The Barāhima’s Dilemma: Ibn al-Rāwandī’s ›Kitāb al-Zumurrud‹ and the Epistemological Turn in the Debate on Prophecy

Elizabeth G. Price

Published by De Gruyter 2024

The Barāhima’s Dilemma

Ibn al-Rāwandī’s ›Kitāb al-Zumurrud‹ and the Epistemological Turn in the Debate on Prophecy

Elizabeth G. Price

Volume 13 in the series Islam – Thought, Culture, and Society

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111027203

Overview
Contents

About this book

BRAIS-De Gruyter prize winner 2022

When debating the need for prophets, Muslim theologians frequently cited an objection from a group called the Barāhima – either a prophet conveys what is in accordance with reason, so they would be superfluous, or a prophet conveys what is contrary to reason, so they would be rejected. The Barāhima did not recognise prophecy or revelation, because they claimed that reason alone could guide them on the right path. But who were these Barāhima exactly? Were they Brahmans, as their title would suggest? And how did they become associated with this highly incisive objection to prophecy?

This book traces the genealogy of the Barāhima and explores their profound impact on the evolution of Islamic theology. It also charts the pivotal role that the Kitāb al-Zumurrud played in disseminating the Barāhima’s critiques and in facilitating an epistemological turn in the wider discourse on prophecy (nubuwwa). When faced with the Barāhima, theologians were not only pressed to explain why rational agents required the input of revelation, but to also identify an epistemic gap that only a prophet could fill. A debate about whether humans required prophets thus evolved into a debate about what humans could and could not know by their own means.

Author / Editor information

Elizabeth G. Price, Yale University, New Haven CT, USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Notes on Sources, Translation, and Transliteration Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Abbreviations and Dates Publicly Available Download PDF	XV
Introduction: Who Are the Barāhima? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Section A The Prehistory of the Barāhima’s Dilemma
Chapter One: The Brahmans in the Antique and Late Antique Imagination Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Chapter Two: The Brahmans in Translation: A Survey of the Early ʿAbbāsid Histories, Legends, and Pseudepigrapha Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
Chapter Three: The Brahmans as Ethnographic Subjects: A Survey of Early ʿAbbāsid Travel and Geographical Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
Section B The Maturation of the Barāhima’s Dilemma
Chapter Four: Situating the Barāhima Among the Prophetological Controversies of the Early ʿAbbāsid Period Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Chapter Five: The Epistemological Role of the Barāhima in the Kitāb al- Zumurrud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Section C The Repercussions of the Barāhima’s Dilemma
Chapter Six: The Aftermath of the Kitāb al-Zumurrud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Chapter Seven: The Contradiction Horn: The Bahshamī Defence of the Rationality of Revelation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303
Chapter Eight: The Superfluous Horn: The Bahshamiyya on the Problem of Prophetic Futility Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	359
Conclusion: The Legacy of the Barāhima in Early Islamic Thought Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	402
Appendices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	410
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	419
List of Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	437
List of Appendices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	438
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	439

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of Islamic philosophy, theology and intellectual history, comparative theology and epistemology
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 448
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 1
- Tables: 10
Keywords: Epistemology; polemics; Brahmans; Muʿtazila

eBook

Published: April 22, 2024
ISBN: 9783111027203

Hardcover

Published: April 22, 2024
ISBN: 9783111027128