Demonstrating the central role of third/ninth century ḥadīth scholars in the articulation of Sunnī Islam, this book bases its findings largely upon the analysis of multiple biographical dictionaries, such as al-Dhahabī's Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ, Ibn Saʿd's Kitāb al-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr, and collections of the critical comments of Ibn Maʿīn and Ibn Ḥanbal. Part I establishes conceptual and historical frameworks for the study of Sunnī ḥadīth scholarship. Part II examines in...

Setting a group of medieval carved ivory horns in the specific artistic and historical context in which they were manufactured, used and re-used, this book presents a mine of information for the study of medieval history. The first chapters explore such technical aspects as the cutting and carving of oliphants, and also the broader issues of the morphology of ivory and its availability in the Mediterranean basin in the Middle Ages. On the basis of specific carving methods and varying vocabulary of motifs, the oliphants are organized into groups and their probable sites of production are...

In 385 AH/AD 995 the Qāḍī 'Abd al-Jabbār, well known for his Mu'tazilī theological writings, wrote the Confirmation of the Proofs of Prophecy, a work that includes a creative polemic against Christianity. 'Abd al-Jabbār reinterprets the Bible, Church history (especially the lives of Paul and Constantine) and Christian practice to argue that Christians changed the Islamic religion of Jesus. The present work begins with an examination of the controversial theory that this polemic was borrowed from an unkown Judaeo-Christian group. The author argues that...

This collection of essays provides a timely reassessment of nineteenth-century Islamic art and architecture. The essays demonstrate that the arts of that era were vibrant and diverse, making ingenious use of native traditions and materials or adopting imported conventions and new technologies. However, traditionalists, revivalists and modernists all referred in one way or another to an Islamic heritage, whether to reinvent, revive or reject it. Beginning with an historical introduction and an assessment of changing attitudes towards the visual arts the following essays provide case studies of...

This book deals with patronate and patronage (walā') of early and classical Islam. Though Webster's Third has the term "mawla," the concept remains very difficult to come to grips with. Fourteen contributions by renowned scholars analyze the social and cultural phenomenon of walā' from various angles. As a whole, the book conveys what we presently know about patronate and patronage during the first four centuries of Islam. Inasmuch as the contributors have used different methods - from a close rereading of primary sources to the application of social theory and...

This comparative analysis examines the Islamic and Jewish exegetical narratives ḥadīth/qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā' and midrash aggadah] on the early life of the forefather Abraham. It reveals how the traditions utilized one another's materials in creating and re-creating the patriarch in their own image. Each chapter examines a particular motif in Abraham's development, from the prophecy surrounding his birth to his discovery of God and polemics with pagans to his salvation in the fiery furnace of Chaldea. Indexes of the more salient rabbinic or Islamic texts follow at the...

Although the early thirteenth century was a critical period in the development of Sufism, it has received little scholarly attention. Based on heretofore unexplored sources, this book examines a pivotal figure from this period: the scholar, mystic, statesman, and eponym of one of the earliest ṭarīqa lineages, ʿUmar al-Suhrawardī. In situating Suhrawardī's life work in its social, political, and religious contexts, this book suggests that his universalizing Sufi system was not only enmeshed within a broader economy of Muslim religious learning, but also...

Textual and archaeological sources are employed to reconstruct the history of Karak in Jordan, 1100-1650 CE. The book establishes the ways in which the construction of a major castle at Karak affected the town and the surrounding rural hinterland.

The historiography of the Early Mamluk Circassian period is prolific but has not yet received proper scholarly attention. For the first time, this study examines in a comprehensive manner the key sources for the reign of al-Zāhir Barqūq (784-91, 792-801/1382-9, 1390-9) in terms of their originality and importance. By means of a systematic analysis of the annals of three different years, it provides a critical evaluation of published and manuscript primary sources, identifies the nature of the interdependence amongst authors, and sheds new light on the craft of historical writing....

It is a pleasure to introduce Dr. Kusehpeta's study of the USSR banking and eredit system with some measure of enthusiasm, for the subjeet is one about which there is, as yet, not mueh literature available in the Western European languages and this study approaehes the subjeet from the view-point of sourees taken from within the Soviet Union itself. No matter how revolutionary the ehange, some ties with the past still remain and it is for this reason that the author has paid initial attention to the banking system of the Tsars and proceeds to de al with the development of the banking system...