Yohanan Friedmann(born 1936) is an Israeli scholar ofIslamic studies.
Yohanan Friedmann | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1936 |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Known for | Islamic religious thought, history of Islam in India |
| Awards | Landau Prize in the Humanities (2003) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem,McGill University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Islamic studies |
| Institutions | Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Notable works | Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition |
Biography
editFriedmann was born inZákamenné,Czechoslovakia and immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1949. He attended high school at theReali SchoolinHaifa(1945-1950). In 1956 he began his undergraduate studies at theHebrew University of Jerusalem,Department of Arabic Language and Literature, receiving hisB.A.in 1959. In 1962 he finished a master's degree in Arabic literature; his thesis was on the Arab poetAl-Ma'arri.After this, Friedman went toMcGill Universityin Montreal to study for his doctorate. He learnedUrduand focused on the history of Islam in India. His dissertation on Muslim religious thinkerSheikhAhmad Sirhindiwas approved in 1966. In the same year, Friedman joined the Hebrew University and was appointed lecturer in Islamic studies.
He is now Max Schloessinger Professor Emeritus of Islamic Studies at theHebrew University of Jerusalemand, since 1999, a member of theIsrael Academy of Sciences and Humanities.[1]He held several offices with the university: Chair of the Institute ofAsian StudiesandAfrican Studiesfrom 1975 to 1978; Chair of the Graduate School from 1980 to 1983;Deanof Humanities from 1985 to 1988; Chair of the Department ofArabic languageandliteraturefrom 2002 to 2004. In 2003 he was the Sternberg Distinguished Lecturer.[2]In 2007 he has been elected Chair of the Humanities Division of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
In 2002 Friedmann was member at theInstitute for Advanced StudyinPrinceton.[3]In 2003 he received the Landau Prize in the Humanities.[4]Since 1993, he has been the editor ofJerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam.Friedmann served several times as visiting professor atNew York Universityand theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[3]In 1997 he was scholar in residence with theRockefeller Foundation.[1]
Research interests
editFriedmann's studies center on Islamic religious thought, mainly in the Indian subcontinent.[1]He assays the historical record for evidence of both tolerance and intolerance of other religious faiths in the Islamic tradition in his most recent work, "Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition".[5]
Works
edit- "Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi. An outline of his thought and a study of his image in the eyes of posterity." McGill-Queens University Press, 1971. Reprint Oxford University Press, 2000.
- Prophecy Continuous. Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and Its Medieval Background,Berkeley, University of California Press, 1989
- The Naqshbandis and Awrangzeb: A reconsiderationin: Naqshbandis: Historical Developments And Present Situation, 1990
- Husain Ahmad Madaniin: Dictionnaire biographique des savants et grandes figures du monde musulman périphérique, 1992
- The History of al-Tabari: The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine (The History of Messengers and Kings),1992
- Jam`iyyat al-`ulama-'i Hind,in: The Oxford Encyclopaedia Of The Modern Islamic World, 1995
- Ahmadiyya,in: The Oxford Encyclopaedia Of The Modern Islamic World, 1995
- The messianic claim of Ghulam Ahmad,in: Messianism, eds. M.R. Cohen and P. Schaefer, Leiden, E.J., 1998
- Classification of unbelievers in Sunni Muslim law and traditionin: Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 1998
- Conditions of conversion in early Islam. In: Ritual and Ethics: Patterns of Repentance, eds. A. Destro, 2000
- Dissensionin: Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, vol. 1, p. 538-540, 2001
- Ahmadiyyain: Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, vol. 1, p. 50-51, 2001
- Messianismus im Islamin: Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 5, 2003
- Chiliasmus im Islamin: Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 2, 2003
- Ahmadiyyain: Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 1, 2003
- Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition,Cambridge University Press, 2003
Notes
edit- ^abcFull Staff Member's Information,Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- ^Sternberg Lecture on the Study of ReligionArchivedMarch 12, 2007, at theWayback Machine,Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- ^abAnnouncement[permanent dead link],Rice University,Y. Friedman lectures at the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance
- ^Honors & AwardsArchivedSeptember 27, 2006, at theWayback Machine,Landau Prize to Prof. Friedmann, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, February 15, 2004
- ^Boniuk Center announces new series on Muslim worldArchived2007-03-12 at theWayback Machine,Rice University, January 19, 2006