Sean W Anthony
Biographic Data
| ID | 2954527 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sean W Anthony |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sean W |
| FAMILY NAME | Anthony |
| SIGNATURE | ANTHONY S W |
| AFFILIATIONS | The Ohio State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7313-9159 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
The Early Aramaic Toledot Yeshu and the End of Jesus’s Earthly Mission in the Qur’an
This article revisits a leitmotif of modern Western scholarship on the Qur’an: the historical-critical appraisal of its accounts of the end of Jesus’s earthly mission and its apparent denial of his crucifixion. Whereas most modern studies have sought to contextualize these passages by reading them in light of late ancient Christianity, especially its heresiology, this study adopts a different approach. These qur’anic narratives are read not again…
The Arabs and the Ummah of Muḥammad
This essay starts from a somewhat simple question: What was the ummah of Muḥammad? It has become commonplace in the historiography of early Islam to understand the ummah of Muḥammad as primarily the “religious community” that he founded – “a community of believers” in modern scholarly parlance. But this received scholarly wisdom sits ill at ease with the Qurʾān, which more often asserts that its messenger was called from, and sent to, an ummah th…
The Virgin Annunciate in the Meccan Qurʾan
Muhammad and the Empires of Faith
Kitāb al-Taḥrīsh
Previous articleNext article FreeBook ReviewsKitāb al-Taḥrīsh. By Ḍirār ibn ʿAmr al-Ghaṭafānī. Edited by Hüseyin Hansu and Mehmet Kaskin. Istanbul: Shirkat Dār al-Irshād and Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2014. Pp. 153. $5 (paperback).Sean W. AnthonySean W. AnthonyThe Ohio State University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditE…
Muḥammad, Menaḥem, and the Paraclete
Biblical proof-texts for the prophethood of Muḥammad play a prominent role in early Muslim interest in the Bible. This study re-examines the earliest known attempt by Muslims to find such a biblical proof-text in the New Testament – the Arabic version of Jesus's sermon on the “advocate/comforter” (Gk. paráklētos ) in John 15: 23–16 found in Ibn Isḥāq's Kitāb al-Maghāzī . Key to understanding Ibn Isḥāq's adaptation of the Johannine text, this stud…
The Expeditions
One of the earliest surviving biographies of Prophet Muḥammad, translated into readable, modern English for the first time The Expeditions is one of the oldest biographies of the Prophet Muḥammad to survive into the modern era. Its primary author, Maʿmar ibn Rāshid (96-153/714-770), was a prominent scholar from Basra in southern Iraq who was revered for his learning in prophetic traditions, Islamic law, and the interpretation of the Qurʾan. This …
The Caliph and the Heretic
This book is an examination of the traditions and legends concerning early Islam's first and most infamous heretic, the Yemenite Jew known as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabaʾ. Tracing the evolution and transformation of the many stories and narratives about Ibn Sabaʾ as adapted by Sunnī and Shīʿī scholars alike, this work attempts for the first time to give a comprehensive account of the formation of the image of Ibn Sabaʾ as the quintessential heretic of Is…
The Mahdī and the Treasures of al-Ṭālaqān
This study highlights a hitherto neglected trope of Muslim apocalyptic literature—namely, that in a region known as al-Ṭālaqān there awaits the future Mahdī a great treasure that will gain him a mighty army to aid him fight the final battle against evil. Tracing the trope’s origin in Zoroastrian apocalypticism and its subsequent dissemination in a wide array of Muslim apocalyptic traditions, this paper argues that this apocalyptic trope ultimatel…
Chiliastic Ideology and Nativist Rebellion in the Early ʿAbbāsid Period
Sean W. Anthony, Chiliastic Ideology and Nativist Rebellion in the Early ʿAbbāsid Period: Sunbādh and Jāmāsp-nāma, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 132, No. 4 (October-December 2012), pp. 641-655
The Legend of ʿAbdallāh ibn Sabaʾ and the Date of Umm al-Kitāb
ʿAbdallāh ibn Sabaʾ is a figure generally regarded as Islam's first heretic by Sunnī scholars and also vilified by Shīʿī scholars. In this article an anonymous, esoteric work known as Umm al-Kitāb is examined as it contains an exceptional narrative that adopts a strikingly sympathetic approach to Ibn Sabaʾ. It is also argued that the work's unique take on the Ibn Sabaʾ legend sheds considerable light on the date and elusive provenance of this ear…
Analysing Muslim Traditions
Since its inception, the study of Ḥadīth conducted by scholars trained in the Western academic tradition has been marked by sharp methodological debates. A focal issue is the origin and development of traditions on the advent of Islam. Scholars' verdicts on these traditions have ranged from "late fabrications without any historical value for the time concerning which the narrations purport to give information" to "early, accurately transmitted te…
The Prophecy and Passion of al-Hārit b. Sa'īd al-Kaddāb
This study examines the historical reports on the 'false prophet (kaddāb)' known as al-Hāritb. Sa'īd from both a historical and literary perspective. From the historical perspective, I investigate how a Syrian mawlā began a prophetic movement in the Umayyad mosque of Damascus during the caliphate of 'Abd al-Malik, which subsequently spread throughout the caliph's army. My study then follows the second phase of al-Hārit's career in which he flees …
The Syriac Account of Dionysius of Tell Maḥrē concerning the Assassination of ‘Umar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb
Analysing Muslim traditions
Since its inception, the study of a, adAth conducted by scholars trained in the Western academic tradition has been marked by sharp methodological debates. A focal issue is the origin and development of traditions on the advent of Islam. Scholars' verdicts on these traditions have ranged from a oelate fabrications without any historical value for the time concerning which the narrations purport to give informationa to a oeearly, accurately transm…
The Expeditions
One of the earliest surviving biographies of Prophet Muḥammad, translated into readable, modern English for the first time The Expeditions is one of the oldest biographies of the Prophet Muḥammad to survive into the modern era. Its primary author, Maʿmar ibn Rāshid (96-153/714-770), was a prominent scholar from Basra in southern Iraq who was revered for his learning in prophetic traditions, Islamic law, and the interpretation of the Qurʾan. This …
Analysing Muslim Traditions
Since its inception, the study of Ḥadīth conducted by scholars trained in the Western academic tradition has been marked by sharp methodological debates. A focal issue is the origin and development of traditions on the advent of Islam. Scholars' verdicts on these traditions have ranged from "late fabrications without any historical value for the time concerning which the narrations purport to give information" to "early, accurately transmitted te…
The Prophecy and Passion of al-Hārit b. Sa'īd al-Kaddāb
This study examines the historical reports on the 'false prophet (kaddāb)' known as al-Hāritb. Sa'īd from both a historical and literary perspective. From the historical perspective, I investigate how a Syrian mawlā began a prophetic movement in the Umayyad mosque of Damascus during the caliphate of 'Abd al-Malik, which subsequently spread throughout the caliph's army. My study then follows the second phase of al-Hārit's career in which he flees …
The Syriac Account of Dionysius of Tell Maḥrē concerning the Assassination of ‘Umar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb
Analysing Muslim traditions
Since its inception, the study of a, adAth conducted by scholars trained in the Western academic tradition has been marked by sharp methodological debates. A focal issue is the origin and development of traditions on the advent of Islam. Scholars' verdicts on these traditions have ranged from a oelate fabrications without any historical value for the time concerning which the narrations purport to give informationa to a oeearly, accurately transm…
The Legend of ʿAbdallāh ibn Sabaʾ and the Date of Umm al-Kitāb
ʿAbdallāh ibn Sabaʾ is a figure generally regarded as Islam's first heretic by Sunnī scholars and also vilified by Shīʿī scholars. In this article an anonymous, esoteric work known as Umm al-Kitāb is examined as it contains an exceptional narrative that adopts a strikingly sympathetic approach to Ibn Sabaʾ. It is also argued that the work's unique take on the Ibn Sabaʾ legend sheds considerable light on the date and elusive provenance of this ear…
The Caliph and the Heretic
This book is an examination of the traditions and legends concerning early Islam's first and most infamous heretic, the Yemenite Jew known as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sabaʾ. Tracing the evolution and transformation of the many stories and narratives about Ibn Sabaʾ as adapted by Sunnī and Shīʿī scholars alike, this work attempts for the first time to give a comprehensive account of the formation of the image of Ibn Sabaʾ as the quintessential heretic of Is…
The Mahdī and the Treasures of al-Ṭālaqān
This study highlights a hitherto neglected trope of Muslim apocalyptic literature—namely, that in a region known as al-Ṭālaqān there awaits the future Mahdī a great treasure that will gain him a mighty army to aid him fight the final battle against evil. Tracing the trope’s origin in Zoroastrian apocalypticism and its subsequent dissemination in a wide array of Muslim apocalyptic traditions, this paper argues that this apocalyptic trope ultimatel…
Chiliastic Ideology and Nativist Rebellion in the Early ʿAbbāsid Period
Sean W. Anthony, Chiliastic Ideology and Nativist Rebellion in the Early ʿAbbāsid Period: Sunbādh and Jāmāsp-nāma, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 132, No. 4 (October-December 2012), pp. 641-655
The Expeditions
One of the earliest surviving biographies of Prophet Muḥammad, translated into readable, modern English for the first time The Expeditions is one of the oldest biographies of the Prophet Muḥammad to survive into the modern era. Its primary author, Maʿmar ibn Rāshid (96-153/714-770), was a prominent scholar from Basra in southern Iraq who was revered for his learning in prophetic traditions, Islamic law, and the interpretation of the Qurʾan. This …
Muḥammad, Menaḥem, and the Paraclete
Biblical proof-texts for the prophethood of Muḥammad play a prominent role in early Muslim interest in the Bible. This study re-examines the earliest known attempt by Muslims to find such a biblical proof-text in the New Testament – the Arabic version of Jesus's sermon on the “advocate/comforter” (Gk. paráklētos ) in John 15: 23–16 found in Ibn Isḥāq's Kitāb al-Maghāzī . Key to understanding Ibn Isḥāq's adaptation of the Johannine text, this stud…
Kitāb al-Taḥrīsh
Previous articleNext article FreeBook ReviewsKitāb al-Taḥrīsh. By Ḍirār ibn ʿAmr al-Ghaṭafānī. Edited by Hüseyin Hansu and Mehmet Kaskin. Istanbul: Shirkat Dār al-Irshād and Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2014. Pp. 153. $5 (paperback).Sean W. AnthonySean W. AnthonyThe Ohio State University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditE…
Muhammad and the Empires of Faith
The Virgin Annunciate in the Meccan Qurʾan
The Early Aramaic Toledot Yeshu and the End of Jesus’s Earthly Mission in the Qur’an
This article revisits a leitmotif of modern Western scholarship on the Qur’an: the historical-critical appraisal of its accounts of the end of Jesus’s earthly mission and its apparent denial of his crucifixion. Whereas most modern studies have sought to contextualize these passages by reading them in light of late ancient Christianity, especially its heresiology, this study adopts a different approach. These qur’anic narratives are read not again…
The Arabs and the Ummah of Muḥammad
This essay starts from a somewhat simple question: What was the ummah of Muḥammad? It has become commonplace in the historiography of early Islam to understand the ummah of Muḥammad as primarily the “religious community” that he founded – “a community of believers” in modern scholarly parlance. But this received scholarly wisdom sits ill at ease with the Qurʾān, which more often asserts that its messenger was called from, and sent to, an ummah th…
History (14 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Islamic Studies and History (11 works) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (10 works) · Art (9 works) · Islam (9 works) · Theology (8 works) · Historical and Linguistic Studies (7 works) · Literature (7 works) · Ancient history (6 works)