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Bobzin, Hartmut [German version] A. Definition (CT) In a general sense, the term 'Semitic Studies' refers to the philological study of the Semitic languages, but today more usually to their purely linguistic investigation. Here, as in Indo-European studies, individual languages are studied each in its own right (Arabic Studies, etc.), while their interrelations in lexicology, morphology and syntax are investigated comparatively. Although such Jewish grammarians as Jehūda ibn Quraiš (10th cent.) or Ibn…

1. Entstehung und Tradierung Der K. (arab. qur’ān; »Lesung«, »Vortrag«) ist – nach noch heute überwiegend verbreiteter Ansicht der Muslime – die in arab. Sprache verfasste OffenbarungGottes, die durch Vermittlung des Engels Gabriel (arab. Ǧibrā’īl oder Ǧibrīl) an den ProphetenMohammed (arab. Muḥammad) zwischen den Jahren 610 und 632 (Mohammeds Todesjahr) erging. Die erste redaktionelle Fixierung des geschriebenen Textes (arab. rasm) soll unter dem vierten Kalifen Osman (arab. ῾Uṭmān; reg. 644–656) stattgefunden haben. In der unmittelbaren Folgezeit entstanden …

1. Composition and transmissionAccording to the overwhelmingly prevalent view among Muslims even today, the Quran (Arabic  qur’ān, “reading,” “lecture”) is the revelation of God, written in Arabic, given to the Prophet (Tradition) Mohammed (Arabic  Muḥammad) by the Angel Gabriel (Arabic Ǧibrā’īl or  Ǧibrīl) between 610 and 632 CE, the year of Mohammed’s death. The first editorial version of the written text (Arabic rasm) is said to have been made under the Fourth Caliph, Osman (Arabic  ῾Uṭmān; 644-656). Immediately following this, several styles of recitation (Arabic  qirā…

Bobzin, Hartmut [English version] A. Definition (RWG) Unter S. wird im allgemeineren Sinne die philol., h. meist jedoch im engeren Sinne rein sprachwiss. Erforsch. der semitischen Sprachen verstanden. Ähnlich wie in der Indogermanistik werden dabei sowohl die Einzelsprachen je für sich (Arabistik, etc.) wie auch deren Zusammenhänge in lexikalischer, morphologischer bzw. syntaktischer Hinsicht vergleichend untersucht. Obwohl jüd. Grammatikern wie Jehūda ibn Quraiš (10. Jh.) oder Ibn Bǡrūn (gest. 1128) …

Introduction The Qurʾān refers in various ways to the teachings of the Christians and Jews, which it partially adopts, partially corrects or completely rejects (see christians and christianity; jews and judaism; polemic and polemical language; debate and disputation). Thus it is not surprising that, from the beginning, the Qurʾān also became the object of Christian and Jewish interest. Furthermore, the fact that, for centuries, the polemical debate received the most attention, is not surprising. In the context of the times, this fo…

Translations of the Qurʾān did not have the same significance during the early spread of Islam that, for example, translations of the Bible had during the spread of Christianity. This is connected to the role of Arabs (q.v.) as the original target audience and bearers of Islam, as well as to the increasing importance of the Arabic language in the newly conquered territories. An additional role was played by the conviction of the stylistic inimitability (q.v.) of the Qurʾān. In the Qurʾān itself, its Arabic nature is repeatedly emphasized (cf. q 41:2-3; 12:2; 13:37; 20:113; 39:28; 41:2-3; 42…

[English Version] (Pocock), Edward (8.11.1604 Oxford – 10.9.1691 ebd.), Orientalist. P. studierte Theol. in Oxford und lernte Arab. bei Matthias Pasor und William Bedwell. Nach einem Aufenthalt in Aleppo als anglik. Kaplan der Levant Company (1630–1635) wurde er 1636 erster Inhaber der von W. Laud gestifteten Professur für Arab. in Oxford; 1637–1640 weilte er in Konstantinopel. 1648 erhielt er zusätzlich die Professur für Hebr. Er war maßgeblicher Mitarbeiter an der von B. Walton herausgegebenen Lo…

[German Version] (or Pocock; Nov 8, 1604, Oxford – Sep 10, 1691, Oxford), Orientalist. Pococke studied theology at Oxford, where he learned Arabic from Matthias Pasor and William Bedwell. After a period in Aleppo as Anglican chaplain to the Levant Company (1630–1635), in 1636 he became the first incumbent of the professorship in Arabic at Oxford endowed by W. Laud. From 1637 to 1640 he resided in Constantinople. In 1648 he also became professor of Hebrew. He was a significant contributor to the London Polyglot Bible of B. Walton. His Specimen historiae Arabum (1649, repr. 1806) was eno…

1. AllgemeinZu Beginn der Nz. war der I. in seinen histor. Kerngebieten im Nahen und Mittleren Osten sowie in Nordafrika die Religion der weitaus überwiegenden Mehrheit der Bevölkerung. Dazu war er auch in Süd- und Südostasien bis nach China sowie in Afrika südl. der Sahara im Wachstum begriffen und in Spanien, im Balkan und in den tatarischen Khanaten auch in Europa vertreten. Vor dem Ende der muslim. Herrschaft in Spanien (1492) und vor dem Beginn der europ. Expansion und der christl. Missionen in Amerika, Afrika und Asien besaß der I. damit die größte geogr…

1. Introduction By the dawn of the early modern period, Islam was the religion of the overwhelming majority of the populations of its historic heartlands in the Near and Middle East and North Africa. It was also growing in South and Southeast Asia as far as China, and in sub-Saharan Africa. It was also represented in Europe in Spain, the Balkans, and the Tatar Khanates. Prior to the end of Islamic rule in Spain (1492) and the beginning of European expansion and the Christian mission in the America…

[German Version] I. Origin and Spread – II. Doctrine – III. Islamic Philosophy – IV. Islamic Art (Architecture and Book Art) – V. Islamic Studies – VI. Christianity and Islam – VII. Judaism and Islam – VIII. Islam in Europe – IX. Islam in North America – X. Political Islamism I. Origin and Spread 1. Muḥammad and his message In 569 ce, Muḥammad was born in Mecca, a city with the shrine of the Kaʿba at its center. Mecca enjoyed good relations with the Sasanian Empire and its Arab vassal princes in Ḥīra, but considered itself politically independen…