Language:
English
Year of publication:
2022
Titel der Quelle:
Der Islam; Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients
Angaben zur Quelle:
99,1 (2022) 38-62
Keywords:
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Bible. Versions
;
Islam Relations
;
Judaism
;
Islam History of doctrines
Abstract:
The popular Islamic formula known as the ḥawqala ( lā ḥawl a wa-lā quwwat a illā bi-Llāh ) is first attested in Ḥadīth and other written sources from around the eighth century CE. A similar formula is Q: 18 (al-Kahf).39b ( lā quwwat a illā bi-Llāh ). Some scholars in the first Islamic centuries were concerned that the non-Qurʾānic ḥawqala would be more venerated than Q: 18.39b or confused with it. In this essay, I suggest in what respect the ḥawqala is related to Q: 18.39b. I argue that the ḥawqala is perhaps influenced by Zech : 4.6b ( lō be-ḥayil we-lō be-koʾaḥ kī im be-rūḥī ) and its Syriac version. Past scholars have noted the similarity between the ḥawqala and Zech: 4.6b, but the exact relation between these two phrases has not been fully explored. I therefore discuss the linguistic and thematic similarities between both phrases and note some Islamic traditions in which the ḥawqala is said to be of Biblical provenance. By this, I show that there is good reason to suspect that the ḥawqala is partly influenced by Zech : 4.6b and its Syrac version, and that this probably occurred at an early stage in the development of Islam when Jewish scripture was more regularly consulted as a means of confirming Islamic revelation.
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