Seeing Islam as Others Saw It
Seeing Islam as Others Saw It |
Author(s) |
Robert G. Hoyland |
Country |
United States |
Language |
English |
Series |
Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam |
Subject(s) |
Islamic Empire--History--622-661--Historiography.
Islamic Empire--History--661-750--Historiography.
Middle East--Civilization--To 622--Historiography. |
Publisher |
Darwin Press |
Publication date |
1997 |
Media type |
Hardcover |
Pages |
872 |
ISBN |
0878501258 |
OCLC Number |
36884186 |
Dewey Decimal |
939.4 21 |
LC Classification |
DS38.1 .H69 1997 |
Seeing Islam As Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam from the Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam series is a book by scholar of the Middle East Robert G. Hoyland.
The book contains an extensive collection of Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, Latin, Jewish, Persian, and Chinese primary sources written between 620 and 780 AD in the Middle East, which provides a survey of eyewitness accounts of historical events during the formative period of Islam.
The book presents the evidentiary text of over 120 seventh century manuscripts, one of which (the manuscript of Thomas the Presbyter) contains what Hoyland believes is the "first explicit reference to Muhammad in a non-Muslim source:"[1]
- In the year 945, indiction 7, on Friday 7 February (634) at the ninth hour, there was a battle between the Romans and the Arabs of Muhammad (tayyaye d-Mhmt) in Palestine twelve miles east of Gaza. The Romans fled, leaving behind the patrician Bryrdn[2], whom the Arabs killed. Some 4000 poor villagers of Palestine were killed there, Christians, Jews and Samaritans. The Arabs ravaged the whole region.
According to Michael G. Morony, Hoyland emphasizes the parallels between Muslim and non-Muslim accounts of history emphasizing that non-Muslim texts often explain the same history as the Muslim ones even though they were recorded earlier. He concludes "Hoyland's treatment of the materials is judicious, honest, complex, and extremely useful." [3]
Sources
Greek Sources
West Syrian, Coptic and Armenian Sources
East Syrian Sources
Latin Sources
Chinese Sources
- T'ung tien
- The Official T'ang History
- Ts'e-fu yuan-kuei
Apocalypses and Visions
Syriac Texts
- Ps.-Ephraem
- Ps.-Methodius
- The Edessene Ps.-Methodius and John the Little
- Bahira
- Ps.-Ezra
- Copto-Arabic Texts
- Ps.-Shenute
- Ps.-Athanasius
- Samuel of Qalamoun and Pisentius of Qift
- Coptic Daniel, XIV Vision
- Arabic Apocalypse of Peter/Book of the Rolls
Greek Texts
- Ps.-Methodius, Greek Translation
- Greek Daniel, First Vision
- The Vision of Enoch the Just
- Stephen of Alexandria
- The Andreas Salos Apocalypse
Hebrew Texts
Persian Texts
Muslim Arabic Texts
- Signs of the Hour
- `Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and the Mahdi
- Tiberius, Son of Justinian
- An Apocalyptic Chronicle
Martyrologies
Greek Texts
- Sixty Martyrs of Gaza
- George the Black
- A Christian Arab of Sinai
- Peter of Capitolias
- Sixty Pilgrims in Jerusalem
- Elias of Damascus
- Romanus the Neomartyr
- Copto-Arabic Texts
- Menas the Monk
- Thomas, Bishop of Damascus
Armenian Texts
Syriac Texts
- Michael the Sabaite
- `Abd al-Masih al-Najrani al-Ghassani
- A Muslim at Diospolis
Chronicles and Histories
Syriac Texts
- Theophilus of Edessa and the Syriac
- The Zuqnin Chronicler
- The Ehnesh Inscription
- Dionysius of Tellmahre
- The Chronicles of 819 and 846
- Elias of Nisibis
Latin Texts
Greek Texts
Apologies and Disputations
Syriac Texts
- Patriarch John I and an Arab Commander
- A Monk of Beth Hale and an Arab Notable
- Timothy I
- Bahira
- Greek Texts
- John of Damascus
- The Correspondence of Leo III
- and `Umar II
Christian Arabic Texts
- Fi tathlith Allah al-wahid
- Papyrus Schott Reinhard no. 438
- Masa'il wa-ajwiba `aqliya wa-ilahiya
Jewish Texts
Persian Texts
Latin Texts
- Istoria de Mahomet
- Tultusceptru de libro domni Metobii
- John the Stylite
- Abjuration
- Ms. Mingana 184
References and notes
- ^ Hoyland, Seeing Islam As Others Saw It, p. 120
- ^ The name "Bryrdn" is unclear; see, e.g., "Biblical and Near Eastern essays: studies in honour of Kevin J. Cathcart", ISBN 0826466907, p. 283
- ^ Michael G. Morony. International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3. (Aug., 1999), pp. 452-453
See also
Islamic studies by author