Critical Bibliography of Islamic Studies

This article will compile academic articles, chapters, and books which are both scholarly and rigorous and which present perspectives on topics in Islamic studies (history, theology, etc.) subversive of inherited and religious viewpoints on the same. It is not essential that posterity have confirmed the accuracy of the analysis presented in these publications, or that their analysis necessarily be falsifiable in all cases; instead, what will merit inclusion is anything that has succeeded in prompting scholars, students, and the literate laity to rethink what they believe about Islam as it exists today or how it existed in the past. In other words, the aim is to curate research and theory about Islam and its past which would not merely cause al-Ghazali to spin in his grave, but which would instead prompt him to climb out of it and perhaps change his mind about his most fundamental religious convictions.

Formatting

Entries are cited Chicago style with slight modifications (see below). DOIs are hyperlinked in the title of the entry, where these are not available a link to the publisher's webpage for the publication is provided in its place. Where neither exists and where the publication is out of copyright, a link may be given to an archived version of the publication hosted online. Provided beneath certain entries is either the publisher's blurb, the article's abstract, an adaption thereof, or a general summary—references for these are the respective entries themselves. Edited volumes are not included in this bibliography unless every chapter they contain deserves inclusion (this is rarely the case)—instead, relevant chapters have been identified and added individually to the relevant section/subsection.

The life of Muhammad

The origins of Qur'anic stories

The history of the Qur'anic text

Nasser, Shady. The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Qurʾān: The Problem of Tawātur and the Emergence of Shawādhdh. Leiden: Brill, 2013. 252pp.

The development of Islamic theology

Ahmed, Shahab. Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in Early Islam. Cambridge: Harvard University Press (2017). 336pp.

Osman, Amr. "ʿAdālat al-Ṣaḥāba: The Construction of a Religious Doctrine." Arabica T. 60, Fasc. 3/4 (2013): pp. 272-305.

The development of Islamic law

Sadeghi, Behnam. The Logic of Law Making in Islam: Women and Prayer in the Legal Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 234pp.

Schacht, Joseph. The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. London: Oxford University Press, 1950. 348pp.