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In Memoriam
Andrew Rippin, the British-Canadian specialist of the Qur,an, classical Islam and the study of religion passed away on Tuesday, 29 November 2016 in his home in the city of Victoria, Canada. He began his intellectual journey forty years ago while studying traditions ascribed to 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas (d. 68/687), the "founding father" of Qur,anic Studies. Since then Andrew's many writings on Islamic scripture and Muslim life made him a prolific scholar of international repute. His penetrating critical insights were welcomed by the students he taught and the colleagues with whom he collaborated, both in the western academe and among the Islamic seminaries of Iran, Turkey, and Indonesia, and at various academic conferences around the world. Andrew is known best, perhaps, for his critical studies of the body of Qur,anic exegetical tradition (Tafsir) and subsequent literary and historical studies of the text known as the Qur,anic sciences ('Ulum al-qur,an).
The breadth of Andrew's knowledge, his commitment to rigorous academic research, and the coolness of his temperament made him a sober source of reason, especially during turbulent academic exchanges between colleagues in the field. He took no...