<b>Ahmad Khan,</b> <i>Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy. The Making of Sunnism, from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century</i> , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023, 434 pp., ISBN 9781009093033.

Der Islam · 2026-04-09

Article Ahmad Khan, Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy. The Making of Sunnism, from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023, 434 pp., ISBN 9781009093033. was published on April 30, 2026 in the journal Der Islam (volume 103, issue 1).

Review of The Sufi Saint of Jam: History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shiʿi Iran

Journal of the American Oriental Society · 2024

• Political Science
• History
• Religious studies

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The Sufi Saint of Jam: History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shiʿi Iran. By Shivan MahendraraJah. Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xx + 270, illus. $99.99 (cloth); $80 (ebook).&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

How to Make a Zaydi Iman

Journal of the American Oriental Society · 2024-03-04

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; This article examines the Zaydi doctrine of the imamate through an analysis of historical depictions of the 169/786 revolt of Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī at Fakhkh by three different authors: Aḥmad b. Sahl al-Rāzī (d. late third/ninth century), al-Nāṭiq Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥusayn (d. 424/1033), and ʿAlī b. Bilāl al-Āmulī (d. fifth/eleventh century). The classical model of the Zaydi imamate holds that a descendant of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (through either Ḥasan or Ḥusayn) with the proper qualities becomes Imam by summoning supporters (daʿwa), administering the oath of allegiance (bayʿa), and rising up in rebellion (khurūj) against a tyrant. This article investigates the relative importance of these components in historical accounts composed after the establishment of Zaydi political power in Yemen and the Caspian region. It argues that the emergence of dynastic rule may have lessened the importance of rebellion while elevating a candidate’s exemplary personal qualities and political skill. This change is potentially embedded in narrative differences between the three sources.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

A Little Bit of Evil

Oxford University Press eBooks · 2022

• Political Science
• History
• Art

Abstract The city of Kūfa in southern ‘Irāq was home to myriad religious communities through the 2nd/8th and 3rd/9th centuries. All of these groups ascribed a particular importance to the Masjid Kūfa, located at the center of the city and attached to the governor’s complex. This chapter traces the evolution of the mosque in the religious imaginary of the Twelver Shī‘a who came to dominate Kūfa by the 5th/11th century. Rather than simply elide the mosque’s connection to political power or other religious groups, the Twelver Shī‘a tackled the space’s ambiguity head-on. For example, they integrated this ambiguity into the spatial distribution of the mosque itself, placing its footprint within a biblical narrative centered on Nūḥ (Noah). The end result was the demarcation of the Masjid Kūfa into discrete spaces, some of which were particularly blessed while others held problematic historical associations.

Zaydism

2021-06-23 · 1 citations

Future Avenues in the Study of Islamic Law

Journal of Islamic Law · 2021-05-27

In his essay, Najam Haider calls for “more cohesive and integrated scholarly engagement with the pre-modern Islamicate world.” To that end, the author urges scholars to creatively engage and treat legal texts as valuable sources for understanding the social and political predicates of Islamic societies. For example, tracing the creation and migration of legal texts across regions can yield valuable insights into multiple ideas and ideologies across the pre-modern Islamic world, as a part of a larger intertextual world where scholars study all actors in Islamic history as interacting with, complementing, and arguing against one another.

Future Avenues in the Study of Islamic Law

SSRN Electronic Journal · 2021-01-01

In his essay, Najam Haider calls for more cohesive and integrated scholarly engagement with the pre-modern Islamicate world. To that end, the author urges scholars to creatively engage and treat legal texts as valuable sources for understanding the social and political predicates of Islamic societies. For example, tracing the creation and migration of legal texts across regions can yield valuable insights into multiple ideas and ideologies across the pre-modern Islamic world, as a part of a larger intertextual world where scholars study all actors in Islamic history as interacting with, complementing, and arguing against one another.

Îsâ b. Zeyd’in Tartışmalı Hayatı: Zeydî Tarihî Rivayetlerin İnşası Üzerine Notlar

Turkish Journal of Shiite Studies · 2020

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Philosophy

Zeydî tarihî rivayetler incelendiğinde, Îsâ b. Zeyd b. Ali’nin hayatına ve mücadelesine ilişkin zıt kutuplu iki farklı anlatım biçimi ön plana çıkmaktadır. Bu çelişkili anlatımların en çarpıcı örneğini Zeydî tarih yazımının önde gelen iki eserinde görmek mümkündür. Bunlardan ilki Ebu’l-Ferec el-İsfahânî’nin (ö. 356/967) Mekâtil, ikincisi de telifine Ebu’l-Abbâs el-Hasenî’nin (ö. 353/964) başladığı ancak vefatı sonrası Ebu’l-Hasan Ali b. Bilâl’in tamamladığı Mesâbîh isimli eserlerdir. Pasif ve aktif anlatımlar şeklinde nitelendirilebilecek bu rivayetlerde Îsâ b. Zeyd’in hayat hikayesine dair birbirine aykırı birtakım tasvirlerin yer aldığı görülmektedir. Buna göre Îsâ b. Zeyd bir yandan sıkı Abbâsî baskısı altında sefalet ve çaresizlik içerisinde yaşayan münzevî ve sönük bir karakter olarak temsil edilirken diğer taraftan Abbâsî iktidarına karşı sürekli isyan hazırlığı yapan ve muhalif yapılanmaları kendi etrafında örgütlemeyi başaran bir kahraman şeklinde betimlenmektedir. Tam da bu noktada Zeydî tarihî kaynaklarda niçin böyle bir yaklaşımın tercih edildiğini sorgulamak gerekmektedir. Söz gelimi Zeydî geleneğin sonraki tarihî kaynaklarında hangi yaklaşım biçimi takip edilmiştir? Bu kaynaklardaki rivayetler hangi saikle kurgulanmıştır? Öte yandan sonraki tarihî kaynaklar, Zeydî imamlar tarihi içerisinde siyâsî iktidarı elde etme konusunda Îsâ b. Zeyd gibi başarısız olmalarına rağmen niçin kardeşi Yahyâ b. Zeyd’e ve kuzeni İdrîs b. Abdillâh’a “yüksek” bir paye vermişlerdir? Oysa Yahyâ b. Zeyd, isyan hareketinde başarısız olmuş ve hatta dönemin Abbâsî halifesi Harûn Reşîd ile anlaşma yapmıştır. Buna rağmen Yahyâ, sonraki dönemlere ait eserlerde Zeydî imâmlar listesinde yerini almayı daima başarmıştır. Bu bağlamda çevirisini yaptığımız makalede Îsâ b. Zeyd’in hayatına dair çelişkili anlatımlar özelinde Zeydî tarihî rivayetlerin inşası üzerine bazı tespitler yapılmıştır.

Modeling Islamic Historical Writing

Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2019-09-09

This chapter surveys recent scholarship in Muslim historiography and offers a new model for examining early Muslim historical works that draws on Late Antiquity. It also engages questions of audience and genre pertaining to Islamic historical writing.

The Rebel and the Imam in Early Islam: Explorations in Muslim Historiography

2019-10-31 · 4 citations

Engaging with contemporary debates about the sources that shape our understanding of the early Muslim world, Najam Haider proposes a new model for Muslim historical writing that draws on Late Antique historiography to challenge the imposition of modern notions of history on a pre-modern society. Haider discusses three key case studies - the revolt of Mukhtar b. Abi 'Ubayd (d. 67/687), the life of the Twelver Shi'i Imam Musa al-Kazim (d. 183/799) and the rebellion and subsequent death of the Zaydi Shi'i Imam Yahya b. 'Abd Allah (d. 187/803) - in calling for a new line of inquiry which focuses on larger historiographical questions. What were the rules that governed historical writing in the early Muslim world? What were the intended audiences for these works? In the process, he rejects artificial divisions between Sunni and Shi'i historical writing