20908638 the concept of time in islam
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The Concept of Time in Islam
Author(s): Gerhard BöweringSource: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 141, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 55-66Published by: American Philosophical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/987249
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TheConceptof Timein Islam*
GERHARDBOWERING
Professor f IslamicStudies
YaleUniversity
Today the world of Islam s estimated o count almost one billion
people, one fifth of humanity.Islamoccupiesthe center of the globe.It stretches like a broad belt across the map from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, encirclingboth the "haves"of the consumer North and "have-
nots" of the disadvantagedSouth. It sits at the crossroads of America,WesternEurope,andRussiaon one side and blackAfrica,India,andEast
Asia on the other. Islamis not contained in any national culture;it is a
universal orce. Stretchingfrom Morocco to Mindanao,it is built of five
geographicalblocks, the Muslims of black Africa, the Arab world, the
Turco-Iranianands, he Muslimsof SouthAsia,andthe inhabitantsof theIndonesianarchipelago.
Islam is also at a crossroads n history, destined to play an inter-
national role in politicsand to become the most prominentworld religionin the decades o come. In the seventhcenturyof the Common Era,Islam
entered he globalscene with Muhammadat aturning point in time. With
spectacular conquest and organic growth, it expanded through the
centuriesand becamestretched aut in a bow of tension between striving
for God andstruggle or dominion. As we enter the third millennium ofthe Common Era, Islam looks back nostalgicallyat its medieval glory,when the Judaeo-ChristianWest studied at its feet, and sees funda-
mentalism as the fulcrum of its future in the strugglefor preeminencewith the secular andtechnologically superiorWest.
How does Islamunderstand he ideasof pastandfuture,of time and
temporality, in which it strives to realize its eternal destiny? Picture
yourself in a downtown McDonald's taking a short lunch break at the
officeor grabbinga bite to eat between errands.Now pictureyourself inan Arab coffee house nursingan espressoafteryour siesta.We all knowfrom lived experiencethat these two settings carrywith them quite dif-
*Read3 November 1995
PROCEEDINGSFTHEAMERICANHILOSOPHICALOCIETY,OL.141,No. 1. 1997.
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GERHARDBOWERING
ferent sensesof time. In the first scenario, time pushesrelentlesslyonward;n thesecond, t lazilywinds tswayforward n the afternoon
sun. Movefrom fast food to edification f a more intellectual ortandcheck heentryon thephilosophy f time n amajor ncyclopedia.What
youwill find here s learned rticlesontrastinghe linearprogression ftimepredominantn Western ulturewith the cyclicalconceptof time
prevalentn India.Bothconceptions,we are old,belong o thedefiningcharacteristicsf these two culturalworlds.Withregardo Islam heir
geographicaleighbor, owever,he same ources f referencedentifynosuchcharacteristicotionof time.1
Does theworldofIslam,occupyinghecenterof theglobe,possessaconceptof timecharacteristicallytsown,orcanthe Islamicnotion oftime be exhaustivelyexplainedby a cluster of borrowings rom its
neighbors ndcultural ncestors?s thereaunityto the Islamicnotion of
time, or is Islama universal ultureencompassingmanylanguages ndethnicgroups, achwithits own notionof time? Can oneonlyspeakofa spectrumof ideason time in Islamor arethereconstants hatwould
provideparametersefining
slamauthentically
s areligion
andculture?On theonehand,are heredistinct ndperduringlementsnthe Islamicnotionof time thatchallengehecurrent lash-of-civilizationheories oarticulate definitionof Islamiccivilizationupon which to base theiraxioms?On theotherhand,dodevelopmentsn the Islamicconceptoftime reveal he monolithic laims f Muslimundamentalismo restuponan idealized ndhomogenized ision of thepast?
ThesearchordefiningharacteristicsfIslamic ulture ndreligion
might beginwith
many notions, includingmonotheism,revelation,prophethood,rreligiousaw.Ihavechosen heconceptof timefortworeasons:irst, imeappearso provide moreneutral ointof comparisonthanothermorereligiously harged otions; econd, ime isnot limitedto oneparticularieldof Islam,but can betracedn a broadcross-sectionof Islamicwritings.2Time is pervasiven Islamichistory,centralto
1. The abbreviationof journal itles followsJ. D. Pearson,IndexIslamicus,London 1958.
El (reprint1987)stands for TheEncyclopaedia fIslam(ed. M. T. Houtsma et al., Leiden1913-38;repr. Leiden 1987),El(new edition)for TheEncyclopaedia fIslam (ed. H.A.R.
Gibb et al., Leiden 1960-),Elr for Encyclopaediaranica (ed. E. Yarshater,New York
1982-),ER for TheEncyclopedia fReligion (ed. M. Eliade,New York 1987)and EREfor
TheEncyclopedia fReligionand Ethics(ed.J. Hastings,Edinburgh1908-26;reprintNew
York 1980).
2. There is no scholarlymonographon time in Islam or on time in Islamicmysticism.F. Rosenthal,SweeterThanHope,Leiden 1983,pp. 1-58,S. Pines, Beitrdge ur islamischen
(continued...)
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THE CONCEPTOF TIME N ISLAM
languageand poetry, indispensablen Islamicastronomyand music,constitutive or Islamicritualandlaw, and crucial n Islamictheology,cosmology,andphilosophy.Fromthegreatrangeof thesefieldsI wouldliketo select ourpoints ormyreflectionsn thepresent aper:hevisionoftime n theQur'anandMuslimradition,heatomism f timepeculiarto Islamic heology,the paradigm f time prevalent n the medieval
mystical hilosophy fIslam, nd herhythmofthe Muslim alendarhat
provideshe basis or Islamichistoriography.Inthepre-Islamicra,Arab imewascharacterizedyfatalism, ahr,
whicheraseshumanworks withouthope for life beyonddeath.3Also
calledhe"days"r the"nights,"ahr s the causeofearthlyhappinessnd
misery; t is death'sdoomandthe measure f destiny;t changes very-thing, and nothing resistsit. While dahrheld sway like fate, it could be
transcended by a moment marked out in tribal memory and often
preserved n poetry. Dahr wasthuspunctuatedby the Days of the Arabs,
ayyam al-cArab,4he days of vengeance in combat and tribal prowess,when memorableeventsplacedmarkers n the recollection of the course
of events.
The Qur'an rejectsthe pre-Islamicfatalism of dahr. Instead, it
explains time from the perspectiveof a transcendentmonotheism pro-
mising paradiseandthreateningeternaldamnation.Justasthe pre-IslamicArabshad their days of victory andvengeance,so Allah had His days ofdeliverance and punishment. God's personalcommand, "'Be!'and it is,
kunfa-yakun" bliterated he spell of fate. God gaveHis command whenHe formedthe first humanbeingandmade the heavensandthe earth.Hedeterminesthe
beginningof a
person'slife andcallseach individual
to a2. (...continued)Atomenlehre, rafenhainichen936,andNouvelles tudesurAwhadal-zamanAbu-l-Barakatl-BaghddI,aris1955,ncludeground-breakingbservationsn "time"n Islam.E.Behler,DieEwigkeit erWelt,Miinchen 965,offersathoroughhistorical nalysis fthe controversy n the beginnings f the worldandits eternity n ArabicandJewishmedievalphilosophy. Somehelpfulspecificarticleson aspectsof "time"n Islamareenumeratedn G. B6wering,"Ideas f Time in PersianSufism,"ran30 (1992), 86;
reprintedn Classicalersian
ufismromitsOriginsoRumi,editedby L. Lewinsohn,London-NewYork1993,p. 203.
3. T. Noldeke, "Vorstellungener Arabervom Schicksal,"Zeitschriftur Volker-
psychologiendSprachwissenschaft(1885),130-35;. Pedersen,"The slamicPreacher:wa z mudhakkir,ass"GoldziherMem.1 (1948): 26-51;H. Ritter,DasMeerderSeele,Leiden1955,pp.43-44.
4. E. Mittwoch,"Ayyimal 'Arab,"EI(newedition),1:793-94;W. Caskel,"Aijam l-
'Arab,"slamica supplement1930),1-99.
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GERHARDBOWERING
finalaccount fterdeath.There snoplace n theQur'an forimpersonaltime;eachperson'sdestiny s in the handsof the God who createsmale
and female,giveslife andbringsdeath,andgrantswealthandworksdestruction.God is activeevenin a person's leep,for "God akesthe
soulsunto Himselfat thetimeof theirdeath,and hatwhich hasnot died
in itssleep.Hekeeps hoseon whomHe hasdecreed eath,butlooses he
otherstill a stated erm."5Fromthe "Be!"f aperson's reation o the
time ofdeath,human xistenceallsunderhedecree f God:Allahis the
Lordof each nstant;whatHe hasdeterminedappens.Muslim
tradition,or
Hadith,amplifiedhe divinedetermination
includedn the Qur'an,and ransformedMuhammad'stresson divine
omnipotence nto a rigidpredeterminism. avingdahrfromQur'aniccondemnation,Hadithidentifieddahr with God througha powerfuldivine utterance nd warnedagainst landering ahr hrougha famous
sayingoftheProphet.6n order o establishhatAllah'sunalterableecree
isinvariablyulfilled, nother trand fHadithntroduceshenotion that
everything hathappenss written n aheavenlybook.Whileeach em-
bryo is still in the womb, an angelwrites down the dailyration,theworks, hemomentsofmiseryorhappiness,nd he hour of deathof theman or womanit will become.7Combiningpre-Islamicotions of all-
pervasive ime with the ideaof God'sdecree n the Qur'an, Muslimtraditionsaw time as a seriesof predeterminedventsbindingdivine
omnipotence o the certainoccurrence f each nstantof aperson'sife
span.8Unavoidable s fateand rreversiblestime,each nstanthappenedsolelythroughGod'sveryown action.
The most commonIslamic ermfortime,zaman,does not appearin the Qur'an,nor doesqidam,ts counterpartor eternity.The Arab
lexicographers,owever,hadagreat arietyofterms or time. Ingeneral,theydistinguishedahr, ime fromthebeginning f the world o itsend,fromzaman,alongtimehavingbothbeginning ndend;casr,aspanof
time;bin,a periodof time,little or much;dawmn,duration;mudda,a
spaceofduration;waqt,amoment ntime; an,presentime;awan time
5. Qur'an 39:42.
6. Cf. A. J. Wensinck, Concordance t indicesde la traditionmusulmane,8 vols., Leiden
1936-88,1: 50, 101;2: 92,155.
7. H. Ringgren, Studies n ArabianFatalism,Uppsala 1955, pp. 117-18; dem, "Islamic
Fatalism," n:FatalisticBeliefs,ed. H. Ringgren,Stockholm 1967,pp. 57-59.
8. For the implicationsof these strandsof Hadithon Islamicdoctrinesof predestination,seeJ. van Ess, ZwischenHadiitund Theologie,Berlin 1975,pp. 75-81.
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THE CONCEPT OF TIME IN ISLAM
or season;yawm, a time, whether night or day; and sia, a while or an
hour. Abad was duration without end and azal duration without
beginning,to which qidam, ime without beginning,correspondedto its
primary sense as distinct from sarmad,incessant continuance. Kulld ,
perpetual existence, was implicit in the Qur'anic day of eternity, the
entrance o dr al-kulfid, aradise.9 t is obvious that these distinctions do
not reflect a quasi-technical sageof each term to the exclusion of others,but ratheran approximatelypredominantmeaningthat often blendswith
the neighboring terms in the actual literary use. When it came to
translatingGreek philosophical texts into Arabic, the most commonly
employed correspondenceswere chronos, ranslatedby zaman, aion bydahr,kairosby waqt, anddia'stasisby mudda.10
Throughthe exposureof Greekthought, the philosophersof Islam
becamefamiliarwith two powerful andmutually opposed philosophicalnotions of time. For those who followed the Aristotelianview, time was
an accidentof motion, while for those who espousedthe Plotinian con-
cept, time had no extra-mental reality; rather it was the stream of
consciousness of a thinking mind, a durationexisting independently of
motion. Aristotle had attemptedto prove the eternity of the universefrom the nature of time. In the Plotinian view, time did not come intoexistence with the creation of the universe, but existed from eternity asthe durationof God's infinite consciousness.
While Islamic philosophical notions of time oscillated between
Aristotelian motion and Plotinian duration, it was the atomism of
Democritus that appealedmost strongly to the creatorsof normativeIslamic
theology.Atomic
theory openeda
wayto link the
immutabilityof reality with the observablechangesand manifold forms in naturebydescribing reality as composed of simple and unchangeable minute
particles, called atoms. The atoms and their accidentsexist for only aninstant. In every instant, God is creatingthe world anew; there are nointermediatecauses. God can be thought of as continually creatingthe
9. For details on these terms, see, e.g., E.W. Lane,An Arabic-EnglishLexicon,London
1863-93.10. S. Pines, Beitragezur islamischenAtomenlehre,Berlin 1936, pp. 49-51 (Ibn Sina [d.
428/1037] refines the terminology by the distinction of 7.amn, dahr,and sarmad). See
also T. J. DeBoer, "Zaman,"El(reprint1987),8: 1207-9;W. Hartner, "Zaman,"El(reprint
1987), 8: 1209-12;A. J. Wensinck, "Mikat,"EI (reprint 1987), 5: 492-93; D. Pingree,"Kamar," I (newedition),3: 517-18;S. van den Bergh, "Abad,"El (newedition), 1:2; E.
Schmitt, Lexikalische Untersuchungenzur arabischen Ubersetzungvon Artemidors
Traumbuch,Wiesbaden1970,pp. 13-19.
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GERHARDBOWERING
universe romnothing."SubvertingGreek"materialistic"tomism, heMuslim heologiansmadeatomismaninstrument f divineprovidenceand held that eachmoment within time is the direct creationof the
eternallyactive God. Of itself, creation s discontinuous;t appearscontinuous o usonlybecause f God'scompassionateonsistency.
Islamicatomismmay be illustrated y the famousexampleof a
person ngagednwriting.12llahcreateswithin hehumanbeing irst hewill and hen thecapacityo write,creating oth will andcapacityanewinevery nstant.ThenGodcreates, new nevery nstant, he movementof thehand,and
inally,hemotionof the
penconcurrentwithit.
Everyinstantandaction n the processof writing s independentromeveryother; all stagesof the processissue from God alone. It is only in
appearancehat there is a coherentaction of writing.Similarly,a self-consistentworld in spaceandtime,workingharmoniously,s only an
appearance. heone true actor s God alone.The linkof causalityhat
appearso rule heworld andhuman ifebecomes ubordinateo Allah,and naturalcausesgive way to divine will. As a rule, God does not
interrupthe
continuityof
events, houghHe is able o
interveneatanymomentby what is commonlytermeda miraclebut simplymeansan
interruptionof His customaryactivity.Atomismwas not only most
congenial o a visionof Godacting nstantaneouslyn the worldasthesoletruecause,talsoprovedmostcloselyakin o Arabic rammar, hichlacksgenuineverbsfor "tobe"and "tobecome."NeitherdoesArabic
employ the tenses of past,present,and future.Instead, t usesverbal
aspectsof completeandincomplete,marking he degree o which an
action has beenrealizedor is yet to be realizedwithoutdistinguishingpreciselybetweenpresentandfuture.
WhileMuslimphilosophersnd heologiansought o explainime,the mysticsof Islamset out to experiencet. For the Sufimysticsthe
paradigmof time is suspendedbetweentwo days,the Day of PrimalCovenantat thedawnof creationandtheDayof FinalJudgmentwhenthe world comes to its catastrophicnd. Time resemblesa parabolastretching rominfinityto infinity,an arcanchored n eternityat its
11. S. van den Bergh, "Djawhar,"I (newedition),2:493-94; . Pines,Beitrage urislamischenAtomenlehre, erlin 1936,pp. 94-102;L. Massignon,"Timein Islamic
Thought," n: Manand Time.Papersrom the EranosYearbooks,d. J. Campbell,Princeton, 957,pp. 108-14;C.Baffioni,Atomismo antiatomismonelpensieroslamico,
Naples 982, p.79-114;f.alsoH.S.Nyberg,"Muctazila,"I reprint987), :787-93;.VanEss,"Muctazilah,"R,10:220-29;R M.Frank,"Ashariyah,"R,1:449-55; f.AlsoS.SamburskyndS.Pines,TheConcept f Time nLateNeoplatonism,erusalem,971.
12. T.J.De Boer,"Atomic heory:Muhammadan,"RE,2:202-3.
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THE CONCEPTOF TIME N ISLAM
originandend,whichreaches ts apex n amystic'secstaticmomentof
memoryandcertitude.TheearlySufisdiscoveredhe decisivereligiousmoment orhumanitynpreexistence,henall humanbeingsheardandunderstoodGod's self-revelationor the first time at the very birthofcreation.3By recognizing he preexistentialoriginof all humanity on the
Day of Covenant,the Sufis establisheda dimensionof time that tracesthe
present moment back to eternity in the past and balancesthe eschato-
logical thrust of the Qur'an from the presentto eternity in the future,reachedat the Day of Judgment.
Through
a distinct meditational
technique,
known as dikr,recollection of God, the mystics return to their primeval origin on the
Day of Covenant,when all of humanity (sym-bolically nshrined n their
propheticalancestorsaslight particlesor seeds)swore an oath of allegianceand witness to Allah as the one and only Lord.14Breakingthrough to
eternity,the mysticsrelive theirwaqt,theirprimevalmoment with God,here and now, in the instant of ecstasy, even as they anticipate their
ultimatedestiny.Sufi meditationcaptures ime by drawing eternity from
itsedges
inpre-
andpost-existence
into the moment ofmystical
experience.The medievalSufi, Ibn al-CArabi,nalyzedthe concept of time on
the basis of the Prophet's tradition that Allah is time or dahr.15 ust as
God's being is everlasting,so is God's time; it is eternity, beginninglessand endless. Human beings,who are called in Sufi languagesons of their
moments, may also be understood as being, not having, time or waqt.Human time is momentary. Each moment is the reflection of God's
eternityin the person'sreceptivityto the divine action at each and everyinstant.Seen in this way, there are two levels of time: that of God, dahr,andthat of humanbeings,waqt.Yet both levels areinconsistent with our
ordinaryconceptionof time, becauseGod'stime stretchesout to eternitywhile the time of humans shrinks to a mere instant, a dot withoutduration. Caught between these two modes, divine everlastingnessandmortal momentariness, we human beings construct a notion of time,
13. G.Bowering,TheMystical ision fExistencen Classicalslam,Berlin1980,pp. 145-75;"The slamicCase,"n:TheOther ide fGod, d.P.Berger,New York1981,pp. 131-
53;R.Gramlich, DerUrvertragn derKoranauslegungzuSure7, 172-173),"erIslam60 (1983), 05-30.
14. L. Gardet,"Dhikr," l (newedition), :223-27;G.B6wering,"Dekr," Ir,7:229-33;idem,MysticalVision,201-7.
15. G. B6wering,"Ibnal-Arabi'sConceptof Time,"n:Gott st schonundErliebtdieSchonheitFestschriftiirAnnemariechimmel),d. A. GieseandJ.C.Biirgel,Bern1994,pp.71-91.
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GERHARDBOWERING
zaman or chr6nos, that is imaginaryand subjective,though inspired bythe realandobjectivetime of dahr andwaqt.
The imaginary zaman can be understood through two principalmodels:that of cosmology and that of relativity.The cosmologicalmodel
is based on an image of the universe that is largely derived from the
Ptolemaic system of the spheresand the story of creation known from
Scripture. Its central notion is the idea of the complete day, yawm, a
sequence of night and day, which complement each other like male and
female or like activityandpassivity.Night andday come into being with
the revolutionof the spheres settingthe universe in motion, but become
discernible only through the creation of the sun and its course. In the
model of relativity,however,God andthe world areseen asthe two terms
of aquasi-temporalelationbetween Creatorandcreatures.Time viewed
from the side of God is real but has no existence apart from God.
Perceivedfrom the vantageof humanbeings,time is imaginaryandlacks
any existence of its own. Whether conceived from the human or the
divine side, time is amere relation.Yet this mere relation is infinite, justlike
empty space.It can be divided into ever smaller or
largertime-
segments in a duration that has neither beginning nor end. There is,
however, an implicit link between our imaginarytime and God's real
time, which can be aptlydescribedby one of Ibn al-CArabi'simages:Any
point alonga circlemay be seen as the point separatingpast from future.
While havingno extensionwhatsoever, hispoint of the "now" s stillpartof the actualextentof the circularine. In otherwords,althoughaproductof our imagination, ime is, in eachmoment, the virtual and actualobject
of interaction with eternity. Eternity belongs to God alone, but God'screatureparticipates n the presentmoment.
The theocentric vision of time in Qur'an and Hadith, the
theologicalatomismof time governedby aneternallyactiveGod, and theSufi paradigmof time coupled with imaginaryrelativitygive expressionto the vertical dimension of Islamic thought: the individual's
overpowering dependence on the Creator. The horizontal dimension,one's autonomousself-realizationthroughone's earthlyinteractionswith
otherhumanbeings,seems to be diminished n thesetheoreticaldoctrinesof time. The picture changesdramatically,however, when the focus isshifted to the immensely practical aspects of Muslim thought. Islam
possessesa strongsense of law andritualon the one handand of the orderof history and society on the other. One of the most characteristic
orderingprinciplescreatedby Islam to define its ritual and measureits
history was the Muslim calendar, its own measure of time in the
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THE CONCEPT OF TIME IN ISLAM
horizontal ealm.16
LongbeforeMuhammad,he Arabsobserveda solaryearandat
times also followeda lunarreckoning.Theiracquaintance ith a solaryear sindicated ythe Arabmonths,named or definite easons, uchasthe deadof winter or the grazing eason,as well asby the festivalsandmarkets.17heArabs,however,hadno firmlyestablished alendar r auniform method of countingthe years,but reckonedon the basis of
particularvents,suchasthe fire of Abraham,hebuildingof theKaCba,the tribal migrationromtheTihama,orthedeathof apre-Islamicordof Mecca.18 he inhabitants f Meccaknew two mostnotablestartingpoints,thesacrilegious arof Fijar, oward heend of the sixthcenturyC.E.,foughtover tribalcontrolof the traderoutes,and"theyearof the
elephant,"nwhich heexpeditionedbythekingof Yemen o curb hecommercialowerof theMeccansanctuaryndedndisastern about554C.E.Thepre-Islamicrabsalsousedacycleoftwenty-eightimeperiods,reckonedaccordingo the settingof a starandthe heliacal isingof its
opposite,whichsuited henomadsnpredicting eriodsof rainandgood
pasturegrounds.19heyalsolearned o
distinguishhe mansionsof the
moonandadjusthemto their imeperiods nd he solarzodiac, herebyfollowingatypeof lunisolar earwiththedaybeginning tsunset.20
The lunaryear,peculiaro Islam,wasestablishedhenMuhammad
gavea solemn addressduringhis last pilgrimageo Mecca. In it, he
arrangedor the yearto consistof twelvelunarmonths. He alsopro-claimed hedivinenjunctiongainstntercalation,hich s theprocedureofcorrelatinghecycleof lunarmonthswiththesolaryearof theseasons
by insertinga thirteenthmonthinto a lunar
yearatcertainntervals.21
Muhammad'smotiveforthe interdiction f intercalation,itedin the
16. The standardreference to Muslim calendars s B. Spuler andJ. Mayr, Wiistenfeld-Mahler'scheVergleichungs-Tabellen,iesbaden1961.
17. M. Hifner, "Die altsudarabischen Monatsnamen," in K. Schubert (ed.),Vorderasiatischetudien:Festschriftiir Viktor Christian,Wien 1956, pp. 46-54; A.F.L.
Beeston,Epigraphic outhArabianCalendars ndDating, London 1956,pp. 10-25.
18. A. Fischer,"Tagund Nacht' im Arabischenund die semitischeTagesberechnung,"
AbhandlungendersichsischenGesellschafter Wissenschaften7 (1909),741-58.
19. R.B. Serjeant,"Star-CalendarsndanAlmanachfrom South-WestArabia,"Anthropos49 (1954),433-59.
20. A. Sprenger,"UberdenKalenderderArabervor Muhammad,"ZDMG 13 (1859), 139-
59.
21. A. Moberg,An-nasi' in derislamischenTradition,Lund 1931.
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GERHARD BOWERING
Qur'an as anexpression f unbelief,22 ayhave beentwofold. On theonehand, heinterdictionnflinchinglymaintained llah'sruleoverthe
orderoftime,manifestedndobservedn nature hrough heappearanceof themoon'screscent.On theotherhand, t deprivednArabclanof itstraditionalrightsto proclaimpubliclythe intercalaryyears and to
preservehe pagan estivalsandmarketswithinthe seasonsof the solar
year.TheProphet'snterdictionilled wo birdswith one stone.First, t
drew he believers way rompagan ultsand urned hem to Allah,thetrue creator, cause, and preserver of all things. Second, it allowed
Muhammad o wrest economicpowerawayfrom tribal nterestgroupsby
detachingthe festivalsfrom their paganmoorings in the seasons.
Not simply a matter of adjustingthe lunar year to the seasons,intercalationalso hadanimpacton tribalwarfare.The Qur'an upheldthe
Arab tribal custom of four inviolable months that were not to be
disturbedby internecinebattles.One month fell in the middle of the year,but the otherthree followed one anotheras a block of time at the turn of
the year.Sincethe intercalarymonth was most likely inserted at the end
of the year,it either
interruptedhe time block of the inviolable
months,or changedthe statusof a sacredmonth to profane.23n either case, the
intercalarymonth disturbed he sacredorder of time. This manipulation
appearedo Muhammad's yes as a sacrilegiousntervention in the divine
order because t facilitatedwarfareand bloodshedwithin a period of time
ordained to be an inviolable season.
While Muhammad introducedthe Muslim lunaryear, he did not
establish the uniform Muslim calendar. Its innovation is traditionally
attributedto cUmar, the second caliph. According to tradition,cUmarcalled a councilto resolvethe confusion of reckoningtime in the light of
difficulties with raising taxes and collecting tribute. After lengthydiscussions he decisionwas made to adoptthe standardMuslim calendar
that remains in use today. A coin struck at Damascus during CUmar's
reign and, shortly thereafter,a papyrus of Egypt and a tombstone of
Cyprus providesolid evidencefor the calendar's xistence.24 Tmar'srole
in its uniform establishment,however, may be overstated n the sources
since early Muslim biographers and historians continued to quotedifferent sets of datesin randomfashion.
With the increasing conquests of Islam, the standard Muslim
calendar, based on the observation of a pure lunar year, no longer
22. Cf. Qur'in 9:37;cf.J. Fick, "Zuan-nasi' (Koran9,37),"OLZ 36 (1933), 280-83.
23. R. Paret,Der Koran,KommentarundKonkordanz,Stuttgart1971,pp. 202-3.
24. A. Grohmann,ArabischeChronologie,Leiden 1966,pp. 9-36.
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THE CONCEPTOF TIME N ISLAM
respondedo allcircumstancesf a vastempire.A consistentalendarwas
requiredor the administration f stateand the collectionof taxesand
tribute.This need edto the concurrent se ofdifferentypesof calendar.The popularunaryear,basedon the actualobservation f the moon's
crescent,wassupported ythescholars f law andreligion.TheMuslim
astronomers,owever, stablished mathematicallyomputed tandardlunar calendarof 354daysthat addedone dayto the last month in an
irregularequence fleapyears.Theastronomerslsosubstitutedniformhours of equal ength or the formerlyvariable oursof the day,twelve
during heperiodof daylightandtwelveduringnighttime.By contrast,Muslim rulersresorted o a kindof adaptedSassanianolarcalendar.25Thismakeshift djustment asrequiredo overcome heincongruity fthe lunarcalendarwiththe agriculturalycle,whichcreatedperiodsof
manyyearswhen the tax camedue before he cropscouldbeharvested.Onewayto resynchronize ith the lunar alendar asto dropa taxyearevery thirty-twoyears.Overthe centuriesa numberof attemptsweremadeby Muslim rulers o administerhe empireefficientlyby intro-
ducingolarcalendarshatfixed he
beginningf the calendar
earat the
vernalequinox.26AsIcome o myshortconclusion,ourealize hatI stressedherole
of atomismnmyreflections n Islamicheoriesof timeandhighlightedthepracticalmplicationsnIslamic istoryof thecalendarhatmeasurestime. Seeingthe theoretical ide as the verticaldimensionof Islamic
thoughtand hepracticalideas tshorizontal imension,slamappearedascategoricallyheocentric n tyingthe individualrrevocablyo God,while
being immenselydownto earth n
determininghe courseof itscommunal istory.Thepowerful tomisticonceptionof timeexpressedthe vertical imension f theindividual smarked yaseriesof flashesofexistencewith momentarybreakthroughso eternity n ecstasy.Theseflashes oreshadowedhe finalmomentthatfreezes ime in irreversible
ultimateness, hentheindividualtandsalonebeforeGod in the trialofthe lastjudgment.At the same imeit recalled he momentwhenall of
humanityheardGod'sself-revelationor the first time at the dawnof
creation. In the horizontaldimension,however,the communityofbelievers, galaxy findividualtoms,wasforcefullyonscious fshapingits owntemporalrameworkthrough he calendar sit begana newandultimate raof humanhistory.
25. R. Abdollahy, "Calendars, I. IslamicPeriod,"EIr,4: 668-74.
26. For the conversion of Islamic dates to those of the Common Era, cf. J. Mayr,"IslamischeZeitrechnungen,"MSOS30 (1927), 203-5.
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GERHARDBOWERING
I wonderwhether oufeltallthewhileas fyouwererelaxingn anArab coffee house or being pushed throughthe fast food line at
McDonald's. o consoleyourselves, owever,pleasenote that I havenottalkedaboutthe intricateimingof ritualprayern Islam, he complexliteratureon timein Islamicastronomy,he work of al-Birini'sChro-
nology,al-Tisi'sworkon the duodecennial nimal ycle,the reflec-tionsof Islamic istoriansntheiruseoftime nannals ndbiographies,rtherole time playsin poeticalmeter and musicalmode. I also neglectedaspects f timebroughto lightbyanthropologistsndsociologistsn the
myriadethnic traditions f Islam.One thing,however,I hopeto have
conveyedo you:thereareparametersf Islamic imethatgive tscultureand religioncohesion andstructuren theory andpractice.The four
points of analysis selected n elaborating n Islamicconceptof time
integrateross-culturalorrowingwithoriginalnspiration. he visionofIslamheyreflect s notamonolithic halanxmoving hroughhistorybutrathera dynamicreligion mparting distinct orm andcontent to itscivilization.
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