Narrating Muḥammad's night journey : tracing the development of the Ibn ʻAbbās ascension discourse

Discusses the historical development of the well-loved story of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to the divine realm and back again. NARRATING MUHAMMAD’S NIGHT JOURNEY......Page 4 CONTENTS......Page 6 ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 12 ABBREVIATIONS......Page 14 INTRODUCTION......Page 16 THE NIGHT JOURNEY VERSE......Page 28 VERSES FROM THE CHAPTER OF THE OVERTURNING......Page 31 THE OPENING VERSES OF THE CHAPTER OF THE STAR......Page 32 THE APPROPRIATION OF TERMS AND PHRASES FROM THE QUR'AN......Page 36 THE HEAVENLY HOST DEBATE......Page 37 THE FINAL VERSES (SEALS) OF THE CHAPTER OF THE COW......Page 38 PASSING REFERENCES TO ASCENSION IN THE QUR'AN......Page 39 2. ORALITY AND THE PRIMITIVE VERSION OF THE IBN 'ABBAS ASCENSION NARRATIVE......Page 44 APPROACHING IBN 'ABBAS AND THE PRIMITIVE VERSION......Page 45 COMPARATIVELY ANALYZING THE PRIMITIVE VERSION OF THE IBN 'ABBAS ASCENSION NARRATIVE......Page 50 AUTHENTICATING AND DATING THE CIRCULATION OFTHE PRIMITIVE VERSION......Page 57 ECHOES OF MUQATIL B. SULAYMAN'S COMMENTARY IN THE PRIMITIVE VERSION......Page 61 TRACING THE BEGINNINGS OF THE PRIMITIVE VERSION......Page 63 FROM QURAN AND ORAL REPORTS TO EARLY NARRATIVE HISTORY: IBN ISAQ......Page 66 IBN ISAQ'S ACCOUNT OF THE PROPHET'S NIGHT JOURNEY AS NARRATED BY IBN HISHAM......Page 68 IBN ISAQ'S ACCOUNT OF THE HEAVENLY JOURNEY AS NARRATED BY ISN HISHAM......Page 70 THE EARLY ASCENSION NARRATIVE AS PRESENTED IN IBN SA'D’S HISTORY......Page 72 THE NIGHT JOURNEY AS NARRATED BY IBN SA'D......Page 74 THE ASCENSION EXPERIENCE OF PROTO-SHI'I "EXTREMISTS"......Page 80 ASCENSION-RELATED SAYINGS IN SAFFAR QUMMI'S COLLECTION......Page 82 THE QUR'AN COMMENTARY OF FURAT KUFI......Page 87 5. CANONICAL SUNNI HADITH REPORTS ON MUHAMMAD'S JOURNEY......Page 94 NIGHT JOURNEY AND ASCENSION HADITH REPORTS IN BUKHARI AND MUSLIM......Page 96 HADITH REPORTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF NASA'I......Page 100 HADITH REPORTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF TIRMIDHI......Page 102 6. THE USE AND APPROPRIATION OF THE IBN 'ABBAS DISCOURSE IN COMMENTARIES......Page 108 THE ABU HURAYRA ASCENSION NARRATIVE FROM TABARI'S TAFSIR......Page 111 THE ABU SA'ID KHUDRI ASCENSION NARRATIVE FROM TABARI'S TAFSIR......Page 116 THE APPROPRIATION OF THE PRIMITIVE VERSION IN OTHER EARLY COMMENTARIES......Page 119 THE USE OF THE PRIMITIVE VERSION IN 'ALI QUMMI'S TAFSIR......Page 120 THE USE OF THE PRIMITIVE VERSION IN THA'LABI'S TAFSIR......Page 123 7. CONTESTING THE PRIMITIVE VERSION IN NISHAPUR......Page 128 IBN HIBBAN'S REJECTION OF THE PRIMITIVE VERSION......Page 129 SULAMI AND HIS COMPILATION OF SUFI SAYINGS ON MUHAMMAD'S ASCENSION......Page 130 QUSHAYRI AND HIS KITAB AL-MI'RAJ......Page 131 THE EXTENDED COSMOLOGICAL ASCENSION HADITH......Page 133 BAYHAQI'S REJECTION OF THE EXTENDED ASCENSION NARRATIVES......Page 138 8. BAKRI'S TOTAL AND COMPLETE IBN 'ABBAS DISCOURSE......Page 142 THE EVENTS PRIOR TO THE NIGHT JOURNEY IN TEXTS THAT INVOKE BAKRI......Page 144 MUHAMMAD'S NIGHT JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM IN TEXTS THAT INVOKE BAKRI......Page 148 BAKRI VERSIONS OF MUHAMMAD'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE HEAVENS......Page 151 MUHAMMAD'S JOURNEY BEYOND THE SEVEN HEAVENS IN BAKRI TEXTS......Page 156 DATING THE ASCENSION NARRATIVES ASCRIBED TO ABU AL-HASAN BAKRI......Page 160 9. THE CIRCULATION AND DIFFUSION OF BAKRI'S VERSIONS......Page 164 THE BASE NARRATIVE BEHIND IBN SINA'S ALLEGORICAL TREATISE......Page 165 EVIDENCE FROM SIXTH/TWELFTH CENTURY NORTH AFRICA......Page 169 LIBER SCALE AND THE DIFFUSION OF THE BAKRI VERSIONS IN THE SEVENTH/THIRTEENTH CENTURY......Page 171 AN ANONYMOUS EASTERN PERSIAN MI'RAJNAMA......Page 173 CONCLUSION......Page 180 Appendix A: TRANSLATION OF THEPRIMITIVE VERSION......Page 190 Appendix B: BAKRI'S "TOTAL AND COMPLETE" ASCENSION......Page 210 GLOSSARY: KEY THEMES AND TROPES IN THE IBN 'ABBAS ASCENSION NARRATIVES......Page 250 NOTES......Page 256 WORKS CITED......Page 310 A......Page 320 E......Page 321 I......Page 322 M......Page 323 Q......Page 324 T......Page 325 Y......Page 326 This book provides an exhaustive examination of the historical development of a key story in the life of Muhammad, the tale told of his journey to the divine realm and back. It shows how in the early centuries of the Islamic community, both Sunni and Shi'i 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 Muhammad's famous companions, the scholar known as Ibn 'Abbas. 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 Muhammad and his legacy. Colby also includes translations of richly textured ascension narratives that have never before appeared in English.

"The author's tracing and analysis of the historical permutations and reinvestments of this version of the narrative are based on an impressive array of sources, and demonstrate his mastery of the Islamic textual tradition in a happy marriage with theoretical considerations in religious studies, especially those concerning orality, orthodoxy, and textual permutation . . . The excellent translations of an early version of the Ibn 'Abbas narrative and a later influential version attributed to Abu-l Hassan Bakri are real gems." - CHOICE

"Muhammad's heavenly ascension is without doubt one of the most central topoi in Islamic thought, practice, and piety, and as a superb historical analysis of its development through the prism of Ibn 'Abbas's recension, this book fills a major void in scholarship. Equallysignificant is the work's methodological sophistication, which makes it a clear model in the study of major themes in Islamic religious history." - Ahmet T. Karamustafa, author of Sufism: The Formative Period

"This is a very important subject that will be of interest to all serious students of premodern Islam." - Marion Holmes Katz, author of Body of Text: The Emergence of the Sunni Law of Ritual Purity
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.