reuven firestone

Reuven Firestone divides Yusuf’s article in the Encyclopedia of Islam into two sections: Quranic and post-Quranic texts, which is very inspiring and one of the strengths of this entry. This is because the processed story of Yusuf in the post-Quranic texts, influenced by the Old Testament, Israelites, narrative of forgers, and general literature, differs significantly from the story of Yusuf in the Quran. Although Firestone mentions the difference between the story of Yusuf Siddiq in the Quran and the Old Testament, he has not been able to follow up on this difference accurately. This present study employs a descriptive-analytical method to examine and critique this article based on the Quranic reports and their explanations in authentic Islamic hadiths. Among the criticisms made on the text of the article, which are also included in the achievements of this research, it can be mentioned whether Yusuf’s brothers sold him to the caravan? Was Prophet Yaqub’s (AS) reaction to Yusuf’s separation crying and mourning? Was he unaware of Yusuf being alive? Why didn’t Yusuf Siddiq come out of prison and did request the court on the ladies’ cutting their own hands from Pharaoh after interpreting the dream of the king of Egypt? Why is there no mention of Aziz of Egypt after the confession of those women and the beloved wife of Egypt about Yusuf’s innocence in the presence of the king of Egypt, and the king of Egypt chooses Yusuf Siddiq instead of him? Is Yusuf still Aziz of Egypt after the migration of the family of Yaqub to Egypt? If Yusuf is the ruler (king) of Egypt at this time, why didn’t his father, mother, and brothers prostrate to him; instead, according to the customs and traditions of the court of kings, the servants of the Egyptian court prostrated and paid respect to Yusuf, his father, and mother when they sat on the throne (“He raised his parents onto the throne”)?

The specialized view of the Orientalists on the teachings of the Holy Quran shows the necessity of a methodical and critical look at their studies. Especially, some of them have adopted a particular method in determining the examples of some verses. Reuven Firestone is one of the authors of the encyclopedia of the Holy Quran, who has written some of its entries. In these entries, he has commented on the "Zhabih" (sacrificed child) of the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and, contrary to the opinion of most Islamic scholars, he believes that Ibrahim (AS) wanted to sacrifice "Isḥāq" (Isaac) - his second son. According to him, most of the previous commentators of the Qur'an share the same tendency and belief in this regard. The present study challenges Reuven Firestone's opinion by examining, analyzing and criticizing the content of the entry "Isḥāq" from the Quran encyclopedia and examines the methodology of the mentioned entry and why Firestone insists on Isaac to be the sacrificed child. The findings of the research show that in addition to the contradiction between the Torah and the Gospel of Barnabas in determining the example of sacrifice, the context of the verses of the Qur'an fits with the sacrifice of Ismail. Besides, the hadiths related to the sacrifice of Ismail, came with valid chain of documents and reliable sources, unlike the narrations related to the sacrifice of Isaac, which, in addition to the interruption of the chain of transmission, are faced with the weakness of the narrators.

Accurate knowledge of Orientalists' views on Islamic teachings and scientific critique of their views is an undeniable necessity; Therefore, in the present research, an attempt has been accomplished to introduce and analyze Firestone's article about Prophet Ibrahim (A.S.) in an analytical-descriptive manner with a critical approach. Firestone, although has relatively acceptable potencies in the authoritative Islamic sources related to Abraham (A.S.); But due to lack of access to or comprehensive studies of Shiite sources and one-sided reference to Sunni sources, he makes unforgivable mistakes. He has put forward doubts in this regard; Among them is attributing polytheism and idolatry to the father of Ibrahim (A.S.) and the ancestors of Mohammad (A.S.), while the infallibility of Ibrahim (A.S.) had been proved by many narrations and many historical evidences. Another doubt is that in the Qur'an, Abraham (A.S.) and Moses (A.S.) are the only prophets who are explicitly mentioned as the holders of the book, while in some verses and hadiths, in addition to Abraham (A.S.) and Moses (A.S.), the other prophets are introduced explicitly as the holders of the book; Among them, Prophet David (A.S.), Jesus (A.S.) and the Last Prophet (P), etc. .; There are also other doubts to which this article has mentioned appropriate answers.

Reuven Firestone, the American Islamist, is one of the Western scholars with a sympathetic approach to Islam. Among his main interests is just war in Abrahamic religions. This paper aims to review his thesis on the process of legislation of jihad in the Qur’an. He holds the view that Muslim Jurisprudents have developed a later evolutionary theory on this issue and attributed it to the Qur’an to solve the problem of disparity between the Qurānic verses on war. In contrast to this traditional view, Firestone suggests an inventive scenario which indicates that opposed Qur’anic verses on war refer to opposing groups in early Muslim society. This contribution tries to show the weak-points in Firestone’s presuppositions, sources and methods of analysis.

The present article reviews the book of An Introduction to Islam for Jews written by Reuven Firestone in terms of its approach and methodology. After giving an introduction to the book and a report on the structure and content of the book and the analysis of the text, it becomes clear that Firestone introduces Islam to Jewish audience mostly through the method of analysis of Islamic texts and sympathetic approach; but the review of the book shows that the approach taken by Firestone - which seems sympathetic - is in effect influenced by another aim which sometimes deviates him from his main method and even his main approach. This is the aim of creating a pleasant and acceptable image of Islam for modernist Jews and this sometimes makes Firestone introduce Islam by relying on non-Islamic resources and even heedless to the requirements of sympathetic approach.