Yesterday I wrote an introduction in German about Inârah
I wanna repeat that today in short in English.
(From their website.)
Reason is, it should not remain exclusive for German speakers. Also predecessor publications, as of Wansbrough, Crone and Cook have been made in English (and sometimes French), as well as literature of fellows as Robert Martin Kerr (from Wilfrid Laurier, yes the Wilfrid Laurier) and an Ibn Warraq are originally in English and a translation of the work of Christoph Luxenberg exists.
For the Germans I specifically mentioned the Saarbrücker Schule, here I can mention the revisionist school of islamic studies.
About Inârah
Inârah, was founded [...] in Saarbrücken (Germany) in 2007.
Our name is also our programme:
إنارة is used here in the sense of “Enlightenment.”
(Other meaning is something like lighting store.)
Our sole purpose is the scientific historical-critical, philological investigation into the Qur’an, the origins of Islam and its early history – something which has been sorely lacking until now. By and large, hitherto the traditional account of Islam’s rise and spread is accepted uncritically, although the sources upon which such claims are based are both late and of dubious historical quality. [...]
Nusmismatics is also part of the methods of inquiry, example here:
source (Not really further relevant, just has some good pictures.)
Hitherto our researches have clearly shown that the traditional account of Muhammad, the Qur’an, and the emergence of Islam actually have little or nothing in common with historical reality, nor does it fit into the well-established parameters of Late Antiquity.
The last quote makes the research around Inârah also so interesting. Some assertions which are made here, are outrageous:
- The person Mohammed never existed - it is fiction.
- The expansion of Islam came out of the (broad) Syrian area and not through incomparable conquests out of Mekka and Medina - the Arabic peninsula - and
- Islam was not an original religion at the start. (Saying it emerged out of a variant of Christendom would serve the research no justice; that’s too short and imprecise.)
By the way, I discovered Inârah via this YouTube video by Pfander:
What two Christians - possibly two christian fundamentalists - had to say about the Quran, didn’t interest me too much, but they had sources and literature in the descriptions, among them some German names (Puin, Popp, Ohlig, ...), which in turn interested me and led me to Inârah.
Critics I will mention as well at some time.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend! This whole weekend shooting stars are said to be seen more than ever during the year 😀.
mielia