Early Muslim Dogma

by Michael A. Cook

The key sources for the reconstruction of the early history of Muslim dogma are a group of texts ascribed to authors of the late first century of the Hijra. These texts bear on two major doctrinal controversies, the Murji'ite and the Qadarite, raising issues related on the one hand to the judgement of the events of the First Civil War, and on the other to the dilemma of predestination and free will. Part I and II of this study present a new source for the early history of the Murji'a, and argue new positions regarding the early doctrine and politics of the movement. Parts III and IV are an investigation of the authenticity and dating of this and half a dozen similar sources; the issues thereby raised are fundamental for the history of Muslim dogma, and have ramifications for the study of early Muslim history at large. The book also discusses the origin of particular Muslim doctrines in the religious and intellectual trends of late antiquity.

Genres: Islam

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 1981

About the author

Michael Allan Cook (born in 1940) is a British historian and scholar of Islamic history.

He studied History and Oriental Studies at King's College, Cambridge 1959-1963 and did postgraduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London 1963-1966 under the supervision of Professor Bernard Lewis. He was lecturer in Economic History with reference to the Middle East at SOAS 1966-1984 and Reader in the History of the Near and Middle East 1984-1986. In 1986 he was appointed Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Since 2007 he has been Class of 1943 University Professor of Near Eastern Studies. He was a Guggenheim Fellow in Spring 1990.

In 2001 he was chosen to be a member of the American Philosophical Society.

In 2002 he received the prestigious $1.5 million Distinguished Achievement Award from the Mellon Foundation for significant contribution to humanities research.

In 2004 he was chosen to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 2006 he won Howard T. Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities at Princeton.

In 2008 he won Farabi Award in the Humanities and Islamic Studies.

In 2013 he was awarded an honorary doctorate at Leiden University.

In 2014 he won the Holberg Prize.