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David in the Muslim Tradition: The Bathsheba Affair. By Khaleel Mohammed. Lanham, MD: Lexington Boo ks, 2015. Pp. ix + 225. $85, £51.95.
Exploring the rich treasuries of traditional lore surrounding scriptural characters and prophets is becoming an increasingly popular endeavor. The present volume contributes to the advancement of this important field of study by providing a number of significant textual resources and critical observations that focus on the ways in which the character of the Israelite king and psalmist David, a figure who enjoys varying levels of notoriety in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim literature, has been assessed by Muslim commentators (mufassirūn). While the name of David occurs sixteen times in the Quran, the author chooses to focus on one particular passage (Q 38:21-25), which appears to intersect with the extensive biblical narrative that describes a sordid criminal plot involving David, his involvement in the murder of Uriah the Hittite, his lust for and seduction of Bathsheba, and his eventual condemnation for orchestrating these events by his own court prophet Nathan (2 Sam 11-12). These unseemly behaviors threaten to undermine the pious reputation that David displays in later biblical literature such as that produced...