ISLAM arose with remarkable speed and mystery. Patricia Crone’s well-stocked mind, clear prose and unflinching intellectual honesty were devoted to explaining why. She had little time for Islam’s own accounts of its origins: “debris” as far as historians were concerned, and hopelessly inconsistent. Far better, she reckoned, to fill the gap with contemporary sources and knowledge of other cultures, from messianic Maoris to Icelanders.
That required both personal and intellectual bravery. The central beliefs of Islam, such as the way the Koran took shape, the life of Muhammad and Islam’s relations with other religions, are sensitive subjects. Outside scrutiny can make tempers flare, especially when the conclusions are expressed in a witty and sardonic style.
That is one reason why copies of “Hagarism”, Ms Crone’s first book, long out of print, now sell for hundreds of dollars. It was published in 1977, the year she whirled like a tornado into Oxford, terrifying the dusty dons. (The Oriental Institute was then a notable source of spies for MI6, despite the fact that the history syllabus for the BA in Arabic ended at 1258, the year the...
from The Economist: Obituary http://ift.tt/1INPPb8
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