“In this penetrating study, Diana Lobel navigates the philosophical and religious dimensions of faith and trust in Judeo-Arabic thought. Approaching this multifaceted literature with scholarly care and insight, she reveals the variety of the experience of belief, ranging from rational conviction to experiential certainty and reliance on the Divine. This work skillfully unravels the complex interplay of these ideas, highlighting both harmony and discord within this spectrum. Lobel’s analysis not only elucidates the profound heritage of the Judeo-Arabic intellectual tradition, but also demonstrates its enduring relevance and broad appeal across various academic fields.”
— Omer Michaelis, Senior Lecturer of Jewish Philosophy, Tel Aviv University
“Diana Lobel’s Faith and Trust: An Introduction to Judeo-Arabic Thought, her fourth book on the most influential medieval Jewish thinkers who wrote in Judeo-Arabic, is in many ways an excellent introduction to the earlier ones. The present volume focuses on concepts such as faith, reliance, trust, conviction, belief, experience, and certainty, as expounded by leading medieval Judeo-Arabic thinkers and that comprise the foundation of their philosophical and theological teachings. The present study offers rich and stimulating chapters, each arranged chronologically and devoted to one of these major thinkers. Lobel is a learned and very intelligent reader of the Judeo-Arabic philosophers and is thoroughly familiar with the secondary literature on them. In Faith and Trust, she shows once again that she is also well attuned to the Judeo-Arabic technical terminology, its nuances and its roots in ancient Greek philosophy and medieval Islamic philosophy and theology.”
— Steven Harvey, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University
“This excellent book brings into focus the concepts of faith, conviction, and trust in medieval Judeo-Arabic thought. Lobel thoroughly examines the related Hebrew term emunah (faith or belief), and the Judeo-Arabic concepts of faith (īmān), conviction (i‘tiqād), reliance (tawakkul), and certainty (yaqīn) and their cognitive, experiential, and affective perspectives. These Judeo-Arabic concepts discussed by Saadya, Baḥya ibn Paqūda, Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Abraham Maimonides are investigated in depth. Hence, the present research is highly recommended to all those who are interested in Jewish thought in general and in Judeo-Arabic thought in particular.”
— Binyamin Abrahamov, Emeritus Professor of Arabic, Bar-Ilan University
