A Medieval Critique of Anthropomorphism: Ibn Al-Jawzi's Kitab Akhbar As-Sifat, A Critical Edition of the Arabic Text (Book Review‪)‬

A Medieval Critique of Anthropomorphism: Ibn al-Jawzi's Kitab Akhbar as-Sifat: A Critical Edition of the Arabic Text. By MERLIN SWARTZ. Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science: Texts and Studies, no. 46. Leiden: BRILL, 2002, Pp. 297 + 107. Brill has over the years produced many handsome volumes in Islamic Studies, including some of the most important reference works, editions, and studies in the field. It is a shame, therefore, that the process of editing and review for Brill's many series is not more rigorous. In the reviewer's opinion, the editors (H. Daiber and D. Pingree) of this series do not deserve the title, for it appears that they have not done any actual editing. While a great deal of time and effort have obviously gone into the production of Swartz's edition of this text by Ibn al-Jawzi, the translation, representing the bulk of the work under review, is seriously flawed and should have been thoroughly corrected and revised before publication. This having been said, Swartz deserves credit for making this unpublished critique of the anthropomorphic interpretation of scriptural texts available and for bringing out its importance in Islamic intellectual history.