ded in 1962, the UEAI aims to facilitate meetings and exchange of ideas and information among specialists of the Arab and Islamic world working in European universities. Congresses are held every two years and the proceedings are published.
Dr Al穩-de-Unzaga’s paper was entitled It appeared so unto them: Tawil, the Torah and the Gospel in Ismaili Works (with special attention to the Epistles of the Pure Brethren- Rasail Ikhwan al-Safa) and was part of a panel on Philosophy and Science. The paper focused on the use and interpretation of citations from the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospelsin the Rasail Ikhwan al-Safa. Even though the Ismaili character of the work is disputable, it is clear that the approach to, and use of, biblical material by the Ikhwan al-Safa bears close proximity to that of Ismaili authors, including those of Jafar b. Mansur al-Yaman, Abu Hatim al-Razi, and Hamid al-Dinal-Kirmani. A comparison between the Rasail and those authors highlights a number of parallels which were explored in Dr. Ali-de-Unzagas paper: they had Biblical texts at their direct disposal; even though they saw the cycles of Judaism and Christianity as superseded by Islam, not only did they permit the study of the previous scriptures but also encouraged it; they saw the issue of the falsification of the scriptures mostly on the level of interpretation; they applied the same hermeneutical vision (which we can call tawil for lack of a better term) to the 紮喝娶a紳Muslims believe that the Holy 紮喝娶a紳 contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More and the previous scriptures; they interpreted the 紮喝娶a紳 as accepting the physical crucifixion of Jesus while maintaining the immortality of the soul; finally, the interpretations were framed in the context of the Ismaili dawa from the 10th century onwards.
Dr Al穩-de-Unzaga’s presentation was very well received and raised a number of interesting questions.
