Search Results

Consequences

John C. Wilkinson

in Ibâḍism: Origins and Early Development in Oman

This chapter considers the changes resulting from these events as they affected Ibâḍi theory concerning types of Imam, the principle of one Imam in a misr, permitted behaviour towards occupying ... More

This chapter considers the changes resulting from these events as they affected Ibâḍi theory concerning types of Imam, the principle of one Imam in a misr, permitted behaviour towards occupying powers, and what is permitted in warfare against the jabâbira and ahl al–baghi (tyrants and renegades). It continues with a survey of the evolution of Ibâḍi fiqh during this period, the concern with recovering and recording past records (taqyîd) into hifz and jawâmi', culminating in works like the Musannaf and Bayân al–Shar', and with it abandonment of the old peculiarly Ibâḍi form of siyar literature. In the process, Ibâḍism opened itself to developments elsewhere in the Islamic world, notably Sunni norms: analysis of Omani, Maghribi, and Hadrami contemporary literature shows how hadîth were absorbed into the âthâr of the community but without the accompanying isnâd scholarship. The key figures of the period as well as their literature are surveyed. The chapter concludes with a preliminary discussion of the last main figure of the 5/11th century, al–'Awtabi.Less

Searching for a Raison d’Être in the Postindependence Era

Henri Lauzière

in The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century

Chapter 5 discusses the significance of the post-independence rupture and how it drove a wedge between purist Salafis and most other Islamic activists, including modernist Salafis.

The Prophetic Sunna

Reuven Firestone

in Jihād: The Origin of Holy War in Islam

This chapter focuses on Hadīth par excellence, the sunna of the prophet, extracting information that might shed light on early beliefs and attitudes about warring during the mission of Muḥammad. The ... More

This chapter focuses on Hadīth par excellence, the sunna of the prophet, extracting information that might shed light on early beliefs and attitudes about warring during the mission of Muḥammad. The sunna refers to Muḥammad's acts and statements, which are considered authoritative for the determination of proper Islamic behavior. These prophetic acts and teachings were remembered in the form of short narratives and anecdotes preserved in the heart and minds of Muḥammad's surviving contemporaries and their descendants and students. The traditions in the canonical collections tend to confirm the victory of militant Islam over the less militant factions of the earlier period.Less

Salafism in Pakistan: The Ahl-e Hadith Movement

Mariam Abou Zahab

in Pakistan: A Kaleidoscope of Islam

This chapter reviews the genealogy of Salafism in South Asia from the seventeenth century onwards. It focuses on Salafis that are known as Ahl-e Hadith in South Asia and have relatively few followers ... More

This chapter reviews the genealogy of Salafism in South Asia from the seventeenth century onwards. It focuses on Salafis that are known as Ahl-e Hadith in South Asia and have relatively few followers in Pakistan, where they have been active since the nineteenth century. The Salafis have maintained close ties with the Saudi religious establishment since the 1960s, ties which were reinforced when thousands of Arabs came to Pakistan after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The chapter also deliberates the Ahl-e Hadith movement and its jihadi expression in Kashmir. The Jama'at Ahl-e Hadith, an elitist politico religious movement aimed at islah, originated in the early 1870s.Less

Conclusion

Zeki Saritoprak

in Islam's Jesus

Summarizing the central arguments of his book, Saritoprak concludes by revisiting the theological and epistemological bases for an interpretive approach to Islamic sources on the eschatological role ... More

Summarizing the central arguments of his book, Saritoprak concludes by revisiting the theological and epistemological bases for an interpretive approach to Islamic sources on the eschatological role of Jesus. He reviews this approach as a bridge to Muslim-Christian cooperation and stresses the importance of such cooperation from both theological and practical perspectives. Peace is the essential message of both Jesus and Muhammad.Less

Setting the Scene: The World of a Late Medieval Middling Scholar

Konrad Hirschler

in A Monument to Medieval Syrian Book Culture: The Library of Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi

This chapter writes the social history of a scholar of late Mamluk Damascus who was a highly prolific writer, but never part of the social elite of his city. It moves away from the unhelpful term ... More

This chapter writes the social history of a scholar of late Mamluk Damascus who was a highly prolific writer, but never part of the social elite of his city. It moves away from the unhelpful term ‘religious scholar’ and considers in detail how such a middling scholar was able to sustain a sprawling family by a range of economic activities. That his books were hardly copied and hardly circulated was to a large extent linked to the fact that he was the last dinosaur of a mode of scholarship that was on the verge of disappearing, post-canonical hadith scholarship.Less

The Narrator and the Narrative: A Literary Analysis of Aḥādīth al-Ṣifāt

Livnat Holtzman

in Anthropomorphism in Islam: The Challenge of Traditionalism (700-1350)

Based on the work of Daniel Beaumont and Sebastian Günther on Hadith and narratology, this chapter analyses three proto-types of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt while focusing on the basic building-blocks of these ... More

Based on the work of Daniel Beaumont and Sebastian Günther on Hadith and narratology, this chapter analyses three proto-types of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt while focusing on the basic building-blocks of these texts, namely the ‘framing narrative’, the ‘embedded narrative’, and the narrator. The texts reviewed in this chapter are several versions of ‘the ḥadīth of the beatific vision’, ‘the ḥadīth of the sacrifice in favour of the believer’, and ‘the ḥadīth of the divine fingers’. The chapter combines literary analysis with a thorough reading in the biographical sources. This combined methodology uncovers the personal motivations of the narrators of the aḥādīth in question, while demonstrating the effect of these motivations on the shaping of the narrative. This chapter presents the typical features of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt and reveals hidden meanings in the texts while considering two styles of narration: mimesis and diegesis, or showing (performing) and telling (recounting). Among the narrators under review are Abu Burda (d. c. 721-3), son of the ṣaḥābī Abu Musa al-Ashʿari (d. c. 663), and ʿAlqama (d. between 681 and 692) and ʿAbida (d. between 691 and 693), the disciples of the ṣaḥābī ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud (d. 652-3).Less

Jewish Mysticism in the Lands of the Ishmaelites: A Re-Orientation

Ronald C. Kiener

in The Convergence of Judaism and Islam: Religious, Scientific, and Cultural Dimensions

This chapter is an attempt to rewrite the history of Jewish mysticism by examining its geographical origins and focusing on its medieval and premodern manifestations. It is also an effort to wrest ... More

This chapter is an attempt to rewrite the history of Jewish mysticism by examining its geographical origins and focusing on its medieval and premodern manifestations. It is also an effort to wrest the account of Jewish mysticism from its Eurocentric focus and place it instead in the context of Islamic culture. The chapter elaborates at length on the ways in which Islamic culture helped shape mysticism among the Jews beginning in ninth-century Baghdad and continuing with such currents as the Sufi-tinged Jewish pietist movement of thirteenth-century medieval Egypt, the ecstatic Kabbalah movement founded by Abraham Abulafia, and the origins of the so-called Spanish Kabbalah. The main thesis here is that based on recent research the centrality of Islamic culture cannot be ignored in developing a historical account of the evolution of Jewish mysticism.Less

The ‘Khul̒ Law’ Criticized: The First Pen

Nadia Sonneveld

in Khul' Divorce in Egypt: Public Debates, Judicial Practices, and Everyday Life

Provides an examination of the written sources in the national media, including newspapers and magazines. In addition to an analysis of the debate on khul', it presents an examination of reforms ... More

Provides an examination of the written sources in the national media, including newspapers and magazines. In addition to an analysis of the debate on khul', it presents an examination of reforms related to personal status adopted in the wake of the khul' law, in the period between 2000 and 2002.Less

The Hadith and Jesus’s Eschatological Descent

Zeki Saritoprak

in Islam's Jesus

Chapter 4 focuses on the Hadith and Islamic historical literatures that expound upon Jesus's eschatological descent. To do this, the author first explains the importance of the Hadith in Islamic ... More

Chapter 4 focuses on the Hadith and Islamic historical literatures that expound upon Jesus's eschatological descent. To do this, the author first explains the importance of the Hadith in Islamic theology, defining the methodology used in the Islamic sciences to verify their reliability, and, second, he discusses Islam's understanding of the Prophet Muhammad. Throughout the Hadith literature, there is no single unified story regarding Jesus's descent. The author uses this fact, plus the general understanding that Muhammad spoke metaphorically, to argue that the sayings of the Prophet must be understood through interpretation. The chapter then gives examples of both weak and strong Hadith and examines the history and theological implications of these Hadith.Less

The Role of Aḥādīth (Traditions) Ascribed to the Prophet in the History of Islamic Societies

Hussein Ahmad Amin

in The Sorrowful Muslim's Guide

This chapter critically engages with the corpus of sayings (Hadith) attributed to the Prophet. It discusses the different reasons for when and why many traditions were fabricated and forged. It ... More

This chapter critically engages with the corpus of sayings (Hadith) attributed to the Prophet. It discusses the different reasons for when and why many traditions were fabricated and forged. It explores the sectarian, ideological, geographical, nationalistic and intellectual contexts that led to these widespread fabrications. It further explores the reasons why theologians and jurists were lenient of this, despite using the isnād (chain of narrations) method to sift through the exponentially growing corpus.Less

Humanizing the Sacred

Ahmad S. Dallal

in Islam without Europe: Traditions of Reform in Eighteenth-Century Islamic Thought

Another main idea in revisionist historiography is that hadith studies were revived in the eighteenth century and that hadith was used for socio-moral reconstruction. This last notion implies that ... More

Another main idea in revisionist historiography is that hadith studies were revived in the eighteenth century and that hadith was used for socio-moral reconstruction. This last notion implies that the significance of hadith was in the practical ordering of social life and providing a blueprint for social behaviour, and not on intellectual grounds. In contrast, the book argues that some of the most original ideas were introduced in the course of academic/theoretical discussions of hadith, in particular the theory of hadith (‘ilm mustalah al-hadith). This chapter traces the development of two distinct schools of hadith studies in India and in Yemen, and teases out the implications of these very radical theories for notions of authority. The chapter proposes new ways of reading and analysing hadith, not just in terms of its social and cultural significance but also in relation to earlier traditions of hadith studies. In contrast to most contemporary critical studies of hadith, which focus primarily on the early period and on the question of authenticity, this chapter argues that these questions are not significant beyond the first three centuries of Islam, and that new techniques of analysis are needed for the study of this important body of literature.Less

The Fateful Geography of Religion

Harm De Blij

in The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape

If language is the mucilage of culture, religion is its manifesto. Any revelation of identity through language happens only when the speaker begins talking, and even ... More

If language is the mucilage of culture, religion is its manifesto. Any revelation of identity through language happens only when the speaker begins talking, and even then that identity remains in doubt except perhaps to the most experienced ear. Is that skilled KiSwahili speaker a Mijikenda from the Kenya coast or a Kamba from the interior? Is that cultivated French speaker a citizen of Senegal or a resident of Paris? Did those fellows at the bar in São Paulo mix some Brazilian terms with their Japanese, and are they mobals rather than visitors? Religious affiliation is another matter. Hundreds of millions of people routinely proclaim their religion through modes of dress, hairstyles, symbols, gestures, and other visible means. To those who share a faith, such customs create a sense of confidence and solidarity. To those who do not profess that faith, they can amount to provocation. For the faithful, religion is the key to identity. And such identity is part of the impress of place. Religion and place are strongly coupled, not only through the visible and prominent architecture of places of worship but also because certain orthodox believers still proclaim that their god “gave” them pieces of real estate whose ownership cannot therefore be a matter of Earthly political debate. To some, the Holy Land is a place where Jesus walked. To others, it is a gift from God. To the latter, it is worth dying for. Countless millions have perished for their faith, but comparatively few for their language. Dutch schoolchildren of a former generation used to learn the story of a captured boatload of medieval mercenaries plying the Zuider Zee. To a man, the captives claimed to be Dutch. The captain of the boarding party had a simple solution: any real Dutchman would be able to pronounce the word Scheveningen, a fishing port on the North Sea coast. Those who got it right were given amnesty. Those who failed were thrown overboard and drowned. It is an unusual tale. Language, dialect, accent, and syntax can confer advantage, open (or close) doors to opportunity, and engender social judgments. But they are not historically linked to mass annihilation. Less

Al-Huda’s Intellectual Foundations

Usha Sanyal

in Scholars of Faith: South Asian Muslim Women and the Embodiment of Religious Knowledge

Chapter 7 explores the intellectual foundations of Farhat Hashmi and Idrees Zubair. Zubair was raised in a family with Ahl-i Hadith affiliations, while Hashmi’s father had ties with the Jama‘at-i ... More

Chapter 7 explores the intellectual foundations of Farhat Hashmi and Idrees Zubair. Zubair was raised in a family with Ahl-i Hadith affiliations, while Hashmi’s father had ties with the Jama‘at-i Islami. However, Hashmi gradually became an Ahl-i Hadith follower as well. What distinguishes the Ahl-i Hadith from other South Asian Sunni maslaks? I trace its history from the nineteenth century to the present. Following the educational trajectories of Farhat Hashmi and Idrees Zubair, I look closely at their PhD research in Glasgow, Scotland, on aspects of hadith transmission as students of Islamic Studies in the early 1990s. Hashmi’s research has not been available to the public and is therefore of particular interest. What was the impact of Hashmi and Zubair’s intellectual formation on Al-Huda as a social and religious organization, how does Hashmi incorporate secular scientific findings into her classes, and what can one infer from the above about Al-Huda’s politics, are some of the questions that this chapter addresses.Less

Migration and the Forging of a Scholarly Community

Michael Farquhar

in Circuits of Faith: Migration, Education, and the Wahhabi Mission

This chapter explores the role of large numbers of non-Saudi staff members at the Islamic University of Medina (IUM) from the early 1960s to the 1980s, and considers the part that they played in the ... More

This chapter explores the role of large numbers of non-Saudi staff members at the Islamic University of Medina (IUM) from the early 1960s to the 1980s, and considers the part that they played in the remaking of Wahhabi religious authority. It argues that until the mid-twentieth century, the relatively parochial and insular nature of the Wahhabi scholarly milieu meant that Wahhabi scholars lacked the kinds of symbolic resources that would be required to launch such an ambitious missionary project. It then traces the trajectories that brought migrants from across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and beyond to work at the IUM. It argues that, by bringing diversified reserves of spiritual capital — including qualifications acquired in venerable centers of learning like al-Azhar — these migrants lent legitimacy to the new effort to extend the Wahhabi mission to broad audiences beyond the kingdom’s borders.Less

The Muslim Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ

Karen C. Pinto

in Medieval Islamic Maps: An Exploration

Chapter Seven, “The Muslim Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ” details medieval Islam’s understanding of the Encircling Ocean from religious and cartographic perspectives, and follows the progression of the form’s ... More

Chapter Seven, “The Muslim Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ” details medieval Islam’s understanding of the Encircling Ocean from religious and cartographic perspectives, and follows the progression of the form’s symbolic evolution from a marker of unknown terrors to a sign of both earthly and divine power. This chapter uses a rich array of Islamic images, many never before published. This chapter concludes the iconographic study of this quintessential feature of the KMMS maps.Less