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The Genesis of Islam in the Light of History

The First MHJ Annual Lecture Delivered in New Delhi on 27 November 2008

School of History and Interdisciplinary Studies, Central European University, Budapest. E-mail: aziza{at}ceu.hu

Faced with the choice between two themes that I suggested I might address this evening, the organisers of this event preferred me to speak as an historians' historian, rather than to opt for a topic of more general or current interest, and I have agreed to do so. Yet I should nevertheless be dissatisfied if those among you who do not particularly wish to be lectured to by historians were to be irked by an academic disquisition on some arcane matter. I shall therefore do my very best to ensure that those of you who are not historians, or who are not engaged professionally in the academic trade, shall leave this hall with somewhat more than the fleeting impression of an event. And I shall do so not least by suggesting that genesis, even the genesis of Islam, has more to do with Charles Darwin than with the Bible or the glorious associations of the Greek language, and that the reference to light in the title of my talk has more to do with reflective de-liberation than with exquisite colouration.

The Medieval History Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1-12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/097194580901200101


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