The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism

Abstract

Q 5.51 and its prohibition against friendship with Christians and Jews. Considine places this revelation in context, showing that it was meant to reflect the early skirmishes Muhammad had with Qurayshites and their Christian allies at the Battle of Badr (71). Difficult passages such as this can best be understood in historical context as opposed to generically applying them to all contexts and communities in all times and places. There is a subtle irony here: Considine is keen to contextualize and problematize qur’anic passages when it suits him but is entirely uninterested in doing so with other sources when such analysis could weaken or obscure his argument. But all of this continues to fit his goal, which is to help non-Muslim readers, especially Christian ones, to move beyond a narrative in which Christians and Muslims are endlessly opposed to one another. This is an understandable goal, though Considine would have done well to include more details about scholarly debate in footnotes so that interested readers, or those aware of some disagreement on a particular reading of history, might have a good, peer-reviewed, and authoritative source to which they could look for more details. For example, Considine might have suggested to readers that what we know about the encounter between Muhammad and the Christian monk Baḥīrā (7–10) is entirely based on hagiographical sources, originating over a wide span of time, and coming from a variety of Christian and Muslim authors, most of whom use the story for very different purposes. Such a caveat could appear in a footnote without any danger of making his readers suspect the veracity of the encounter or doubt that Muhammad was in contact with and influenced in various ways by Christians. The book’s final two chapters contain more evidence coming from later periods of Muhammad’s life and leadership. Here, Considine attempts to underline what Christians and Muslims share and how tolerance was the predominant theme during the time when the Qur’an and the wider Muslim community was taking shape. In the end, interested readers will have to look to other literature for more scholarly treatments of Muhammad’s life and his contacts with Christian communities. Not much from this literature is flagged by Considine, either in the body of the text or in the notes, but readers may very well be convinced by Considine that the connections between Islam and Christianity are much closer and intertwined than they might otherwise have been led to believe. In this sense, Considine’s book is a helpful one and a suitable starting point for those who want to begin to learn more about Muhammad and his encounters with Christians.