The Arabic Background of the Kuzari

Abstract The question of the nature and extent of Judah Halevi’s engagement with diverse aspects of Arabic culture in the Kuzari is a broad and multifaceted one. In this article, I will use a large number and variety of examples in order to demonstrate Judah Halevi’s remarkably fruitful contacts with Arabic culture. This culture constituted a motivating and inspiring challenge for him, and his relationship with it was a critical and creative one. The Kuzari’s author ingeniously extracted concepts and worldviews belonging to various streams of Arabic culture from their original context and incorporated them into his own unique concepts and lines of thought.