From Bustan al-ʻuqul to Qiṣat al-batul: Some aspects of Jewish-Muslim Religious Polemics in Yemen
This article deals with Yemenite Jewish-Muslim religious polemics within the framework of medieval Jewish polemics directed against Islam. Its main focus is two Yemenite Jewish polemical works: a) the sixth chapter of Nathanʾel Ibn Fayyumi's Bustān al-ʿuqūl, and b) the yet unpublished poem enti...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1981
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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| IxTheo Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Jewish diaspora
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| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | This article deals with Yemenite Jewish-Muslim religious polemics within the framework of medieval Jewish polemics directed against Islam. Its main focus is two Yemenite Jewish polemical works: a) the sixth chapter of Nathanʾel Ibn Fayyumi's Bustān al-ʿuqūl, and b) the yet unpublished poem entitled Qiṣat al-batūl. Ibn Fayyumi essentially follows the polemical trail blazed by other medieval Jewish thinkers, and reflects many of the basic motifs which recur in their religious disputations with Muslims. However, in Fayyumi's approach there are elements which Abraham Halkin labelled as "deviations from the Jewish tradition." For example, Ibn Fayyumi concedes that Muḥammad was indeed a prophet and a messenger of God, although he confines the validity of Muḥammad's message to his fellow Arabs and to other idol-worshipping nations who were not accorded divine scriptures. This article attempts to show that these so-called deviations were a mere tongue-in-cheek acquiescence, conditioned by a desperate need to survive in an extremely fanatic Yemenite Muslim environment. The larger part of the article is devoted to the poem Qiṣat al-batūl, examined within the context of classical Arabic poetry. The poem is written in the form of the muwashshaḥ and utilizes the theme of panegyric, which is one of the principle characteristics of the qaṣīda. Qiṣat al-batūl brings into sharp focus the contrasting mentalities of Jew and Muslim in Yemen, and thereby provides profound insights into the multifaceted relations of the Yemenite Jews with their Muslim neighbors and rulers. The poem's emphasis on the practical day-to-day manifestations of the social and religious life rather than on theological doctrines and dogmatic principles together with its employment of classical Arabic conventions, particularly those of the muwashshaḥ and the qaṣīda, stamps it with uniqueness in the body of Jewish inter-religious polemics. A textual comparison of four versions of this poem is appended to this article. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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