Full Description
In Ecumenical Community, Hamza M. Zafer explores the language and politics of community-formation in the Qurʾan. Zafer proposes that ecumenism, or the inclusivity of social difference, was a key alliance-building strategy in the western Arabian proto-Muslim communitarian movement (1st/7th century). The Proto-Muslims imagined that their pietistic community—the ummah—transcended but did not efface prior social differences based in class, clan, and custom. In highlighting the inclusive orientation of the Qurʾan's ummah-building program, Zafer provides new insights into the development of early Islam and the period preceding the Arab conquests.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Note on Translation, Transliteration, and Dates
Introduction
1 The Qurʾan as a Historical Text
2 Historical-Material Context
3 The Ecumenical Community
4 The Ummah Proclamation
5 Translation of the Ummah Proclamation (Q. 2:122-152)
1 The Ummah and Collectivity
1 The Communal Meaning
2 The Salvific Community
3 The Prophet-Arbitrator
4 Conclusion
2 The Ummah and Class
1 The Theology of Resources
2 God's Surplus
3 The Acts of Welfare
4 Conclusion
3 The Ummah and Clan
1 The Dissolution of Clans
2 Abraham and the Clan
3 The Assembly of Abraham
4 The Patrimony of Israel
5 Conclusion
4 The Ummah and Custom
1 Supra-Sectarian Solidarity
2 The Altar of Abraham
3 The Dye of God
4 Conclusion
Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Ummah Proclamation
Appendix 2: The Ummah Pact
Appendix 3: The Ummah Surah Sequence
Bibliography
General Index
Index of Quranic Verses
