Fred McGraw Donner (born 1945) is a
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
and Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Near Eastern History at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
.
[NELC Department Faculty list](_blank)
at University of Chicago He has published several books about
early Islamic history.
Life
Donner was born in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and grew up in
Basking Ridge, New Jersey, where he attended public schools. In 1968 he completed his
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in
Oriental Studies
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studi ...
at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, having interrupted his studies from 1966 to 1967 to pursue the study of
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
at the
Middle East Centre for Arab Studies
The Middle East Centre for Arab Studies (MECAS) was an Arabic language college created by the British Army during World War II in Jerusalem, and relocated afterwards as a civilian institution to Lebanon near Beirut where it functioned between 1947 ...
(MECAS) in the village of
Shimlan
Shemlan ( ar, شملان), (also spelled Chemlane, Chimlane, Shimlan) is a village in the Aley District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon, located about 25 km from Beirut.
History
Shemlan is first mentioned in chronicles as early as ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
. From 1968 to 1970 he served with the
U. S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, seeing duty with U. S. Army Security Agency in
Herzogenaurach
Herzogenaurach (; vmf, Herziaura) is a town in the district of Erlangen-Höchstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known for being the home of the major international sporting goods companies Adidas and Puma, as well as the large car parts m ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1969-1970. He then studied
oriental
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
for a year (1970-1971) at the
Friedrich-Alexander Universität in
Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
, Germany, before returning to Princeton for doctoral work. Donner received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton in 1975. He taught Middle Eastern history in the History Department at Yale University from 1975-1982 before taking his position at the University of Chicago in 1982 (The Oriental Institute and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations). He served as chairman of his Department (1997–2002) and as Director of the University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies (2009–present).
In 2007, he was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
to examine Arabic papyri from the first Islamic century (seventh century CE) at collections in Paris, Vienna, Oxford, and Heidelberg.
Donner was President of Middle East Medievalists from 1992 until 1994 and served as editor of the journal ''Al-Usur al-Wusta: The Bulletin of Middle East Medievalists'' from 1992 until 2011.
Donner was President of the
Middle East Studies Association of North America
Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encoura ...
. He has been a member of MESA since 1975, served an earlier term on MESA's Board of Directors (1992-1994) and was awarded MESA's
Jere L. Bacharach
Jere L. Bacharach (born 1938 in New York) is Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Academia
Bacharach attended Trinity College, receiving his B.A. in 1960, Harvard University receiving his M.A. ...
Service Award in 2008.
Donner is a long-term member of the
Middle East Studies Association of North America
Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encoura ...
(MESA),
The American Oriental Society
The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship.
The Society encourages basi ...
, and Middle East Medievalists.
Research
Donner's book ''The Early Islamic Conquests'' was published in 1981 by Princeton University Press.
[Elton H in ''Bryn Mawr Medieval Review''](_blank)
(accessed 2 October 2007) He has also published a translation of a volume of the history of
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
in 1993.
In ''Narratives of Islamic Origins'' (1998), Donner argues for an early date for the
Qur'an text
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sin ...
. He responds in particular to the theory of late canonization of the Qur'an proposed by
John Wansbrough and
Yehuda D. Nevo
Yehuda D. Nevo (1932 – 12 February 1992) was a Middle Eastern archeologist living in Israel. He died after a long battle with cancer in 1992.
Research
Nevo discovered Kufic inscriptions in the Negev desert in Israel, four hundred of which ...
. The book attempts to explain how concerns for legitimation in the developing Islamic community shaped the themes that are the focus of Islamic historical writing, particularly the themes of
prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...
,
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
,
hegemony, and
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
.
Donner's book ''Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam'', an account of the early years of the spiritual movement that would come to be known as Islam, was published by Harvard University Press in May 2010. Donner's main argument is that what came to be called Islam began as a monotheistic "Believers' movement" inaugurated by
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
which included righteous Christians and Jews as well as those monotheists who followed the teachings of the Qur'an. Only under the rule of
Abd al-Malik (685-705) did Islam begin to separate from Christians and Jews. This argument was first presented at a "Late Antiquity and Early Islam" workshop in London in 1993, and published in his article "From Believers to Muslims," which appeared in the journal ''Al-Abhath'' 50-51 (2002–2003), pp. 9–53.
Reception
Donner's book ''The Early Islamic Conquests'' (1981) has been described as "magisterial"
and "a major contribution to the understanding of early Islamic history" (''
International Journal of Middle East Studies''). It is used as a set text for several university courses.
Donner's ''Muhammad and the Believers'' has been described as "learned and brilliantly original" in a ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review.
On the other hand, orientalist
Patricia Crone was critical of the book: she wrote on ''
Tablet
Tablet may refer to:
Medicine
* Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill"
Computing
* Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
'' that the only direct evidence for Donner's central thesis of an
ecumenical
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
early Islam comes from several Quranic verses, while the rest is based on
conjecture
In mathematics, a conjecture is a conclusion or a proposition that is proffered on a tentative basis without proof. Some conjectures, such as the Riemann hypothesis (still a conjecture) or Fermat's Last Theorem (a conjecture until proven in 19 ...
. According to Crone, ''The New York Times'' review of Donner's book indicates that his account of a "nice, tolerant, and open" Islam appeals to
American liberals, and it may perform a useful role in educating the broader public, but as a scholarly work "it leaves something to be desired". Other academic reviews have characterized the book as "provocative and largely convincing" and as "a plausible and compelling, if necessarily somewhat speculative, alternate account of the emergence of Islam".
Awards
Donner received a 1994 Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
From 2007 to 2008, Donner held a
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
.
Donner was appointed a life member of the Scientific Committee of the
Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts
The Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts (''Beït al-Hikma'') is a scholarly national academy based in Tunis. It is housed officially in a mid-19th century palace, Zarrouk Palace, situated on the Mediterranean coast at the base of the ...
in 2012.
Bibliography
* ''The Early Islamic Conquests'' (
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...
; 1981)
* ''
The History of al-Tabari (Vol. 10): The Conquest of Arabia'' (
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...
; 1993) (translation)
* ''
Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing'' (Darwin Press; 1998)
* ''Muhammad and the Believers. At the Origins of Islam'' (
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...
; 2010)
* Antoine Borrut; Fred McGraw Donner;
Touraj Daryaee
Touraj Daryaee ( fa, تورج دریایی; born 1967) is an Iranian Iranologist and historian. He currently works as the Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies and Culture and the director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies at the U ...
; Muriel Debié;
Sidney Harrison Griffith;
Wadād Qāḍī; Milka Levy-Rubin;
Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych; Donald S Whitcomb; Luke B Yarbrough. ''Christians and Others in the Umayyad State'' (
Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
The Oriental Institute (OI), established in 1919, is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Near Eastern ("Orient") studies and archaeology museum. It was founded for the university by professor James Henry Brea ...
, 2016)
* ''The Articulation of Early Islamic State Structures. Second edition'' Formation of the classical world (
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
, 2016)
References
External links
Entrywith the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donner, Fred Mcgraw
1945 births
20th-century American essayists
20th-century American historians
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American essayists
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American historians
American male essayists
American male non-fiction writers
Scholars of medieval Islamic history
Living people
Members of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts
Middle Eastern studies in the United States
Princeton University alumni
University of Chicago faculty
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg faculty
Writers about religion and science
Yale University faculty