THE ARGUMENT FROM IGNORANCE AND ITS CRITICS IN MEDIEVAL ARABIC THOUGHT

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman Shihadeh
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
John Locke ◽  
Distinct Type ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Ibn Khaldun ◽  
Aristotelian Logic ◽  
Rational Theology ◽  
Epistemological Principle

AbstractThe earliest debate on the argument from ignorance emerged in Islamic rational theology around the fourth/tenth century, approximately seven centuries before John Locke identified it as a distinct type of argument. The most influential defences of the epistemological principle that ‘that for which there is no evidence must be negated’ are encountered in Muʿtazilī sources, particularly ʿAbd al-Jabbār and al-Malāḥimī who argue that without this principle scepticism will follow. The principle was defended on different grounds by some earlier Ashʿarīs, but was then rejected by al-Juwaynī, and was eventually classed as a fallacy by Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī whoseNihāyat al-ʿuqūlcontains the most definitive and comprehensive refutation of classical kalām epistemology and the first ever defence of Aristotelian logic in a kalām summa. According to the eighth/fourteenth-century historian Ibn Khaldūn, this debate provided the main impetus for the philosophical turn that Ashʿarism took during the sixth/twelfth century.

Confrérie, Bruderschaft and guild: the formation of musicians' fraternal organisations in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Europe

1995 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 257-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Brainerd Slocum
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Social Acceptance ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
The Church

Professional musicians first appeared in medieval Europe during the tenth century. These jongleurs, or minstrels, earned a precarious living by travelling alone or in small groups from village to village and castle to castle, singing, playing, dancing, performing magic tricks and exhibiting trained animals. These itinerant performers were often viewed as social outcasts, and were frequently denied legal protection as well as the sacraments of the church. With the revival of the European economy and the growth of towns during the twelfth century the opportunity for more stable living conditions emerged, and the minstrels began to organise themselves into brotherhoods or confraternities, eventually developing guilds of musicians. By forming corporations and thus voluntarily placing themselves under the power of rulers or civic authorities, the musicians could achieve a modicum of social acceptance and legal protection.

scholarly journals And We cast upon his throne a mere body: A Historiographical Reading of Q. 38:34

2004 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.O. Klar
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
World History ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Islamic Historiography ◽  
Islamic Society

This paper focuses on Q. 38:34 from the perspective of early and medieval works of Islamic historiography and collections of tales of the prophets: the early tenth century works of cUmāra b. Wathīma and Ṭabarī, the eleventh century Tales of the Prophets by Thaclabī, the twelfth century folkloric collection of Kisāↄī, along with Ibn cAsākir's History ofDamascus, the thirteenth century world history by Ibn al-Athīr, and the fourteenth century historiographical work by Ibn Kathīr. These various works are viewed not as any particular stage in the development of a genre, but as variations on a (Qur'anic) theme, and the avenue of medieval historiographers and storytellers is utilised as a bridge to explore various possible interpretations of the Qur'anic passage. Historiographers and storytellers provide us with an illustration of how lessons of admonition implied in the Qur'anic text were perceived in medieval Islamic society. They also, as will become clear, provide a picture of Solomon that is consistent with the Qur'anic figure as a whole.

Recitation and Chant

2021 ◽  
pp. 463-480
Author(s):  
Sandra Martani
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Musical Elements

Music plays an important role in Byzantine culture; however, only the melodies used in the sacred services have been preserved. Two main types of neumatic notation are used in liturgical books: the lectionary (or ekphonetic) notation—intended to guide the cantillation of the Scriptures—and the melodic notation, used to sing a variety of properly melodic chants. While ekphonetic notation appears in a considerable number of sources dating from the eighth century to the fourteenth/fifteenth centuries, scholars have not yet managed to decipher it. Signs recording musical elements are attested from the sixth century, but it is only from the mid-tenth century that articulated notational systems appear. Until about the mid-twelfth century, two main melodic notations, both adiastematic, were used: the so-called Chartres and Coislin notations. In its development, the Coislin notation leads to a new diastematic system, the so-called Middle Byzantine notation. However, the full diastemacy would be attained only with the Chrysanthos reform at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Melodic notation was used in different hymnographic genres, both syllabic and melismatic, and in psalmic texts. Theoretical treatises provide explanations on the rules needed to combine the neumes. From the fourteenth century onward, a new style appears and develops under the influence of a new aesthetic and of the Hesychastic movement—the καλοφωνία (beautiful voicing). In new or revisited compositions, music is privileged over text and the notation multiplies its μεγάλα σημάδια (big signs) to create a new meaning, a purely melodic one.

The excavation of a Buddhist temple complex of the Qocho Uyghur kingdom in the middle of the west zone of the Tuyoq caves in Shanshan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-112
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Autonomous Region ◽  
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region ◽  
Buddhist Temple ◽  
Temple Complex ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
And Storage

AbstractIn 2016, remains of a ground-level Buddhist temple complex were found in the middle of the west zone of the Tuyoq caves in Shanshan (Piqan) County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This Buddhist temple complex consisted of the Buddha hall, dorms for monks, and storage facilities. In the Buddha hall, many murals of bodhisattvas, devas, and donors were found, and artifacts such as household utensils made of clay, wooden architectural components, textiles, and manuscript fragments were unearthed. The date of this Buddhist temple complex was the Qocho Uyghurs kingdom from the latter half of the tenth century to the latter half of the fourteenth century; the excavation is very important for understanding the distribution of the construction centers and the iconographical composition of the Buddhist cave temples and monasteries in the Qocho Uyghurs kingdom period.

VIII.—The Palace of Westminster in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries

Archaeologia ◽  
1906 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. Lethaby
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Positive Evidence ◽  
Parallel Case ◽  
Edward The Confessor ◽  
The Church

We do not know when the English kings took up their residence at Westminster. Some slight indications suggest that Canute may have first established himself here. It is clear from the name Westminster that the Abbey was first in place, and this is confirmed by the position of the Palace, built along a narrow marshy strip between the better ground of the Abbey precinct and the river. Holyrood seems to be a parallel case of a famous religious house drawing the king's palace to its side. There is no certain evidence for the existence of the Abbey itself until the opening of the last third of the tenth century. The points in favour of Canute's residence at Westminster are as follows. His son Harold was buried in the Abbey, and according to the traditions of the house he was a great benefactor to it, presenting it with many relics, and being much attached to the Abbot Wulnoth. Gaimar, a twelfth-century writer, says that the dispute as to the tide happened at Westminster. “He was in London on the Thames, the tide was flowing near the church called Westminster, and the king stood at the strand on the sand.” The first positive evidence as to the Saxon palace is contained in William of Malmesbury's Chronicle, which tells how King Edward the Confessor was wearing his crown at Westminster, and while sitting at table one Easter Day, surrounded by nobles, he saw a vision.

Iconic Books and Gestures: Aḥādīth al-Ṣifāt in the Public Sphere

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livnat Holtzman
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Index Finger ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Public Controversy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Ubiquitous Presence

This chapter examines the ubiquitous presence of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt in the public sphere by focusing on four iconic texts: the caliphal Qadiri Creed, Ibn Khuzayma’s (d. 924) Kitāb al-Tawḥid, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s (d. 1210) Asās al-Taqdīs and Ibn Taymiyya’s (d. 1328) al-Ḥamawiyya al-Kubrā. These iconic texts, which offer various discussions of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt, stood at the centre of public attention, and were revered as objects of political power. This chapter fully unfolds the connection between these four texts, and the role that they played in political events that took place in different venues from tenth century Nishapur to fourteenth century Damascus. Both the extremely popular Asās al-Taqdīs and al-Ḥamawiyya al-Kubrā ignited a public controversy about the performance of two iconic gestures that were linked to the recitations of aḥādīth al-ṣifāt: pointing the index finger heavenward and raising both hands in prayer. The chapter highlights al-Ḥamawiyya al-Kubrā’s iconicity by addressing the derogative name ḥashwiyya (vulgar anthropomorphists) which was central to this public controversy. The iconic books and gestures that are discussed in this chapter underscore the interface between theology and politics, and reveal a layer as yet unknown of the controversy between the ultra-traditionalists (Hanbalites) and the rational-traditionalists (the later Ashʿarites).

Diaspora without End and the Renewal of Epic

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Nisse
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Imperial Power ◽  
Medieval Hebrew

This chapter examines the bold act of translation with which Sefer Yosippon opens: a brief Jewish version of the Aeneid. It traces Yosippon's “Aeneid” from its original tenth-century location within a European revival of the Roman imperial ideal up to the Angevin twelfth century and its own celebration of empire. In the process, it reveals the stakes of an act of translation that inscribes the Jews into new paradigms of both imperial power and epic literature. It also explores how medieval Hebrew texts challenge Rome through ideas of translation by drawing on another heroic tale, the Midrash Va-Yissau, or The Wars of the Sons of Jacob.

Nomadic Populations and the Challenge to Political Legitimacy: Three Cases from the Medieval Islamic West

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Hopley
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Shed Light

This chapter examines the responses of three important medieval Maghribī dynasties to the dilemmas posed by nomadic populations dwelling in their midst. These dynasties include the Almoravids in al-Andalus in the twelfth century, the Almohads in the Maghrib in the thirteenth century, and the Ḥafṣids, successors to the Almohads in Ifrīqiya, during the fourteenth century. The aim is to shed light on the challenges that nomadic populations posed to political legitimacy, and to suggest, paradoxically perhaps, that the presence of unruly nomads in the medieval Islamic west, and the effort to contain them, served an important role in each dynasty's attempt to gain political legitimacy in the eyes of the Muslim community.

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