In Ecumenical Community, Hamza M. Zafer explores the language and politics of community-formation in the Qurʾan. Zafer proposes that ecumenism, or the inclusivity of social difference, was a key alliance-building strategy in the western Arabian proto-Muslim communitarian movement (1st/7th century). The Proto-Muslims imagined that their pietistic communityâthe ummahâtranscended but did not efface prior social differences based in class, clan, and custom. In highlighting the inclusive orientation of the Qurʾan's ummah-building program, Zafer provides new insights into the development of early Islam and the period preceding the Arab conquests.
Hamza M. Zafer, Ph.D. (2014), Cornell University, is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington. He has published articles on the Qurʾan and early Islam, and co-edited The Qurʾan Seminar Commentary (De Gruyter, 2016) and His Pen and Ink are a Powerful Mirror (Brill, 2020).
Acknowledgements Abbreviations Note on Translation, Transliteration, and Dates
Introduction
â1âThe Qurʾan as a Historical Text
â2âHistorical-Material Context
â3âThe Ecumenical Community
â4âThe Ummah Proclamation
â5âTranslation of the Ummah Proclamation (Q. 2:122â152)
1 The Ummah and Collectivity
â1âThe Communal Meaning
â2âThe Salvific Community
â3âThe Prophet-Arbitrator
â4âConclusion
2 The Ummah and Class
â1âThe Theology of Resources
â2âGodâs Surplus
â3âThe Acts of Welfare
â4âConclusion
3 The Ummah and Clan
â1âThe Dissolution of Clans
â2âAbraham and the Clan
â3âThe Assembly of Abraham
â4âThe Patrimony of Israel
â5âConclusion
4 The Ummah and Custom
â1âSupra-Sectarian Solidarity
â2âThe Altar of Abraham
â3âThe Dye of God
â4âConclusion
Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Ummah Proclamation Appendix 2: The Ummah Pact Appendix 3: The Ummah Surah Sequence Bibliography General Index Index of Quranic Verses
All interested in the Qurʾan and the history of early Islam, and anyone concerned with scriptural movements and religious transformations in the Near East during the first millennium.