What does "The Heresy of the Ishmaelites" by John of Damascene tell about Islam?

Authors

• Teuvo Laitila

Keywords:

John of Damascus, Damascene, Islam, The Heresy of the Ishmaelites

Abstract

The second part of John of Damascene’s Πηγή γνώσεως, known as its Latin title De haeresibus, contains 100 to 103 descriptions (depending on manuscript) of teachings considered heretical by the Chalcedonic Church. One of the latest in the De haeresibus is “The heresy of the Ishmaelites”. In most studies thus far, it has been compared with ‘full-fledged’ Sunni Islam, in order to find out what John knew about Islam as it stands now. This kind of analysis ignores the fact that Islam in the early eight century does not necessarily correspond the (much) latter form(s) of Islam. Thus, starting with the presupposition that John talks about contemporary Islam of some community he designates the Ishmaelites (also his name for all Muslims), I read “The heresy of the Ishmaelites” to find out what features and aspects of Islamic teaching and rituals John singles out, and argue that they tell us something about a local community’s understanding of Islam. The edition of De haeresibus I use is the critical version by Bonifatius Kotter (Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos IV. Liber de haeresibus. Opera polemica, 1981). My conclusion is that some aspects of Islamic teaching (those concerning the unity of God and the ‘nature’ of Jesus as a prophet, not as Son of God) prevail among the Ishmaelites as strong as among the Muslims today. The role and position of Muhammad (in John’s text, Mamed) and the ‘scriptures’ (the term ‘the Qur’an’ is not used) is more complex. I deduce that the Ishmaelites in John’s text make up a community strongly relying on the oral authority of Muhammad, while the role of the scriptures is still in the making. Further, while earlier scholarship criticises John of inaccurate quotations from the Qur’an, my conclusion is that he reconstructs what he calls ‘scriptures’ from some qur’anic oral traditions. As for the rituals, John portrays the pilgrimage to Mecca in an unfavourable light but does not say a word about the other so-called ‘pillars of faith’, such as fasting and (ritual) praying. Some scholars have argued that John was ignorant of the Islamic ritual life, but I suggest that, either John dismissed them for polemical reasons, or his description corresponds the real situation among the local Ishmaelite community. To sum up, I conclude that John’s critique of “The heresy of Ishmaelites”, if read from non-partisan perspective, gives us a glimpse of some aspects of the early eight century Islam.

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