SULIMAN BASHEAR, Arabs and Others in Early Islam, Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 8 (Princeton, N.J.: Darwin Press, 1997). Pp. 169. $32 cloth.

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-279
Author(s):  
Jamsheed K. Choksy
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Arab Muslim ◽  
Islamic Thought ◽  
Narrative Reconstruction ◽  
Early Islam ◽  
Contextual Framework ◽  
Great Complexity

The earliest period of Islamic thought has emerged as a major focus of contemporary scholarship during the past few decades, with a variety of techniques—ranging from historical documentation and historiographical analysis to narrative reconstruction and source criticism—being applied to comprehend more accurately the ideas and events that fueled the rise of Muslim societies in the Middle East. Suliman Bashear has made a fascinating addition to the writing that has emerged from this scholarly quest to configure the Middle Eastern Muslim past. The book under review probes available early Arabic literature, largely on its own terms and occasionally in relation to later Arabic writings, to determine the great complexity of Arab, Muslim, and Arab–Muslim views about themselves and about members of other communities during and shortly after the 7th century. Bashear's work also endeavors to trace how such views changed over the next few centuries. At the same time, however, the book is difficult to appreciate fully. Each chapter involves mainly the analysis of a series of hadith (and, to a lesser extent, tafsir and akhbar) linked together by general themes, with little contextual framework or broader discussion of the issues' significance. As a result, the considerable erudition and informative detail that permeates this book provide disparate nuggets of knowledge that, when taken together, fall short of providing the reader with a clear overall notion of how and why the earliest Muslims perceived themselves and others in particular ways.

Philologists, ‘Bedouinisation’ and the ‘Archetypal Arab’ after the Mid-Third/Ninth Century

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Webb
Keyword(s):  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Early Islam ◽  
Elite Identity ◽  
Novel Association ◽  
Islamic Identity

How was Arab identity imagined in a world where most Middle Eastern populations stopped calling themselves Arabs? After the mid-ninth century AD, descriptions of Arabs proliferated in Arabic literature, whilst Arab identity as a social/political asset was in decline. In this period, the key spokesmen for the idea of Arabness were philologists who fundamentally reworked impressions of Arab identity as part of new theories about the Arabic language. Diachronic survey of the development of Arabic philology from the late eighth to eleventh centuries reveals shifting intentions and values which standardised the Arabic language via a unique process that focused on the idealisation of Bedouin as paragons of the ‘original Arabs’. Studying Arabic philology within its socio-historical contexts reveals how the grammarians transcended language study and forged paradigmatic changes to the ways Arab history and culture are interpreted. The novel association of Arab with Bedouin became a popular theme in Arabic literature from the early tenth century, and the weight of the resultant writings comprehensively transformed Arabness from the former expression of urban/Muslim elite identity in early Islam to a desert/Bedouin pre-Islamic identity which has cast a long shadow on the notion of Arab identity to the present.

Rediscovering the Islamic Classics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed El Shamsy
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
Classical Literature ◽  
Early Nineteenth Century ◽  
Religious Reform ◽  
Islamic Thought ◽  
History Of

Islamic book culture dates back to late antiquity, when Muslim scholars began to write down their doctrines on parchment, papyrus, and paper and then to compose increasingly elaborate analyses of, and commentaries on, these ideas. Movable type was adopted in the Middle East only in the early nineteenth century, and it wasn't until the second half of the century that the first works of classical Islamic religious scholarship were printed there. But from that moment on, as this book reveals, the technology of print transformed Islamic scholarship and Arabic literature. The book tells the story of how a small group of editors and intellectuals brought forgotten works of Islamic literature into print and defined what became the classical canon of Islamic thought. Through the lens of the literary culture of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Arab cities—especially Cairo, a hot spot of the nascent publishing business—the book explores the contributions of these individuals, who included some of the most important thinkers of the time. Through their efforts to find and publish classical literature, the book shows, many nearly lost works were recovered, disseminated, and harnessed for agendas of linguistic, ethical, and religious reform. The book is an examination of the central role printing and its advocates played in the intellectual history of the modern Arab world.

أوهام القراءة الحداثية المعاصرة: دراسة تحليلية نقدية (Misunderstandings of Modern Contemporary Reading: A Critical Analysis )

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-299
Author(s):  
حنان ساري ◽  
محمد أبو الليث الخيرآبادي
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Natural Extension ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The Past ◽  
Religious Issues ◽  
European Experience ◽  
Islamic Thought ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Muslim Scholars

انتشرت لفظة الحداثة في عصرنا الحالي انتشاراً واسعاً، وأخذت مفهومات متعددة، ونحن لا نراها أكثر من أنها امتداد طبيعي للقلق الأوروبي.وسعى التيار الحداثي لتقديم مشاريع تعتمد كلية على مناهج وآليات غربية في دراستها وتعاملها مع القرآن الكريم والسنة، ولعل أهم الذين تقدموا بتلك المشاريع؛ محمد أركون، عبد المجيد الشرفي التونسي، محمد عابد الجابري، حسن حنفي، نصر حامد أبوزيد، الطيب التيزني السوري، محمد شحرور، جمال البنا وغيرهم، وطالبوا بإعادة قراءة القرآن الكريم على ضوء المناهج النقدية الغربية في عملية التقليد الأعمى، ومن ثم نقلوا التجربة الأوروبية بكل آثارها الفوضوية إلى ساحة الفكر الإسلامي. وإن مدعي تجديد الدين من هؤلاء، ليس لهم صلة بالدين أو علومه، بقدر ما تشبعت أفكارهم بمناهج علمانية، فالمراد من جهودهم ليس الدين، وإنما غرس الحداثة بدل الدين، فهي خطَّةٌ تقوم على التَّغيير من داخل البيت الإسلاميِّ من خلال العبث بالنُّصوص الشَّرعيَّة بتحريفها وتفريغها من محتواها الحقيقيِّ، ووضع المحتوى الذي يريدون؛ فهم يَطرحون أفكارَهم وآراءَهم على أنَّها رؤى إسلاميَّة ناشئة عن الاجتهاد في فهم الدِّين. وقد حَمَلَ هذا الاتجاهُ شعار (التَّحديث والعصرنة للإسلام)؛ فهم يريدون منَّا تركَ ما أَجْمَعَتْ عليه الأُمَّةُ من معاني القرآن والسُّنَّة، لفهم جديد مغاير لفهم السَّلَف الصَّالح يكون متناسبًا مع هذا العصر الذي نعيش فيه. الكلمات المفتاحيّة: الحداثة، أوهام، الحداثيون، قراءة معاصرة، العصرنة للإسلام. Abstract In modern times, the word Modernity has spread widely and has become widely understood, and we see it as a natural extension of European concern and confusion. The Modernist Movement strived to present the ideas that rely completely on Western methodologies and approaches in their study and dealing with Qur’an and Sunnah. The most important scholars that have presented these ideas are; Mohammad Arkoun, ‘Abd Al-Majid Sharafi al-Tunisi, Mohammed ‘Abed al-Jabri, Hassan Hanafi, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Tayyeb Tizini, Muhammad Shahrour, Jamal Al-Banna, and others, they called for a re-reading and reinterpret the Qur’an in the light of Western critical approaches. Then, conveyed and brought the European experience and practice with all its chaotic effects to Islamic thought. The slogan of “Renewal of Religion” from these people has no relation to religion (Islam) or its sources, but instead saturated their ideas with secular methods. They tried to instill modernity rather than religion, and misinterpreted the Islamic sources by distorting it and evacuating it from the true context and setting it with their own understanding. They claim their ideas and opinions as the effort to understand religion and carried the slogan of “Modernization and Modernization of Islam”; they want us to leave the consensus of the Muslim scholars on religious issues (Ijmaa’ al-Ummah) especially relating to the meaning of the Qur’an and Sunnah and bring us to a new views and understanding on religious issues which are contradictory to the views of the past Muslim scholars (al-salaf al-soleh) to fulfill their opinions. Keywords: Modernity, Misunderstanding, Modernists, Contemporary Reading, Modernization of Islam.

The Fall of Tripoli in 1289 in the Perception of Christian Communities of the Middle East

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
К.А. Панченко
Keyword(s):  
Educational Level ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Religious Polemics

Abstract The article examines the conquest of the County of Tripoli by the Mamelukes in 1289, and the reaction of various Middle Eastern ethnoreligious groups to this event. Along with the Monophysite perspective (the Syriac chronicle of Bar Hebraeus’ Continuator and the work of the Coptic historian Mufaddal ibn Abi-l-Fadail), and the propagandist texts of Muslim Arabic panegyric poets, we will pay special attention to the historical memory of the Orthodox (Melkite) and Maronite communities of northern Lebanon. The contemporary of these events — the Orthodox author Suleiman al-Ashluhi, a native of one of the villages of the Akkar Plateau — laments the fall of Tripoli in his rhymed eulogy. It is noteworthy that this author belongs to the rural Melkite subculture, which — in spite of its conservative character — was capable of producing original literature. Suleiman al-Ashluhi’s work was forsaken by the following generations of Melkites; his poem was only preserved in Maronite manuscripts. Maronite historical memory is just as fragmented. The father of the Modern Era Maronite historiography — Gabriel ibn al-Qilaʿî († 1516) only had fragmentary information on the history of his people in the 13th century: local chronicles and the heroic epos that glorified the Maronite struggle against the Muslim lords that tried to conquer Mount Lebanon. Gabriel’s depiction of the past is not only biased and subject to aims of religious polemics, but also factually inaccurate. Nevertheless, the texts of Suleiman al-Ashluhi and Gabriel ibn al-Qilaʿî give us the opportunity to draw conclusions on the worldview, educational level, political orientation and peculiar traits of the historical memory of various Christian communities of Mount Lebanon.

scholarly journals The Resolution of International Commercial Disputes – What Role (if any) for Continental Europe?

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Giesela Rühl
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
National Level ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Traditional Market ◽  
Commercial Courts

The past sixteen years have witnessed the proliferation of international commercial courts around the world. However, up until recently, this was largely an Asian and a Middle Eastern phenomenon. Only during the past decade have Continental European countries, notably Germany, France and the Netherlands, joined the bandwagon and started to create new judicial bodies for international commercial cases. Driven by the desire to attract high-volume commercial litigation, these bodies try to offer international businesses a better dispute settlement framework. But what are their chances of success? Will more international litigants decide to settle their disputes in these countries? In this essay, I argue that, despite its recently displayed activism, Continental Europe lags behind on international commercial courts. In fact, although the various European initiatives are laudable, most cannot compete with the traditional market leaders, especially the London Commercial Court, or with new rivals in Asia and the Middle East. If Continental Europe wants a role in the international litigation market, it must embrace more radical change. And this change will most likely have to happen on the European––not the national––level.

Audientia sacerdotalis?—Remarks on the Legal Nature of Dispute Resolution by Ecclesiastics in Late Antiquity

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-149
Author(s):  
Marzena Wojtczak
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Simultaneous Increase ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
The Past ◽  
Lower Rank ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
The Subject

Abstract The problem of audientia episcopalis in late antiquity has been the subject of extensive research in the past. Previous studies have usually focussed on the legal doctrine, as well as the picture of bishop courts in the light of the literary sources. In contrast, the question of how audientia episcopalis functioned in the legal practice as shown by papyri has caused scholars much difficulty, due to the limited material available as well as the obscure nature of the institution. One could therefore ask: how is it possible that such allegedly common practice of dispute resolution by the bishops—as literary sources make us believe—is so elusive in the papyri? How to explain the simultaneous increase for that period of the papyrological attestations regarding arbitration/mediation carried out by the clergy of lower rank? Could we be dealing with some sort of audientia sacerdotalis functioning in the legal practice? How widespread was in fact the audientia episcopalis, and was this institution homogeneous or rather heterogeneous in nature? The paper presents the attempt to answer these questions by confronting the imperial law with the evidence of legal practice.

Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
The Past ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Close Relationship

This volume approaches three key concepts in Roman history — gender, memory and identity — and demonstrates the significance of their interaction in all social levels and during all periods of Imperial Rome. When societies, as well as individuals, form their identities, remembrance and references to the past play a significant role. The aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World is to cast light on the constructing and the maintaining of both public and private identities in the Roman Empire through memory, and to highlight, in particular, the role of gender in that process. While approaching this subject, the contributors to this volume scrutinise both the literature and material sources, pointing out how widespread the close relationship between gender, memory and identity was. A major aim of Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World as a whole is to point out the significance of the interaction between these three concepts in both the upper and lower levels of Roman society, and how it remained an important question through the period from Augustus right into Late Antiquity.

Christian Divination in Late Antiquity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Wisniewski
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Common People ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Essential Questions ◽  
Hidden Knowledge

In Late Antiquity, people commonly sought to acquire hidden knowledge about the past, the present, and the future, using a variety of methods. While Christians acknowledged that these methods could work effectively, in theory they were not allowed to make use of them. In practice, they behaved in diverse ways. Some probably renounced any hope of learning about the future. Others resorted to old practices regardless of the consequences. A third option was to construct divinatory methods that were effective yet religiously tolerable. This book is devoted to the study of such practices and their practitioners, and provides answers to essential questions concerning Christian divination. How did it develop? How closely were Christian methods related to older, traditional practices? Who used them and in which situations? Who offered oracular services? And how were they perceived by clerics, intellectuals, and common people?

Creative geographies of Islam: the case of Islamic and traditional visual arts scene in Istanbul

2021 ◽  
pp. 147447402110536
Author(s):  
Hulya Arik
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Visual Arts ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
The Past ◽  
Art Scene ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Early Republican

While research on geographies of creativity have proliferated in the last few years, there has been scant attention to religious cultural and artistic practices, particularly in the context of the Middle East. This research seeks to address such gap with a focus on the Islamic and traditional visual arts scene which has flourished in Istanbul in the past decade and a half along with the rise of political Islam in Turkey. Rendered obsolete through the Western-oriented and secular cultural politics since the early republican era, art forms such as Arabic calligraphy ( hat), miniature ( minyatür), and illumination ( tezhip) have now found currency as ‘authentically Turkish and Islamic’ in an art scene that emerged alongside Islamist politics. This paper examines the trajectory of Islamic and traditional visual arts through the lens of cultural and creative industries starting from the cultural politics of Islamic urban governance through the 1990s and 2000s, and to the emergence of an Islamist-nationalist authoritarianism in the past decade. In doing so, it aims to situate Islamic and traditional visual arts on the map in studies on geographies of creativity, particularly in the Middle Eastern and Islamic context, where limited attention has been paid to cultural and artistic practices. With ethnographic reflections from the field, it highlights the internal dynamics of an art scene and the potential it bears in unsettling the core concepts of Turkish Islamic nationalism from within.

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