Gerhard Böwering is a German academic, currently Professor of

Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

within the Department of Religious Studies, Yale University. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1994. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005 following his "formative influence of al-Sulami's commentary on the Qur'an."

Academic career

Böwering was previously an academic at

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

God and his Attributes

Professor Böwering was an author of articles in the

Encyclopaedia of the Quran An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

including ''Chronology and the Quran'' and ''God and his Attributes.'' Böwering, Gerhard. "God and His Attributes",

Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān The ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān'' (abbreviated ''EQ'') is an encyclopedia dedicated to Quranic Studies edited by Islamic scholar Jane Dammen McAuliffe, and published by Brill Publishers.Promotion text by Brill: "Drawing upon a rich scholar ...

, Brill, 2007

Sahih Bukhari Hadith () is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari () in the format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside , as the most authentic after the Qur'an. Al-Bukhari organized the book ...

recorded that

Abu Hurairah Abū Hurayra ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣakhr al-Dawsī al-Zahrānī (; –679), commonly known as Abū Hurayra (; ), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and considered the most prolific hadith narrator. Born in al-Jabur, Arabia to ...

reported that God has ninety-nine names ('' 99 Attributes of Allah''). Böwering refers to Chapter 17 of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

( al isrāʼ) () as the
locus classicus
' to which explicit lists of the names used to be attached in

Qur'anic exegesis Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

(''tafsir''). According to Böwering, According to Böwering, in contrast with pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism,

God in Islam In Islam, God (, contraction of , ) is seen as the Creator god, creator and God the Sustainer, sustainer of the universe, who God and eternity, lives eternally. God is conceived as a perfect, Tawhid, singular, immortal, omnipotent, and omnisc ...

does not have associates and companions, nor is there any kinship between God (

Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...

) and

jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

Publications

*
The Mystical Vision of Existence in Classical Islam
'. Berlin-New York, 1980. *
The Comfort of the Mystics: A Manual and Anthology of Early Sufism
'. Brill, Leiden, 2013. *
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought
' (editors: Gerhard Böwering,

Patricia Crone Patricia Crone (28 March 1945 – 11 July 2015) was a Danish historian specialising in early Islamic history. Crone was a member of the revisionist school of Islamic studies and questioned the historicity of the Islamic traditions about the be ...

and Mahan Mirza). Princeton University Press, 2013, . *''The Minor Qur’an Commentary of al-Sulami'', Beirut, 1995, 2nd ed., 1997. *''Sufi Inquiries and Interpretations'', Beirut, 2010. *''Sufi Treatises'', Beirut, 2009.

References

External links

Profile on Yale University website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Böwering, Gerhard German Islamic studies scholars Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the American Philosophical Society