Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse

Frederick S. Colby

ISBN 10: 0791475182 / ISBN 13: 9780791475188

Published by State University of New York Press, 2009

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # B9780791475188

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn 'Abbas Ascension Discourse
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791475182
• ISBN 13: 9780791475188
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 510 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Discusses the historical development of the well-loved story of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to the divine realm and back again.

This book provides an exhaustive examination of the historical development of a key story in the life of Muḥammad, the tale told of his journey to the divine realm and back. It shows how in the early centuries of the Islamic community, both Sunnī and Shī'ī Muslims appropriated this fascinating story and interpreted it to suit their own ends. In particular, the book traces the development of a critical and influential strand of this rich ascension literature ascribed to one of Muḥammad's famous companions, the scholar known as Ibn ʿAbbās. Frederick S. Colby demonstrates that this version of the tale originated in the early period and spread throughout the Islamic world, affecting how people from Spain to Afghanistan came to think about Muḥammad and his legacy. Colby also includes translations of richly textured ascension narratives that have never before appeared in English.

About the Author

Frederick S. Colby is Associate Professor of Comparative Religion at Miami University in Ohio. He edited and translated The Subtleties of the Ascension: Early Mystical Sayings on Muhammad's Heavenly Journey, by the famous mystic Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulamī.