‘Stay up during the night, except for a little' (Q 73:2): the qurʾānic vigils as ascetic training programs

In the field of history of religion, the Qurʾān and early Islam often seem to be ignored in discussions of asceticism and cultural evolution. With the usage of Peter Sloterdijk's definition of áskesis as ‘training', this article proposes a new way to understand the qurʾānic attitude(s) to...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Christiansen, Johanne Louise (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Routledge [2019]
In: Religion
Jahr: 2019, Band: 49, Heft: 4, Seiten: 614-635
normierte Schlagwort(-folgen):B Koran. Sure al-Muzzammil / Islam / Askese / Schlafentzug
IxTheo Notationen:AG Religiöses Leben; materielle Religion
BJ Islam
weitere Schlagwörter:B Vigils
B The Qurʾān
B Early Islam
B Asceticism
B Peter Sloterdijk
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Zusammenfassung:In the field of history of religion, the Qurʾān and early Islam often seem to be ignored in discussions of asceticism and cultural evolution. With the usage of Peter Sloterdijk's definition of áskesis as ‘training', this article proposes a new way to understand the qurʾānic attitude(s) to ascetic practices. By seeing the text's articulations of vigils as two types of ascetic training programs, I argue that a hypothetical chronological development of the vigils takes place, and that this development illustrates a shift from the Prophet's own extraordinary ‘improvement' to a more general ‘maintenance' practice for the ordinary believer. That the Qurʾān calls the believers to participate in such training programs may also explain the text's divergent approach to other religious traditions' ascetic practices. Through Sloterdijk's definition of asceticism, it is made clear that the Qurʾān in its own way partakes in and negotiates the overarching ascetic tendency of its time.
ISSN:1096-1151
Enthält:Enthalten in: Religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2019.1578295