The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia: A Reconstruction Based on the Safaitic Inscriptions

Abstract

the commentary (e.g. 265); another is how SAK was ‘genuinely intrigued’ by the Bible (xxi). While the presentation in this volume is generally excellent (with the exception of a number of typos), a word is needed on certain quirks. Footnotes vary between, on the one hand, providing a source and sometimes background information, and on the other giving an ethical exhortation in which it is not entirely clear where SAK’s thought ends and the voice of one of the translators enters. Second, sometimes Hadith and Persian poetic quotations are sourced in footnotes, sometimes not, and the texts of these quotations, though conveniently given at the back of the volume, are listed without sources. This work is a very welcome contribution to the study of Muslim engagement with the Bible. It represents a serious and detailed study of a section of Gospel text by a prominent Muslim writer, and appears for the first time in a language other than Urdu. The translators have performed a much-needed service in making this text available to a wider readership, and anyone interested in South Asian Muslim responses to Christianity, or in Muslim engagement with the Bible will benefit. Readers will also be spurred on to read what is effectively a companion text, Ramsey’s God’s Word, Spoken or Otherwise.