Professor Gerhard Böwering is a German academic, currently Professor of

Islamic Studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

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

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

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 (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sin ...

God and his Attributes

Professor Böwering was an author of articles in the Encyclopaedia of the Quran including ''Chronology and the Quran'' and ''God and his Attributes.'' Böwering, Gerhard. "God and His Attributes", Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, Brill, 2007 Sahih Bukhari Hadith recorded that

Abu Hurairah Abu Hurayra ( ar, أبو هريرة, translit=Abū Hurayra; –681) was one of the companions of Islamic prophet Muhammad and, according to Sunni Islam, the most prolific narrator of hadith. He was known by the '' kunyah'' Abu Hurayrah "Fat ...

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

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

( al isrāʼ
(17:110)
as the
locus classicus
' to which explicit lists of the names used to be attached in

Qur'anic exegesis Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

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

God in Islam God in Islam ( ar, ٱللَّٰه, Allāh, contraction of '' al- ’Ilāh'', lit. "the God") is seen as the eternal creator and sustainer of the universe, who will eventually resurrect all humans. In Islam, God is conceived as a perfect, ...

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

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", ...

) and

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic my ...

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 (March 28, 1945July 11, 2015) was a Danish historian specializing 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 beginni ...

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