John Wansbrough
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John Edward Wansbrough (February 19, 1928 – June 10, 2002) was an American historian and leading figure in the study of the origins of Islam and the Qur'an who taught at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies. He has been described as one of the most innovative thinkers in the field of Islamic Studies.[1]
Born in Peoria, Illinois, Wansbrough completed his studies at Harvard University, and spent the rest of his academic career at the SOAS.
Critiquing the traditional accounts of the origins of Islam as historically unreliable and heavily influenced by religious dogma, Wansbrough suggested radically new interpretations very different from the views of both the Muslim orthodoxy and most Western scholars.
He caused a furor in the 1970s when his research on early Islamic manuscripts, including the analysis of the repeated use of monotheistic Judeo-Christian imagery found in the Qur'an led him to posit that the rise of Islam was a mutation of what was originally a Judeo-Christian sect trying to spread in Arab lands. As time evolved the Judeo-Christian scriptures were adapted to an Arab perspective and mutated into what became the Qu'ran which was developed over centuries with contributions from various Arab tribal sources. Wansbrough's research seemed to suggest that a great deal of the traditional history of Islam appeared to be a fabrication of later Arab generations seeking to forge and justify their unique Arabic religious identity. Within this context, the character of Muhammad could be seen as a manufactured myth created to provide the Arab tribes with their own Arab version of the Judeo-Christian prophets.
Wansbrough concluded that the canonization of the text that we today call the Quran, and even the emergence of the concept of “Islam,” probably did not occur till the end of the eighth century, more than 150 years after the death of Muhammad.
Although his work remains controversial to this day, his fresh insights and approaches to the study of Islam continue to inspire scholars.
He died at Montaigu-de-Quercy, France.
[edit] Books by John Wansbrough
- Quranic Studies 1977
This line of research was followed in Egypt by Nasr Abu Zayd but he was expelled from Egypt because of his conclusions about the Qur'an. Similar scholars to Wansbrough include:
[edit] Publications
- Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation (Oxford, 1977)
- The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition Of Islamic Salvation History (Oxford, 1978)
