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 monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
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. 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 yea ...
degree in
Oriental Studies at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, having interrupted his studies from 1966 to 1967 to pursue the study of
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a 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. E.Watson; Walter ...
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,
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 lie ...
. From 1968 to 1970 he served with the
U. S. Army, seeing duty with U. S. Army Security Agency in
Herzogenaurach,
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 betwee ...
in 1969-1970. He then studied
oriental philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
for a year (1970-1971) at the
Friedrich-Alexander Universität in
Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inha ...
, 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 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. 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 Service Award in 2008.
Donner is a long-term member of the
Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA),
The American Oriental Society, 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. 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 p ...
,
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, t ...
,
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 v ...
.
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 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
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 ...
'' that the only direct evidence for Donner's central thesis of an
ecumenical early Islam comes from several Quranic verses, while the rest is based on
conjecture. 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.
Donner was appointed a life member of the Scientific Committee of the
Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts 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 ...
; 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 ...
; 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 retir ...
; 2010)
* Antoine Borrut; Fred McGraw Donner;
Touraj Daryaee; 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 ...
, 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