Background
He was born at Frankfort-on-Main on the 24th of May 1810.
(THIS essay is devoted to an examination of the interestin...)
THIS essay is devoted to an examination of the interesting question whether and to what extent Muhammad, in the Koran, borrowed from Jewish sources. The author sets out with showing that there were reasons why Muhammad should have desired to borrow from Judaism ; that he was in a position to be able so to borrow, and that it was compatible with his general plan to do so. He then goes on to show by comparison that he actually borrowed conceptions, views, doctrinal, moral, and legal, and stories. The evidence, in most cases, is of a kind which would be conclusive enough if the supposition of derivation from old Arabian sources were excluded; but, in the absence of proof of this, it is far from convincing. Rabbi Geiger himself sees this difficulty; but he appears to us to underrate its importance. He says: "In the case of any single instance of borrowing, the proof that the passage is really of Jewish origin must rest on two grounds. First, it must be shown to exist in Judaism, and, to prove this, we have every facility. Secondly, in order to attain to certainty we must prove that it is really borrowed, i.e., that it is not founded on anything in old Arabian tradition, which Muhammad used largely as a foundation, though he disputed some points. Then, again, we must show that it had its origin in Judaism and not in Christianity. For the complete discussion of the last two points it would be necessary to write two treatises similar to the one on which I am now engaged, of which the respective subjects would be (1) the points of contact between Islam and the ancient tradition of the Arabs, and (2) the points of contact between Islam and Christianity; and only in this way could certainty on these points be attained. But these investigations would, on the one hand, lead us too far away from our particular subject, and, on the other, they would require a much more exact treatment than could be given while handling our main subject. Then, too, they are made unnecessary by the means which we use in each individual case, and which will be shown in the different divisions of the work; so that on most points we can without them attain to a high degree of probability, practically sufficient for all scientific purposes." We cannot admit that the probability attained is, in any but rare instances, "sufficient for all scientific purposes." Indeed, without a thorough examination of known Arabian sources, it is very difficult to form any estimate of the degree of probability attained. The work is nevertheless full of interesting matter, and will well repay perusal.
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(Preface to the First Edition. The following pages owe the...)
Preface to the First Edition. The following pages owe their origin to aC ourse of Lectures before a limited audience of educated persons. As they met with friends among those, so they seek them now among an educated public at large. Ought subjects of such serious, profound importance as those considered in these pages to venture into the vast market of life, if their treatment claims to present new results gained from new points of view? It can not be contested that the results which science has apparently established with the aid of all the means at her command, should be made the property of all educated people. But as long as such proof has not been furnished in full, would it not be preposterous to drag them before the public at large? I have seriously considered these doubts. For the views expressed herein differ in important points from those generally prevailing, and I have thus far not had the opportunity to substantiate all of them so fully as to be able to refer to works previously published. I can only refer to my book, The Original Text and Versions of theB ible, to my essay, Sadducees and Pharisees, and a few other shorter articles published in my Jewish Review forS cience and Life and in other periodicals. Notwithstanding those doubts, I could not resist the temptation presented by a finished manuscript. Considering that life is short and time is fleeting, I think myself to have the permission of saying with the wise Hillel, Praise toG od, day by day. It is not always advisable to defer and repress that which we deem useful until, perchance, it might become more useful. It shall remain the literary task of my life to elaborate, in closer connection and more exhaustively, the historical views presented in these pages. In the mean time I trust that they may in their present form disclose the background, afford an insight into the serious studies (Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
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(Excerpt from Was Hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume Aufgenom...)
Excerpt from Was Hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume Aufgenommen?: Eine von der Königl. Preussischen Rheinuniversität Gekrönte Preisschrift Fassung erhielt die Arbeit den Preis, und erst, nachdem sie eingereicht war, war es mir vergönnt, mehrere Hülfsmittel sammeln und zu der deutschen Umar heitung benutzen zu können. Hierher gehören nun vorzüglich die schätzbaren Prodromi und Anmerk ungen des Maracci zu seiner Ausgabe des Korans, der Commenter des Beidhawi über die zehnte Sure in Henzii fragmenta arabica und zwei Theile eines vortref?ichen handschriftlichcn Commentars des Elpherar, )lfül, die mit der siebenten Sure beginnen, welche von dem berühmten Seetzen in Kahira 4807 gekauft, nunmehr in der Bibliothek zu Gotha sich befinden, von woher ich sie durch die gütige Ver mittlung der Herrn Prof. Freitag auf Kosten der Universitätsbibliothek zu Bonn erhielt. Hierzu kommen noch Abulfedae annales moslemitici, historia anteis |amica, die Schriften von Pococke, d'herbelot's bibliotheque orientale u. A. Hi., was man in dem Buche selbst angeführt finden wird. Diejenigen Bemerkungen, die ich aus Schriften zog, die mir erst während des Druckes zugekommen sind, sind als Zusätze beigegeben. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Urschrift Und Uebersetzungen Der Bibel In Ihrer Abhängigkeit Von Der Innern Entwickelung Des Judenthums Abraham Geiger J. Hainauer, 1857 History; Jewish; Bible; History / Jewish; Jews
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Orientalist theologian scholars
He was born at Frankfort-on-Main on the 24th of May 1810.
Abraham Geiger was educated at the universities of Heidelberg and Bonn. As a student be distinguished himself in philosophy and in philology, and at the close of his course wrote on the relations of Judaism and Mahommedanism a prize essay which was afterwards published in 1833 under the title Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judentum aufgenommen? (English trans. Judaism and Islam, Madras, 1808).
In November 1832 he went to Wiesbaden as rabbi of the synagogue, and became in 1835 one of the most active promoters of the Zeitschrift für jüdische Theologie (1835-1839 and 1842-1847). From 1838 to 1863 he lived in Breslau, where he organized the reform movement in Judaism and wrote some of his most important works, including Lehr- und Lesebuch zur Sprache der Mischna (1845), Studien from Maimonides (1850), translation into German of the poems of Juda ha-Levi (1851), and Urschrift und Übersetzungen der Bibel in ihrer Abhängigkeit von der innern Entwickelung des Judentums (1857). The last-named work attracted little attention at the time, but now enjoys a great reputation as a new departure in the methods of studying the records of Judaism. The Urschrift has moreover been recognized as one of the most original contributions to biblical science. In 1863 Geiger became head of the synagogue of his native town, and in 1870 he removed to Berlin, where, in addition to his duties as chief rabbi, he took the principal charge of the newly established seminary for Jewish science. The Urschrift was followed by a more exhaustive handling of one of its topics in Die Sadducäer und Pharisäer (1863), and by a more thorough application of its leading principles in an elaborate history of Judaism (Das Judentum und seine Geschichte) in 1865-1871. Geiger also contributed frequently on Hebrew, Samaritan and Syriac subjects to the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft, and from 1862 until his death (on the 23rd of October 1874) he was editor of a periodical entitled Jüdische Zeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Leben. He also published a Jewish prayer-book (Israëlitisches Gebetbuch) and a variety of minor monographs on historical and literary subjects connected with the fortunes of his people.
(THIS essay is devoted to an examination of the interestin...)
(Excerpt from Was Hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume Aufgenom...)
( This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923....)
(Preface to the First Edition. The following pages owe the...)
To Geiger, Judaism was unique and meaningful because of its monotheism and ethics. He began to identify less with the “rigidity of Talmudic legalism, developed over centuries of ghettoization inflicted by Christian Intolerance. .. in medieval Christendom”, that defined and confined the existence of Orthodox Judaism in the 19th century in Germany. He believed that, “the Torah, as well as the Talmud, should be studied critically and from the point of view of the historian, that of evolution and development. ” As Geiger grew into his adolescence and young adulthood, he began to establish a more liberal approach to and understanding of Judaism than his traditional Orthodox Jewish background dictated. He thus rejected Orthodox Jewish tradition in favor of a liberal outlook.