Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker »

Sarah Stroumsa is the Alice and Jack Ormut Professor of Arabic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she currently serves as rector. Her books include "Freethinkers of Medieval Islam".

"Stroumsa paints a richly documented, nuanced portrait of Maimonides as a bold, open thinker whose sometimes revolutionary conception of Judaism draws freely from the multiple philosophical, theological, scientific, and ideological currents of his contemporary Mediterranean world. This intellectual biography covers the full range of Maimonides' writings, from law and philosophy to polemics and medicine, exposing novel and unexpected sources, for example, in Islamic theology and Almohad thought. Stroumsa points scholars in new directions for future study of the greatest Jewish figure of the Middle Ages."--Josef Stern, University of Chicago

"A stimulating, absorbing read. Stroumsa is a valuable and unique voice in a lively complex of debates about this extraordinary thinker. Her fundamental point--that Maimonides must be understood as a well-read and active participant in a diverse multiconfessional culture--is emphatically confirmed by sheer accumulation of data and clever argument."--Everett K. Rowson, New York University

"This is a serious piece of scholarship filled with many very fine insights. Sarah Stroumsa is a leading scholar in Judeo-Arabic studies, and one of those whose writings I value most."--Steven Harvey, Bar-Ilan University

David Shasha - Huffington Post

The book delves into even more detail to discover many of Maimonides' innovations and the way in which they were enabled. Critical to Stroumsa's reading of Maimonides is her insistence that it is impossible to understand any of his texts without taking into account the scholarship of the Arabo-Islamic thinkers of his day.

Preface xi Acknowledgments xvii Abbreviations xix

Chapter One: Maimonides and Mediterranean Culture 1
Mediterranean Cultures 3
Maimonides as a Mediterranean Thinker 6
Horizons 13
Transformations in the Jewish World 18
Maimonides and Saadia 22

Chapter Two: The Theological Context of Maimonides' Thought 24
Islamic Theology 24
Heresies, Jewish and Muslim 38

Chapter Three: An Almohad "Fundamentalist"? 53
Almohads 53
Maimonides and the Almohads 59
Legal Aspects 61
Theology 70
Exegesis and Political Philosophy 73
Philosophy and Astronomy 80
Conclusion 82

Chapter Four: La Longue Durée: Maimonides as a Phenomenologist of Religion 84
Sabians 84
Maimonides as an Historian of Religion 106
"A Wise and Understanding People?": The Religion of the People 111

Chapter Five: A Critical Mind: Maimonides as Scientist 125
Medicine and Science 125
"Ravings": Maimonides' Concept of Pseudo-Science 138

Chapter Six: "From Moses to Moses": Maimonides' Vision of Perfection 153
"True Felicity": The Hereafter in Maimonides' Thought 153
Issues of Life and Death:
The Controversy Regarding Resurrection 165
"Gates for the Righteous Nation": The Philosopher as Leader 183

Conclusion 189
Bibliography 193
Index 219