Fred McGraw Donner(born 1945) is ascholarofIslamand Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Near Eastern History at theUniversity of Chicago.[1][2]He has published several books aboutearly Islamic history.
Fred McGraw Donner | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1945 (age 78–79) Washington, D.C.,U.S. |
| Alma mater | Princeton University |
| Known for | Islamic Studies;Quranic(Islamic) studies; scripturalexegesis;scholarship on Islamic origins |
| Awards | Guggenheim Fellow(2007) Member of theTunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Islamic Studies |
| Institutions | University of Chicago; Yale University; University of Erlangen-Nuremberg |
Biography
editEarly life and studies
editDonner was born inWashington, D.C.,and grew up inBasking Ridge, New Jersey,where he attended public schools.[citation needed]In 1968 he completed hisBachelor of Artsdegree inOriental StudiesatPrinceton University,having interrupted his studies from 1966 to 1967 to pursue the study ofArabicat theMiddle East Centre for Arab Studies(MECAS) in the village ofShimlan,Lebanon.[citation needed]From 1968 to 1970 he served with theU. S. Army,seeing duty with U. S. Army Security Agency inHerzogenaurach,Germanyin 1969-1970. He then studiedorientalphilologyfor a year (1970–1971) at theFriedrich-Alexander UniversitätinErlangen,Germany, before returning to Princeton for doctoral work.[citation needed]Donner received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton in 1975.[citation needed]
Career
editDonner 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).[citation needed]
In 2007, he was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship[3]to examine Arabic papyri from the first Islamic century (seventh century CE) at collections in Paris, Vienna, Oxford, and Heidelberg.[citation needed]
Positions held
editDonner was President ofMiddle EastMedievalists(MEM; homepagehere) from 1992 until 1994 and served as editor of the journalAl-Usur al-Wusta: The Bulletin of Middle East Medievalistsfrom 1992 until 2011.[4]
Donner was President of theMiddle East Studies Association of North America(MESA).[5]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'sJere L. BacharachService Award in 2008.[6]
A part of the MEM and MESA, Donner has also been a long-term member ofThe American Oriental Society.[citation needed]
Research
editDonner's bookThe Early Islamic Conquestswas published in 1981 byPrinceton University Press.[7]He has also published a translation of a volume of the history ofal-Tabariin 1993.[1]
InNarratives of Islamic Origins(1998), Donner argues for an early date for theQuranictext. He responds in particular to the theory of late canonisation of the Qur'an proposed byJohn WansbroughandYehuda D. Nevo.[8]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 ofprophecy,community,hegemony,andleadership.
Donner's bookMuhammad 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 byHarvard University Pressin May 2010. Donner's main argument is that what came to be called Islam began as amonotheistic"Believers' movement" inaugurated byMuhammad,which included righteousChristiansandJewsas well as thosemonotheistswho followed the teachings of the Qur'an. Only under the rule ofAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan(685-705) did Islam begin to separate from Christians and Jews.[9]This argument was first presented at the Late Antiquity and Early Islam workshop in London in 1993, and published in an article.[10]
Reception
editDonner's bookThe Early Islamic Conquests(1981) has been described as "magisterial"[7]and "a major contribution to the understanding of early Islamic history" (International Journal of Middle East Studies).[11]It is used as a set text for several university courses.[12]
Donner'sMuhammad and the Believershas been described as "learned and brilliantly original" in aNew York Timesreview.[13]
On the other hand, orientalistPatricia Cronewas critical of the book: she wrote onTabletthat the only direct evidence for Donner's central thesis of anecumenicalearly Islam comes from several Quranic verses, while the rest is based onconjecture.According to Crone,The New York Timesreview of Donner's book indicates that his account of a "nice, tolerant, and open" Islam appeals toAmerican liberals,and it may perform a useful role in educating the broader public, but as a scholarly work "it leaves something to be desired".[14]Other academic reviews have characterized the book as "provocative and largely convincing"[15]and as "a plausible and compelling, if necessarily somewhat speculative, alternate account of the emergence of Islam".[16]
Awards
editDonner received a 1994 Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.[2]From 2007 to 2008, Donner held aGuggenheim Fellowship.[2]Donner was appointed a life member of the Scientific Committee of theTunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Artsin 2012.[2]
Bibliography
edit- The Early Islamic Conquests(Princeton University Press;1981)ISBN0-691-05327-8
- History of the Prophets and Kings(Vol. 10): The Conquest of Arabia(State University of New York Press;1993)ISBN0-7914-1072-2(translation)
- Narratives of Islamic Origins(Darwin Press; 1998)ISBN0-87850-127-4
- Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam(Harvard University Press;2010)ISBN978-0-674-05097-6
- Antoine Borrut;Fred Donner;Touraj Daryaee;Muriel Debié;Sidney H. Griffith;Wadād Qāḍī;Milka Levy-Rubin;Suzanne Pinckney Stetkevych;Donald S. Whitcomb;Luke B. Yarbrough.Christians and Others in the Umayyad State(Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa,2016)ISBN978-1614910312
- Fred M. Donner, ed. (15 May 2017).The Articulation of Early Islamic State Structures.Routledge.ISBN978-1-351-89449-4.
References
edit- ^abNELC Department Faculty listat University of Chicago
- ^abcd"Faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships".University of Chicago.December 27, 2017.RetrievedDecember 22,2020.
- ^"University of Chicago article on Guggenheim Fellowship awards".Chronicle.uchicago.edu. 2007-04-12.Retrieved2013-09-12.
- ^Middle East Medievalists."Al-Usur al-Wusta: The Bulletin of Middle East Medievalists".Middleeastmedievalists.org.Retrieved2013-09-12.
- ^"Letters from MESA Presidents".Middle East Studies Association.Retrieved2016-10-01.
- ^"Jere L. Bacharach Service Award".Middle East Studies Association.Retrieved2016-10-01.
- ^abElton H inBryn Mawr Medieval Review(accessed 2 October 2007)
- ^Narratives of Islamic Originsp. 62
- ^Crone, Patricia(August 10, 2010)."Among the Believers: A new look at the origins of Islam describes a tolerant world that may not have existed".Tablet Magazine.
- ^Antoine Borrut;Fred Donner (15 May 2005)."From Believers to Muslims: Confessional Self-Identity in the Early Islamic Community".Abstracta Iranica.26.doi:10.4000/abstractairanica.2410.
- ^Review ofThe Early Islamic Conquestsin theInternational Journal of Middle East Studies
- ^e.g. referUniversity of Oklahoma(accessed 2 October 2007)
- ^New York Times,The Muslim Past,Sunday Book Review by Max Rodenbeck 25 June 2010
- ^Patricia Crone: Among the BelieversTablet Magazine 10. August 2010
- ^Steven C. Judd (Sep 2011). "Review ofMuhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islamby Fred M. Donner ".Journal of the American Academy of Religion.79(3): 762–765.doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfr024.JSTOR23020418.
- ^Paul R. Powers (February 2013). "Review ofMuhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islamby Fred M. Donner ".History of Religions.52(3): 306–308.JSTOR10.1086/66866.
External links
edit- Entrywith theUniversity of Chicago