"Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman and `Ammar b. Yasir, Jewish converts to Islam'', in Quaderni di Studi Arabi 11 (1993), 149--62.

"Abu Malik `Abdallah b. Sam of Kinda, a Jewish convert to Islam", in Der Islam 71 (1994), 280--82.

 

Network for Early Islamic Studies

Newsletter no. 6

April, 1997

To Dr. Afsaruddin, Ahmed, Album, Allen, Bacharach, Bates, Bewley, Bonner, Brockett, Burton, Conrad, Cook, Daiber, Daniel, Donner, Dutton, Elad, Fierro, Friedmann, Ghaneabassiri, Gilliot, Goerke, Gordon, Graham, Griffith, Guenther, Halm, Hamadeh, Hawting, Heidemann, Heinen, Hibri, Horden, Hoyland, Humphrey, Jarrar, Jhazbhay, Kaplony, Keall, Kinberg, Kirby, Kohlberg, Landau Tasseron, Lang, Lecker, Leder, Lindsay, Madelung, Madigan, Marin, Melchert, Meri, Morony, Motzki, Muaikel, Muranyi, Neuwirth, Noja Noseda, Noth, Powers, Raven, Rezvan, Rippin, Rubin, Savage, Schick, Schmidtke, Schneider, Simon, Stacey, Vrolijk, Wakin, Walmsley, Wheeler, Whitcomb and Zaman

Dear members of the Network for Early Islamic Studies,

This is Newsletter No. 6, which is also published on the Internet. It will be followed by a printed version for those who do not have Internet access.

As you can see, there are a substantial number of new members, again. Also, a few of our members have sent in some extra news.

In the attached questionnaire you are asked for the usual information, to which I added a number of questions about the web site.

(NOTE: Of course, those of you who have Internet, can visit the site, go to the Newsletter no. 6 page, and 'Save as ... text', which will save this newsletter to their computer in ASCII-format, without any codes.)

 

WEBSITE

" Welcome to the web-site of the NEIS ! The Network for Early Islamic Studies aims at facilitating contacts between everyone studying early Islam (ca. 500 - 900 A.D.). (...)"

This is how the first page of the new Internet site of the NEIS starts. In order to speed up the process of spreading news for and about members, a web site has been created and put on the internet 15 March 1997. It offers you all the information available to me at the moment you are visiting its pages.

The address of this web-site is: http://www.xs4all.nl/~reenendv/

The web-site will be updated after a new round of questionnaires, but also immediately after a new member joined the NEIS, or after receiving news about conferences, jobs, scholarships, computer related matters etcetera.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The web site contains the following elements:

IN CONSTRUCTION

However, this service is still under construction and many pages are only very moderate beginnings of what might be useful for members of this Network.

In the coming months, it will be improved and expanded. You are kindly requested to send in whatever information, corrections or criticism you think might be useful for improving this site.

In the meantime, a number of early newsletters still have to be edited. Also, a number of links in the later ones will not work properly, yet. For example, a possibility was created to browse through the newsletters not only vertically, but also horizontally, between different newsletters. This feature has been added to the paragraph of each person in the newsletters, also with new members (who, by definition, do not have an item in a previous newsletter). For the moment, such links will bring you to the end of that previous or next newsletter. Also, some of the e-mail addresses of the members do not automatically enable you to e-mail them, yet. Soon, such matters will be solved.

 

PRIVACY

I have added quite an extensive 'Copyright statement', with the usual warnings and threats. For the time being, until I know what you think about 'exposing' your production to the world, I have made a construction that is not waterproof but at least does not offer all addresses and newsletters without any resistance.

The construction is, that the links to the newsletters and the addresses of the members on this web site have not been connected properly. For members it is possible to find those pages in the following way:

Do try the link to the newsletters at the index.page of this site.

A message will appear, saying that the page has not been found. You should then at the top of your browser screen insert 'privacy.dir/' before the last element of the address in the 'Location'.

For the newsletters this means that http://www.xs4all.nl/~reenendv/3activit.dir/newsl2.html should become http://www.xs4all.nl/~reenendv/3activit.dir/privacy.dir/newsl2.html

Once you are inside that directory/folder with newsletters, you will only have to change the number of the newsletters in the 'http' part to find it, or choose another newsletter at the top of the newsletter.

For the addresses this means that you should try the link to the newsletters at the index.page of this site. The address of that page: http://www.xs4all.nl/~reenendv/4research.dir/1address.dir/index.html should become

http://www.xs4all.nl/~reenendv/4research.dir/1address.dir/privacy.dir/index.html

I hope that this temporary solution is not too inconvenient.

"NEWSLETTERS or ANNALS" With the web site, the Network for Early Islamic Studies has reached another phase in its existence. As a web site is, or should be, a continuously changing set of information, there is no need anymore for a newsletter for all those who have access to the Internet. Also, the whole idea of a newsletter that contains information about the preceding period is not 'correspondent' with a web site. Therefore, the newsletters will be transformed into the place in the web site where all news from the members in a certain year is gathered. These 'annals' will be printed each January and sent to those members who do not access to the Internet.

 

SECRETARY

Something else that changed is the position of your secretary. With my thesis nearly finished, I accepted a job at Koninklijke Brill NV, better known as Brill. I am the Project Manager Electronic Publications and my work includes such projects as making a CD-ROM of the Encyclopaedia of Islam and another project of making a web site for Brill. As the NEIS is concerned, I do hope that you will continue to feel reassured that no information of the Newsletters or addresses will become available to Brill or any other publisher.

 

MEMBERS ONLY

I realise myself that the 'members-only' set-up of the web site is something that does not make it easier in use and I am asking you to be so kind to fill in the question about that issue below in the questionnaire. It is of some importance since, without a security measure, for example, your plans and projects you are working on become public knowledge. Also the address list could be copied for direct mailing actions by all kinds of firms, both by regular mail and by e-mail.

 

NEW E-MAIL

A practical consequence of the end of my project at the Free University Amsterdam is that my e-mail number there, sofie@let.vu.nl, will not be valid anymore from 31 of August. You are kindly requested to use the web site e-mail number from now on: reenendv@xs4all.nl Any e-mails to the old address will be forwarded to me for some time, but only for a few months. When you change it in your e-mail program, don't forget to change the address in lists of groups of e-mail numbers, should you have any.

 

INFORMATION and QUESTIONNAIRE

I would like to repeat what I said in the e-mail you have received when the web site was only just 'born': please, send in information about any of the subjects treated here, or something else that you would like to see as a part of this web site. As for the Questionnaire at the end of this message: if you would be so kind to fill in this form, preferably leaving the codes, please return it to me in the form of an e-mail or an attachment to an e-mail.

 

ARCHAEOLOGY, CERAMICS and FUNDS

Dr. David Stacey, a new member, wrote the following message:

In my Doctoral thesis ("The Archaeology of Early Islamic Tiberias" London U. 1995) I surmised that much of the pottery found in 9-11th century C.E. Tiberias was locally produced. A few kiln sherds, recovered from a sewer trench, were published just in time to be mentioned in my thesis, (=91Atiqot XXVI 1995, pp. 57-59). They help to confirm my supposition, but it is necessary to uncover more kilns, and recover quantities of sherds from a controlled excavation, to establish local types, and to be able to carry out meaningful chemical and physical analyses.

Whilst these wares are of provincial workmanship, and do not rival the artistic quality of the lustre wares produced in Iraq or Egypt, they are of great importance to humble archaeologists, if not to art historians. "Unfortunately the late Abbasid and Fatimid periods continue to be a wasteland where the term "Arab" ceramics remains the descriptive norm" (Whitcomb in The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land 1995, p. 494). The Tiberias wares, particularly those that can be securely dated in the 10/11th centuries, help to fill this wasteland. The ceramics from the Tiberias kilns would be studied, in a wider context, at the Oxford University Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, under Dr Robert Mason.

The proposed excavation, which will be directed by myself, perhaps with the assistance of Edna Stern (who published the kiln sherds), is a self- contained project. Only one season at the kiln site is envisaged. However, a season that succeeded in establishing both a local pottery typology, and a partnership in wider ceramic studies, might open the way for excavations within the ancient city of Tiberias which, archaeologically, is the most important Early Islamic site in Israel. As the provincial capital of Jund al-Urdunn it was continuously inhabited throughout the Early Islamic period until the arrival of the Crusaders whose fortified town only occupied a small part of the much larger Roman/Byzantine/EI city. Unlike other important early Islamic towns in Israel (Ramla, Jerusalem, Ashkelon etc.), therefore, a large part of the city was not disturbed by later occupation and the Early Islamic stratigraphy is well preserved.

I am looking for

  1. financial support for this project,
  2. possible partnership with an academic institution, and
  3. volunteers, preferably students either of archaeology or of Islamic Studies, prepared to help.


D A Stacey

If any of you has information or funds, please contact Dr. Stacey at the following e-mail address: stacey1@stacey1.demon.co.uk


As always, I hope that the web site and the present newsletter provide you with some extra information for your work in the field of early Islamic studies.

Many regards,
 

Daan van Reenen


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To other newsletters:

 

 

1) Beginning of the newsletter


 

2) Search here alphabetically


 

 

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Beginning of the newsletter



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Afsaruddin in: Notre Dame (Indiana)

QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  1. Co-editor of Language & Cultural context in the Near East, Eisenbrauns, 1997, forthcoming
  2. "The Bina al-maqala of Ahmad Ibn Tawus and its Place within the Mathalib Genre" in The Journal of Semitic Studies, 41 (1996).
  3. "An Insight into the Hadith Methodology of Jamal al-Din Ahmad Ibn Tawus" in Der Islam, 72/1 (1995).
  4. Writing a chapter on Classical Arabic literature to appear in a reader called Cultures of Islam (Univ. of Washington Press).
  5. Article on the Mathalib al-wazirayn of al-Tawhidi, forthcoming in al-`Arabiyya.
  6. Review of Stefan Wild, ed. The Qur'an as Text, forthcoming in the MESA Bulletin.

QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  1. Currently working on a monograph dealing with the Risalat al-`Uthmaniyya of al-Jahiz and a thirteenth century Shi`i refutation of it by Ahmad Ibn Tawus.
  2. Also working on an article on the representation of the views of the various partisan factions associated with the Rightly-guided caliphs and their immediate successors in the hadith manaqib literature.

QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

yes, possibly.

 

QUESTION no. 7 News

I would like to plug the Festschrift I recently co-edited in honor of Georg Krotkoff , professor emeritus in Arabic and Semitics at the Johns Hopkins University.
It is called Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East and includes the following articles which would be of interest to our group:

More in the next newsletter:Afsaruddin
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Ahmed in: Princeton


 

- QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • 1. I am writing up my PhD dissertation entitled "The Problem of the Satanic Verses and the Formation of an Orthodox Image of Muhammad" under the supervision of Prof. Michael Cook.
     
  • 2. I am working, albeit somewhat sporadically, on an English translation of Yunus b. Bukayr's transmission of Ibn Ishaq's sirah.

     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes

    More in the next newsletter:Ahmed
    More in the previous newsletter:Ahmed
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    Allen in: Sebastopol - California


    I'm pleased to announce that the first chapter of my book "Ayyubid Architecture" is now available online (without illustrations) at http://www.wco.com/~books/readmeaa.html.

    This chapter, "Damascus before Nur al-Din," is mostly scene-setting and housekeeping, preparatory to the main study, but it does discuss several 12th century monuments.

    This is an electronic publication; there is no print counterpart (although of course you can print it through your Web browser if you're set up to do so).
    The rest of the chapters will be forthcoming over the next year or two.

    One reason there are no illustrations is that I have yet to determine what format I should target when scanning color 35mm slides. I want to do that work only once, using a good archival format from which I can produce, for online publication, graphic files of reasonable size. Any suggestions are most welcome.

    Regards, Terry Allen, prop.

    Palm Tree Books Buying & selling books on the Islamic world, POB 123 particularly Islamic art, architecture, & archaeology Occidental, CA 95465 catalogue: http://www.wco.com/~books/ voice/fax 707-874-1501 email books@ptbooks.com


    More in the next newsletter:Allen
    More in the previous newsletter:Allen
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    Bewley in: Norwich


     

    - QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • The Women of Madina (Volume 8 of Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd), Ta-Ha Publishers, London, 1995 (Volume 7 is being edited for publication)

     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • Other volumes of the Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd - A book on Mu'awiya is also being edited for publication. 5)
     
  • Engaged in a long-term new translation of Sahih al-Bukhari (rather in abeyance at the moment due to the pressure of other work)
     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes

    More in the next newsletter:Bewley
    More in the previous newsletter:Bewley
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    Dutton in: Edinburgh


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • An article by me entitled "'Amal v. Hadith in Islamic Law: The Case of Sadl al-yadayn (Holding One's Hands by One's Sides) When Doing the Prayer" appeared in the journal Islamic Law and Society, vol. 3, no. 1, at the beginning of this year. This article represents continuning research by me on
     
  • (a) the nature of early (i.e. 2nd-early 3rd century), as opposed to "classical" (i.e. mid-3rd century onwards) hadith, and
     
  • (b) the meaning of the word "sunna" as it is reflected in the early rather than classical hadith collections.
     
  • (I have had various reviews published on general Islamic topics during the past year but none of them relate specifically to early Islam.)
     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • In addition to that mentioned in no. 3 above, I am hoping to work on early Hanafi fiqh in its relation to early Maliki fiqh, especially with regard to the works of al-Shaybani.
     
  • My interest in early Kufic manuscripts of the Qur'an and the different readings (qira'at) represented in them also continues.

     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • Yes.

    More in the next newsletter:Dutton
    More in the previous newsletter:Dutton
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    Ghaneabassiri in: Cambridge - Massachusetts


     

    - QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • I am currently trying to look at the development of sectarian movements in early Islamic history and trying to assess their relationship with the expansion of Islam. The aim of this project is to learn more about the role of religion in general and Islam in particular in human history.
     

    - QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • Yes

    More in the next newsletter:Ghaneabassiri
    More in the previous newsletter:Ghaneabassiri

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    Goerke in: Hamburg


     

    - QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

    Two abridged versions of my MA-thesis will be published:
     

  • Die fruehislamische Geschichtsueberlieferung zu Hudaibiya, (forthcoming in Der Islam, probably in 1998).
     
  • The historical tradition about Hudaybiya according to `Urwa b. al-Zubayr (forthcoming, probably in spring 1999).
     
  • --> The articles deal with the development of the historical tradition about Hudaybiya from the first version which can be reconstructed (the one of `Urwa b. al-Zubayr) to what can be called the "standard account" of the story, as it is told by Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi and others.
    Among the findings is, that most probably the tradition about Hudaybiya is composed of different accounts (of different events), which have been combined into a coherent narrative.

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

    I'm currently working on a source critical study of Abu `Ubayd's Kitab al-Amwal.

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes

    More in the next newsletter:Goerke
    More in the previous newsletter:Goerke
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    Gordon in: Oxford - Ohio


     

    - QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • " The Samarran Turkish Community in the Ta'rikh of al-Tabari." In Hugh Kennedy, ed., Al-Tabari: a Medieval Muslim Historian and his Work. Darwin Press, Princeton NJ.
     
  • "Slaves, Swords and Salaries: Providing for the Samarran Turkish Military," paper delivered at the Interdisciplinary Approaches to Samarra symposium, Wolfson College, Oxford University, May 10-11, 1996. The proceedings are to be published.
     
  • Book, The Breaking of a Thousand Swords: A History of the Samarran Turkish Community. I am preparing my doctoral dissertation for publication under this title.
     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • In addition to the preparation of the above manuscript, I am in the early stages of preparing a study of the Abna' community of Baghdad. I would welcome news of recent research on Baghdad in the first century of its existence and of newly edited primary works or recently discovered manuscripts.
     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes

    More in the next newsletter:Gordon
    More in the previous newsletter:Gordon
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    Graham in: Cambridge - Massachusetts


     

    - QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • article: on nature and nature imagery in the Qur'an (see under relevant selected publications below (1995)
     
  • talk: "Sharif" as problem for Islamic Studies (at Columbia University, Dec.95): interested in the problem of ascertaining the social and religious role of the ashraf at various periods of Islamic history in different cultural zones.
     

    books:

  • Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion. Cambridge University Press, 1987, 1993.
     
  • Divine Word and Prophetic Word in Early Islam: A Reconsideration of the Sources, with Special Reference to the Divine Saying, or So-called "Had=EEt= h Quds=EE". Religion and Society, vol. VII. The Hague: Mouton and Co. 1977.
     

    articles:

  • [1996] "Sharif", in C. E. Bosworth et al., eds., The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition forthcoming in vol. IX, s.v., in press
     
  • 1995 "'The Winds to Herald His Mercy': Nature as Token of God's Sovereignty and Grace in the Qur'an", in Albert Blackwell, Sang Hyun Lee, and Wayne Proudfoot, eds., Faithful Imagining, Richard R. Niebuhr =46estschrift (Atlanta: Scholars Press), pp. 19-38.
     
  • 1993 "Traditionalism in Islam: An Essay in Interpretation", Journal of Comparative History 23 (1993): 495-522.
     
  • 1990 "Koran und Hadit", Chapter 2 of Orientalisches Mittelalter, ed. Wolfhart Heinrichs. Vol. 5 of Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft, ed. Klaus von See, 25 vols. Wiesbaden: Athenaion, pp. 166-185.
     
  • 1986 "Scripture", in Mircea Eliade et al., eds., The Encyclopedia of Religion (16 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1987), 13: 133-145.
     
  • 1985 "Qur'an as Spoken Word: An Islamic Contribution to the Understanding of Scripture", in Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, ed. Richard C. Martin (Tucson: University of Arizona Press), pp. 23-40, 206-215.
     
  • 1984 "The Earliest Meaning of 'Qur'=E2n'", Die Welt des Islams 23/24: 361= -377.
     
  • 1983 "Islam in the Mirror of Ritual", in Islam's Understanding of Itself, ed. Richard G. Hovannisian and Speros Vryonis, Jr. Eighth Biennial Georgio Levi della Vida Medal Conference Volume (Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications), pp. 53-71.
     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • the formulation and understanding of socalled "ritual obligations"/'ibadat in the Ummah in the early and later periods
     
  • the extension of the isnad system/pattern of authentication and authority into diverse areas of Islamic life (see published article on this below)
     

    QUESTION no. 5 Larger projects

  • Assoc. Editor, The Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an (Gen. editor, Jane D.McAuliffe), E.J. Brill
     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes, where relevant

    More in the next newsletter:Graham
    More in the previous newsletter:Graham
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    Hamadeh in: Hamburg


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • At the moment I am delivering a seminar on the subject "The system of the sciences in medieval Islam", which also is the subject of my current dissertation. As can be derived from point 4 below, I am dealing with the establishment of the sciences ('uluum) and their inherent criteria.
    This implies a theoretical aspect in the fields of History of Science and Philosophy of Science, asking what the subject of the historian of science is. Although general criteria of 'ilm become clear not before the 10th century, the roots lie around the year 800 when the Greek and the Persian ideal of knowledge enters the world of Arabic books.
    These criteria are e.g. that every 'ilm is part of an overall system, that it has a name and a topic, that it is usefull, that it relies on authorities and texts, that it has terminology, that it can be divided into methods, issues etc..
    I have finished a short case study on 'ilm at-ta'riikh and have now turned to see what Muslims regarded as scientific about the magical sciencs like sihr, simiya, kimiya, tanjiim etc. My main sources are the Summa works (Qosta b. Luqa, Farabi, fihrist, mafaatiih al-'uluum ... until Ibn Khaldun) and forewords out of the individual disciplines (9th century onwards)
     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • Ideas at present: etymology of "'ilm" (done); search for the first occurence of plural "'uluum"; study of summa-literature, i.e. encyclopaedia of the sciences; search for the significance of the three social ideals of 'aalim, failasuuf, and adiib and their interactions; search for inherent criteria of 'ilm in the meaning of science; I am establishing a list of the sciences in Islam.
     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • I am ready to send texts and raw data whenever I can.

    More in the next newsletter:Hamadeh
    More in the previous newsletter:Hamadeh
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    Heinen in: Jena


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • "Religion and Science in Islam", for the Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures; to appear this fall. - Review of the "Tribiblos Astronomique" by Theodor Meliteniotes; for "ISIS"; to appear in the next number. (This Byzantine astronomer has been an interesting source also for the Muslim astronomical tradition).
     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • I am trying to concentrate the study of Arabic science within the religious and ethical context of Muslim institutions, the law, and the values of the Islamic community. The early developments in Islamic history haven proven most fruitful in this regard. As far as possible, I hope to continue publishing editions of early scientific texts that have remained unknown to the overly specialized studies of the past.

     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes (as I have done already in the past)...

     

    QUESTION no. 7 News

  • Having seen some of the work IBM is doing at the Vatican Library with the goal of making some 20.000 documents accessible through the Internet, I foresee much better conditions for the future work of medieval historians....
     

    More in the next newsletter:Heinen
    More in the previous newsletter:Heinen
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    Hibri in: Amherst (Massachusets)


    Please note my new e-mail address: telhibri@judnea.umass.edu

    More in the next newsletter:Hibri
    More in the previous newsletter:Hibri
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    Kaplony in: Bern


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures


     

  • 1. Konstantinopel und Damaskus. Gesandtschaften und Vertra:ge zwischen Kaisern und Kalifen 639-750. Untersuchungen zum Gewohnheits-Vo:lkerrecht und zur interkulturellen Diplomatie; Dissertation Zurich 1994, Berlin 1996 (Islamkundliche Untersuchungen 208)
  • 2. Fatimidische Religionspolitik um die "Wiege Jesu" in: Jerusalem, Bulletin Schweizerische Gesellschaft Mittlerer Osten und Islamische Kulturen 3 (1996) 4-8 (a short version of no.4)
  • 3. Routen, Anschlussrouten, Handelshorizonte im Brief von Hasday b. Saprut an den hazarischen Ko:nig, in: Charvat, Petr und Prosecky, Jiri (Hgg.), Ibrahim ibn Yaquub at-Turtushi: Christianity, Islam and Judaism meet in East-Central Europe, c.800-1300 A.D.; Proceedings of the international colloquy 25-29 april 1994, Prag 1996, 140-168
  • 4. Die fatimidische Moschee der "Wiege Jesu" in Jerusalem, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Pal!stina-Vereins 113 (1997) (in press)
  •  

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • The structure of a holy city' s perception: Muslim, Jewish and Christian
    Jerusalem 638-1099
  • --> This book is the reason I spent 20 months in Jerusalem, walking through the old city many times, spending in the city's research places a good number of hours in discussions while drinking tea and coffee of all colours)

    More in the next newsletter:Kaplony
    More in the previous newsletter:Kaplony
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    Kirby in: Seattle


     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • I am interested in the early stages of Islamic mysticism, and effects of other religious groups and social structures in the areas involved

    More in the next newsletter:Kirby
    More in the previous newsletter:Kirby
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    Lecker in: Jerusalem


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures


     

    articles between 1993-96

  • "Idol worship in pre-Islamic Medina (Yathrib)", in Le Museon 106 (1993), 331--46.
    -->;interpretation of a hitherto unknown text found in Maqrizi's al-Khabar `anal-bashar. There were three different types of idols: those worshipped by thewhole clan, those held by noblemen and common household idols. On the eve ofIslam the Arabs of Medina were immersed in idol worship.
     
  • "Hudhayfa b. al-Yaman and `Ammar b. Yasir, Jewish converts to Islam'', in Quaderni di Studi Arabi 11 (1993), 149--62.
     
  • "The Futuh al-Sham of `Abdallah b. Muhammad b. Rabi`a al-Qudami'', in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 57 (1994), 356--60.
    -->A description of an unknown treatise now lost.
     
  • "Kinda on the eve of Islam and during the ridda'', in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1994, 333--56.
    -->Genealogica land geographical evidence about Kinda with reference to their ridda. The twosubdivisions of Kinda, power struggles within Kinda before Islam, the demiseof the Banu Wali`a and the rise of Ash`ath b. Qays, the Prophet'suncons ummated marriage to Ash`ath's sister.
     
  • "Abu Malik `Abdallah b. Sam of Kinda, a Jewish convert to Islam", in Der Islam 71 (1994), 280--82.
     
  • "Waqidi's account on the status of the Jews of Medina: a study of a combined report'', in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 54 (1995), 15--32.
    -->Waqidi's text concerning the status of the Jews inMedina when the Prophet came there is corrupt. In its correct form the textpresents the Jews as the strongest element in the population of Medina."Combined reports" are detrimental to the study of early Islamic history.
     
  • "On Arabs of the Banu Kilab executed together with the Jewish Banu Qurayza", in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 19 (1995), 66--72.
    -->When the Banu Qurayza wereexecuted, their Arab allies (or clients) of the Banu Kilab were executed withthem, which strongly suggests that these Kilabis were Jewish proselytes.
     
  • "Judaism among Kinda and the ridda of Kinda", in Journal of the American Oriental Society 115 (1995) (forthcoming)
    -->Before he embracedIslam, Ash`ath b. Qays and many of his fellow Kindites had been Jewish. Thesources point out an analogy between the massacre of Nujayr and that ofQurayza a few years earlier.
     
  • "Biographical notes on Abu `Ubayda Ma`mar b. al-Muthanna", in Studia Islamica 81 (1995), 71--100.
    -->`Ubayda was nicknamed Sibukht with reference to his Jewish descent. Astudy of evidence extracted from the biographical literature. (Cf. recently W.Madelung in Journal of Islamic Studies III, 1992.)
     
  • "The death of the Prophet Muhammad's father: did Waqidi invent some of the evidence?" in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlaendischen Gesellschaft 145 (1995), 9--27.
     
  • "The conversion of Himyar to Judaism and the Jewish Banu Hadl of Medina", in Die Welt des Orients 26 (1995), 75--82.
    -->A.F.L. Beeston has recently expressed doubts concerning theconversion of As`ad Abu Karib of Himyar to Judaism, suggesting that the story speaks of "monotheist Rahmanism". But the story speaks explicitly ofconvers ion to Judaism. It is noteworthy that one of Ibn Ishaq's sources for itwas a grandson of a Kindite who emigrated to Medina.
     
  • "Biographical notes on Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, in Journal of Semitic Studies 41 (1996), 21--63.
    -->Zuhriand the Umayyads: contemporary apologetics vs. hard evidence, Zuhri's firstmeeting with `Abd al-Malik and "the Hadith of the three mosques", Zuhri's estate in the region of Shaghb wa-Bada.
     
  • "The emigration of `Utba b. Abi Waqqas from Mecca to Medina", in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studie 59 (1996), 116--19.
     
  • "On the preservation of the letters of the Prophet Muhammad", in A. Cameron and L.I. Conrad (eds.), Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (forthcoming).
     
  • "`Amr b. Hazm al-Ansari and Qur'an 2,256: `No compulsion is there in religion',", in Oriens 1996 (forthcoming).
     
  • The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd. edition, s.vv. Salul, VIII, 1002--1005; Siffin, Sulaym b. Mansur, Taghlib, al-Ta'if, Tamim b. Murr, Tamim al-Dari.
    More in the next newsletter:Lecker
    More in the previous newsletter:Lecker
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    Lindsay in: Fort Collins (Colorado)


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

    I participated in the 1997 MESA panel entitled: "Ibn `Asakir and Early Islamic History". My paper was entitled: "Ibn`Asakir as Salvation Historian".
    I am editing the papers, that will be published together under the title: "Ibn `Asakir and Early Islamic History".
    The tentative table of contents to the volume is as follows:

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

    QUESTION no. 5 Larger projects

  • the Ibn 'Asakir panels noted above.

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • Yes, I would be willing to share just about anything that might be of interest to someone.

    QUESTION no. 7 News

    The Middle East Medievalists has posted a fledgling web site.
    It should be fully operational by the end of the summer. There are a few things already up -- basic info, membership application form, board of directors, and some related ME links.
    The address is: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Hist/mem/
    d) manuscripts : rare new material, newly edited texts
    I just received volumes 46-50 of Ibn Asakir's Ta'rikh madinat Dimashq from Sulaiman's Bookshop in Beirut. It is now published through the last entry of the L's -- Layth al-Laythi More in the next newsletter:Lindsay
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    Melchert in: Springfield - Missouri


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

  • "Religious Policies of the Caliphs From al-Mutawakkil to al-Muqtadir," in _Islamic Law and Society_ 3 (1996):316-342.
    -->Religious Policies" is based mainly on the characters of the qadis appointed by these caliths. Three points stand out: al-Mutawakkil ended the Inquisition only gradually, and never fully repudiated its prosecutors; al-Muhtadi followed a line close to that of his father (al-Wathiq), favoring Hanafiyah and their allies; finally, al-Muwaffaq, acting through his brother al-Mu`tamid, promoted a semi-rationalist Malikism.
     
  • "The Adversaries of Ah.mad Ibn H.anbal," in _Arabica_ 44 (1997): 234-253
    -->Here I lay out in detail my concept of a "semi-rationalist" theological party, comprising _mutakallimun_ who would defend traditionalist tenets such as the increate Qur'an but using _kalam_ and conceding peripheral points such as the create pronunciation of the Qur'an. It was against them that Ahmad ibn Hanbal inveighed most fiercely, and by name, whereas he is seldom quoted against the Mu`tazilah, among others.
     
  • A review essay appeared in the same issue of _Arabica_, pages 308-316, concerning George Makdisi, "_T.abaqa-t_-Biography: Law and Orthodoxy in Classical Islam," _Islamic Studies_ 32 (1993):371-396, and Wael B. Hallaq, "Was al-Shafi`i the Master Architect of Islamic Jurisprudence?" _IJMES_ 25 (1993):587-605.
  • "The Piety of the Hadith Folk," paper about to be presented to the Middle East Studies Association, Providence, Rhode Island, November 1996.
    -->I propose that the piety of the hadith folk (traditionalists) of the ninth century C.E. was notable for stress on seriousness (e.g., not laughing) and a contractual community whose members had equal obligations. The hadith folk are hence distinct from, among others, the Classical Sufis, who liked humor and conceived of a hierarchical community, and from contemporary litterateurs, devoted as they were to humor and recherche knowledge.
     
  • "The Transition From Asceticism to Mysticism at the Middle of the Ninth Century C.E.," _Studia Islamica_ 83 (1996):51-70.
    -->Defines "asceticism" and - "mysticism" and goes over quotations from figures in the _Tabaqat al-sufiyah_ of al-Sulami to determine precisely where mysticism first emerged. Interprets the Sufi Inquisition of Ghulam Khalil as an ascetic reaction to emerging mysticism, the classical Sufism of al-Junayd as a way for mystics to continue their pursuits without offending ascetics.
     
  • "Ibn Mujahid and Qur'an Recitation in the 10th Century C.E.," paper presented to the American Oriental Society, Philadelphia, March 1996.
    -->Finds that the worlds of Qur'an recitation and hadith transmission were largely separate, further discrediting the identification of Ibn Mujahid with traditionalism. The delimitation of variant readings in the early 10th century does mark the end of the Classical period.
     
  • A version of my doctoral dissertation, "The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law, 9th-10th Centuries C.E." (University of Pennsylvania, 1992) should appear from E.J.Brill in early 1998.
     
  • Also forthcoming is "The Ima-mi-yah Between Rationalism and Traditionalism," _Shi-`i- Islam: Faith, Experience, and Worldview_, edited by Lynda S. Clarke with Mahmoud Ayoub.
     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • A version of my doctoral dissertation, "The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law, 9th-10th Centuries C.E." (University of Pennsylvania, 1992) is under inspection by a publisher.
    -->There's lots more to do with the topic, but others working on the schools of law in this period might wish to see what I have done already.
     
  • I intend to address Basran ascetics and mystics from the mid-9th cent. to the later 10th; from Abu Hatim al-`Attar to Abu Talib al-Makki.
     
  • I also intend to address the development of hadith science in general and _rijal_ criticism in particular in the 9th and 10th centuries. Has anyone spent much time with al-Fasawi (d. 277/890), _K. al-Ma`rifah wa-al-tarikh_?
     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • Yes.


    More in the next newsletter:Morony
    More in the previous newsletter:Morony
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    Meri in: Oxford


    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • Works in progress: Preparing for publication a study and translation of three late Medieval Syrian pilgrimage guides. Dissertation on the cult of saints in Medieval Syria.
     
  • Preparing for publication a study and annotated translation of three late Medieval Syrian pilgrimage (ziyarat) guides. He has also recently submitted for publication an introductory article to the ziyara as well as a study of the Medieval Cults of the Prophet Elijah and al-Khadir. Meri's dissertation which he is currently preparing is entitled, "Sacred Journeys to Sacred Precincts: The Cult of Saints in Medieval Syria." - Islamic, Jewish, and Christian hagiographies - early, Medieval and modern; Qisas al-Anbiya', fada'il, ziyarat; Medival popular culture, Medieval Judaica, Judaeo-Arabic language and culture; Meideval Europe; comparative historiography.
     
  • Interests: Comparative hagiographies (Muslim, Jewish, and Christian), fada'il al-Sham, ziyara, Qisas al-Anbiya', Islamic popular culture, High Islam, Medieval Judaica, Judaeo-Arabic language, culture, and literature, ceremony and ritual, Medieval Europe, comparative historiographies, Syrian Jewry, Syria and Palestine.
    More in the next newsletter:Meri
    More in the previous newsletter:Meri
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    Muranyi in: Bonn


     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • A) Beitraege zur Geschichte der Hadith- und Rechtsgelehrsamkeit der Malikiyya in Nordafrika bis zum 5.Jh.d.H. Bio-bibliographische Notizen aus der Moscheebibliothek von Qairawan. (Harrassowitz. Wiesbaden 1997).
     
  • B) Andalusische Rechtsgelehrsamkeit: die Schriften des 'Abd al-Malik b. Habib al-Qurtubi (present title).

    More in the next newsletter:Muranyi
    More in the previous newsletter:Muranyi
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    Stacey in: Saffron Walden (Essex)


     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

    ARCHAEOLOGY, CERAMICS and FUNDS

    In my Doctoral thesis ("The Archaeology of Early Islamic Tiberias" London U. 1995) I surmised that much of the pottery found in 9-11th century C.E. Tiberias was locally produced. A few kiln sherds, recovered from a sewer trench, were published just in time to be mentioned in my thesis, (=91Atiqot XXVI 1995, pp. 57-59). They help to confirm my supposition, but it is necessary to uncover more kilns, and recover quantities of sherds from a controlled excavation, to establish local types, and to be able to carry out meaningful chemical and physical analyses.

    Whilst these wares are of provincial workmanship, and do not rival the artistic quality of the lustre wares produced in Iraq or Egypt, they are of great importance to humble archaeologists, if not to art historians. "Unfortunately the late Abbasid and Fatimid periods continue to be a wasteland where the term "Arab" ceramics remains the descriptive norm" (Whitcomb in The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land 1995, p. 494). The Tiberias wares, particularly those that can be securely dated in the 10/11th centuries, help to fill this wasteland. The ceramics from the Tiberias kilns would be studied, in a wider context, at the Oxford University Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, under Dr Robert Mason.

    The proposed excavation, which will be directed by myself, perhaps with the assistance of Edna Stern (who published the kiln sherds), is a self- contained project. Only one season at the kiln site is envisaged. However, a season that succeeded in establishing both a local pottery typology, and a partnership in wider ceramic studies, might open the way for excavations within the ancient city of Tiberias which, archaeologically, is the most important Early Islamic site in Israel. As the provincial capital of Jund al-Urdunn it was continuously inhabited throughout the Early Islamic period until the arrival of the Crusaders whose fortified town only occupied a small part of the much larger Roman/Byzantine/EI city. Unlike other important early Islamic towns in Israel (Ramla, Jerusalem, Ashkelon etc.), therefore, a large part of the city was not disturbed by later occupation and the Early Islamic stratigraphy is well preserved.

    I am looking for

    1. financial support for this project,
    2. possible partnership with an academic institution, and
    3. volunteers, preferably students either of archaeology or of Islamic Studies, prepared to help.


    D A Stacey

    More in the next newsletter:Stacey
    More in the previous newsletter:Stacey
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    Walmsley in: Sydney

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

    publications/papers 1995-96
  • 1995a "Christians and Christianity at Early Islamic Pella", in Trade, Contact, and the Movement of Peoples in the Eastern Mediterranean: Papers in Honour of J. B. Hennessy (Sydney, Mediterranean Archaeology Suppl. Series 3), pp. 32124.
  • 1995b "Tradition, Innovation, and Imitation in the Material Culture of Islamic Jordan", Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 5 (Amman, Department of Antiquities), pp. 65768.
  • --> Sets out in detail the first stratigraphically-derived ceramic sequence for north Jordan, spanning the late sixth to tenth centuries. Major changes to traditional pottery chronologies can be demonstrated with a concomitant impact on the cultural history of the region.
  • 1995c (With PM Fischer) "Tell Abu al-Kharaz: the Swedish Jordan expedition 1993, fourth season preliminary excavation report", Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 39, pp. 93119. Report on early ninth century pottery recovered at Tell Abu al-Kharaz during the fourth season.
  • 1996a "Byzantine Palestine and Arabia: Urban Prosperity in Late Antiquity", in N Christie and ST Loseby (eds.), Towns in Transition: Urban Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, (London, Scolar Press ISBN 1-85928-107-9), pp. 12658.
  • -->This 14,000 word research paper traces the development of towns in Palestine and Arabia between the fourth and early seventh centuries ce. The study uses mostly archaeological data to describe the character and extent of urban change from Diocletian to the Islamic Conquest. The construction of new public buildings (mostly churches), the maintenance of an urban infrastructure (streets, water utilities and defences) and the considerable growth in settlement size and number demonstrates the vitality of late antique urbanism in the region. The study concludes with a critical review of the economic factors that supported the continuing importance of towns.
  • 1996b "Turning East. The appearance of Islamic Cream Wares in Jordan the end of antiquity?". Paper delivered at the colloquium Byzantine and Early Islamic Ceramics in SyriaJordan (IVthVIIIth centuries), Amman, 35 December 1994, for publication in E Villeneuve & PM Watson (eds), Byzantine and Early Islamic Ceramics in SyriaJordan (IVthVIIIth centuries): Actes du Colloque International (Damascus, Institut Franais de Damas).
  • 1996c "The Islamic Coins", Section 6 in RAG Carson, KA Sheedy & AG Walmsley, Pella in Jordan 7: The Coins from the Excavations, (Sydney, Mediterranean Archaeology Supplementary Series).
  • -->Final report (catalogue and interpretative commentary) on the Islamic coins from the Pella excavations.
  • 1996d "Land, Resources and Industry in Early Islamic Jordan". Paper delivered at the Sixth International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan, Torino, 510 June 1995, for publication in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 6 (Amman, Department of Antiquities).

     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • Social and economic developments in Byzantine and Early Islamic Palestine and Arabia (Jordan), c. 527-900 CE, mostly from an archaeological perspective. A rich body of data is available from the excavation of archaeological sites (Amman, Baysan, Pella etc) especially ceramics, numismatics and changes in the urban environment. Research funded by the Australian Research Council Fellowship scheme, Canberra.

     

    QUESTION no. 5 Larger projects

  • (With A/Prof. AMH Shboul): Urbanization & Social Change in Early Islamic Syria (Funded by the Australian Research Council, Canberra). A collaborative project between an Islamic historian (Shboul) and archaeologist (Walmsley) on urban transformations and social developments in Early Islamic Bilad al-Sham (greater Syria).

     

    QUESTION no. 6 Sharing material

  • yes

     

    QUESTION no. 7 News

  • New field project (1996-1998) funded by the Australian Research Council (Canberra) Large Research Grant: `An Archaeological Evaluation of Gharandal in Jordan'.
     
  • -->Gharandal is a largely unexplored Late Antique and Early Islamic township in the south of Jordan (Byzantine Arindela, Islamic `Arandal). The project, in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, seeks to record and excavate the ruins of a church and a large enclosure, probably a Khan/market, and sections of the domestic quarter.
     
  • Questions of continuity and change in social and economic conditions from Late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages will be explored. Rural conditions will also be assessed through a regional survey.

    More in the next newsletter:Walmsley
    More in the previous newsletter:Walmsley
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    Wheeler in: Seattle


     

    QUESTION no. 3 Articles, books, lectures

    1. APPLYING THE CANON IN ISLAM: AUTHORIZATION AND MAINTENTANCE OF INTERPRETIVE REASONING IN HANAFI SCHOLARSHIP (SUNY 1996).
    2. "MOSES OR ALEXANDER? Q 18:60-65 IN EARLY COMMENTARIES" JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES (FORTHCOMING, JAN 1998).
    3. "JEWISH SOURCES FOR Q 18:65-82? REEVALUATION OF ARENT JAN WENSINCK'S THEORY" JOURNAL OF AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY (FORTHCOMING, 1998).
    4. LECTURES INCLUDE: "AL-AQL FI IKHTILAF AL-FUQAHA ALA TAKHRIJ ILAL AL-SHARIAH MIN USULI-HA" ASHAB AL-QALAM, HAWALY, KUWAIT, FEBRUARY 1997.

     

    QUESTION no. 4 Current work and ideas

  • QURANIC MASORAH AND ITS RELATION TO DEVELOPMENT OF CLASSICAL FIQH SCHOOLS

    QUESTION no. 5 Larger projects

     

  • ESTABLISHING A STUDY CENTER AND CONTINUING STUDY GROUP FOR THE INTEGRATION OF ISLAMIC STUDIES INTO LIBERAL ARTS CURRICULA.

    More in the next newsletter:Wheeler
    More in the previous newsletter:Wheeler
     

     

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    END of NEWS from the questionnaires
     

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