The Spiritual Background of Early Islam: Studies in Ancient Arab Concepts

Rating:
Summary: Dated
Review: This volume is a collection of studies previously published in various journals by M. M. Bravmann. It attempts to trace some of the early concepts and ideas which were influential in the rise of the historical Islamic discourse. Similar to the writtings of Kister, it is archaic and directed toward a particular audience. These difficult to follow articles do little in really clarifying these issues, though there are few studies which reserve a balanced and moderate approach as does this collection. The main problem with this collection is that a third of it is in German, which I don't read, a third of it is in Arabic, which I have difficulty in, and a third in English. Trying to follow the Authors research is painstakingly difficult.