- From Byzantium to Baghdad, physicians and medical texts, History of medicine in early 'Abbasid period, Ibn Abi Usaibia, the transmission of medical knowledge, a meeting point between Bagdad and the Ayyubid world, The idea of "Progress" in medieval Islam, Idris, the prophet of science, Graeco-Arabic translation movement, and 4 moreMiddle Eastern Studies, History, Religious Conversion, and Genderedit
- Conversion to Islam and family relations in early Islam. Women in the Middle East. The transmission of scientific k... moreConversion to Islam and family relations in early Islam.
Women in the Middle East.
The transmission of scientific knowledge and the narratives medieval scholars constructed regarding this transmission.
The prophet Idris and his role in the transmission of knowledge.
Interaction between religion and cultivation of science.edit
Gerrit Bos, ed., Maimonides, Commentary on Hippocrates’ “Aphorisms”: A New Parallel Arabic-English Edition and Translation, with Critical Editions of the Medieval Hebrew Translations, vol. 1. (The Medical Works of Moses Maimonides 14.1.) Leiden: Brill, 2019. Pp. x, 607. $114. ISBN: 978-9-0044-1287-3more
Research Interests:
The use of veils among contemporary Muslim women triggers a large range of emotions and concepts in the general public and among Muslim communities in different places.The general public perception of veiling shifts from manifestations of... more
The use of veils among contemporary Muslim women triggers a large range of emotions and concepts in the general public and among Muslim communities in different places.The general public perception of veiling shifts from manifestations of female oppression to concepts of liberation of women from the male gaze. Individuals, as well as state institutions attempt at controlling the use of veils, either by restricting or enforcing it. Up to day, veiling is a sphere where contesting identities clash and at times attract public debates. Several such incidents have raised international public discourse, in Germany, and elsewhere. In 2016 France attempted at declaring the “Burka Law”, but since was suspended. Several other places attempted at declaring a similar law, e.g. Swiss, Germany and Quebec; And the French law forbidding religious marks in schools. These are but a few of the recent incidents concerning female cover in public.
Research Interests: Islamic Law, Gender Studies, Political Science, Jewish History, Public Sphere, and 12 moreIslamic Studies, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, Gender and religion (Women s Studies), Medieval Jewish History, Sharia, Women and Culture, Middle East, Women and Gender Studies, Cairo Genizah, Muslim Women, Oppression, and Marriage history
Research Interests: Psychology and Loyalty
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The conquest of the Middle East by Muslims ultimately resulted in the Islamization of the region. The long process by which this took place awaits clarification. Conversion narratives, permitting us a glimpse into relations between... more
The conquest of the Middle East by Muslims ultimately resulted in the Islamization of the region. The long process by which this took place awaits clarification. Conversion narratives, permitting us a glimpse into relations between Muslims, non-Muslims, and converts, might serve to elucidate this process. This study examines how different families responded to religious conversion within their ranks. It will show that in early Islam, individuals moved between different spheres, all the while negotiating their roles and commitments. Rather than considering the act of conversion itself, this study engages with the range of responses generated by conversion that were recorded by medieval historians, biographers, and ḥadīth collectors. The present contribution seeks to demonstrate, through anecdotes of conversion, the ways in which kinship ties functioned in the face of shifts in personal status. I also hope to show that boundaries between religious communities (to the extent that they ...
Research Interests: History, Narrative, Religious Conversion, Negotiation, Faith, and 3 moreIslam, Kinship, and Islamization
The past few decades have witnessed a remarkable shift in the way scholars study the field of sciences in Muslim societies. Up to the 1980s, research focused on Muslim scientists’ role as transmitters of science to the West, and as... more
The past few decades have witnessed a remarkable shift in the way scholars study the field of sciences in Muslim societies. Up to the 1980s, research focused on Muslim scientists’ role as transmitters of science to the West, and as contributors to Western science. The Muslim world was commonly viewed as a link between ancient Greece and Latin Christendom, its scholars serving as translators of Greek treatises, and as preservers of Greek knowledge. Recently, the theme of Indian-Muslim cultural-scientific relations has attracted growing attention. Following this trend, we maintain that the eighth and ninth centuries reveal an interaction between Indian and Muslim medicine and physicians. Building on the past work of scholars such as Michael W. Dols and more recently Kevin van Bladel, we reinterpret medieval Arabic sources to reveal that the interest in Asian science was not a brief and untypical phenomenon that lacked long-lasting implications. By rereading Arabic chronicles and biogr...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Obscurity surrounds not only the date and name of the inventor of eyeglasses, but also the date and place where eyeglasses (or information pertaining to them) reached the Muslim world. It is assumed that eyeglasses were transmitted to the... more
Obscurity surrounds not only the date and name of the inventor of eyeglasses, but also the date and place where eyeglasses (or information pertaining to them) reached the Muslim world. It is assumed that eyeglasses were transmitted to the Muslim world through commerce with Italian traders, which is probable, while other options also present themselves. This paper shows, at any rate, that the date traditionally given for the first acquaintance of the Muslim world with eyeglasses is wrong. In this article, we present evidence that eyeglasses were available in Syria since the fourteenth century and discuss the implications of this discovery.
Research Interests:
The use of veils among contemporary Muslim women triggers a large range of emotions and concepts in the general public and among Muslim communities in different places.The general public perception of veiling shifts from manifestations of... more
The use of veils among contemporary Muslim women triggers a large range of emotions and concepts in the general public and among Muslim communities in different places.The general public perception of veiling shifts from manifestations of female oppression to concepts of liberation of women from the male gaze. Individuals, as well as state institutions attempt at controlling the use of veils, either by restricting or enforcing it. Up to day, veiling is a sphere where contesting identities clash and at times attract public debates. Several such incidents have raised international public discourse, in Germany, and elsewhere. In 2016 France attempted at declaring the “Burka Law”, but since was suspended. Several other places attempted at declaring a similar law, e.g. Swiss, Germany and Québec; And the French law forbidding religious marks in schools. These are but a few of the recent incidents concerning female cover in public.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Paper presented at the SBL Annual Meeting, Helsinki 2018 When considering women in early Islam the main images coming to mind are those of the extremes. It is either a strong woman such as Khadija, or the submissive, helpless and... more
Paper presented at the SBL Annual Meeting, Helsinki 2018
When considering women in early Islam the main images coming to mind are those of the extremes. It is either a strong woman such as Khadija, or the submissive, helpless and anonymous women in general. As in the way extremes, the truth lays somewhere in between. However, lack of sources and many other difficulties, prevent us from learning about early Islamic period and the status of women at that time, moreover, it is not clear that we have formulated the right questions.
In this paper I wish to look into women who acted as agents of conversion, using theological concepts and excerpts of the Quran as their justification for conversion (their own, or others). I will show that women who converted to Islam did so for many different reasons, or better say, were attributed various reasons. Understanding and conceptualizing the validity of Muhammad’s prophecy was among them. These women later on made a point of spreading that understanding to members of their family and even to strangers. I will also look into the reasons that encouraged authors to put such words in the mouths of women (rather than men). I will ask whether these women were presented as unique females, or maybe authors were making a different point. Such an inquiry might help us learn about women in early Islam, and maybe also about the still ambiguous process of conversion in the early period.
When considering women in early Islam the main images coming to mind are those of the extremes. It is either a strong woman such as Khadija, or the submissive, helpless and anonymous women in general. As in the way extremes, the truth lays somewhere in between. However, lack of sources and many other difficulties, prevent us from learning about early Islamic period and the status of women at that time, moreover, it is not clear that we have formulated the right questions.
In this paper I wish to look into women who acted as agents of conversion, using theological concepts and excerpts of the Quran as their justification for conversion (their own, or others). I will show that women who converted to Islam did so for many different reasons, or better say, were attributed various reasons. Understanding and conceptualizing the validity of Muhammad’s prophecy was among them. These women later on made a point of spreading that understanding to members of their family and even to strangers. I will also look into the reasons that encouraged authors to put such words in the mouths of women (rather than men). I will ask whether these women were presented as unique females, or maybe authors were making a different point. Such an inquiry might help us learn about women in early Islam, and maybe also about the still ambiguous process of conversion in the early period.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The past few decades have witnessed a remarkable shift in the way scholars study the field of sciences in Muslim societies. Up to the 1980s, research focused on Muslim scientists’ role as transmitters of science to the West, and as... more
The past few decades have witnessed a remarkable shift in the way scholars study the field of sciences in Muslim societies. Up to the 1980s, research focused on Muslim scientists’ role as transmitters of science to the West, and as contributors to Western science. The Muslim world was commonly viewed as a link between ancient Greece and Latin Christendom, its scholars serving as translators of Greek treatises, and as preservers of Greek knowledge. Recently, the theme of Indian-Muslim cultural-scientific relations has attracted growing attention. Following this trend, we maintain that the eighth and ninth centuries reveal an interaction between Indian and Muslim medicine and physicians. Building on the past work of scholars such as Michael W. Dols and more recently Kevin van Bladel, we reinterpret medieval Arabic sources to reveal that the interest in Asian science was not a brief and untypical phenomenon that lacked long-lasting implications. By rereading Arabic chronicles and biographical dictionaries, we will portray how a rather brief contact between ʿAbbāsid Iraq and India proved to yield enduring influences. We will focus on two aspects of Muslim medical practice for demonstrating the Indian connection: the presence of Indian
physicians in Baghdād in and around the ʿAbbāsid court, and the emergence of early Muslim hospitals.
physicians in Baghdād in and around the ʿAbbāsid court, and the emergence of early Muslim hospitals.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Hershkovits, K. (2020). Maimonides On the Elucidation of Some Symptoms and the Response to Them (Formerly Known as On the Causes of Symptoms). A New Parallel Arabic-English Edition and Translation, with Critical Editions of the Medieval... more
Hershkovits, K. (2020). Maimonides On the Elucidation of Some Symptoms and the Response to Them (Formerly Known as On the Causes of Symptoms). A New Parallel Arabic-English Edition and Translation, with Critical Editions of the Medieval Hebrew Translation. By Gerit Bos. pp. 179. Leiden, Brill, 2019. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 30(3), 571-573