and religious aesthetic.