Madrasas in Mecca during the medieval period: a descriptive study based on literary sources

1997 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard T. Mortel
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Eastern Iran ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Islamic Jurisprudence ◽  
Sub Saharan

The madrasa as an institution dedicated to the teaching of one or more of the fourmadhhabs, or schools, of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence, often in conjunction with the ancillary Islamic sciences, including Arabic grammar, the study of quranic exegesis (tafsīr) and Prophetic Traditions (ḥadīth) alongside more secular disciplines such as history, literature, rhetoric, mathematics and astronomy, began to proliferate in the eastern Islamic lands from the fifth century/eleventh century, although its origins are traceable as far back as the early fourth/tenth century in eastern Iran. As the religion of Islam and its accompanying civilization spread into new territories, e.g., Anatolia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent, the institution of the madrasa not only accompanied this diffusion but also lent it active support.

Precolonial Sub-Saharan Africa and the Ancient Norse World: Looking For Similarities

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 179-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn Fuglestad
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
African History ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
To Come ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Strange Feeling

Comparative history may be fashionable these days, but references to the past of precolonial sub-Saharan Africa in the literature on early Scandinavia, and vice versa, are still hard to come by. Perhaps this is as it should be, as Scandinavia and Sub-Saharan Africa are generally considered to be worlds apart. Besides, there is the time-lag involved: pre-Christian Scandinavia, including the Norse world, came to an end in roughly the eleventh century, whereas the precolonial era in sub-Saharan Africa lasted into the 1880s at the earliest. But many years ago, when after a prolonged immersion in African history, I picked up some books, including printed primary sources, related to pre-Christian Norway, I was invaded by a strange feeling of déjà vu, of having seen it all before, precisely in sub-Saharan Africa of old. Pre-Christian Norwegian, or Norse, society suddenly began to make sense to me as it had never done before.Why the similarities I believe I have detected, and how significant are they? Is it possible that they are in some way more relevant or meaningful than the differences? Can we even speak of a problem of similarities à la Henri Frankfort? I have no ready-made answers to these questions. In fact my aim in this paper is a fairly modest one, that of offering some tentative, possibly speculative, observations, thoughts, and/or conclusions. I take as my point of departure the obvious, or trivial, point that precolonial sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Christian Norway did have something quite essential in common: the prevalence in both cases of ”pagan” (or “heathen”) and overwhelmingly agrarian kinship-type societies. In the case of Norway and Scandinavia, the Viking era (790s to somewhere in the tenth century), with its marked maritime orientation, constituted perhaps a rupture. Extensive seafaring, including maritime raiding and pillaging, not to mention the emergence of so-called sea kings, implies mobility, and mobile people do not fit readily into the “model” that is outlined in this essay. It may be, however, that the inland regions of the Nordic world were not always directly or even deeply influenced by what happened on the coast. Note that the words “pagan” and “heathen” are used here for want of a better expression, in the sense of “non-revealed” or “ethnic” religions. By kinship-type societies I mean collectivist-oriented societies composed not primarily of individuals, but of kindreds or lineages.

المساعي السياسية والإصلاحية للإمام أبي الوليد الباجي

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 537-548
Author(s):  
Sebbane Habib ◽  
Omar Boukhri
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Islamic Jurisprudence ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Umayyad Caliphate ◽  
Scientific Life

After the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Andalusian Islamic state witnessed a political rupture as a result of chaos, rivalries and sectarian conflicts throughout the fifth century AH corresponding to the eleventh century AD. These dangerous security breakdowns led to the disintegration and division of the Islamic Caliphate in Andalusia into a group of independent kingdoms and small emirates which ultimately found themselves on one hand in permanent wars between them, and on the other in skirmishes with the neighbouring Christian forces. This fact contributed to lack of stability and peace of these lands and the establishment of weak governing systems for a long time. This political situation stressed the worsening of their social conditions and their scientific life. Nevertheless, this situation generated a motivating nostalgia and rage in some scholars and jurists such as Imam Abū al-Walīd al-Bājī who is considered one of the key-figures and scholars of Andalusia. He had a prominent role in pushing forward and reviving scientific life by setting various new foundations in order to reform some fields. His writings were directed for educational purposes. Besides, he included the reform of Islamic jurisprudence, which was aimed primarily for jurists and rulers. Furthermore, some of his writings were sermons and ethical moral instructions for commoners. His endeavours led him to enter the political life as he assumed the judicial profession of a judge, that enabled him to be in more touch with the various kings of sects giving him the chance to advise and guide them. His efforts in that end resulted in seeking to reunite the kings of the sects and their princes under the banner of Islam and unite their forces for the defence of Muslim presence in Andalusia against the Christian threat.

scholarly journals Neurocysticercosis – A Journey from Pre-independence to Modern India

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (02) ◽  
pp. 076-099
Author(s):  
Gagandeep Singh ◽  
Monika Singla
Keyword(s):  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Taenia Solium ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ct Scans ◽  
Common Finding ◽  
Cns Involvement ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Endemic Areas ◽  
Sub Saharan

ABSTRACTNeurocysticercosis (NCC) is infestation of the human brain by the larva of worm, Taenia solium and is the most prevalent central nervous system (CNS) helminthiasis. The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including the Indian subcontinent, China, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America and contributes substantially to the burden of epilepsy in these areas(1) . CNS involvement is seen in 60-90% of systemic cysticercosis. About 2.5 million people worldwide are infected with T. solium, and antibodies to T. solium are seen in up to 25% of people in endemic areas(1-3) . A higher prevalence of epilepsy and seizures in endemic countries is partly because of a high prevalence of cysticercosis in these regions. Seizures are thought to be caused by NCC in as many as 30% of adult patients and in 51% of children in population based endemic regions (2) . About 12% of admissions to neurological services in endemic regions are attributed to NCC and nearly half a million deaths occurring annually worldwide can be attributed directly or indirectly to NCC (Bern et al.). Punctate calcific foci on CT scan are a very common finding in asymptomatic people residing in endemic areas, found in 14-20 % of CT scans. Both seizures and positive cysticercus serology are associated with the detection of cysticerci on CT scans. Seroprevalence using a recently developed CDC- based enzyme-linked immunotransfer blot (EITB) assay is estimated at 8-12% in Latin America and 4.9-24% in Africa and South-East Asia. It is estimated that 20 million people harbour neurocysticercosis worldwide(1) .

Beyond Jihad: The Pacifist Tradition in West African Islam

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-369
Author(s):  
John Azumah
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
West African ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Sub Saharan

Lamin Sanneh’s book Beyond Jihad deals with the peaceful transmission of Islam in West Africa by a pacifist clerical group. The author challenges the claim that the old African kingdom of Ghana was conquered by the militant Berber Almoravids in the eleventh century. Islam was not introduced into sub-Saharan Africa through militant jihad, as generally believed. The principal agents for the dissemination of Islam in West Africa were local clerics, who used the peaceful means of accommodation and adaptation. The clerical tradition was pacifist, emphasizing learning and teaching, not war and political office.

scholarly journals Islamic Historiography

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-126
Author(s):  
Devin Stewart
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Professional Group ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Islamic Historiography ◽  
Peripheral Regions

In this introduction to the large, unwieldy, and complex topic of Islamic historiography,the author has limited himself to historical works written inArabic, primarily in the central Islamic lands, before 1500. This choice canbe justified in that the field’s formative works written early on in Iraq, Iran,Egypt, and Syria and all in Arabic, served as models for historians writinglater on in peripheral regions and in other languages. Nevertheless, it is a bowto convenience and necessity, given the vast amount of material involved. Asa result, the Arabic historiography of North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, andother peripheral regions are largely ignored, as are the Turkish histories of theOttoman Empire and the Persian histories of Iran, Central Asia, and India.Within these admitted and understandable limitations, the book provides anexcellent thematic overview, while, at the same time, introducing the readerto some of the Islamic world’s most fascinating histories and historians.This book is divided into three parts, including ten chapters and aconclusion. A glossary, five plates of manuscript folios, three maps, twochronologies of prominent historians, and suggestions for further readingcontribute to making this a useful and accessible text.In part 1, chapters 1-4, Robinson presents a tripartite typology of historicalworks: chronography, biography, and prosopography. These are idealtypes, which serve as broad categories within which to classify a huge bodyof texts. Chronography refers to annals, works organized into year-by-yearsections; biography refers to texts that treat the lives of famous or exemplaryindividuals; and prosopography refers primarily to biographical dictionaries,works in which biographical notices are devoted to large numbers of individualswho all belonged to a particular scholarly or professional group. Allof these types of historical works, Robinson writes, had emerged by theninth century and were consolidated by the early tenth century. The end ofthis formative period was characterized by large synthetic works, such asAbu Ja`far al-Tabari’s History of Messengers and Kings. In part because ofsuch works, many earlier historical monographs, including the works ofsuch historians as Abu Mikhnaf and al-Mada’ini, were abandoned by the traditionas unnecessary ...

LATE CICERONIAN SCHOLARSHIP AND VIRGILIAN EXEGESIS: SERVIUS AND PS.-ASCONIUS

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 667-680
Author(s):  
Giuseppe La Bua
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Full Scale ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Scholarly Activity ◽  
Literary Critic ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
History Of

Late Antiquity witnessed intense scholarly activity on Virgil's poems. Aelius Donatus’ commentary, the twelve-bookInterpretationes Vergilianaecomposed by the fourth-century or fifth-century rhetorician Tiberius Claudius Donatus and other sets of scholia testify to the richness of late ‘Virgilian literature’. Servius’ full-scale commentary on Virgil's poetry (early fifth century) marked a watershed in the history of the reception of Virgil and in Latin criticism in general. Primarily ‘the instrument of a teacher’, Servius’ commentary was intended to teach students and readers to read and write good Latin through Virgil. Lauded by Macrobius for his ‘learning’ (doctrina) and ‘modesty’ (uerecundia), Servius attained supremacy as both a literary critic and an interpreter of Virgil, the master of Latin poetry. Hisauctoritashad a profound impact on later Virgilian erudition. As Cameron notes, Servius’ commentary ‘eclipsed all competition, even Donatus’. Significantly, it permeated non-Virgilian scholarship from the fifth century onwards. The earliest bodies of scholia on Lucan, the tenth-century or eleventh-centuryCommenta BernensiaandAdnotationes super Lucanumand thescholia uetustioraon Juvenal contain material that can be traced as far back as Servius’ scholarly masterpiece.

Medieval Lexicography on Arabic and Persian Terms for City and Countryside

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 465-478
Author(s):  
Roy P. Mottahedeh
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
The Third ◽  
Architectural Features ◽  
Eastern Iran ◽  
The Rich

AbstractMedieval Arabic to Persian dictionaries are a relatively untapped source for the conceptual world in the time of their authors. This essay closely examines four such dictionaries from the late fifth/eleventh century to the seventh/thirteenth century written in eastern Iran. These dictionaries are quite rich in terminology for cities, towns, farmland, pasture and desert. They also describe architectural features of buildings. They offer scant but valuable information on markets and social structure. The information from these dictionaries combined with the rich detail available in the Islamic geographers of the third/ninth and fourth/tenth century allows us to form a more perfect picture of medieval Iranian society.

scholarly journals Rasāyana in Classical Yoga and Āyurveda

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-84
Author(s):  
Philipp André Maas
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Fifth Century

The present chapter deals with rasāyana in the discipline of Yoga. More specifically, it focuses on the meaning of the word rasāyana in the Pātañjalayogaśāstra (PYŚ, late fourth or early fifth century CE), the oldest surviving Sanskrit exposition of Yoga as a soteriological system of thought from a Brāhmaṇa perspective. By interpreting the two difficult and slightly obscure text passages of the PYŚ that mention rasāyana in the light of its older commentaries and on the basis of additional references to rasāyana and related conceptions in early classical āyurvedic and upaniṣadic literature, the chapter concludes that for Patañjali rasāyana was a magically longevity potion prepared from unidentified herbs. The PYŚ neither refers to rasāyana as a branch of Āyurveda nor to alchemy. Some commentators of the PYŚ, however, interpret Patañjali's mentioning of rasāyana differently. While Vācaspatimiśra in the later half of the tenth century follows the PYŚ closely, the eleventh-century commentator Bhoja relates rasāyana to alchemy. Finally, the eighth-century (?) commentator Śaṅkara relates Patañjali's rasāyana to Āyurveda. Even though this interpretation is probably at odds with the PYŚ, it is not at all a far fetched, since the obtainment of various superpowers played an important role in āyurvedic rasāyana from the time of earliest sources onwards.

scholarly journals Management of Economically Important Insect Pests of Millet

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruparao T Gahukar ◽  
Gadi V P Reddy
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
The United States ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Habrobracon Hebetor ◽  
Larval Parasitoid ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Grain of various species of millet is a staple food of rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and China. In addition, millet is used as poultry and cattle feed in the United States, and the foliage is fodder for cattle in India. The crop is damaged by at least 150 insect pests during its growth and development. Although the current status of all of these pests is not known, shoot flies, stem borers, leaf-sucking, and the panicle-attacking insects are considered economically important. Control measures include the application of synthetic pesticides (as both seed treatment and foliar applications) and cultural methods (timing of planting and field sanitation). Host plant resistance (screening of genotypes and breeding of pest-tolerant/resistant cultivars), and biological control (conservation of natural enemies and periodical releases of the larval parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor) have received much attention in recent years. Integrating available pest control options has been recommended, along with further adoption of new crop cultivation technologies by small and resource-poor farmers.

The Ordinance concerning the Dunsæte and the Anglo-Welsh frontier in the late tenth and eleventh centuries

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 249-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Molyneaux
Keyword(s):  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Early Medieval Period ◽  
Alternative Perspective

AbstractThe Ordinance concerning the Dunsæte sets out regulations for dealings between the English and Welsh in some part of the frontier between these two peoples. The text is widely assumed to be from the second quarter of the tenth century, but this article argues for a late-tenth- or eleventh-century date. The Ordinance envisages trade and prescribes procedures to settle disputes: it thus reveals cordial contacts between those dwelling along the frontier. This offers an alternative perspective to the focus on kings and conflicts found in many modern accounts of relations between the English and Welsh in the early medieval period.

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