Shafique N. Virani
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195311730
- eISBN:
- 9780199785490
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311730.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Shi'i Muslims believe that by divine decree, at a place called Ghadir Khumm, the Prophet Muhammad declared his cousin and son-in-law 'Ali as his successor, and the first in a lineage of Imams to whom ...
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Shi'i Muslims believe that by divine decree, at a place called Ghadir Khumm, the Prophet Muhammad declared his cousin and son-in-law 'Ali as his successor, and the first in a lineage of Imams to whom the Muslim community should owe its allegiance. The Ismaili branch of the Prophet's descendants founded the Fatimid Empire, which claimed dominion over much of the Muslim world, and later established a state administered from the fortress of Alamut. The Mongol onslaught devastated the Ismailis, and it was long believed that the Imams and their community had been annihilated. Only in recent times has the community's continued existence become apparent, but research into the lost centuries of their history has just begun.Less
Shi'i Muslims believe that by divine decree, at a place called Ghadir Khumm, the Prophet Muhammad declared his cousin and son-in-law 'Ali as his successor, and the first in a lineage of Imams to whom the Muslim community should owe its allegiance. The Ismaili branch of the Prophet's descendants founded the Fatimid Empire, which claimed dominion over much of the Muslim world, and later established a state administered from the fortress of Alamut. The Mongol onslaught devastated the Ismailis, and it was long believed that the Imams and their community had been annihilated. Only in recent times has the community's continued existence become apparent, but research into the lost centuries of their history has just begun.
Andrew Louth
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199252381
- eISBN:
- 9780191600654
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199252386.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
An account of the transformation of the Middle East as a result of the rise of Islam, the Arab conquest of the region and the establishment of the Umayyad Empire, especially as it affected Jerusalem ...
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An account of the transformation of the Middle East as a result of the rise of Islam, the Arab conquest of the region and the establishment of the Umayyad Empire, especially as it affected Jerusalem and Palestine, including a discussion of what little can be gleaned about John's own life.Less
An account of the transformation of the Middle East as a result of the rise of Islam, the Arab conquest of the region and the establishment of the Umayyad Empire, especially as it affected Jerusalem and Palestine, including a discussion of what little can be gleaned about John's own life.
Nancy Khalek
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199736515
- eISBN:
- 9780199918614
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736515.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book is a study of Islamic identity in Damascus, Syria, from its fall to Muslim armies in 635–6 ad until the end of its tenure as the capital of the Islamic Empire in 750. It discusses the shift ...
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This book is a study of Islamic identity in Damascus, Syria, from its fall to Muslim armies in 635–6 ad until the end of its tenure as the capital of the Islamic Empire in 750. It discusses the shift from late antique to Islamic culture in the eastern Mediterranean. Even as continuity with the world of late antiquity persisted into the early Islamic period, the formation of Islamic identity in Syria was effected by the specific agents who constructed, lived in, and narrated the history of their city. This book presents literary, material, and social aspects of early Islamic identity as construed by architects, pilgrims, biographers, geographers, and historians. While most studies of this period admit that an important and nuanced transformation of culture took place from Byzantium to early Islam, this work focuses specifically on narrative and the constitution of identity in the dynamic landscape of the early Islamic Mediterranean. By contributing to our understanding of how the narrative work of medieval historians shaped and constituted social identity, in conjunction with analysis of evidence from the material world in which people lived and to which they related, this book is a fresh approach to the early Islamic period. It moves the study of Islamic origins beyond discussions that focus exclusively on issues of authenticity and source criticism to an interdisciplinary discourse on narrative, compelling story telling, and the interpretation of material culture.Less
This book is a study of Islamic identity in Damascus, Syria, from its fall to Muslim armies in 635–6 ad until the end of its tenure as the capital of the Islamic Empire in 750. It discusses the shift from late antique to Islamic culture in the eastern Mediterranean. Even as continuity with the world of late antiquity persisted into the early Islamic period, the formation of Islamic identity in Syria was effected by the specific agents who constructed, lived in, and narrated the history of their city. This book presents literary, material, and social aspects of early Islamic identity as construed by architects, pilgrims, biographers, geographers, and historians. While most studies of this period admit that an important and nuanced transformation of culture took place from Byzantium to early Islam, this work focuses specifically on narrative and the constitution of identity in the dynamic landscape of the early Islamic Mediterranean. By contributing to our understanding of how the narrative work of medieval historians shaped and constituted social identity, in conjunction with analysis of evidence from the material world in which people lived and to which they related, this book is a fresh approach to the early Islamic period. It moves the study of Islamic origins beyond discussions that focus exclusively on issues of authenticity and source criticism to an interdisciplinary discourse on narrative, compelling story telling, and the interpretation of material culture.
Garth Fowden
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236653
- eISBN:
- 9780520929609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236653.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
Al-Ma'mūn admired the Umayyad clan's picturesque ruins, then settled down to a picnic of wine and bazmāward, a roast meat and white bread delicacy of Iranian origin, fit for a bazm, as its name ...
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Al-Ma'mūn admired the Umayyad clan's picturesque ruins, then settled down to a picnic of wine and bazmāward, a roast meat and white bread delicacy of Iranian origin, fit for a bazm, as its name suggests. The Kitāb al-aghānī now comes quickly to the point, which is a resounding gaffe made by the well-known singer 'Allūya. This chapter mentions that nostalgia for the incident might be stirred by the sight of an abandoned country house sheltered by ancient trees. But in the West, their kingdom still endured, and with it something of the diversity and inventiveness of late antique Syria, as it had survived even under the caliphate.Less
Al-Ma'mūn admired the Umayyad clan's picturesque ruins, then settled down to a picnic of wine and bazmāward, a roast meat and white bread delicacy of Iranian origin, fit for a bazm, as its name suggests. The Kitāb al-aghānī now comes quickly to the point, which is a resounding gaffe made by the well-known singer 'Allūya. This chapter mentions that nostalgia for the incident might be stirred by the sight of an abandoned country house sheltered by ancient trees. But in the West, their kingdom still endured, and with it something of the diversity and inventiveness of late antique Syria, as it had survived even under the caliphate.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
Al-Andalus, the Arabic name for the medieval Islamic state in Iberia, endured for over 750 years following the Arab and Berber conquest of Hispania in 711. While the popular perception of al-Andalus ...
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Al-Andalus, the Arabic name for the medieval Islamic state in Iberia, endured for over 750 years following the Arab and Berber conquest of Hispania in 711. While the popular perception of al-Andalus is that of a land of religious tolerance and cultural cooperation, the fact is that we know relatively little about how Muslims governed Christians and Jews in al-Andalus and about social relations among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. This book takes a close look at the structure and practice of Muslim political and legal-religious authority and offers a rare look at intercommunal life in Iberia during the first three centuries of Islamic rule. The book makes creative use of a body of evidence that until now has gone largely untapped by historians—the writings and opinions of Andalusi and Maghribi jurists during the Umayyad dynasty. These sources bring to life a society undergoing dramatic transformation. Obvious differences between conquerors and conquered and Muslims and non-Muslims became blurred over time by transculturation, intermarriage, and conversion. The book develops an argument about how legal-religious authorities interpreted the social contract between the Muslim regime and the Christian and Jewish populations. Providing a variety of examples of boundary-testing and negotiation and bringing judges, jurists, and their legal opinions and texts into the narrative of Andalusi history, the book deepens our understanding of the politics of Umayyad rule, makes Islamic law tangibly social, and renders intercommunal relations vividly personal.Less
Al-Andalus, the Arabic name for the medieval Islamic state in Iberia, endured for over 750 years following the Arab and Berber conquest of Hispania in 711. While the popular perception of al-Andalus is that of a land of religious tolerance and cultural cooperation, the fact is that we know relatively little about how Muslims governed Christians and Jews in al-Andalus and about social relations among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. This book takes a close look at the structure and practice of Muslim political and legal-religious authority and offers a rare look at intercommunal life in Iberia during the first three centuries of Islamic rule. The book makes creative use of a body of evidence that until now has gone largely untapped by historians—the writings and opinions of Andalusi and Maghribi jurists during the Umayyad dynasty. These sources bring to life a society undergoing dramatic transformation. Obvious differences between conquerors and conquered and Muslims and non-Muslims became blurred over time by transculturation, intermarriage, and conversion. The book develops an argument about how legal-religious authorities interpreted the social contract between the Muslim regime and the Christian and Jewish populations. Providing a variety of examples of boundary-testing and negotiation and bringing judges, jurists, and their legal opinions and texts into the narrative of Andalusi history, the book deepens our understanding of the politics of Umayyad rule, makes Islamic law tangibly social, and renders intercommunal relations vividly personal.
Peter Sarris
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199261260
- eISBN:
- 9780191730962
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199261260.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter details attempts on the part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire to reverse the Arab conquests. Efforts on the part of the Emperors Constans II and Justinian II to restore Roman ...
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This chapter details attempts on the part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire to reverse the Arab conquests. Efforts on the part of the Emperors Constans II and Justinian II to restore Roman control to the occupied territories are examined in detail, and the reasons for their failure elucidated. As divisions within the Arab elite were surmounted, the new political order in the Near East achieved a measure of stability and the world of the Caliphate acquired a more coherent and cohesive identity. The Arab conquest of North Africa effectively put an end to hopes for Byzantine revival, and the war-torn Empire of Constantinople itself entered a period of major internal cultural, ideological, and organizational reconfiguration. With Byzantine control of the central Mediterranean dislocated, the societies of the West would now follow new paths of developmentLess
This chapter details attempts on the part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire to reverse the Arab conquests. Efforts on the part of the Emperors Constans II and Justinian II to restore Roman control to the occupied territories are examined in detail, and the reasons for their failure elucidated. As divisions within the Arab elite were surmounted, the new political order in the Near East achieved a measure of stability and the world of the Caliphate acquired a more coherent and cohesive identity. The Arab conquest of North Africa effectively put an end to hopes for Byzantine revival, and the war-torn Empire of Constantinople itself entered a period of major internal cultural, ideological, and organizational reconfiguration. With Byzantine control of the central Mediterranean dislocated, the societies of the West would now follow new paths of development
Asma Afsaruddin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199755042
- eISBN:
- 9780199950508
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755042.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter is a comparative study of early and late exegeses of Qur’an 22:39-40 and of the specific historical circumstances in which they were generated. The focus is on what this changing ...
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This chapter is a comparative study of early and late exegeses of Qur’an 22:39-40 and of the specific historical circumstances in which they were generated. The focus is on what this changing hermeneutic trajectory might have to tell us about the complex relationships of Muslims with the People of the Book through time in Islamic realms. It will also explore how the rise of the imperial Umayyad and Abbasid states and realpolitik in the context of relations with non-Muslim (particularly Byzantine) realms may have accounted for many of these transformations.Less
This chapter is a comparative study of early and late exegeses of Qur’an 22:39-40 and of the specific historical circumstances in which they were generated. The focus is on what this changing hermeneutic trajectory might have to tell us about the complex relationships of Muslims with the People of the Book through time in Islamic realms. It will also explore how the rise of the imperial Umayyad and Abbasid states and realpolitik in the context of relations with non-Muslim (particularly Byzantine) realms may have accounted for many of these transformations.
Jonathan M. Bloom
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780748637256
- eISBN:
- 9780748693832
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637256.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter examines the origins and meanings of the words manār and manāra, from which the word ‘minaret’ derives. It discusses how Umayyad and early Abbasid patrons built tall and slender towers ...
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This chapter examines the origins and meanings of the words manār and manāra, from which the word ‘minaret’ derives. It discusses how Umayyad and early Abbasid patrons built tall and slender towers that visually and symbolically framed the mosques of Medina and Mecca, and perhaps Jerusalem; the Abbasids also erected towers to serve as guideposts along the pilgrimage road between Iraq and the Hijaz.Less
This chapter examines the origins and meanings of the words manār and manāra, from which the word ‘minaret’ derives. It discusses how Umayyad and early Abbasid patrons built tall and slender towers that visually and symbolically framed the mosques of Medina and Mecca, and perhaps Jerusalem; the Abbasids also erected towers to serve as guideposts along the pilgrimage road between Iraq and the Hijaz.
Radwa Ashour, Ferial J. Ghazoul, and Hasna Reda-Mekdashi
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774161469
- eISBN:
- 9781936190003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774161469.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Arab women writers draw on a rich, ancient heritage, which stretches back to civilizations that flourished in the region before the Islamic conquest. Al-Khansa' emerges positively in the culture; ...
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Arab women writers draw on a rich, ancient heritage, which stretches back to civilizations that flourished in the region before the Islamic conquest. Al-Khansa' emerges positively in the culture; others were ostracized and held up as the epitome of wickedness and depravity. In later periods—the 'Abbasid, Umayyad, and Andalusian eras—biographical dictionaries and literary encyclopedias are filled with the names of hundreds of women, including female poets. Arab women's writing has dealt with a diversity of themes addressed in various styles, although historical concerns and an awareness of a double burden remains a basic theme in their writing. Writing women from various Arab countries are growing daily more aware of the exigencies of thoughtful, artistic writing, going beyond pure ideological criteria and fragile, direct moralizing or didacticism.Less
Arab women writers draw on a rich, ancient heritage, which stretches back to civilizations that flourished in the region before the Islamic conquest. Al-Khansa' emerges positively in the culture; others were ostracized and held up as the epitome of wickedness and depravity. In later periods—the 'Abbasid, Umayyad, and Andalusian eras—biographical dictionaries and literary encyclopedias are filled with the names of hundreds of women, including female poets. Arab women's writing has dealt with a diversity of themes addressed in various styles, although historical concerns and an awareness of a double burden remains a basic theme in their writing. Writing women from various Arab countries are growing daily more aware of the exigencies of thoughtful, artistic writing, going beyond pure ideological criteria and fragile, direct moralizing or didacticism.
Garth Fowden
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236653
- eISBN:
- 9780520929609
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236653.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
From the stony desolation of Jordan's desert, it is but a step through a doorway into the bath house of the Qusayr 'Amra hunting lodge. Inside, multicolored frescoes depict scenes from courtly life ...
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From the stony desolation of Jordan's desert, it is but a step through a doorway into the bath house of the Qusayr 'Amra hunting lodge. Inside, multicolored frescoes depict scenes from courtly life and the hunt, along with musicians, dancing girls, and naked bathing women. The traveler is transported to the luxurious and erotic world of a mid-eighth-century Muslim Arab prince. For scholars, though, Qusayr 'Amra, probably painted in the 730s or 740s, has proved a mirage, its concreteness dissolved by doubts about date, patron, and meaning. This is the first book-length contextualization of the mysterious monument through a compelling analysis of its iconography and of the literary sources for the Umayyad period. It illuminates not only the way of life of the early Muslim elite but also the long afterglow of late antique Syria.Less
From the stony desolation of Jordan's desert, it is but a step through a doorway into the bath house of the Qusayr 'Amra hunting lodge. Inside, multicolored frescoes depict scenes from courtly life and the hunt, along with musicians, dancing girls, and naked bathing women. The traveler is transported to the luxurious and erotic world of a mid-eighth-century Muslim Arab prince. For scholars, though, Qusayr 'Amra, probably painted in the 730s or 740s, has proved a mirage, its concreteness dissolved by doubts about date, patron, and meaning. This is the first book-length contextualization of the mysterious monument through a compelling analysis of its iconography and of the literary sources for the Umayyad period. It illuminates not only the way of life of the early Muslim elite but also the long afterglow of late antique Syria.
Garth Fowden
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236653
- eISBN:
- 9780520929609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236653.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
It seems legitimate to enquire what the court taste of which Quṣayr 'Amra is a typical example can tell us about the broader cultural identity and aspirations of the Umayyad elite and, to the extent ...
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It seems legitimate to enquire what the court taste of which Quṣayr 'Amra is a typical example can tell us about the broader cultural identity and aspirations of the Umayyad elite and, to the extent that that elite was representative, of the Arab conquerors generally. The eye of the student of Quṣayr 'Amra is caught especially by the art of Coptic Egypt. Evidence for Sasanian art being as deficient as that for Coptic is abundant; the Iranian element at Quṣayr 'Amra is correspondingly elusive. It is true that art produced under the Umayyads outside Syria might be less eclectic. Umayyad art often seems awkward and ill digested; yet there is a chemistry, however wild, between its elements. The thematic abundance of Quṣayr 'Amra's paintings may be in part a meditation on precisely this cultural encounter and economic conjuncture.Less
It seems legitimate to enquire what the court taste of which Quṣayr 'Amra is a typical example can tell us about the broader cultural identity and aspirations of the Umayyad elite and, to the extent that that elite was representative, of the Arab conquerors generally. The eye of the student of Quṣayr 'Amra is caught especially by the art of Coptic Egypt. Evidence for Sasanian art being as deficient as that for Coptic is abundant; the Iranian element at Quṣayr 'Amra is correspondingly elusive. It is true that art produced under the Umayyads outside Syria might be less eclectic. Umayyad art often seems awkward and ill digested; yet there is a chemistry, however wild, between its elements. The thematic abundance of Quṣayr 'Amra's paintings may be in part a meditation on precisely this cultural encounter and economic conjuncture.
Brian Ulrich
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474436793
- eISBN:
- 9781474464857
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474436793.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Examining a single broad tribal identity - al-Azd - from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Umayyad and into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time. ...
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Examining a single broad tribal identity - al-Azd - from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Umayyad and into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time. It explores the ways in which the rise of the early Islamic empire influenced the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula who became a core part of it, and examines the connections between the kinship societies and the developing state of the early caliphate. This helps us to understand how what are often called 'tribal' forms of social organisation identity conditioned its growth and helped shape what became its common elite culture. Studying the relationship between tribe and state during the first two centuries of the caliphate, the focus is on understanding the survival and transformation of tribal identity until it became part of the literate high culture of the Abbasid caliphate and a component of a larger Arab ethnic identity. The book argues that, from pre-Islamic Arabia to the caliphate, greater continuity existed between tribal identity and social practice than is generally portrayed.Less
Examining a single broad tribal identity - al-Azd - from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Umayyad and into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time. It explores the ways in which the rise of the early Islamic empire influenced the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula who became a core part of it, and examines the connections between the kinship societies and the developing state of the early caliphate. This helps us to understand how what are often called 'tribal' forms of social organisation identity conditioned its growth and helped shape what became its common elite culture. Studying the relationship between tribe and state during the first two centuries of the caliphate, the focus is on understanding the survival and transformation of tribal identity until it became part of the literate high culture of the Abbasid caliphate and a component of a larger Arab ethnic identity. The book argues that, from pre-Islamic Arabia to the caliphate, greater continuity existed between tribal identity and social practice than is generally portrayed.
Everett K. Rowson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637317
- eISBN:
- 9780748653164
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637317.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter focuses on two forms of punishment during the early Umayyad period: public humiliation and banishment. These two forms of punishment are especially, although not exclusively, associated ...
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This chapter focuses on two forms of punishment during the early Umayyad period: public humiliation and banishment. These two forms of punishment are especially, although not exclusively, associated with offenses involving questions of gender and sex. They are also frequently paired despite of the apparent contradiction between displaying offenders to the public at large and hiding them away in remote places for exile. Public humiliation or tashhīr and banishment nafy were used as measures against the poet's tashbib, transgressions against the line of gender segregation, and hija to maintain the social and moral fabric of the Muslim society. Although the measures such as banishment and public humiliation did not fit comfortably into the moral system of the shari'a developed by the jurisprudents, these forms of punishments were seen as effective measures for persevering public morality. These two forms of punishment had the effect of casting out the offender from a respectable society, however, banishment was a failed experiment as it merely moved the offender from one part of the Islamic community to another. However, this form of exile gradually changed when banishments to remote places and imprisonments began to take place.Less
This chapter focuses on two forms of punishment during the early Umayyad period: public humiliation and banishment. These two forms of punishment are especially, although not exclusively, associated with offenses involving questions of gender and sex. They are also frequently paired despite of the apparent contradiction between displaying offenders to the public at large and hiding them away in remote places for exile. Public humiliation or tashhīr and banishment nafy were used as measures against the poet's tashbib, transgressions against the line of gender segregation, and hija to maintain the social and moral fabric of the Muslim society. Although the measures such as banishment and public humiliation did not fit comfortably into the moral system of the shari'a developed by the jurisprudents, these forms of punishments were seen as effective measures for persevering public morality. These two forms of punishment had the effect of casting out the offender from a respectable society, however, banishment was a failed experiment as it merely moved the offender from one part of the Islamic community to another. However, this form of exile gradually changed when banishments to remote places and imprisonments began to take place.
Andrew Marsham
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625123
- eISBN:
- 9780748653157
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625123.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
The evidence for caliphal accession and succession became plentiful after the victory of the Marwanid Umayyads in the second civil war (683–92). However, what evidence there is for the Sufyanid ...
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The evidence for caliphal accession and succession became plentiful after the victory of the Marwanid Umayyads in the second civil war (683–92). However, what evidence there is for the Sufyanid Umayyad period indicates that many aspects of the Marwanid ritual had precedents in late-seventh-century practice. Indeed the reign of Mu،awiya b. Abi Sufyan and his son Yazid can be seen as a period of experimentation with the trappings of Near Eastern monarchy and the prelude to the establishment of a more successful Islamic state by their Marwanid cousins after the second fitna of 683 to 692. This is evident in the account of the rituals of Mu،awiya's accession and in the efforts to establish Yazid b. Mu،awiya as the successor. This chapter examines the Syriac account of Mu،awiya's accession. It also discusses the efforts to secure the succession of Yazid as Mu،awiya's successor. Discussed as well in this chapter are the: Sufyanid accessional ritual and the basis for Sufyanid support; dynastic succession; and succession at the Sufyanid court as seen in poetries of their time.Less
The evidence for caliphal accession and succession became plentiful after the victory of the Marwanid Umayyads in the second civil war (683–92). However, what evidence there is for the Sufyanid Umayyad period indicates that many aspects of the Marwanid ritual had precedents in late-seventh-century practice. Indeed the reign of Mu،awiya b. Abi Sufyan and his son Yazid can be seen as a period of experimentation with the trappings of Near Eastern monarchy and the prelude to the establishment of a more successful Islamic state by their Marwanid cousins after the second fitna of 683 to 692. This is evident in the account of the rituals of Mu،awiya's accession and in the efforts to establish Yazid b. Mu،awiya as the successor. This chapter examines the Syriac account of Mu،awiya's accession. It also discusses the efforts to secure the succession of Yazid as Mu،awiya's successor. Discussed as well in this chapter are the: Sufyanid accessional ritual and the basis for Sufyanid support; dynastic succession; and succession at the Sufyanid court as seen in poetries of their time.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This introductory chapter argues that despite the numerous accounts of the political history of Umayyad al-Andalus, its relationship to the Jewish and Christian communities under its rule can be ...
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This introductory chapter argues that despite the numerous accounts of the political history of Umayyad al-Andalus, its relationship to the Jewish and Christian communities under its rule can be viewed only from scattered evidence in the Arabic–Islamic literary sources. Given the limitations of literary sources, the book turns to early Andalusi and Maghribi Maliki legal texts for evidence that could contribute to a deeper understanding of life in al-Andalus. It presents an examination of Islamic legal texts as sources for understanding intercommunal relations in a legal and historical context. The chapter discusses the conceptualization, expression, and imposition of boundaries by rulers, judges, and jurists, and looks at boundary testing as a mechanism for the transmutation and the continuity of regular social practices.Less
This introductory chapter argues that despite the numerous accounts of the political history of Umayyad al-Andalus, its relationship to the Jewish and Christian communities under its rule can be viewed only from scattered evidence in the Arabic–Islamic literary sources. Given the limitations of literary sources, the book turns to early Andalusi and Maghribi Maliki legal texts for evidence that could contribute to a deeper understanding of life in al-Andalus. It presents an examination of Islamic legal texts as sources for understanding intercommunal relations in a legal and historical context. The chapter discusses the conceptualization, expression, and imposition of boundaries by rulers, judges, and jurists, and looks at boundary testing as a mechanism for the transmutation and the continuity of regular social practices.
Janina M. Safran
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801451836
- eISBN:
- 9780801468018
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801451836.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter presents an overview of the establishment of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus during the ninth and tenth centuries. It examines how political identity is expressed in religious terms and ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the establishment of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus during the ninth and tenth centuries. It examines how political identity is expressed in religious terms and how the political and religious authorities worked together in determining who was an insider or an outsider to the Muslim community. Particularly, the principles of Umayyad dynastic legitimacy and authority, as well as the regime's exercise of power, structured Umayyad rule and the political culture of al-Andalus in the ninth and tenth centuries. The chapter aims to provide a political context for understanding social and legal boundary making in al-Andalus, as well as to elaborate the role played by the ruling dynasty in defining political community.Less
This chapter presents an overview of the establishment of Umayyad authority in al-Andalus during the ninth and tenth centuries. It examines how political identity is expressed in religious terms and how the political and religious authorities worked together in determining who was an insider or an outsider to the Muslim community. Particularly, the principles of Umayyad dynastic legitimacy and authority, as well as the regime's exercise of power, structured Umayyad rule and the political culture of al-Andalus in the ninth and tenth centuries. The chapter aims to provide a political context for understanding social and legal boundary making in al-Andalus, as well as to elaborate the role played by the ruling dynasty in defining political community.
Jocelyn Sharlet
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479879366
- eISBN:
- 9781479884131
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479879366.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter focuses on a set of Arabic stories from the Umayyad period (661–750) that were further elaborated in the literature of the Abbasid period (750–1258). These tales about chaste lovers ...
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This chapter focuses on a set of Arabic stories from the Umayyad period (661–750) that were further elaborated in the literature of the Abbasid period (750–1258). These tales about chaste lovers typically feature a pastoral setting, a male point of view, a melancholy mood, and lovers who live, suffer, and die for love—providing delight for the court audiences for whom they were performed. Not all stories about chaste love, however, fit the dominant paradigm, and unusual cases can shed light on ways in which the Umayyads were viewed in the Abbasid imagination, point to intersections between love story and political life, and show how stories of chaste love live on in courtly, orthodox Islamic, and Sufi discourse.Less
This chapter focuses on a set of Arabic stories from the Umayyad period (661–750) that were further elaborated in the literature of the Abbasid period (750–1258). These tales about chaste lovers typically feature a pastoral setting, a male point of view, a melancholy mood, and lovers who live, suffer, and die for love—providing delight for the court audiences for whom they were performed. Not all stories about chaste love, however, fit the dominant paradigm, and unusual cases can shed light on ways in which the Umayyads were viewed in the Abbasid imagination, point to intersections between love story and political life, and show how stories of chaste love live on in courtly, orthodox Islamic, and Sufi discourse.
Joel Blecher
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520295933
- eISBN:
- 9780520968677
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520295933.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
In this chapter readers delve deeper into the inner world of commentary and fine-grained commentarial reasoning, while keeping in mind the complex social and historical milieu of late Umayyad ...
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In this chapter readers delve deeper into the inner world of commentary and fine-grained commentarial reasoning, while keeping in mind the complex social and historical milieu of late Umayyad Andalusia, in which the Maliki legal orthodoxy sought to maintain dominance amid the fragmenting caliphate in Cordoba, the nascent Zahiri opposition, and the rapid growth of traditionism throughout Andalusia and North Africa. In the case of discretionary punishment (ta’zir), which the Maliki orthodoxy in Andalusia had firmly established as unrestricted, this chapter explores how Maliki judges like al-Muhallab (d. 1044) and Ibn Battal (d. 1057) reconciled a cluster of hadith that claimed to restrict discretionary punishment to ten lashes. In doing so, this chapter tracks the how debates evolved from an approach that dismissed the “ten lashes” hadith in favor of the orthodoxy’s unrestricted discretion to an approach that conceded to traditionalists that the “ten lashes” hadith was authoritative but, contra Zahiri critics, corralled its meaning in favor of broad judicial discretion.Less
In this chapter readers delve deeper into the inner world of commentary and fine-grained commentarial reasoning, while keeping in mind the complex social and historical milieu of late Umayyad Andalusia, in which the Maliki legal orthodoxy sought to maintain dominance amid the fragmenting caliphate in Cordoba, the nascent Zahiri opposition, and the rapid growth of traditionism throughout Andalusia and North Africa. In the case of discretionary punishment (ta’zir), which the Maliki orthodoxy in Andalusia had firmly established as unrestricted, this chapter explores how Maliki judges like al-Muhallab (d. 1044) and Ibn Battal (d. 1057) reconciled a cluster of hadith that claimed to restrict discretionary punishment to ten lashes. In doing so, this chapter tracks the how debates evolved from an approach that dismissed the “ten lashes” hadith in favor of the orthodoxy’s unrestricted discretion to an approach that conceded to traditionalists that the “ten lashes” hadith was authoritative but, contra Zahiri critics, corralled its meaning in favor of broad judicial discretion.
Jacob N. Kinnard
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199359653
- eISBN:
- 9780199359691
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199359653.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter examines the ways in which physical objects, events to which they are related, and the various narratives which convey such events intersect and interact with particular places, and it ...
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This chapter examines the ways in which physical objects, events to which they are related, and the various narratives which convey such events intersect and interact with particular places, and it explores the ways in which all of these elements are intimately entangled in the assertions of particular identities. The specific places discussed in this chapter—the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, and the shrine of Hossein in Karbala, Iraq—are physical places, locatable on a map, but they become more than just physical places. They are also vitally important in the constitution of Shi’a identity, and Karbala, in particular, comes to be far more than a physical place—it comes to be an essential part of Shi’a identity throughout the Muslim world.Less
This chapter examines the ways in which physical objects, events to which they are related, and the various narratives which convey such events intersect and interact with particular places, and it explores the ways in which all of these elements are intimately entangled in the assertions of particular identities. The specific places discussed in this chapter—the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, and the shrine of Hossein in Karbala, Iraq—are physical places, locatable on a map, but they become more than just physical places. They are also vitally important in the constitution of Shi’a identity, and Karbala, in particular, comes to be far more than a physical place—it comes to be an essential part of Shi’a identity throughout the Muslim world.
Robert Hillenbrand
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- December 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190498931
- eISBN:
- 9780190498955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190498931.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Non-Classical
This is a study of the sculpted and painted iconography at the late Umayyad palace of Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī, in Syria. Its links with classical and Byzantine and, to a lesser extent, Sasanian art ...
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This is a study of the sculpted and painted iconography at the late Umayyad palace of Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī, in Syria. Its links with classical and Byzantine and, to a lesser extent, Sasanian art will be analyzed, leading to a consideration of whether these diverse borrowings should be regarded as random or as the reflection of some underlying purpose. The essay will argue that these are not random borrowings but that they point to a consistently followed plan to keep a balance between “western” and “eastern” elements in the major categories of ornament, iconography, technique, and material. This suggests a sophisticated awareness of the potential of art as a means of expressing propagandist themes. Contemporary political developments provide a strikingly relevant context for this decoration.Less
This is a study of the sculpted and painted iconography at the late Umayyad palace of Qaṣr al-Ḥayr al-Gharbī, in Syria. Its links with classical and Byzantine and, to a lesser extent, Sasanian art will be analyzed, leading to a consideration of whether these diverse borrowings should be regarded as random or as the reflection of some underlying purpose. The essay will argue that these are not random borrowings but that they point to a consistently followed plan to keep a balance between “western” and “eastern” elements in the major categories of ornament, iconography, technique, and material. This suggests a sophisticated awareness of the potential of art as a means of expressing propagandist themes. Contemporary political developments provide a strikingly relevant context for this decoration.
