La Fine e l’Altro La produzione apocalittica arabo-islamica nel fervore escatologico del vicino oriente tardo-antico (secoli VII-IX)

This book analyses the eschatological productions, both Christian and Muslim, written in the two centuries after the birth of Islam. In works such as the Syriac apocalypses of Pseudo-Methodius and Pseudo-Ezra the sudden expansion of Muslim troops was mainly perceived by Eastern Christians as an apocalyptic trial, a sign of the End of Time. On the Muslim side, the main eschatological collection, the Kitāb al-Fitan by Nuʿaym b. Ḥammād (d. 843), shows the existence of a vital apocalyptic production which rose in correspondence to times of internal and external strife. This work wishes to survey some of the main themes common to both of these eschatological productions (such as the apocalyptic depiction of the enemy, the development of messianic figures, the role of Jerusalem in the end-time, etc.); the use of a comparative perspective bears a fundamental theoretical contribution, by highlighting the presence of direct references between the different traditions, but also by underlining the common processes of eschatological production and development. Some final remarks deal with the contemporary use of these traditions, made by both Muslim and Christian fundamentalists, who look for a prophesied roadmap to read the current world events.