A critical study of Gerald R. Hawting’s viewpoints in his book' 'The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam'

Gerald R. Hawting, John Wansborough’ student, in his book "The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam" Hawting speaks about the environment in which Islam and Quran emerged. He believes that the composition and canonization of Quran is neither limited to the two city of Mecca and Medina nor the life of the Prophet (SAWA). In the development of such vast religious tradition like Islam , we cannot emphasize on the role of one person or a limited period; rather, this is in need of a longer period of time and a much vaster region. In his book, he applies literal criticism to Quran, besides many different arguments to verify his claim. For example he has discussed about the term” mushrikun” and their attributes in Quran, claiming they were not real idolaters. He believes that they were monotheists, but they were called mushrik polemically whereas there were not any monotheists in Hijaz at the time of the Prophet (SAWA); therefore Quran belongs to another time and place. In the preface of his book, Hawting has declared that only on the basis of traditional exegesis of this scripture, it can be said that Quran has confronted real idolaters, otherwise this cannot be understood from the verses themselves. He maintains that this traditional understanding ,detaches Islam from the whole monotheist tradition; whereas all monotheist religions have emerged from confronting other monotheist groups. This article argues about the main ideas of Hawting in his book "The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam".