Two Modern Shi'ite Scholars on Relations between Muslims and non-Muslims

ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIAANALECTA

————— 226 —————

UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIESLEUVEN – PARIS – WALPOLE, MA

2013

ISLAM AND GLOBALISATIONHistorical and Contemporary Perspectives

Proceedings of the 25th Congress of L’Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants

edited by

AGOSTINO CILARDO

CONTENTS

Welcome Addresses

Prof. Dr. Lida VIGANONI, Rector of the University “L’Orientale” XI

Prof. Dr. Silvia NAEF, President of the UEAI, University of Geneva XIII

Prof. Dr. Agostino CILARDO, Dean of the Faculty of Arabic, Islamic and Mediterranean Studies XV

Prof. Dr. Carmela BAFFIONI, Director of the Department of Studies and Researches on Africa and Arab Countries XX

Lectura Magistralis

Prof. Dr. Urbain VERMEULEN, Le cinquantenaire de l’U.E.A.I. Une esquisse historique XXI

HISTORY

HAVEMANN, Axel, Three Recent Controversial Books on Lebanon’s History 3

MACALUSO, Pasquale, Arab Nationalist Propaganda in an International Perspective: The Arab National Office for Public Enlightenment (1934-1939) 11

PELLITTERI, Antonino, Looking into a Text: An Analysis of a Document “Min al-ßaz…’ir al-muÞ…hida il… ðuÞÞ…Þ Bayt All…h al-ðar…m” (1957) of the ßabhat al-ta|r†r al-wa¥an† al-ßaz…’ir† 23

STASOLLA, Maria Giovanna, From Central Asia to Baghdad: A Case Study 41

VIDYASOVA, Maria, Les réformes politiques et mouve-ments intégristes en l’Egypte et la Tunisie. Essai d’analyse comparative 53

ISLAM

BADRY Roswitha, Globalization and Women’s (Political) Rights: Changing Paradigms in the Recent Arab Discourse? 61

DZIEKAN, Marek M., Identitätsdiskurse in der arabischen Welt. Drei Beispiele 77

CONTENTS VIII

FROLOV, Dmitry, Three Levels of the Composition of the Qur’…n: Oral Revelations 85

MELCHERT, Chistopher, Quotations of Extra-Qur’…nic Scripture in Early Renunciant Literature 97

PACHNIAK, Katarzyna, The Notion of il|…d according to ‘Abd ar-Ra|m…n Badaw† 109

VARSANYI, Orsolya, Christian Terminology. God’s Names and Attributes in ‘Amm…r al-Basr†’s Kit…b al-Mas…’il wa’l-AÞwibah 117

ISLAMIC LAW

ARCAS CAMPOY, María, Les pathologies de l’expression orale et le droit islamique (ma÷hab m…lik†) 129

BRUNNER, Reiner, Two Modern Sh†‘ite Scholars on Rela-tions between Muslims and Non-Muslims 143

CARBALLEIRA DEBASA, Ana María - ÁLVAREZ DE MORALES, Camilo, Some Remarks on the Books of Habices and Islamic Granada 155

CILARDO, Agostino, Al-mas’ala al-surayÞiyya 165 FRONZONI, Vasco, La médiation pénale en droit islamique 177 MADELUNG, Wilferd, Social Legislation in S™rat al-A|z…b 197 LITERATURE, LINGUISTICS

BELHAJ, Abdessamad, Eloquence as Speech Composition: On Q…ÿ† ‘Abd al-ßabb…r’s Notion of ÿamm 207

BRAY, Julia, Global Perspectives on Medieval Arabic Literature 215

CONDYLIS, Hélène, Le corps principal de Kal†la wa-Dimna dans ses traductions grecques 225

CORRAO, Francesca Maria, Al-Ballan™b† 231 GAYNUTDINOVA, Adelya, Qur’…nic Motifs in the Tatar-

Bashkir Literature 241 KALATI, Ali Kadem, Le varie posizioni degli studiosi ri-

spetto al numero delle scuole dei grammatici arabi 247 LEBEDEV, Vladimir, Espace et temps dans le «Livre»

de S†bawayhi 257 MACHUT-MENDECKA, Ewa, ‘Abd ar-Ra|m…n Mun†f and

Globalization 271 MASULLO, Mariangela, Laylà bint ¦ar†f’s RiÅ…’: An

Example of Kharijite Female Poetry 281

IX

MICHALAK-PIKULSKA, Barbara, Tradition and Novelty in the Contemporary Prose of the United Arab Emirates 293

OSSIPOVA, Christina, Wine Poetry in Adab Literature 303 SCHIPPERS, Arie, Muslims, Jews and Christians in the

Dhakh†ra by Ibn Bass…m of Santarem (d. 1147) 313 SKARŻYŃSKA-BOCHEŃSKA, Krystyna, Nouvelles perspec-

tives de la poésie arabe en Europe contemporaine. Le cas de Hatif al-Janabi, poète irakien habitant en Pologne 323

TORLAKOVA, Ludmila, Pragmatics of Arabic Idioms in Newspaper Corpora: Use of Weaponry Idioms 337

VERMEULEN, Urbain, Une note sur le chien de ‘Amr åu l-Kalb, le dernier ami de ‘Antar 353

WINET, Monika, Qur’…n Copies in Spain: Perspectives on 15th/16th Century Aljamiado Manuscripts 359

TRAVEL

CAPEZIO, Oriana, La revue littéraire al-Fun™n dans le con-texte de l’adab al-mahÞar 375

DENARO, Roberta, Representations of Trade and Mer-chants in the Arabian Nights: Three Tales from the Mahdi Edition 391

SCIORTINO, Maria Grazia, Identity and Self-Representation in al-ðaÞar†’s Travel Account 411

VAN LEEUWEN, Richard, The Experience of Travel: A Moroccan Scholar’s Journey to Europe in 1919 419

PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE

BAFFIONI, Carmela, The Elaboration of Ancient Theories on Earthquakes. Avicenna and Fa²r al-D†n al-R…z† in Relation to their Greek and Arabic Sources 435

DE SMET, Daniel, Les notions de l’“intellect inné” (al-‘aql al-Ðar†z†) et de l’“intellect acquis” (al-‘aql al-muktasab) dans la noétique ismaélienne 463

DÍAZ-FAJARDO, Montse, The Transformation of the “World Periods” in the Islamic West: From Ab™ Ma‘shar to al-Baqq…r 483

LEWICKA, Paulina B., The Non-Muslim Physician in the Muslim Society: Remarks on the Religious Context of Medical Practice in Medieval Near East 495

MARÓTH, Miklós, Al-F…r…b†’s Topica 509

CONTENTS

X

MARTOS QUESADA, Juan - ESCRIBANO RÓDENAS, María del Carmen, Ibn Mu‘…÷ et le développement de la trigonométrie dans al-Andalus 519

STRAFACE, Antonella, The “Science of Letters” and the Seven Hells in the Qarma¥ian Tradition 531

THOMANN, Johannes, Explicit and Implicit Intercultural Elements in the Z†j of ðabash al-ð…sib 541

ART

GRASSI, Vincenza, The Never-ending Story of the Chinese Influence on the Origin of Square Kufic Script 555

VON KEMNITZ, Eva-Maria, The khamsa: A Recurrent Sym-bol in Artistic Tradition in the Global Islamic Context 581

List of Participants 609

CONTENTS

TWO MODERN SH‡‘ITE SCHOLARS ON RELATIONS BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND NON-MUSLIMS

Rainer BRUNNER

Islam is frequently characterised as a religion of social equality, inde-pendent of and free from thinking in terms of clans, classes, or nationali-ties. In principle, this is correct, with one important qualification. For Islamic history has always been marked by a threefold inequality of a different but no less fundamental kind, which is prescribed and regulat-ed by the religious law. It is the inequality between the free person and the slave, between men and women – and between Muslims and non-Muslims.1 Of these, the last mentioned is the most problematic one, because it is the one which could most easily be overcome. In the case of women, there is nothing one can possibly do about it; the slave can only be set free by his master. The “unbeliever” (or rather the non-Muslim believer), however, has a free choice, he could change his status at any time just by converting to Islam. If he does not do so, he is basi-cally refractory. The undertone set here – refractoriness that may be tolerated under certain circumstances – prevails until today in the major-ity of the statements made by Muslim theologians and jurists regarding this issue.

The classical mode of operation in dealing with non-Muslim mono-theists is to be found in verse 9:29 of the Koran: “Fight those who be-lieve not in God and the Last Day and do not forbid what God and His Messenger have forbidden – such men as practise not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the Book – until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled”.2 This injunction is support-ed by a number of additional verses, such as 3:28 and 5:51, in which Muslims are exhorted not to take Jews and Christians, or unbelievers in general, as friends,3 or, of course, 2:190ff., in which the believers are given the order to fight until there is no tribulation (fitna)4 anymore and

1 Bernard Lewis: The Jews of Islam, Princeton 1984, 8f. 2 All quotations from the Koran are given in Arthur J. Arberry’s translation. 3 On the modern interpretation of verse 5:51 in particular, cf. now Johanna Pink:

“Tradition and Ideology in Contemporary Sunnite Qur’…nic Exegesis: Qur’…nic Commen-taries from the Arab World, Turkey and Indonesia and their Interpretation of Q 5:51”, Die Welt des Islams 50/2010/3-59.

4 The term fitna carries a characteristically ambiguous meaning: on the one hand, it

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the religion is God’s. All these passages formed the background and basis of the so-called dhimma, an elaborate legal system in the form of a protective treaty between the Muslim government and its non-Muslim subjects.5 In later centuries, the provisions of the dhimma came to be known as the “pact of ‘Umar” (shur™¥ ‘Umar), in a clear effort by the jurists to provide them with more legitimacy by dating them back to the second caliph.6 The pivotal point of all regulations was the so-called poll-tax, the “tribute” (jizya) as addressed by verse 9:29, which was, according to many pre-modern scholars and exegetes, meant to be of a humiliating character, confronting the non-Muslim with his lower social and, above all, religious rank.7 By paying the jizya, the non-Muslims – who were categorically prohibited from carrying arms – bought protec-tion by the Muslim authorities and thus became dhimm†s, “protégés”. Under certain conditions they were allowed to practise their religion, and as long as Islamic law was not infringed, they enjoyed a limited legal autonomy, especially in the field of personal law and other internal matters. From a practical point of view, the jizya ceased to be of im-portance in the wake of the various legal and administrative reforms in the 19th century. In the Ottoman Empire, it was virtually revoked as early as 1856, with the enactment of the reform decree Kha¥¥-i Hümay™n, although there are still sporadic accounts of Jews having to pay the jizya on a local level at the beginning of the 20th century, e.g. in Morocco, Tunisia, or Yemen.8 In Iran, the jizya was dispensed with in the wake of the Constitutional Revolution in 1907, and it was not re-enacted after the revolution of 1979 and the establishment of an Islamic Republic.9 Nevertheless, the fact that it is a Koranic injunction lends it a

denotes the various sectarian struggles in the early history of Islam and is thus used in the sense of “civil war”, on the other hand, however, it has the connotation of apocalypse; cf. EI2 2/930f.; Patricia Crone: Medieval Islamic Political Thought, Edinburgh 2004, 23-25; David Cook: Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, Princeton 2002, 354-57.

5 Yohanan Friedmann: Tolerance and Coercion in Islam. Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition, Cambridge 2003, 54-72; Crone: Medieval Islamic Political Thought, 358-92.

6 Milka Levi-Rubin: “Shur™¥ ‘Umar and its Alternatives: The Legal Debate on the Sta-tus of the dhimm†s”, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 30/2005/170-206.

7 Uri Rubin: “Quran and tafs†r. The Case of ‘an yadin”, Der Islam 70/1993/133-44. 8 Maurus Reinkowski: Die Dinge der Ordnung. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung

über die osmanische Reformpolitik im 19. Jahrhundert, Munich 2005, 253-58; Norman Stillman: The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, Philadelphia 1991, 50; Allan R. Meyers: “Patronage and Protection. The Status of Jews in Precolonial Morocco”, in: Shlomo Deshen / Walter P. Zimmer (eds.): Jews among Muslims. Communities in the Precolonial Middle East, London 1996, 83-97 (88); the formal abolition of the jizya was enacted by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

9 Daniel Tsadik: “The Legal Status of Religious Minorities. Im…m† Sh†‘† Law and

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symbolic value that continues to exert attraction for various fundamen-talist tendencies. For instance, the late leader of the Muslim Brother-hood, Mu¡¥af… Mashh™r, caused quite a stir when he demanded, in spring 1997, the re-introduction of the jizya for the Copts in Egypt.10

At the other end of the spectrum regarding the dealings with non-Muslims, there are numerous Koranic verses which recommend, or at least seem to recommend, a distinctly friendly attitude towards non-Muslims. The most noteworthy among these is certainly the famous verse 256 of the second surah, according to which “there is no compul-sion in religion” (l… ikr…h f†’l-d†n).11 Especially in today’s fashionable interreligious dialogue events, it is an indispensable tool, as it seems to prove the peaceful character of Islam. Also many modern Muslim think-ers and religious scholars tend to interpret the verse in this unconditional sense – eclipsing thereby a vast exegetical tradition that presents a much less clear-cut picture.12 To single out just two random examples: both the Sunnite Ab™ Ja‘far Mu|ammad al-¦abar† (d. 922) and the Shiite al-Faÿl b. al-ðasan al-¦abris† (d. 1154) took this “no compulsion” state-ment to refer explicitly to members of the book religions, who may not be compelled to convert to Islam, once they have paid the jizya. This, incidentally, appears to be one of the earliest interpretations of this verse in general,13 and, as will be shown shortly, it continues to be advocated by important commentators of the 20th century.

As I have elsewhere provided an overview of various approaches to the topic among both Sunnite and Shiite Muslim scholars and intellectu-als,14 I will focus here on two prominent and influential modern Shiite Koran exegetes: the Iranian Mu|ammad ðusayn ¦ab…¥ab…’† (d. 1981), generally considered to be one of the most outstanding Shiite theologi-

Iran’s Constitutional Revolution”, Islamic Law and Society 10/2003/376-408 (406).

10 Rachel M. Scott: The Challenge of Political Islam. Non-Muslims and the Egyptian State, Stanford 2010, 101.

11 Patricia Crone: “ ‘No Compulsion in Religion’. Q 2:256 in Mediaeval and Modern Interpretation”, in: Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi / Meir M. Bar-Asher / Simon Hopkins (eds.): Le Sh†‘isme Im…mite quarante ans après. Hommage à Etan Kohlberg, Turnhout 2009, 131-78; Friedmann: Tolerance and Coercion, 87-120.

12 Cf., e.g., the response of 38 Muslim scholars to Pope Benedikt XVI’s controversial speech during his visit to Germany in 2006; Crone: “ ‘No Compulsion’”, 161f.

13 Ab™ Ja‘far Mu|ammad b. Jar†r al-¦abar†: J…mi‘ al-bay…n ‘an ta’w†l …y al-qur’…n, Cairo 1954-69, 5/412; Ab™ ‘Al† al-Faÿl b. al-ðasan al-¦abris†: Majma‘ al-bay…n f† tafs†r al-qur’…n, Qum 1403/1982, 1/364; cf. also Crone: “ ‘No Compulsion’”, 132.

14 Cf. my „‘Kein Zwang in der Religion’ oder immer noch ‘demütig aus der Hand’? Diskussionen über die Kopfsteuer für Nichtmuslime im modernen Islam“, in: Tilman Seidensticker (ed.): Zeitgenössische islamische Positionen zu Koexistenz und Gewalt, Wiesbaden 2011, 1-21.

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ans and philosophers of the 20th century,15 and the Lebanese scholar Mu|ammad ðusayn Faÿlall…h (d. 2010), who was by and large regarded as the spiritus rector of the ðizball…h.16 Already their respective geo-graphical origin provides a first clue as to the general tendency of their tafs†r works: ¦ab…¥ab…’† wrote in an environment where there have al-ways been non-Muslim minorities, who did not, however, play any sig-nificant role in practical politics and more often than not had to keep a low profile in order not to arouse the wrath of Muslim dignitaries, poli-ticians or the common people.17 His approach, therefore, is more tradi-tional, more “theological”, as it were. Faÿlall…h, on the other hand, composed his exegesis against the background of the notorious Leba-nese political system of sectarian proportional representation, which guarantees the Maronite Christians until today the post of president of the state.18 His approach, by consequence, comes across as more “politi-cal”. These differences show as far as the general tendency of their re-spective interpretation is concerned; moreover, there are some character-istic distinctions with regard to terminology, which in turn lead to interesting parallels to Sunnite exegesis.

Mu|ammad ðusayn ¦ab…¥ab…’†’s exegesis is firmly and thoroughly grounded in the wholly traditional concept of Islam as the “natural religion”, d†n al-fi¥ra.19 This idea in itself is also embodied in the Koran, namely in verse 30:30: “So set thy face to the religion, a man of pure faith – God’s original (fi¥rat All…h) upon which He originated (fa¥ara) mankind”. As has recently been shown by Frank Griffel, the term fi¥ra in modern Islam is interpreted, especially by Islamist writers such as Say-yid Qu¥b or Mawd™d†, as the superior Islamic equivalent to the Western idea of “natural law”.20 In his comments on the jizya,21 ¦ab…¥ab…’† com-

15 Hamid Algar: “ ‘All…ma Mu|ammad ðusayn ¦ab…¥ab…’†: Philosopher, Exegete, and

Gnostic”, Journal of Islamic Studies 17/2006/326-51; Hamid Dabashi: Theology of Discon-tent. The Ideological Foundations of the Revolution in Iran, New York 1993, 273-323.

16 Obituaries in The New York Times July 5, 2010, and al-‘Arabiyya July 4, 2010 (http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/07/04/112983.html and http://www.alarabiya. net/articles/2010/07/04/113038.html); on his biography, cf. Jamal Sankari: Fadlallah. The Making of a Radical Shi‘ite Leader, London 2005; on the ðizball…h in general, cf. Augustus Richard Norton: Hezbollah. A Short History, Princeton 2007.

17 Daniel Tsadik: Between Foreigners and Shi‘is. Nineteenth-Century Iran and Its Jewish Minority, Stanford 2007.

18 Norton: Hezbollah, 11ff. 19 On the classical conception of this term, cf. Geneviève Gobillot: La fitra. La con-

ception originelle, ses interprétations et fonctions chez les penseurs musulmans, Cairo 2000.

20 Frank Griffel: “The Harmony of Natural Law and Shari‘a in Islamist Theology”, in: idem / Abbas Amanat (eds.): Shari‘a. Islamic Law in the Contemporary Context, Stan-ford 2007, 38-61.

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bines verse 9:29 with another passage, K 3:19, which states that “the true religion with God is Islam” and draws the conclusion that it is in-evitable that all people should profess Islam and submit to the laws of God and his last Prophet. This, however, is precisely what the ahl al-kit…b fail to do, as is made clear by 9:29 which states that they “do not forbid what God and his messenger have forbidden”, and therefore do not practice “the religion of truth” (d†n al-|aqq). It is thus, according to ¦ab…¥ab…’†, perfectly legitimate to fight them, as the verse demands, so as to make sure that they would no longer display their corrupted way of life (fas…d) in public and that they would comply with the supremacy of the Islamic order. In particular, drinking wine, eating pork and taking interest on money must not be allowed to spread beyond their own communities and undermine Muslim society. From this point of view, making the ahl al-kit…b pay the jizya is tantamount to punishing them for their clinging to unbelief (tamassukuhum bi’l-kufr). What is more, it is meant to show them their low status which is symbolized by the dis-grace of having to pay the tax out of hand and humbled, as in contrast to Muslims they do not possess a free independent personality (shakh¡iyya mustaqilla |urra) of their own.22

¦ab…¥ab…’† resumes this argumentation in several other places in his tafs†r, above all in his interpretation of the verses 2:190ff. which stipu-late the prescriptions for jih…d in their most condensed form.23 Although these passages, as he is ready to concede, aim primarily at the Meccan polytheists (mushrik™n) and do not actually refer to the ahl al-kit…b, he does explicitly include the latter by saying that in principle they, too, are polytheists who only camouflage their shirk. Any form of shirk, howev-er, is a serious danger to the natural order, again the d†n al-fi¥ra, and the defence of the fi¥ra makes it necessary to confront the ahl al-kit…b with the true religion, d†n al-|aqq, and, in case they reject it, to make them pay the jizya. Only under these conditions is Islam ready to resign itself to their continued refusal of taw|†d. By this device, ¦ab…¥ab…’† has tied the jih…d and the jizya verses together. But he also manages to establish a direct link between the jih…d verses and the prohibition in 2:256 to exert constraint. There is, he maintains, the duty for da‘wa before start-ing to fight the non-Muslims; but once the evidence of truth has been

21 Mu|ammad ðusayn ¦ab…¥ab…’†: al-M†z…n f† tafs†r al-qur’…n, Beirut 1991, 9/244-51. 22 Ibid., 9/250. 23 Ibid., 2/60-75; on the jih…d verses of the Koran in general, cf. Jane D. McAuliffe

(ed.): Encyclopaedia of the Qur’…n, Leiden 2001-06, 3/35-43 (s.v. “Jih…d”), and Mo-hammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (ed.): Dictionnaire du Coran, Paris 2007, 372-77 (s.v. “Guerre et paix”).

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made clear, but was rejected, compulsory measures are alright.24 And in his exegesis of the l… ikr…h verse, he adds that although belief is a matter of the heart and therefore not accessible to force, it is not even necessary to resort to force, as good and evil are clearly distinguished from each other, and it is up to every person to choose. The purpose of Islam in fighting is not, according to ¦ab…¥ab…’†, spreading religion by force, but reviving the truth and defending fi¥ra and taw|†d, i.e. the submission of mankind to the prophetic religion, even if it were – surprisingly enough – Judaism or Christianity.25 When looked upon from this angle, the l… ikr…h verse does not refer to the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, but merely states that after the successful submission of every-one to any form of monotheism, no need for compulsion is left anymore.

Yet again, as he states in the interpretation of verse 5:51 (“take not Jews and Christians as friends”), Muslims must not seek any emotional relationship with them.26 Characteristically, he emphasizes, the Koran plainly talks about “Jews and Christians”, and does not call them ahl al-kit…b in this verse, as this would imply improper proximity towards Muslims.27 This ban on befriending non-Muslims is necessary, he con-tinues, for any form of friendship (he explicitly exempts concluding treaties) would amount to leaving the path of the fi¥ra and having the “sick heart” mentioned in the Koran in the following and several other verses. He even goes so far as to repeat twice that keeping friendship with Jews and Christians means abandoning the true religion and there-fore leads more or less to apostasy.28 The true religion, however, is not in need of someone who besmirches his belief by befriending unbeliev-ers, and it is probably not by mere chance that ¦ab…¥ab…’† concludes this passage with two long quotations from the Tafs†r of al-Qumm† and the Rawÿat al-k…f† of al-Kulayn† about the “signs of the last hour” and the characteristics of a decaying society facing apocalypse.29

¦ab…¥ab…’†’s discussion of the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims is thus thoroughly theological and centred around the concepts of fi¥ra and d†n al-|aqq. Mu|ammad ðusayn Faÿlall…h’s approach, by

24 ¦ab…¥ab…’†: al-M†z…n, 2/69. 25 Ibid., 2/346-51. 26 Ibid., 5/376-96. 27 Ibid., 5/382. 28 Ibid., 5/390, 393. 29 Ibid., 5/406-13; on ‘Al† b. Ibr…h†m al-Qumm† (fl. 10th century) and his tafs†r, cf. Meir

M. Bar-Asher: Scripture and Exegesis in Early Im…m† Shiism, Leiden 1999, 33-56; on al-Kulayn†, cf. now Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi and Hassan Ansari: “Mu|ammad b. Ya‘q™b al-Kulayn† (m. 328 ou 329 / 939-40 ou 940-41) et son Kit…b al-K…f†. Une intro-duction”, Studia Iranica 38/2009/191-247.

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contrast, is marked by a much more modern terminology and thus ap-pears far more political. He can do without an apocalyptic scenario, and although he, too, calls Islam the d†n al-fi¥ra, he does so only in passing. In his discussion of the second sentence of 2:256 (“Rectitude has be-come clear from error”), he refers to it in order to underline that he who does not accept the clear proofs and join Islam acts like someone who closes his eyes and denies the existence of the sun.30 Instead, his tafs†r focuses on two other keywords: da‘wa and ni©…m. First of all, he charac-terises Islam as a religion of permanent da‘wa, which is ultimately also the aim of the jih…d. This invitation, he clarifies in his exegesis of verse 2:256, is not meant to exert force in order to make people enter the reli-gion of Islam. Rather it is intended to make all people acquainted with Islam, as God had sent his last Prophet to all mankind. It is in particular addressed to two groups: the polytheists and heretics (far†q al-mushrik†n wa’l-mul|id†n) on the one hand, and the ahl al-kit…b on the other. With the former, Muslims may conclude treaties, if there is a Muslim interest (ma¡la|a) of overriding importance in doing so; if not, they are only left with the option of converting to Islam, as they are not recognised as a “religion” (d†n), but rather as running counter to the general interest of mankind and life. The latter are given the option of accepting the condi-tions of the dhimma, and as long as they accept, there will be no com-pulsion. Only if they reject this offer, it will be regarded as a rebellion (tamarrud) against which Islam is fully entitled to defend itself.31

With the ahl al-kit…b coexistence, therefore, is possible, and indeed Faÿlall…h does not tire of singing the praise of dialogue. Characteristi-cally enough, however, he lays down the main features of this dialogue in the exegesis of the verses 3/61ff., which refer to the famous instance of the mub…hala:32 in a dispute with Christians from Najr…n on Christol-ogy and prophetology, Mu|ammad took recourse to summoning them for a “mutual cursing”. In the end, the Christians could avert this ordeal only by asking for, and receiving, a treaty of protection and by accepting the status of dhimm†s. For Shiite exegetes, this event has always been of paramount importance, as it was maintained that ‘Al†, F…¥ima, ðasan and ðusayn accompanied Mu|ammad and that therefore their elevated status as compared to the Sunnis was attested by the Koran.33 Faÿlall…h

30 Mu|ammad ðusayn Faÿlall…h: Min wa|y al-qur’…n, Beirut 1979-90, 5/29. 31 Ibid., 5/26-28. 32 Cf. EI2 7/276f. (s.v. “Mub…hala”) and the references given there; Amir-Moezzi (ed.):

Dictionnaire, 618-20 (s.v. “Ordalie”). 33 Louis Massignon: “La Mub…hala de Médine et l’hyperdulie de F…¥ima”, in: idem:

Opera Minora, Beirut 1963, 1/551-72 (and now also in idem: Ecrits mémorables. Textes établis, présentés et annotés sous la direction de Christian Jambet par François Angelier,

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does briefly mention their names, as if to meet the exigencies of tradi-tion, but then heads for a totally different direction: under the headline “Matters of dialogue with the people of the book”, he describes, over more than 20 pages, Mu|ammad’s procedure as the “Islamic method of dialogue”, according to which the Muslim caller (d…‘iya) must try every-thing in order to make his non-Muslim interlocutor reach the truth.34 Not only must this dialogue be undertaken from a position of strength, as far as the Muslim side is concerned, it must also pursue the purpose of un-covering the misdeeds of the other side, who falsified the holy scriptures and in a misleading way claimed Ibr…h†m to have been theirs.35 In reali-ty, however, Faÿlall…h goes on to echo the traditional Muslim view, he was a |an†f,36 and as the Koran makes it clear in verse 2:131, therefore actually a Muslim.37 His continuous invocation for a dialogue notwith-standing, these passages are primarily addressed to his Muslim audi-ence, upon whom he calls to refrain from naivety and to be wary of the conspiracies of the non-Muslims.38

That the appeal to dialogue and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims is an offer made by the former that the latter cannot refuse, is finally made abundantly clear in Faÿlall…h’s exegesis of the jizya verse 9:29.39 Here, he presents Islam as a comprehensive system (ni©…m, his second keyword) that not only governs the life of Muslims in each and every respect, but also sets the tone for any practical and social co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims. Since there has to be a unified government (wa|dat al-sul¥a) and since Islam does not allow society to be outside its dominion and sovereignty, non-Muslims have no other choice but to submit to the political supremacy of Islam. The outward sign of this submission is the jizya, which, however, contrary to ¦ab…¥ab…’†’s opinion, is not meant to be humiliating; it is merely the

François L’Yvonnet et Souâd Ayada, Paris 2009, 1/222-45); an account of the events from the point of view of a 20th century Shiite author is ‘Abdall…h al-Subayt†: al-Mub…hala, Baghdad 1363/1947.

34 Faÿlall…h: Min wa|y al-qur’…n, 6/35-56 on verses 3:61-68 (Qaÿ…y…’l-|iw…r ma‘a ahl al-kit…b); the following passage (6/59-75 on verses 3:69-78) bears the title “Concern-ing the methods, tricks and evil character of the People of the Book” (Ma‘a ahl al-kit…b f† as…l†bihim wa-al…‘†bihim wa-akhl…qihim al-sayyi’a).

35 On the traditional Muslim reproach against Jews and Christians for having falsified God’s message to mankind (the so-called ta|r†f), cf. McAuliffe (ed.): Encyclopaedia of the Qur’…n, 2/242-44 (s.v. “Forgery”) and the references given there.

36 Cf. ibid., 2/402-04 (s.v. “|an†f ”). 37 “When his Lord said to him, ‘Surrender’ (aslim), he said, ‘I have surrendered me

(aslamtu) to the Lord of all Being’”. 38 Faÿlall…h: Min wa|y al-qur’…n, 6/62. 39 Ibid., 11/72-89.

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outward sign (ma©har) of their subjection to the general law.40 First of all, he states, the jizya is mentioned only in this verse of the Koran, and, more important, the state thereby grants security and general civil rights (in Faÿlall…h’s terminology, the muw…¥iniyya ‘…mma) to its non-Muslim subjects.41 True, he repeats what he had already stated in connection with the l… ikr…h verse, there is the invitation to a serious dialogue. But if it is not possible to reach common doctrinal convictions, it is the right of the Muslim government to safeguard its existence and to force the non-Muslims to comply with Muslim rule and pay the jizya. If they refuse, they are rebellious and may be fought against. By consequence, according to Faÿlall…h, they have to be excluded from leading positions within the state, because, as he puts it, it is only fair that a state that is based on a specific doctrine, should expect those who lead it to be loyal to this doctrine.

It is striking, although it does not really come as a surprise, that Faÿlall…h more often than not only speaks of a Muslim-Christian dia-logue,42 and it may be recalled that his mode of instruction for any form of dialogue is given in the context of the ordeal with the Christians of Najr…n. Although he does not explicitly exclude Jews from the group of the ahl al-kit…b, he generally paints them in much darker colours and describes them throughout his tafs†r as the worst enemies of the believ-ers who are only keen on extinguishing Islam.43 It is thus only consistent that he restricted his long and separate treatise on interreligious dialogue from the outset to Christians, without, however, changing the basic ar-gumentation as compared to his Koran commentary.44 The reason for this particular dislike is fairly obvious, although Faÿlall…h nowhere mentions the state of Israel or the Middle East conflict. This distinction between the lines may be taken as another evidence for the political character of his commentary, as compared to ¦ab…¥ab…’†, who does not show any politically tinged distinct predilection in his loathing of non-Muslims.

40 Ibid., 11/75f., 87f. 41 On the inner-Islamic debates on the idea of citizenship as opposed to the dhimma,

cf. Gudrun Krämer: Gottes Staat als Republik. Reflexionen zeitgenössischer Muslime zu Islam, Menschenrechten und Demokratie, Baden-Baden 1999, 162-79.

42 E.g. Faÿlall…h: Min wa|y al-qur’…n, 11/74., again in the context of the jizya. 43 Cf. in particular his exegesis of verses 5:51-53 and 5:82-86; Min wa|y al-qur’…n,

8/134-40 and 194-205. 44 Mu|ammad ðusayn Faÿlall…h: F† …f…q al-|iw…r al-isl…m† al-mas†|†, Beirut

1418/1998 (esp. pp. 117-26); cf. also ‘Im…d Sham‘™n: ƒyatall…h al-Sayyid Mu|ammad ðusayn Faÿlall…h. Ad‘iyat |iw…r .. am dhimmiyya!, Beirut 1995.

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What, to conclude, is specifically Shiite about these statements? Sur-prisingly little, as I am ready to concede. It is true that ¦ab…¥ab…’† often quotes from classical Shiite sources, but his mode of argumentation is absolutely compatible with modern Sunnite commentators. His insist-ence on the humiliating character of the jizya, for example, is reflected in the commentaries of luminaries such as the Pakistani Ab™’l-A‘l… al-Mawd™d†,45 the Syrian Sa‘†d ðaww…,46 the Algerian ¦…hir b. ‘ƒsh™r,47 or the late shaykh al-Azhar, Mu|ammad Sayyid ¦an¥…w†.48 And upon read-ing Faÿlall…h’s commentary, one quite often gets the impression that these words might as well have been written by any Sunnite author. A glance at one of the most influential Sunnite Koran commentaries of the 20th century may serve to illustrate this point: Sayyid Qu¥b’s “In the Shade of the Koran”.49 Even more than Faÿlall…h, Qu¥b stresses the perpetual mischief that was done by Jews and Christians to Muslims throughout history, and the impossibility of coexistence of both camps in one society, unless it is Islam that has the final say.50 Both Faÿlall…h and Qu¥b use their exegesis of the l… ikr…h verse in order to justify jih…d against non-Muslims, and both reach basically the same conclusions: religious freedom in Islam means first of all the freedom to propagate Islam, i.e. the da‘wa which is addressed to all mankind without excep-tion, and it is simply not conceivable that anyone who is in his right mind might not follow this call.51 Faÿlall…h’s sentence that he who does

45 Ab™’l-A‘l… al-Maud™d†: Towards Understanding the Qur’…n, Leicester 1988-2007,

3/202. 46 Sa‘†d ðaww…: al-As…s f†’l-tafs†r, Cairo 1405/1985, 6/2244; on the author (d. 1989)

cf. Itzchak Weismann: “Sa‘id Hawwa and Islamic Revivalism in Ba‘thist Syria”, Studia Islamica 85/1997/131-54.

47 Mu|ammad ¦…hir Ibn ‘ƒsh™r: Tafs†r al-ta|r†r wa’l-tanw†r, Cairo 1964-73, 10/167; on the author (d. 1973), cf. Basheer M. Nafi: “¦…hir ibn ‘ƒsh™r: The Career and Thought of a Modern Reformist ‘…lim, with Special Reference to His Work of tafsir”, Journal of Qur’anic Studies 7/2005/1-32 (who does not mention any of Ibn ‘ƒsh™r’s comments on verses concerning non-Muslims).

48 Mu|ammad Sayyid ¦an¥…w†: al-Tafs†r al-was†¥ li’l-qur’…n al-kar†m, Cairo 1974-86, 6/253; on the author (d. 2010), cf. Pink: “Tradition and Ideology”, 11f.; obituaries in The New York Times March 10, 2010, and al-‘Arabiyya March 11, 2010 (http://www.alarabiya. net/articles/2010/03/11/102685.html and http://www.alarabiya.net/views/2010/03/11/102 727.html); incidentally, ¦an¥…w†, too, wrote a book on “The Culture of Dialogue in Is-lam”: Adab al-|iw…r f†’l-Isl…m, Cairo 1997.

49 Sayyid Qu¥b: F† ©il…l al-qur’…n, 6 vols., 8th edition, Cairo 1402/1982; on Qu¥b (d. 1966) and his commentary, cf. Olivier Carré: Mystique et politique. Lecture révolution-naire du Coran par Sayyid Qu¥b, Frère musulman radical, Paris 2001.

50 Qu¥b: F† ©il…l al-qur’…n, 3/1620-31; on Qu¥b’s attitude towards non-Muslims, cf. al-so Sabine Damir-Geilsdorf: Herrschaft und Gesellschaft. Der islamistische Wegbereiter Sayyid Qu¥b und seine Rezeption, Würzburg 2003, 190-203.

51 Faÿlall…h: Min wa|y al-Qur’…n, 5/26-28; Qu¥b: F† ©il…l al-qur’…n, 1/291.

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not accept the clear proofs and refuses to join Islam acts like someone who closes his eyes and denies the existence of the sun has already been quoted. But Qu¥b, too, is very outspoken on this point: since the Koran states that “rectitude has become clear from error”, only an idiot would reject rectitude and cling to error.52 Those who unshakably do so, how-ever, have to be forced to submit to the Islamic state whose laws, as a matter of course, are bound to be valid for everyone. Which means, as far as the ahl al-kit…b are concerned, that they will not be compelled to accept Islam as their belief, but that they will be tolerated only as long as they pay the poll tax.53 Both authors (who are far from being alone in their approach) inevitably and explicitly link the no-compulsion verse with the compulsion to pay the jizya and thereby recognise the suprema-cy of Islam, for the final aim of the da‘wa is precisely the assertion of Islam as the governing system, ni©…m. Da‘wa and ni©…m, at least in this context, may be a comparatively

new and “modern” terminology. The guiding principles behind it, how-ever, are anything but new. ¦abar† and ¦abris† have been mentioned above; they would probably agree with their 20th century epigones. And in passing, as it were, these statements, both classical and modern, transcend the Sunnite-Shiite divide within Islam. It seems that ecumeni-cal endeavours are always a little more promising when they are di-rected against an outside third party.

52 Qu¥b: F† ©il…l al-qur’…n, 1/292. 53 Ibid., 3/1631-34.