Anthropomorphism in Islam: The Challenge of Traditionalism (700–1350), by Livnat Holtzman

Finally, we have a book that diachronically explores how anthropomorphic descriptions of God were articulated,receivedandusedinpre-modernMuslimsocieties (up to 1350).This is done thoroughly by Livnat Holtzman by studyingthe so called aḥādīth al-ṣifāt through the prism of different approaches. The book consists of five chapters and a number of useful appendixes with translations of relevant texts and charts of transmission chains. The book does not develop a single cohesive argument, but unfolds in five long chapters each high-lighting relevant aspects of anthropomorphic traditions. Chapters1,2,3 closely examine aḥādīth al-ṣifāt from a number of different perspectives that will be illustrated below,whereas chapters 4 and 5 deal with the debates these materials stirred up, and the answers or solutions articulated by a variety of scholarly trends and actors.