Old Light On A New Problem: The Kalāla Verses Revisited
The publication of D.S. Powers’ Muḥammad is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet again raises questions about the meaning of the word kalāla and, by extension, the history of the Qur’ān and Islamic inheritance law. In this article, we reconsider the verses where kalāla i...
| Published in: | Journal of Semitic studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2014]
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| In: |
Journal of Semitic studies
Year: 2014, Volume: 59, Issue: 2, Pages: 357-376 |
| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BJ Islam |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The publication of D.S. Powers’ Muḥammad is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet again raises questions about the meaning of the word kalāla and, by extension, the history of the Qur’ān and Islamic inheritance law. In this article, we reconsider the verses where kalāla is mentioned, and, in particular, Powers' contention that the word originally read kalla , meaning daughter-in-law, and not kalāla. We first question his supposed manuscript evidence for this assertion, preferring to read instead an unambiguous instance of the word kalāla. Secondly, we question his grammatical understanding of the word, basing ourselves on Mālik's Muwaṭṭa', which suggests that we should understand the word as a maṣdar (verbal noun) rather than a substantive. We also cast doubt on Powers' argument that it was only as a later, post-Prophetic development that the Prophet came to be considered — or was ‘made’ — the Last Prophet. Rather, we consider the linguistic and literary evidence to point to the clear conclusion that Muhammad was always considered, from his lifetime, as the Seal of the Prophets in the sense of being the last of them. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-8556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Semitic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jss/fgu005 |