Islamic Political Identity in Turkey, by M. Hakan Yavuz. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 328 pages, endnotes, bibliography, index. US$65.00 (Cloth) ISBN 0-19-516085-1

Abstract

One of the main criticisms of Quranic Studies when it first came out, was how it was inaccessible even to the specialist. As a way of ameliorating this difficulty, in this new edition, Rippin has included expanded notes or annotations to help ease the reading and comprehension of this book. Unfortunately, instead of elucidating the meaning of the context of the text page by page these expanded notes are merely translations of Qur'anic, Arabic, Hebrew and German quotations used by Warnsbrough in his original text. The plus side to this disappointment would probably be the inclusion of a glossary of technical terms used by Warnsbrough. The inclusion of these terms is useful as they are given brief explanations by Rippin as to their meaning suitable for the context in which they are used. I would have wished that an index with the page numbers of these terms be included. This would make comprehending the work easier, instead of having to flip to the end of the book for the glossary. Although Warnsbrough had included an index of technical terms, it is unfortunately incomplete as words found in the glossary are not found there, e.g. heilsgeschichte, homoioteleuton, inconcinnity etc. In addition to these Rippin has also included a three page description of the manuscripts used by John Warnsbrough in writing Quranic Studies. In the foreword Rippin mentions how Warnsbrough's work and conclusions are used in polemical debates on internet sites "by both Muslims and Christians" (pp. xviii-xix). I would agree partially with Rippin on this point as Warnsbrough's conclusions are used more in websites questioning Islam and the Muslim faith rather than others. One wonders about whether or not republishing this book will decrease such polemics, as Rippin remarked at the end of his foreword (p. xix), especially when the publisher is known to have published many controversial and provocative books consisting of compilations of articles written by sceptical scholars. Although the work has been made less difficult and the degree of accessibility is increased, due to the terse and difficult tools employed here, this book will still be appealing only to a small audience of specialist scholars. Mohamad Nasrin International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization