Religion And Politics Under The Early Abbāsids

Author : Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2021-12-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9789004493193

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Religion and Politics under the Early ‘Abbāsids by Muhammad Qasim Zaman Pdf

The main concern of this book is the religious policies of the early ‘Abbāsid caliphs. It focuses on the religious trends which went into the making of Sunnī Islam, and traces the emergence of the nascent Sunnī elite in relation to the ‘Abbāsids. Various aspects of the caliphs' evolving relationship with the religious scholars are studied and the nature of caliphal patronage and its impact on the scholars, and ultimately on the evolution of early Sunnism, is explored. What emerges is a picture of close collaboration between the caliphs and the ‘ulama’, with the caliphs playing an active and multifaceted role in religious life. This book challenges the prevailing interpretations of the separation of religion and politics in early Islam, and offers new insights into the social and religious history of Islam's formative centuries.

Author : Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : History
ISBN : 9004106782

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Religion and Politics Under the Early ʻAbbāsids by Muhammad Qasim Zaman Pdf

A study of the religious policies of the early Abb sids. It describes the caliphs' patronage of the nascent Sunni religious elite and offers a new interpretation of the relationship of religion and politics in Islam's first centuries.

Author : M. J. L. Young,J. D. Latham,R. B. Serjeant
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 616 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2006-11-02
Category : History
ISBN : 0521028876

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Religion, Learning and Science in the 'Abbasid Period by M. J. L. Young,J. D. Latham,R. B. Serjeant Pdf

Writings in learned subjects from the period eighth to thirteenth centuries, AD.

Author : Hugh Kennedy
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2016-03-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317358060

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The Early Abbasid Caliphate by Hugh Kennedy Pdf

The early Abbasid Caliphate was an important period for Islam. The dynasty, based in Baghdad, ruled over a vast Empire, stretching from the Indus Valley and Southern Russia to the East to Tunisia in the West; and presided over an age of brilliant cultural achievements. This study, first published in 1981, examines the Abbasid Caliphs from their coming to power in 750 AD, to the death of the Caliph al-Ma’mun in 833 AD, when the period of Turkish domination began. It looks at the political history of the period, and also considers the social and economic factors, showing how they developed and influenced political life. The work is designed as a unique introduction to the period, and will prove invaluable to all students involved with Islamic, Byzantine and Mediterranean history and culture.

Author : John P. Turner (Associate Professor of History)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Abbasids
ISBN : 0755607848

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Inquisition in Early Islam by John P. Turner (Associate Professor of History) Pdf

"In 833 CE, the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun began a period of inquisition (mihna), one which continued until his successor al-Mutawakkil decreed its end, fifteen years later. During this period, the Caliphs in power strove to promote 'correct belief' in the 'createdness' of the Qur'an, thus ordering the interrogation of religious scholars on the subject and disqualifying, beating or even executing those who answered incorrectly. Here, John P. Turner examines and analyses this major episode, viewing it as the pivotal point for the era in question and ultimately for the state of relations between the temporal authorities and religious law. Inquisition in Early Islam focuses on the shifting control over matters of belief and orthodoxy, from the Caliph to the religious scholars, and explores the relationships between heresy, power and the articulation and definition of law and doctrine. Turner does so by exploring the mihna within its context, asking questions such as, why was it so pivotal? Why was it begun? Why did it end? When did the meaning of the Caliph's position in society shift? How did the Caliph lose his ability to assert himself in defining the boundaries and beliefs of religion? And why and when do the religious/legal scholars gain independence and control over the elaboration and interpretation of the law? By examining the definition of 'heresy' as conceived of by the Caliphs, Turner presents a vivid account of the heresy trials during this period, as well as an insightful analysis of the nature of rule and religion. Through investigating heretics and heresy in this period, Turner highlights the Caliph's social role, exploring the relationships between orthodoxy, heresy, power and authority in a context where there was no single arbiter of dogma. This book is therefore of particular interest to researchers and scholars of Islamic history as well as of comparative religion and medieval history."--Bloomsbury publishing.

Author : Hayrettin Yücesoy
Publisher : Univ of South Carolina Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : History
ISBN : 1570038198

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Messianic Beliefs and Imperial Politics in Medieval Islam by Hayrettin Yücesoy Pdf

An analysis of the dynamic relationship between apocalyptic prophesies and medieval Muslim politics Messianic Beliefs and Imperial Politics in Medieval Islam analyzes the role of Muslim messianic and apocalyptic beliefs in the development of the 'Abbasid Caliphate to highlight connections between charismatic authority and institutional developments in the early ninth century. Hayrettin Yücesoy studies the relationship between rulers and religion to advance understanding of the era's political actions and, more specifically, to illustrate how messianic beliefs influenced 'Abbsid imperial politics and contributed to the reshaping of the caliphate under al-Ma'mun (809-33) after a decade-long civil war. Yücesoy challenges traditional sociological views that marginalize messianic beliefs as oppositional ideologies of disfranchised social classes to be used against the political establishment. Instead he finds a mode of symbiosis between messianic beliefs, political reform, and imperial ambitions put in motion by al-'Ma'mun's acute understanding of the sociopolitical and ideological context of his time. Yücesoy demonstrates how the caliphate absorbed influences from the late antique world and Near Eastern cultures to fashion a prophetic vision that served to undergird al-'Ma'mun's imperial aspirations. A comprehensive portrait of the caliph and his reign emerges from this study as a result. By drawing on records of Muslim and non-Muslim apocalyptic prophecies circulating among the general public and educated elites alike, this study demonstrates the pertinence of messianic beliefs to medieval Muslim politics and illustrates the manner in which the caliph responded and shaped societal concerns on three distinct fronts: domestic fiscal and administrative reforms, an increase in missionary and military activities, and religious reform. Yücesoy shows that political usefulness contributed to the longevity of charismatic ideologies by addressing how the 'Abbsid ruling class adopted such beliefs as a medium to initiate governmental reforms and expand their authority. This work adds new layers to ongoing interdisciplinary discourse about the importance of religion in Islamic sociopolitical life, both historically and in the contemporary Muslim world.

Author : Sohaira Z. M. Siddiqui
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2020-06-18
Category : History
ISBN : 1108721958

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Law and Politics under the Abbasids by Sohaira Z. M. Siddiqui Pdf

Abu Ma'ali al-Juwayni (d.478/1085) lived in a politically tumultuous period. The rise of powerful dynastic families forced the Abbasid Caliph into a position of titular power, and created instability. He also witnessed intellectual upheavals living amidst great theological and legal diversity. Collectively, these experiences led him to consider questions of religious certainty and social and political continuity. He noted that if political elites are constantly changing, paralleled with shifting intellectual allegiances, what ensures the continuity of religion? He concluded that continuity of society is contingent upon knowledge and practice of the Shari'a. Here, Sohaira Siddiqui explores how scholars grappled with questions of human reason and knowledge, and how their answers to these questions often led them to challenge dominant ideas of what the Shari'a is. By doing this, she highlights the interconnections between al-Juwayni's discussions on theology, law and politics, and the socio-political intellectual landscapes that forged them.

Author : Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2010-12-16
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781400837519

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The Ulama in Contemporary Islam by Muhammad Qasim Zaman Pdf

From the cleric-led Iranian revolution to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, many people have been surprised by what they see as the modern reemergence of an antimodern phenomenon. This book helps account for the increasingly visible public role of traditionally educated Muslim religious scholars (the `ulama) across contemporary Muslim societies. Muhammad Qasim Zaman describes the transformations the centuries-old culture and tradition of the `ulama have undergone in the modern era--transformations that underlie the new religious and political activism of these scholars. In doing so, it provides a new foundation for the comparative study of Islam, politics, and religious change in the contemporary world. While focusing primarily on Pakistan, Zaman takes a broad approach that considers the Taliban and the `ulama of Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and the southern Philippines. He shows how their religious and political discourses have evolved in often unexpected but mutually reinforcing ways to redefine and enlarge the roles the `ulama play in society. Their discourses are informed by a longstanding religious tradition, of which they see themselves as the custodians. But these discourses are equally shaped by--and contribute in significant ways to--contemporary debates in the Muslim public sphere. This book offers the first sustained comparative perspective on the `ulama and their increasingly crucial religious and political activism. It shows how issues of religious authority are debated in contemporary Islam, how Islamic law and tradition are continuously negotiated in a rapidly changing world, and how the `ulama both react to and shape larger Islamic social trends. Introducing previously unexamined facets of religious and political thought in modern Islam, it clarifies the complex processes of religious change unfolding in the contemporary Muslim world and goes a long way toward explaining their vast social and political ramifications.

Author : Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher : International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT)
Page : 9 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Abbasids
ISBN : 9781565640863

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The Making of a Religious Discourse by Muhammad Qasim Zaman Pdf

: The Abbasid revolution is of of the major episodes of early Islamic history. It brought about not only the destruction of the Umayyad caliphate and its substitution by the caliphate of the Abbasids – both of which were among the most powerful empires of their time –but also major transformations in the social, political, military, administrative, and cultural spheres of Muslim life. Pone of the best documented episodes of early Islamic history, the Abbasid revolution, has also received considerable attention from modern scholars. This study takes a new look at the history and historiagraphy of the Abbasid revolution. The concern here is not with delineating the historical processes which culminated in this revolution, but with the revolution’s religious discourse, as depicted in the narratives of the major historians of classical Islam.

Author : Abd Al-Aziz Duri
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2011-08-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780857720191

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Early Islamic Institutions by Abd Al-Aziz Duri Pdf

The rapid expansion of the early Islamic world is conventionally ascribed to a combination of perceptive military leadership and religious fervour. By looking at the administration and taxation which would be implemented by political rulers, Abd al-Aziz Duri demonstrates how these leaders were able to provide for growth, development and durability in a turbulent time, as well as efficient mechanisms for taxation and tax collection. Drawing on original research into the fiscal policies of this period, especially land tax and the tax on non-Muslim populations, Duri shows how different models evolved and renewed themselves. He examines the political systems that accompanied these fiscal regimes, and attitudes towards them. He also scrutinises the institutions which supported this remarkably coherent mode of governance, offering a new perspective on the relationship between politics and Islam in this formative period. By looking at these early Islamic institutions, Duri makes the argument that due to persistence of such organization, from the early Muslim conquests and the later Umayyad era to the end of 'Abbasid rule, the leaders of the time can be seen to be particularly politically and organizationally skilled. Duri's work makes a major contribution to our understanding of how Islam established itself and flourished as a lasting major force in the development of world history. Abd al-Aziz Duri (1919-2010) was Professor of History at the University of Jordan, having previously served as President of Baghdad University from 1963 to 1968. Among the most influential of his books on early Islam are The Economic History of Iraq in the Fourth Century AH (1948), An Introduction to the History of the Dawn of Islam (1949), and The Early Abbasid Period (1988), as well as treatises on Arab nationalism such as The Historical Roots of Arab Nationalism (1960) and The Historical Formation of the Arab nation: A Study in Identity and Consciousness (1987).

Author : Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Abbasids
ISBN : OCLC:37858563

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Early ʻAbbāṣid Religious Policies and the Proto-Sunnī ʻulamāʼ by Muhammad Qasim Zaman Pdf

"This dissertation studies the evolving relationship of the early 'Abbasid caliphs with the proto-Sunni 'ulama'. By the time of Harun al-Rashid, the 'Abbasids had aligned themselves with the emergent proto-Sunnitrends; a pattern of state - 'ulama' relations, with the caliph's view of his function approaching that of the 'ulama ', had begun to emerge. al-Ma'mun was uncharacteristic of the early 'Abbasids in claiming religious authority for himself, apparently to challenge the 'ulama's influence and authority. That effort proved abortive, and confirmed in its failure the earlier pattern of state - 'ulama' relations. The pattern was one of collaboration between the caliphs and the 'ulama'. Proto-Sunni scholars were among the beneficiaries of extensive caliphal patronage, and it was their viewpoints which caliphal interventions in religious life upheld. Owing perhaps to the effects of 'Abbasid patronage, but also to the implications of certain proto-Sunni viewpoints, proto-Sunnis were generally favourable towards the 'Abbasids. A convergence is discernible in the interests of the Caliphs and the 'ulama', and partly explains not only the latter's pro-'Abbasid sentiment but also why it was the proto-Sunni viewpoints that the 'Abbasids came to patronize." --

Author : Hayrettin Yücesoy
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 668 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2023-08-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9780231557924

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Disenchanting the Caliphate by Hayrettin Yücesoy Pdf

The political thought of Muslim societies is all too often defined in religious terms, in which the writings of clerics are seen as representative and ideas about governance are treated as an extension of commentary on sacred texts. Disenchanting the Caliphate offers a groundbreaking new account of political discourse in Islamic history by examining Abbasid imperial practice, illuminating the emergence and influence of a vibrant secular tradition. Closely reading key eighth-century texts, Hayrettin Yücesoy argues that the ulema’s discourse of religious governance and the political thought of lay intellectuals diverged during this foundational period, with enduring consequences. He traces how notions of good governance and reflections on prudent statecraft arose among cosmopolitan literati who envisioned governing as an art. Competent in nonreligious branches of knowledge and trained in administrative professions, these belletrists articulated and defended secular political practices, reimagining the caliphal realm as politically constituted rather than natural. They sought to improve administrative efficiency and bolster state control for an empire made up of diverse cultures. Their ideas about moral cultivation, temporal reasoning, and governmental rationality endured for centuries as a counterpoint to religious rulership. Drawing on this history, Yücesoy critiques the concept of “Islamic political thought,” calling for decolonizing debates about “secular” and “religious” politics. Theoretically rich and historically grounded, Disenchanting the Caliphate is an insightful and provocative reconsideration of key strands of political discourse in the intellectual history of Muslim societies.

Author : John Turner
Publisher : I. B. Tauris
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2013-05-15
Category : History
ISBN : 1780761643

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Inquisition in Early Islam by John Turner Pdf

In 833 CE, the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun began a period of inquisition (mihna), one which continued until his successor al-Mutawakkil decreed its end, fifteen years later. During this period, the Caliphs in power strove to promote 'correct belief' in the 'createdness' of the Qur'an, thus ordering the interrogation of religious scholars, and disqualifying, punishing or even executing those who answered incorrectly. Here, John P. Turner examines this major episode, viewing it as a pivotal point in the struggle between the temporal authorities and religious law in the Middle East. By examining the definition of 'heresy', Turner presents a vivid account of the heresy trials in this period, as well as incisive analysis concerning the relationship between secular power and religious authority. This book is of particular interest to researchers and scholars of Islamic history, comparative religion and the medieval world.

Author : Jan-Olaf Blichfeldt
Publisher : Brill Archive
Page : 118 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1985
Category : Islam and politics
ISBN : 9004076433

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Early Mahdism by Jan-Olaf Blichfeldt Pdf

Author : John Abdallah Nawas
Publisher : Lockwood Press
Page : 361 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2015-11-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781937040567

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Al-Ma'mun, the Inquisition, and the Quest for Caliphal Authority by John Abdallah Nawas Pdf

The "inquisition" (Mihnah) unleashed by the seventh Abbasid caliph, 'Abdallah al-Ma'mun (r. 813-833), has long attracted the attention of modern scholars of the intellectual, political, and religious history of the early Abbasid era. Because this event, which began in 820 and stretched through the reigns of two of al-Ma'mun's successors, appears at a convergence of prominent currents in systematic theology, rationalist thought, theocratic politics, and nascent trends in Shiism and Sunnism, historians have seen it as the key to a wide array of puzzles and problems in early Islamic history. In this incisive study, John Nawas subjects the various proposed explanations of these events to a sober and searching analysis and, in the process, presents a new interpretation of al-Ma'mun's political and religious policies, contextualized against the background of early Abbasid intellectual and social history. Appended to the volume is a reprint edition of Walter M. Patton's Ahmed ibn Hanbal and the Mihna (Leiden 1897), which still has much that is useful for modern scholarship, including one enormous additional benefit; it contains most of the relevant passages in Arabic from the primary sources.