The Abbsid Caliphate

Inhoud
Table of contents............................................................................ Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd. halfa ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Abbsids (Banu 'l-Abbs) ...................................................................................................................... 28 Abbsid Revolution ................................................................................................................................ 40 Adab Literature: 9th to 13th Century ................................................................................................... 47 Women Literature: 9th to 15th Century .............................................................................................. 50 Sexualities and Queer Studies ............................................................................................................... 69 al-Hshimiyya ......................................................................................................................................... 75 Baghdd ................................................................................................................................................... 77 Bayt al-ikma........................................................................................................................................ 102 People of the House .............................................................................................................................. 105 Alids ....................................................................................................................................................... 110 Law: The Four Sunn Schools of Law .................................................................................................. 113

h alfa
THE HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTION OF THE CALIPHATE A study of the caliphate, its institution and subsequent developments, has never been attempted in its entirety until the present. The principal reason is that it has not seemed possible to conduct such a survey independently of historical studies relating to different reigns, which are still in most cases insufficient, or even non-existent, whereas studies of doctrine, while more advanced, have not been developed to the same extent with regard to the various periods. The tentative attempts that have been made have therefore been superficial, or lacking sufficient historical perspective. Here we must confine ourselves to making a brief statement of the question and stressing the problems, rather than attempting a complete exposition, which, to do justice to the subject, would require treatment at too great length. A. T HE FIRST PERIOD In a sense, the institution of the caliphate was born on the day after the death or the Prophet when the new head of the community, in the event the trusted Companion Ab Bakr, became in 11/632 khalfat raslAllh. The date and the circumstances of the appearance of this institution would seem therefore to be well-established, but two questions arise at once. First, how did the designation of the first caliph take place, and was the procedure adopted observed in subsequent cases? Second, what powers were attributed to this successor of the Prophet? As regards the first point, the tradition adopted by the majority of historians tells of the acclamation of the new caliph by the leading Companions, who gave him an oath of allegiance; this was the first baya. Whatever were the circumstances under which this proclamation was made, whatever pressures were applied by Umar to the congregation to have Ab Bakr recognized, whatever may have been the protests of Al and his supporters, it seems to have been accepted from this time onwards that the oath of the Believers, to which corresponded the promise of the new chief to lead the community on the right path, alone conferred upon him the succession. For the two caliphs who followed, variations in procedure should be noted. Ab Bakr, before his death in 13/634, had, according to the chroniclers, personally designated his successor in the presence of Umar. The community of Believers was not there- fore in position to state its own wishes, but got the chance to ratify this appointment. The oath in fact, was taken only by the Companions present at Medina, which explains how the authority of Umar could be disputed by certain groups dispersed elsewhere in Arabia, who refused to pay the legallyassessed poor tax [see RIDDA]. Umar, before dying in his turn in 23/644, had decided that a group of six persons, including among others Uthmn and Al, should choose his successor from among themselves. After discussion the choice fell on Uthmn, who then received the oath of allegiance. So even with the designation of the first three caliphs, three different methods were explored; all, however, were only to be put into effect if ratified by the community, or by its most influential and closest members. The second question, that of the powers exercised by the new leaders of the community, is more problematical, since these powers were not at the time defined in a precise fashion. One cannot base conclusions on the sense of the title khalfa (see above) which, suggesting at once the ideas of succession, appointment and authority, remained somewhat vague. These powers seem, essentially, to have authorised the first three successors of Muammad to pursue the actions previously set in motion by the Prophet himself for the expansion of Islam and to put into practice the regulations set out in the urnic message, which was to be supplemented by the Sunna instituted among the community of Believers in the lifetime of the Prophet. 2

The continuation of the work begun by the Prophet was seen during the time of Ab Bakr in the fight against the dissidents of Arabia, soon followed by raiding operations towards the north which became a vast movement of conquest. From this time onwards the caliph assumed the role of army commander, and military operations, conducted against infidels or against rebellious Muslims who, for one reason or another refused to accept his authority, became one of his most important responsibilities. Meanwhile, questions of law, relating to the spheres both of the cult and of social relations, were posed to those caliphs called by the tradition rshidn, that is to say those who walk in the right way, as opposed to those who came later and were accused of making the caliphate a family possession. Thus Umar was obliged to take decisions concerning the penal law, certain types of inheritance and the practice of the law of retaliation (Shahrastni, Milal, Cairo, i, 18). To him also are attributed some initiatives in matters of ritual, culminating in the attempt, carried on by Uthmn, to set in motion the establishment of the text of the urnic vulgate. It was also in the time of Umar that for the first time the question was raised of the financial organisation of the Islamic state. Since members of the Arab tribes were entitled to endowments, Umar instituted the dwn, a register in which the names of beneficiaries were inscribed. In addition, the troops were entitled to a share of the booty, which was gradually replaced by a pension, registered in the same way. The organisation of the dwn [q.v.], first established at Medina, later in all the principal cities of the empire, was thus linked to that of the fiscal system, on which it is not possible to dwell here. Let it be said only that it was at the initiative of the two caliphs Umar and Uthmn that a treasury was established, which collected and from which were distributed the revenues supplied first by booty, later by property taxes. As this treasury also met some expenses of communal interest, it should have been seen as the beginning of a financial system which was not strictly in accord with urnic principles for the distribution of booty, but which was made necessary by the development of the new State [see BAYT AL-ML]. This innovation was one of the causes of the troubles which culminated in the assassination of Uthman in 35/656. Another cause was the choice by Uthmn of members of his own family to undertake the government of the principal provinces; in acting thus he was in effect supplanting the earliest converts to Islam, who by virtue of this title had in general more right than the descendants of Ab Sufyn to participate in the organisation of the community. Two concepts of power came into conflict here, of which one consisted in observing strictly the principles of the urn and giving pride of place to the first converts, while the other paid greater attention to the efficiency of the apparatus of government. After the confrontation which took place between Al and Muwiya, following the judgement of Adhru [q.v.], the second concept held definitive sway. The murder of Uthmn and the events which followed posed to the Islamic community the problem of knowing whether a caliph could be deposed for neglecting his duties. It seems that it was at this time that there appeared the sect later to be known as the hawridj which declared the principle that the caliph must not under any circumstances deviate from the ordinances of divine origin (see the interpretation by W. Montgomery Watt, The formative period of Islamic thought, Edinburgh 1973, 14-15). The judgement of Adhru itself, the principle of which was denied by the hridjs on the grounds that the cause of good could not be set under discussion, implied a conception of the caliphate according to which the holder of power must answer for his actions, and the justification chosen by Muwiya to explain his action against Al was the defence of the rights of his kinsman, unjustly assassinated at the instigation of his political enemies. The Umayyads, however, on becoming installed in power, made efforts to eradicate this notion of moral responsibility. At the same time as they had the principle of dynastic succession recognised, they maintained the idea that unconditional obedience was owed to the reigning caliph. Thus Yazd and his successors paid no heed to the proclamation as caliph 3

of Abd Allh b. al-Zubayr [q.v.] at Medina at 61/681 nor to the declaration of the dethronement pronounced by the leading citizens against the son of Muwiya. It was their opponents, of the movement called adar (see adariyya), who vindicated the right to judge the actions of the sovereign, establishing a doctrine which was invoked by Yazd III, pretender to the caliphate, to justify his revolt against al-Wald II, accusing him of misconduct. As for the revolutionary movements which appeared at this time, some of them were of a hridj tendency, demanding of the caliph particular moral qualities (they succeeded in proclaiming aar b. al-Fudja [q.v.] caliph in Frs and Kirmn; he bore the title amr al-muminn and coined money in his own name for ten years, 69-79/688-99), while the others followed more or less strictly the Sh tendency, that is to say, demanding the accession to the caliphate of either a descendant of Al, or in the case of the Abbsid party, of an unspecified member of the Family of the Prophet. It was therefore the legitimacy of the Umayyads that they contested, while at the same time they strove to discredit them, denying their adherence to Islamic principles and accusing them of having usurped the caliphate; the origins and the actions of the ruling caliphs thus being called into question. On their side, the Umayyads were not content with imposing the notion of unconditional obedience to the caliph; they established at the same time, in effect, the dynastic caliphate. Without abandoning the principle of election followed by oath of fealty (baya), Muwiya accomplished his object by means of an election guaranteeing in advance that his son Yazd would be recognised as his successor. The same procedure was used for the designation of Muwiya II. But on the death of the latter, the problem of succession arose once more, and the Arab nobility, meeting at jbiya, made free use of their right to proceed to the choice of a new caliph, without however denying the fact that he should belong to the family of the Ban Umayya. A cousin of Muwiya, Marwn, was duly appointed caliph; to the branch called Sufynid, there succeeded the Marwnid branch to which belonged all the subsequent Umayyad rulers, all of them nominated by their predecessors, with the exception of the rebel Yazd III. In fact, from the time of Abd al-Malik onwards, the caliph was in the habit of leaving a written designation, called ahd (whence the granting to the heir presumptive of the title wal 'l-ahd, in the sense of beneficiary of a contract concluded between him and the community). The testamentary nomination, bearing the signature of witnesses of repute, thus became the essential mandate which had executive force and relegated the ceremony of the baya to a position of secondary importance. It was also the practice for the caliph to nominate two heirs; but such nominations were not acted upon unless an order of precedence had been set. The heir was most often a son of the ruling caliph but could equally well be a brother or a cousin; only one exclusion was maintained, the nomination of the son of a nonArab concubine; for this reason the prince Maslama b. Abd al-Malik, who was remarkably active during the reign of his father, neither inherited power nor was entitled to do so. At the same time this period saw a real attempt by the Umayyads to establish the legitimacy of their dynastic caliphate. Their panegyrists traced back the right of sovereignty from Abd al-Malik to Marwn, then to Muwiya and Uthmn. Some even went so far as to express the idea that the Umayyads had inherited the legacy of Muammad. adths appeared in which Muammad predicted their coming. To be sure, all this was nothing more than the outward signs of a different legitimacy, but the idea was disseminated. The Umayyads also on the other hand strove to underline the theocratic nature of their powers, as appears notably from the terms of a khuba of al-adjdjdj: The amr of the Believers Abd al-Malik is a leader whom God has chosen as His viceroy upon earth and appointed imm for His creatures. The expression occurs also in the texts of testamentary nominations and in the speeches preceeding the baya. The ruling caliphs considered themselves in fact as appointed by God, and the title khalift Allh (formerly denounced by Ab Bakr, according to a tradition which appears to be of doubtful validity) came into use from the start of the Umayyad era, helping to establish firmly the duty of obedience to the dynasty.

Moreover, the ruling sovereigns were required to take decisions, touching on problems of general policy, sometimes directly concerning the sphere of urnic precepts. They were obliged for example to define the place that new converts, non-Arabs becoming mawl, might take in the organisation of a state where the reins of power were held by Arab Muslims. Also, the exigencies of the conquests in the west led them to emply the services of Berber contingents, who played an active role in the conquest of Spain and whose status raised difficulties from that time onwards. More delicate was the fiscal problem which the caliphUmar b. Abd al-Aziz was obliged to settle by means of an edict. His decision to establish fiscal equality between the original Muslims and the converts having proved impossible to put into effect, it was decided to retain the former land-taxes, irrespective of the religion of the occupant of the land. Thus was established the form of the levy called henceforward khardj [q.v.] as distinct from the poll-tax called djizya, whereas new converts were required to pay a higher tax than that levied on the original Muslims for the lands that they possessed subsequent to the conquest. Hence to this period belongs the definition of the khardj and djizya taxes, an important stage in the development of Islamic law, the process of which can only be grasped with difficulty, but which is to be attributed to the activity of the Umayyad caliphs. B. T HE A BBSID CALIPHATE UNTIL 658/1258. New modifications to the concept of the caliphate were brought about by the Abbsid dynasty, which assumed power in 132/750 and retained it in Irk until 658/1260, then in Egypt until 923/1517. Its members presented themselves as belonging to the family of the Prophet, and it was with this title that the first among them to accede to power justified their action. They thus maintained the thesis according to which the caliphate must revert to the kinsmen of the Prophet, and more particularly to the descendants of al-Abbs, who were considered to be the best qualified. Nevertheless, this Abbsid legitimism raised difficulties in establishing principles usable against Abd claims. The principal argument, employed very frequently by the caliphManr in his controversy with the asanid Muammad b. Abd Allh, and subsequently developed on several occasions by the sovereigns themselves or by their panegyrists, followed by principle of right of succession: the descendants of al-Abbs, son of the Prophet's uncle, must take precedence over the sons of the daughter, that is to say, over those who were descended from the Prophet through his daughter Fima and who were related to his two grandsons al-usayn and al-asan. As this argument did not always appear sufficient, the caliphMahd sought to adduce in addition the thesis according to which alAbbs had been nominated by the Prophet himself as his successor. Quite independently of this attempt, which did not last long, the panegyrists for their part strove to prove the eminent qualities of al-Abbs, protector and nephew of the Prophet. The legitimism of the Abbsids thus depended on various arguments, whose vogue changed with the times, arguments which were sometimes radically opposed to those upon which the Umayyad legitimism had been based and which sometimes approximated to them, as when the panegyrists inevitably proclaimed that the sons of al-Abbs were the best of uraysh. This legitimism never ceased in any case to be generally recognised, even when the great amrs of Sh persuasion held power, and it was in a sense consolidated by the arrival of the Saldjs who, while taking over control of the empire, nevertheless upheld the Sunn caliphate as it was then established. Previously, the most dangerous challenge had taken place during the reign of al-Mamn, when this caliph attempted to nominate as his heir the Alid Al al-Ri, considered by him the best of the descendants of Al and of al-Abbs. This attempt did not amount to an adoption of the Sh point of view; rather, it aimed at restoring vigour to a broader Hshim legitimism, which would have permitted the choice of the imm from one or the other of the branches of the Hshimfamily. To this new legitimist concept was linked a doctrine of Zayd inspiration, according to which the office of imm must revert, in the context of a defined line of succession, to the most deserving. If the attempt failed, it was through the opposition of

circles in Ir who showed their attachment to the Abbsid family and their hostility to the new religious policy of al-Mamn, which the latter was forced to abandon. Whatever may have been the basis of Abbsid legitimism, it was the priority of the ruling caliphs to reinforce the theocratic nature of their power. The same expressions were employed in their case as in that of the Umayyad caliphs. Al-Mansr declared himself, it is said, the power of God on earth (sulnAllh f ari-hi) and the caliphs exacted, like all their predecessors, a duty of unconditional obedience which was founded, from the 3rd/9th century onwards, on the concepts of traditionists of the anbal persuasion. In addition, the royal titles adopted by the sovereigns stressed the charismatic quality of their power: the second caliph had himself named Manr, he who receives the victory from God, the third, Mahd, he whom God leads in the right way, a title which tended at the same time to assimilate the caliphs to the Alid imms. Subsequently, the honorifics Amn, al-Mamn and al-Wthik bi-llh, stressed rather the piety of those who bore them; but the personal link between the caliph, and the divinity guaranteeing his power remained strongly marked. One may add that from the reign of al-Mamn onwards, the caliphs did not disdain the title of imm, previously considered to be of too Sh a flavour. Also, the dynastic principle was applied in the same fashion as under the Umayyads, the heir being most often nominated by the ruling caliph after consultation with the most influential supporters of the rgime. The procedure adopted bore a solemn character on some occasions; thus the testament of Hrn al-Rashd, which named two heirs, establishing a kind of division of the empire between them and specifying the rights and obligations of each towards the other, was displayed in the Kaba at Mecca in 185/802; the same procedure was used for the testament of al-Mutamid in 261/874. But as in the preceding period, no rule determined this choice, and the caliph could just as well nominate a distant cousin as one of his sons. It was nevertheless to a son that the sovereign most often sought to bequeath his office, on condition that the son was of the required age or close to it, that is to say, to the age of majority. This need was admitted by all, as it had been already in the Umayyad period, but not the procedure for its application. On the one hand, a minor could be designated heir, since normally he was not required to assume immediately the function of caliph; on the other hand, the age of majority was not fixed in a precise fashion. It was only in 296/908 that the nomination of a caliph 13 years of age, alMutadir, set a kind of precedent. The practice of testamentary nominations posed another problem when these contained two names. It often happened that a new caliph sought to cancel the act established by his predecessor, so as to replace the person chosen as second heir and now becoming first heiris brother most oftenand to substitute for him his son, for example. It was necessary in such cases to obtain the abdication of the heir, since there was no procedure allowing for the dismissal of an heir, just as there was none for a caliph, and it was considered that the oath of allegiance already given was binding upon the heir as it was upon the community. In consequence, it was almost always by means of more or less violent persuasion that heirs considered to be undesirable were forced to renounce their rights. As in the preceding period, it happened sometimes that a caliph died without having designated an heir. The choice then reverted to the community or at least to its most prominent representatives. On the death of al-Wthi in 232/847, it was a select committee composed of the chief-, of the vizier and some of the officers of the Turkish guard, who proceeded to the nomination of the future al-Mutawakkil. However, at the times of the sickness of al-Muktaf in 296-908, it was the vizier and the leading officials of the realm who chose a successor to the caliph, who had not chosen an heir. So the composition of the electoral council varied according to the circumstances. Under the Abbsids, no more than under the Umayyads, was there a procedure for deposing a ruler for moral faults. Where attempts were made to do this, it was a case of local councils,

convoked in an arbitrary fashion, proclaiming the dethronement of the ruling sovereign or of the heir presumptive, and these had no more than a limited influence on the course of events. Examples of this were seen when Amn and al-Mamn declared one another deposed, or when the population of Baghdd refused to obey al-Mamn and proclaimed as caliphIbrhm b. al-Mahd [q.v.]. In fact, these situations always culminated in a trial of strength, and the judicial death, banishment, dismissal or abdication of one of the rivals produced each time a judicial solution. On the other hand, each abdication registered officially by the s led to an interregnum, and abdications were frequent in the history of the Abbsidcaliphate. These were almost always forced abdications. One caliph, al-hir [q.v.], who refused to bow to pressure, had his eyes put out, by which means he was legally incapacitated from fulfilling his duties. But instances of forced abdication were particularly flagrant in the period of the Buwayhid amrs, who brutally deposed two caliphs to replace them with princes of their own choosing. The grand-amr then convoked each time an electoral college comprising the principal dignitaries of the State as well as jurists and members of the Abbsid and Alid families; but his own opinion was the only decisive one in the final choice. It is only in the Abbsid period that one sees in the texts the office of caliph as clearly accompanied by insignia worn by the caliph when giving audience; there is mention of the cloak attributed to the Prophet ( burda [q.v.]), his sceptre (ab [q.v.]), and of a high bonnet ( alansuwa), which first appeared no doubt in the Umayyad period (although the information concerning ceremonial in this period remains of dubious interpretation); in addition, in the 4th/10th century, a copy of the urn of Uthmn was carried ostentatiously by the caliph. Insignia of this kind, recalling to a greater or lesser extent contemporary or previous courtroom practice, had the object of stressing the eminent qualities of the successor of the Messenger of God, and a full etiquette governed the conduct of audiences, requiring from visitors and officials precisely defined marks of respect: the principal one being the kissing of the carpet (tabl) on coming face-to-face with the sovereign, if not kissing his hand. A similar symbolism marked the manners of solemn processions, and when the caliph appeared in public outside the palace he was preceded by the chief of police bearing the lance (arba), at once the symbol of authority and a reminder of the customs of the Prophet. Between the 2nd/8th and the 4th/10th centuries, the functions of the caliph are easy enough to determine, using the information supplied by the ancient chronicles. The caliph was then seen as the guardian of dogma, and in this capacity opposed innovations (bida) and all that was considered to be such. He was thus permitted to play a part in the formulation of doctrine, and numerous examples of this may be cited: Mahd ordered for example the persecution of the zinds [q.v.]; al-Mamn and his two successors sought to impose Mutazilism as an official doctrine; al-Mutawakkil returned to the traditionalist position which condemned in particular the notion of the created nature of the urn; later, alMutaid sought to curb the activities of popular preachers of traditionalist tendencies; alRd, [q.v.] condemned anbal theodicy; al-dir [q.v.], in the full swing of the Buwayhid period, proclaimed his adherence to a profession of faith of anbal inspiration in an attempt to prevent the dissemination of other doctrines. On the other hand, the caliphs did not participate in the formulation of law; Manr did not take up the suggestion of Ibn alMuaffa [q.v.] to establish a uniform code of law to which judges would be obliged to refer, and from this time onwards, the judicial schools were established, independent of all interference from the caliph. The measures which the caliph could take in the judicial sphere were thus limited to decrees applying to fiscal matters, although he was obliged, in his capacity as leader of the community, to ensure that the law was observed in all its various aspects. The caliph was the imm [q.v.] par excellence, and conducted the Friday Prayers in the great mosque. At the end of the 3rd/9th century, however, he was exercising this function only in the great mosque of the caliph's residence, leaving to delegated officials the task of 7

conducting the prayers and performing the khuba [q.v.] in the other great mosque of the capital. Similarly, he performed the Pilgrimage in his official capacity or sent a delegate on his behalf. Many of the earlier caliphs performed this religious duty in person, sometimes more than once, as in the case of Hrn al-Rashd. In the same way, the caliph was expected to preside over the periodic expeditions against the lands of the infidel. This was done in person by Hrn al-Rashd, then by al-Mamn, while subsequent caliphs delegated this duty to appointed officers. He also conducted campaigns against rebels, whoever these might be; but when operating against particularly ferocious enemies such as the Zandj [q.v.], he would delegate his powers to an effective regent, in this event, al-Muwaffa, brother of the sovereign al-Mutamid. The maintenance of order was in fact one of the normal obligations of the caliph, who wasobliged to defend the community against all types of subversion. It was also the caliph who was obliged eventually to deal with those governors who demanded financial autonomy and the hereditary status of their office. On the other hand, it was his duty to ensure the normal exercises of the judiciary in nominating directlyas the practice had been established since the start of the Abbsid caliphate-the s, who were themselves subject, from the reign of Hrn alRashd onwards, to the intermediate authority of the 'l-ut. So the caliph delegated his powers to magistrates, but he reserved the right to arbitrate as a last resort in cases of litigation and to settle differences arising between administrators and administered. It was the practice of redressing of wrong that every caliph conscious of his reputation conducted in person, while other entrusted it to persons specially appointed for this purpose. Finally, the caliph ensured the well-being of the state, though this concept was to some extent ignored in the middle period of Islam-that is to say, he ensured the material life of the community. In particular, he managed the levying of taxes of which the revenues were subsequently distributed between soldiers and officials, and these taxes were levied according to rules established at the end of the Umayyad caliphate [see DJIZYA, KHARDJ, USHR, ZAKT]. The collection of these taxes was entrusted to agents of the caliph, the umml, who collected sums in cash or contributions in kind from the administered peoples, or to tax-farmers, who sent to the treasury a lump sum and then recouped the equivalent by means of the sums collected in the territories entrusted to them; the method used remained at the discretion of the caliph. The system varied according to different regions and periods at the will of sovereigns constrained to a greater or lesser extent to cover continually rising expenses; but financial difficulties led the caliph to make a general practice of the farming-out of the taxes, advantageous in the short term but later to prove dangerous, and in the long term making the caliphs dependent on these tax-farmers. Nevertheless, the details of the powers thus exercised by the caliph and related in precise fashion in the historical texts do not suffice to clarify completely the technicalities of a situation in respect of which two kinds of questions are posed. The first kind arises from the impossibility of deciding with certainty in what measure the authority of the caliph was, or could be, arbitrary or despotic. Certainly, the arbitrary exercise of power was in principle limited by the existence of the law, which the caliph was bound to respect, while enforcing it upon others, and which forbade him in particular to put a Muslim to death, except in precisely defined circumstances. But on the other hand, the duty incumbent on the caliph to suppress all rebellion gave him in this capacity a free hand in treating as a rebel against Islam every rebel against the dynasty, and thus in eliminating, sometimes in summary fashion, the enemies of his own policy. The second set of problems arises from another difficulty, that of deciding to what extent the caliph himself exercised the powers with which he was invested. It is certain for example that the representatives of judicial authority enjoyed a certain degree of independence, in that they possessed knowledge and technical ability to which the caliph could only with difficulty lay claim; cases of resistance to the caliph on the part of provincial s, or even of the chief of Baghdd, were not uncommon. It is certain also that the arbitrary exercise of the

powers of the caliph was restricted, after the end of the 3rd/9th century, by the establishment of High Courts, before which individuals accused of treason or heresy were most often tried; in this period, only rebels caught bearing arms were executed or subjected to torture in a manner not authorised by the law; others were tried before courts where the final decision was taken by one or the other of the s of Baghdd, playing the role of chief magistrate, although the caliph was not bound to ratify this decision. In addition, it should be noted that in numerous other fields, between the 3rd/9th and the mid-4th/10th century, the caliph no longer reserved for himself the conduct of affairs. We cannot speak in this context of a steady progression, since we observe on the part of some sovereigns reactions in the opposite direction, which were generally of short duration. The evolution was, however, none the less irreversible and the main beneficiary was the vizier [seeWAZR], a man of trust and reliability whose title appeared at the start of the Abbsid regime, without from that time onwards being necessarily attributed in a regular fashion. It was to him that the caliph most often delegated the conduct of administrative affairs, and subsequently matters of general policy, including dealings with the governors of provinces and military affairs. The vizier was, however, entrusted with nothing more than the execution of political decisions which he had previously formulated and which had received the approval of his master; he was regularly accountable to him and could be dismissed at any moment, as could any agent of the sovereign, and was only the minister par excellence of the caliph, employed by him for as long as his activities gave satisfaction and liable to be replaced as soon as he ceased to please. The arbitrary will of a caliph who apparently disassociated himself from the conduct of affairs but wished nevertheless to retain the exercise of power, was much in evidence in these nominations and dismissals, of which we see examples in the reigns of Hrn al-Rashd and al-Mutadir. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that the caliph would have difficulty in holding cheap the services of a supporter who could assure him of such-and-such a group of partisans and faithful servants, without whom it would be impossible to govern, and from among whom originated the viziers. Even if there existed among the administrators themselves rival cliques which encouraged the exercise by the caliph of arbitrary power, the presence of these persons, linked to the rgime which supplied them, according to the circumstances, with more or less high offices, remained an element of stability likely to discourage abuse of personal power in the golden age of the caliphate. After the middle of the 4th/10th century, the caliphs ceased to exercise their authority in person, and even ceased to control those to whom they had delegated this authority, in whole or in part. It was then that there began the period of the grand-amrate, to be replaced a century later by the sultanate. The chief characteristic of this period is that the delegate of the caliph appeared first as a military commander and that after 336/945, that is to say ten years after the appointment of the first grand-amr, a dynasty of grand-amrs was established and the caliph was not permitted to interfere in the succession of these new officers. The authority that the latter exercised in all matters relating to the administrative, financial and military spheres was nevertheless officially delegated from him, and the caliph retained, in theory at least, the right to appoint agents. It was thus that he succeeded, in certain exceptional cases, in exercising real power, and in one known instance, the Buwayhid amr was unable in spite of all his efforts to obtain for a usaynsharfnomination to the post of chief . For, besides doctrine, the area in which the caliph continued to exercise some influence was the judiciary. There was, however, no clear-cut separation of functions between the caliph and the amrs, and it would be inaccurate to say that the latter exercised temporal power, while the caliph retained a limited authority in spiritual matters. Not only did the caliph consider himself entitled to intervene in all areas of policy, but the amrs did not hesitate to use their authority for settling religious affairs, e.g. in promoting the celebration of specifically Sh feasts. Moreover, the relations established between the caliphs and their amrs varied constantly. There was during the second half of the 4th/10th century a period when caliphs were frequently dethroned or forced to abdicate to be replaced by persons chosen by the amrs, 9

although the latter did not always obtain by this means the result envisaged. On the contrary, in the first half of the 5th/11th century the caliphs al-dir and im were able to nominate their own heirs and enjoyed a resurgence of power, feeling themselves supported by the Ghaznavid amrs who appeared in hursn and actively upheld Sunn policies there. However, at this time there appeared the first examples of titles compounded with dn and attributed to certain local amrs, to Buwayhids as well as Ghaznavids. This practice, the origin of which cannot be definitely identified, doubtless did not correspond so much to a new setback in the authority of the caliph, as to a devaluation of the titles compounded with dawla, which were born at first only by the grand-amrs, later by the amdnid amrs of al-jazra, and were eventually attributed to other amrs of secondary rank. In this period, titles employed in official documents became more and more pompous, and the caliph had himself called al-ara al-muaddasa al-nabawiyya, a title stressing the sacred character of an office now almost entirely void of its original significance. The arrival of the Saldj Turks brought, in principle, no changes of an institutional order to the situation. The new amrs behaved like their predecessors, receiving a large measure of power which extended legally to the west, occupied by the Fimids, as to the east; this is indicated notably by the title accorded to ughrl Beg, malikal-mashri wa'l-maghrib in 449/1057. To be sure, they enjoyed in addition a more exalted title, that of sultan, which was perhaps originally chosen to show that they were the sole depositaries of the full range of the powers of the caliph. Another difference, with particular reference to the functioning of the rgime, was that the Saldj sultans claimed to be defenders of the Sunna and the Sunn caliphate, claiming to have come to the aid of the sovereign, with the particular object of re-opening the Pilgrimage route. But the tension was hardly less between the caliphs and the sultans than it had been previously between the caliphs and the grand-amrs. Thus the sultans had imposed themselves on the caliphs in a manner which the latter could not and did not appreciate: it was with the greatest of dis-pleasure that the caliph im was obliged to give his daughter in marriage to ughr l Beg, for example. On the other hand, the caliphs and the sultans did not follow the same political-religious orientation. Faced with sovereigns remaining loyal to the traditionalist anbal doctrine, the sultans adopted the Shfi-Ashar line, which was somewhat different, and it was of design that one of the most remarkable viziers, Nim al-Mulk, founded in Baghdd as in the eastern provinces madrasas intended for the training of future lawyers. It was nevertheless admitted, in this period of domination by Saldj sultans, that the latter alone should nominate the candidate for the caliphate: this attitude was justified, as we know, in various of the writings of the celebrated Ghazl who, among other things, castigated the bad doctors, too eager to submit to the authority of the sultans. The doctors for their part, considered themselves at this time to be the true depositaries of the Law, and demanded in consequence no longer the capacity of idjtihd for the caliph which in principle was claimed for him in the past, but above all qualities of morality and piety. In these difficult circumstances, the caliphs did not abandon the attempt to recover their power, undermined as it was from various quarters. Thus, about 460/1067-8, im dismissed a vizier judged to be too amenable to the sultan Alp Arsln. Then his successor al-Mutad, after the death of MalikShh, succeeded in profiting from the rivalries between the various claimants to the sultanate to make his own authority better respected. Subsequently, in 485/1092, al-Mustarshid managed to raise an army which permitted him to oppose the Arab chief Dubays, but which did not prevent him from being made a prisoner by sultan Masd. Finally, it fell to al-Mutaf, after the death of Masd in 547/1152, to assert definitive sway over Ir. Whatever the circumstances, the disintegration of the Saldj empire was accompanied by a multiplication in the number of sultans, and this fact alone further enfeebled the position of the Saldjs; it was in 514/1120-1 that for the first time the khuba was made in Baghdd in the name of two sultans of this family, but the title of sultan had already been taken by the Ghaznavid Ibrhm, inasmuch as it appeared on his

10

coinage, although it cannot be confirmed that the titulary in question had received the agreement of the caliph. A new turning-point in the relations between caliphate and sultanate occurred in 547/1152 when the caliph, assisted by an energetic vizier, Ibn Hubayra, chased out of Ir the shina who represented the sultan and dismissed from his service Turkish and Iranian mercenaries, replacing them with Greek or Armenian mamlks. Ibn Hubayra, who then received the title suln of Ir, was also an eminent jurist of anbal tendency, who strove in his works to minimise the differences between judicial schools, so as better to reinforce Sunnism. Finally there appeared on the scene, in 575/1180, a new caliph, al-Nir, who followed the policy of his predecessor but used different means. His knowledge of religious sciences permitted him to pose as the doctor whom the community must follow. Deriving support on the other hand from the fs and the members of the futuwwa communities in which he reorganised under his own direction in 604/1207, he tried to bring about the unification of the community of Islam and to draw into the framework of his authority the greatest possible number of princes. One of his propagandists, Ab af al-Suhraward, thus formulated a theory of the caliphate which, while retaining the traditional bases, linked to these fism and the futuwwa, making the caliph the intermediary between God and the believers and giving him the attributes of a kind of shaykh. Al-Nir, who had no vizier as such, was better able by virtue of this to assert his political prerogatives: he succeeded in having his authority recognized by the powerful Ayybid al al-Dn (576/1181), who for his part declared himself a defender of the caliphate and of Islam. It was nevertheless with difficulty that he obtained the baya of certain local amrs of Persia and Upper Mesopotamia. Moreover, the efforts of al-Nir, in which he continued until his death in 622/1225, did not prevent the caliphate from remaining fragile as an institution, and the great reconciliation between Sunn and Shs which was one of the most cherished objectives of his policy was never achieved. After only a few more years, the Mongols put an end to the Abbsid caliphate of Baghdd, executing the caliph al-Mustaim in afar 656/February 1258. Even so, one should not forget the importance of the rle played throughout the Saldj and post-Saldj period by an Abbsid caliph, whom a number of local rulers recognised as the guarantor of their power. Alongside the sultans, who were not so numerous, even when the sultanate was conferred upon several dynasties (Saldjs of Rm and of Iran, and Ghaznavids), there were princes of Syria, of Anatolia or of Iran who to some extent put themselves under the authority of the caliph, bearing among their titles a title with the component of -amir al-muminn bestowed by the chancellery of Baghdd and stressing their personal link with the caliph. This was the case with Zankids and Ayybids in Syria, Raslids in the Yemen, Ghaznavids, Ghrids and princes of Delhi in eastern Iran and in India, to mention only the most important of this group. Different relationships were established too between the caliph and a prince of the Islamic west such as the Almoravid Ysuf b. Tshfn, who had confirmed by the chancellery of Baghdd the new title of amr al-muslimnwhich he had just taken upon himself. But this came about in a political milieu, that of the Muslim West, where the process of evolution had been quite different from that in the East, and where since the 4th/10th century rival caliphates to that of the Abbsids had appeared. C. T HE CALIPHATES OF THE WEST . It was at the beginning of the 4th/10th century that an Umayyad amr of Spain put an end to the situation which had previously arisen in the region: the situation of a local prince who, while not recognising the authority of the caliph of Baghdd, nevertheless allowed the khuba to be made in his name. Then, in 316/928, Abd al-Ramn III declared himself amr al-muminn. According to Ibn haldn, this decision was explained by the fact that at that time the authority of the caliphate of the east was reduced to nothing. To this should be 11

added the fact that the Fimid Sh caliphate had appeared in Ifriya, and the new caliph of al-Andalus hoped to make himself the champion of Sunnism against this new form of sovereignty. The new caliphs essentially based their legitimacy on the idea of inheritance. Sons of the caliphs, they considered the caliphate a portion set aside by God for the Ban Umayya, who had inherited it from Marwn, if not from Uthmn himself, as was stated by Ibn Bassm who went so far as to call the Umayyad caliph kinsman of the Prophet by virtue of his status as a member of uraysh. Furthermore, in imitation of the Umayyads, the caliphs of Spain adopted the colour of white. They applied the hereditary principle in a stricter manner than did the Abbsids, not considering the minority of an heir presumptive as an obstacle to his proclamation. But the succession was put into effect by the same process, baya, whether preceded by an ahd or not. Also, the baya held a more important place than in the Orient and sometimes the rite lasted several days. The caliph frequently declared himself the caliph of God. He governed in a direct fashion, surrounded by a council of viziers, but in the course of the 4th/10th century, he rapidly ceased to take an active interest in the conduct of affairs, relying on a prime minister who bore, in Spain, the title of djib, not that of wazr: whence the appearance, in 371/981, of a dynasty of major-domos, of which the founder was the famous Manr (Almanzor). A kind of sultanate was thus established in Spain also, but it lasted only a short time, since the caliphate came to an end, in a period of disturbances, in 422/1031. In the West, other Sunn caliphs appeared subsequently in rivalry to the caliph of Baghdd. If the Almoravids contented themselves, as has been seen, with the title of amr al-muslimn, which they adopted with the consent of the chancellery of Baghdd, the Almohad Abd alMumin, successor to the MahdIbn Tmart, ca. 525/1132 took the title of amr al-muminn, thus setting himself up as a rival to the Abbsid sovereign and claiming that he was restoring acaliphate now in decline, in the same way that the MahdIbn Tmart had revived Islam; in addition, the Almohad caliph, just as was previously the Sh imm, was the bearer of the ima. Although the original character of the Almohad movement was gradually effaced, to the point where one chronicler declared that the sons of Abd al-Mumin had transformed the caliphate into a mulk (al-Maar, viii, 23), the Almohad protocol retained in its formulae (al-ara al-aliyya al-sunniya al-hira al-udsiyya), a reminder of the initial doctrine. The title of caliph was subsequently taken over by the afids, successors to the Almohads, and likewise by the Marnids. D. T HE F IMID CALIPHATE AND THE S H IMMATES . Founded in 297/909 in Ifriya by the Mahd Ubayd Allh, the Fimid caliphate [q.v.], the appearance of which had, as stated above, led to the constitution of an Umayyad caliphate in Spain, had only a temporary historical rle to playit lasted in fact only until 567/1171but dominated a vast expanse of territory, including Egypt and Syria, and for a brief period came close to endangering the institution of the Abbsid caliphate. It was a Sh caliphatederived from the Isml movement. As such, it presented a different aspect from that of the Sunn caliphate; the caliph was the imm mam, impeccable and infallible, supreme interpreter of the Law. This charismatic leader derived his powers from his predecessor by virtue of an explicit nomination (na), kept secret throughout the preceding reign and revealed only after the death of the caliph, by the man of trust to whom it had been confided. Opinion held that the descent should be by a direct line, from father to son, and by virtue of the Sh doctrine, the community could not remain even for a moment without an imm, whom it had no right to nominate. This principle of accession was applied in a general way throughout the duration of the Fimid caliphate. After the demise of each sovereign the waiyya of the late caliph, revealed by the senior minister, was put into effect. Nevertheless, after the end of the 5th/11th century the system ceased to function regularly, as the ministers had begun to exert too much 12

influence and to involve themselves in affairs of succession. As early as 411/1021, on the death of kim, who had nominated one of his cousins, his sister Sitt al-Mulk decided that the appointment made by kim was contrary to the rule and intervened to have the son of the late caliph proclaimed. Later, in 487/1094, the ministeral-Afal proclaimed the succession of one of the caliph's sons, al-Mustal, whereas another son, Nizr, had, in the opinion of some, been named by the waiyya. This was the origin of the schism of the Nizrs or neo-Ismls. Another crisis occurred in 525/1130, when the caliph al-mir died without male issue and without having named an heir: this caused some public disorder, if we are to believe the historians; the caliphate passed to a collateral branch of the family. More serious was the initiative taken by the ministerali in 555/1160 when, upon the death of al-Fiz, he sought out a candidate for the caliphate without troubling to discover whether the late caliph had designated an heir. The new caliph could not be under age, as was the case with al-Fiz; in such an instance a de facto regency exercised power, and sometimes the trustees were women. This was what happened for example in the case of the aunt of al-Fiz, and previously in the case of the sister of kim, who for a time made her authority supersede that of a nephew, then seventeen years of age. Let it be added, that throughout the closing years of the rgime, the candidate for the caliphate, whose position was the same as that of the wal 'l-ahd for the Abbsids, was appointed by the minister. The new caliph received a baya which apparently did not differ from the baya made for the Abbsid caliphs. This baya was, however, in principle simply an expression of homage, and could not in any sense be considered a designation of the sovereign. The caliph, as imm, was in this respect the chief of propaganda, the interpreter of the law, the source of all knowledge. The panegyrists did not cease to develop these themes, stressing that the caliph was the friend (wal) of God, intercessor for all; the doctrine of the walya was in fact regarded by the jurists as one of the pillars of the faith. Only the caliphkim went so far as to consider himself an incarnation of the deity, or at least, he allowed himself to be proclaimed as such (in 408/1017). The theocratic nature of power was thrown into especial relief under the Fimid caliphate. Nevertheless, the conditions for the exercise of power did not differ noticeably from what they were under a Sunn caliphate. Here also the authority of the caliph fell into decline and, in the 5th/10th and the 6th/11th centuries, power was in the hands of all-powerful ministers who, to the normal title of wazr, succeeded in adding that of malik (530/1135), and some of whom passed on their power in what was temporarily a hereditary manner. The last of these ministers was al al-Dn, who put an end to the rgime, restoring the khuba to the name of the Abbsid caliph and depriving the last Fimidcaliphal-id of his rights and powers, without however proclaiming his dethronement. Although the Isml movement thus succeeded in maintaining an effective caliphate for more than two centuries, there never was such a possibility for the Imm movement, whose devotees continue to this day to await the return of the Mahd. On the other hand, the Zayd movements led to the creation of Zayd states ruled by imms descended from al-asan. One of these states, that of abaristn, constituted in the mid3rd/9th century, was short-lived, but the other, the Yemen, constituted in 288/901, lasted into the very recent past, covering, it is true, only a very limited area. The Zayd imms, though not considered impeccable, were doctors schooled in the religious sciences as well as warriors. The most famous of these was the founder of the state of the Yemen, Yay b. alusayn, who took the surname al-Hd il 'l-a, as well as the title amr al-muminn, which appeared in the state documents and on the coinage. Al-Hd, considered by the Zayds to be a model sovereign, possessed, in addition to his qualities of courage, a great knowledge of law and great piety. It is said that he strove to apply strictly the prescriptions of Islam, especially in fiscal matters, and to him are attributed a number of scholarly writings. Under the terms of the Zayd doctrine, the imm did not command unconditional obedience, because the

13

subordination of the subjects ceased if the caliph deviated from the prescriptions of the Book and the Sunna. On the other hand the immate did not necessarily pass from father to son, since it was personal qualities which, in addition to Alid origin, gave entitlement to the imamate. This explains how it was the Zayd immate succeeded in surviving into the 20th century, in spite of interruptions, especially in the Ayybid and Ottoman periods, and in spite of various vicissitudes. E. T HE INSTITUTION OF THE CALIPHATE AFTER 658/1258. If the murder of al-Mustam and the Mongol invasions did not bring about the effective disappearance of the Abbsid caliphate, the new era which began at this date was nevertheless of a quite different character. The Mamlks, having taken power in Egypt and Syria, took to Cairo a member of the Abbsidfamily, the uncle of the last caliph of Baghdd, and Baybars had this man declared caliph through the good offices of the chief who had verified his genealogy (Radjab 659/June 1261). This individual, who took the surname alMustanir, claimed in his first khuba all the privileges of the caliph and claimed to extend his authority over the whole Islamic world, to which end Baybars entrusted an army to him. He failed in his attempt to reconquer Baghdd, and the new caliph, kim, who was then proclaimed in Cairo (Muarram 661/November 1262) and installed in the citadel, no longer had the right to interfere in political life; his presence seems to have had no other purpose than to render legitimate the power effectively exercised by the Mamlks, according to a regulation which remained in force for two-and-a-half centuries. From a juridical viewpoint, the caliph remained, it is true, titular holder of a sovereignty which continued to be transmitted in the line of the caliphkim. But the ensemble of powers, including the right of nominating various agents, had been delegated to the sultan, who was henceforward chosen by the Mamlks and invested with the sultanate by the caliph. The author al-alashand compares the sultanate to a delegated vizierate, and declares besides that it consisted of a combination of the imrat al-istl with the wizrat altafw (ub, xi, 72), which shows the importance that he still attached to the investiture by the caliph. The sultanate had none the less acquired a kind of juridical autonomy; when the Mamlks could not agree on the appointment of a sultan, as happened for example in 815/1412, they entrusted to the caliph the powers of the sultan, which were thus, according to the chroniclers, added temporarily to the caliphate. In addition, the caliphs lost in Cairo certain of their privileges, the right of sikka, which was no longer observed from the time of the third caliph onwards, the right of khuba which seems to have fallen into disuse, while the traditional insignia of the caliphate were henceforward carried by the sultans themselves. The name of the caliph was no longer mentioned in the khuba at Mecca, but retained the prestige of holding a power of divine origin and of being, as in the past, the lieutenant of God on earth (nibAllh f ari-hi). So obedience to the caliph seems to have been, especially for rulers of distant provinces, a kind of religious duty. Investiture at his hands was always sought by various sovereigns, notably the Muaffarids of Iran, the sultans of Delhi and the Ottomans of Anatolia. hallal-hir (d. 862/1468) wrote: The amr of the believers is the lieutenant of God on earth and no prince of east or west can justly call himself sultan if he has not received investiture at his hands. Without this investiture, he could not for example nominate a whose decisions were to be valid. Various princes of this period refused, however, to recognise the Abbsid caliphs of Cairo. This happened notably in the case of the Il-hnid Ghazn han, who occupied Damascus in 698/1299 and had himself named in the khuba the august sultan, sultan of Islam and the Muslims. As for the Tmrid Shh Rkh, he considered himself sovereign by divine right and it was his ambition to be recognized as khalfa by the other princes which was refused by the Mamlk sultan Barsby and the Ottoman sultan Murd II. Moreover, it seems that from the end of the 7th/13th century onwards, certain princes introduced the word khalfa into their titles, without however appropriating the title amr al14

muminn; this was done by the Saldjk sultans of Rm, protected by the Mongols, and also by the sultans of Dihl. The Trkmen Uzun asan (857-82/1453-78) wrote ca. 875/1471 to the Ottoman sultan concerning his new capital Shrz, calling it the throne of the caliphate. At the beginning of the 10th/16th century the prince of Transoxania, Muammad Shaybn, put on his coinage the title khalifat al-Ramn. While it is admitted that these titles did not always correspond to a precise aspiration, it appears that from the time of the Mongol invasions onwards, the title ofkhalfa was no longer reserved for the Abbsid amr of the Believers and that a number of rulers did not hesitate to take it up, as though it were a normal title of Muslim sovereigns. This title appeared notably in letters of congratulation addressed by allies to Ottoman sultans after certain of their successes. Thus Murd I at the end of the 8th/14th century saw fit to call himself chosen khalfa of the Creator, and shadow of God on the earth. A little later, the sultan Byazd did not hesitate to apply to himself verse VI, 165 of the urn: we have made of you a representative (khalfa) on the earth. In the same way, Meemmed I after the restoration of the Ottoman empire at the start of the 9th/15th century, spoke of his caliphate, a term which the other Ottoman sovereigns did not hesitate to use on certain occasions in dealings with their allies. At all events, and in spite of the fact that Meemmed II the Conqueror did not take to himself the title of khalifa, official correspondence addressed to the Ottomans by their neighbours did not cease to consider them repositories of thecaliphate and Selm himself, after 1512, was called by his brother shadow of God on earth. It is noteworthy that at the same period too, various eulogists applied on occasion to Ottoman sultans the title of khalfa or khalfat Allh, although these expressions were nothing more than laudatory epithets, appearing generally in texts of rhymed prose and not to be regarded as official titles. More often, indirect expressions such as the throne of the caliphate were employed. In fact, the Ottoman sultans early wished to be considered, without however claiming the title amr al-muminn, as bearers of the sultanate and thecaliphate combined, a caliphate conceived by the Muslim thinkers of the time in terms completely different from those of early Islam. Thus two thinkers as different one from the other as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn haldn agree in declaring that the caliphate ceased after the rshidn caliphs and that the sovereignty exercised by the Umayyads and the Abbsids had never been more than a sort of royalty. This was their way of expressing how they were struck by the contrast between the theory of the caliphate as it had been formulated by al-Mward and the reality which they saw. It may be added that the lawyers of the anaf school were also of the opinion that the true caliphate had lasted no more than thirty years, up to the death of Al. For their part, Persian authors, such as Dawwn, who wrote in the 9th/15th century, supported the thesis which held to be a caliph every sovereign who became, as defender of the cause of Islam, representative of God on earth. As was stressed by Sir Thomas Arnold, the title amr al-muminn, associated with the traditional urash caliphate, was then abandoned, while the powerful sovereigns of the Irano-Turkish world sought to adorn themselves with the title ofkhalfa; they considered themselves, in fact, simply by virtue of their taking power, as sovereigns by divine right and lieutenants of God. At the same time, they recognised no authority on the part of the caliph of Cairo. This is seen in the episode when the sultan Selm conquered Syria, then Egypt, making a prisoner of the caliph al-Mutawakkil, treating him with a complete lack of deference and exiling him to Constantinople. Al-Mutawakkil was unable to leave this involuntary exile until the reign of the sultan Sulaymn, returning to Egypt where he died in 950/1543; he made no further exercise of his functions as caliph, except in conferring the investiture on the governorAmad Pasha, a governor who had rebelled against the Ottoman sultan. The fact emerges clearly from the account of these events that the last Abbsid caliph was considered of negligible importance by the victorious Ottoman sultan. 15

On the other hand, not one of the historical accounts states in precise fashion that Selm sought to take to himself the legacy of the caliphate to the extent that might be inferred from the late, popular versions which began to circulate at the end of the 18th century and were collected by Mouradgea d'Ohsson. There is no justification for the view that there was an official transfer of the caliphate to Constantinople. It is true that certain relics of the Prophet and of the Companions were transferred to the capital of the Ottoman empire; as for sultan Selm and his successors, they never bore officially in documents of state, inscriptions and coinage, titles other than suln and khn; they did not use those of amr al-muminn or of imm. The only new title adopted by Selm after the conquest of Egypt was that of khdim alaramayn [q.v.], which was in fact a title belonging to the Mamlk sultans and not to the caliph. These ill-defined pretentions of the Ottoman sultans towards sovereignty over the entire Islamic world, came into conflict in certain respects, in the east, with the ambitions of the Mughal rulers of India during the 16th and 17th centuries. After the reign of Akbar (9631014/1556-1605) [q.v.], the capital of these faraway but powerful princes, Dihl, was called dr al-khilfa (seat of the caliphate) and the coinage of Akbar bore the inscription: the great sultan, the exalted khalfa. The Mughals, who dealt on equal terms with the Ottomans, continued until the reign of Shh lam II (1173/1760) to qualify themselves with the title of khalfa, although it is unclear to what extent they were thereby disowning the traditional concept of the urash caliphate. Nevertheless, it was the masters of the Ottoman empire who finally enjoyed the distinction, in the 18th century, of being presented by their diplomats to foreigners, including European monarchs, as the holders of the caliphate. An example of this appeared in 1774 in the treaty concluded between Abd amd I and the empress Catharine of Russia; the sultan was called the imm of the Believers and the caliph of those who profess the divine unity, an expression which at the time was rendered in French by le Souverain calife de la religion mahomtane. The intention was to retain the sultan's religious authority over Muslim populations which had passed under foreign domination; this the Russians did not accept (the treaty was revised in 1783). In any case, from this time onward, and throughout the 19th century, in the various confrontations which occurred between the Ottomans and the European states, the Ottoman sultans strove to present themselves officially as caliphs, that is to say, as the spiritual leaders of the Muslims and defenders of Islam. The distinction, of European origin, between the spiritual and the temporal thus found, through the exigencies of the situation, echoes in Ottoman circles. Hence the constitution formulated in December 1876 by the sultan Abd al-amd II declared explicitly in its art. 3: The august Ottoman sultanate, the office of the supreme Islamic caliphate, must devolve upon the eldest of the members of the family; and in art. 4: the sultan, in his capacity as caliph, is the protector of the Muslim religion. Even though the process of giving executive force to the constitution of 1876 was postponed until 1908, the sultan continued to hold to this conception which enabled him to assert his authority over the Arab countries and furthermore to embrace the ideal of pan-Islamic unity, inspired in him by jaml al-Dn al-Afghn [q.v.]. The principle was in any case recognised in the countries of the West, and in Bosnia-Herzegovina, after the annexation of the province to the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1908, the name of the Ottoman sultan continued to be mentioned in the public prayers. In Libya, even after the establishment of the Italian protectorate, the chief of that country was still appointed by the Ottoman shaykh al-Islm. In Bulgaria, under the terms of the treaty of Constantinople of 1913, the prerogatives of the Ottoman sultan, though more strictly limited, were nevertheless upheld, as was also the case in Greece at that time. It should be added that the Ottoman sultans had, in fact, for a number of centuries, exercised functions similar to those of the ancient caliphs, with the difference that they sought to establish a more regular system. In addition to the law, they formulated a code of rules, the 16

purpose of which was in principle to supplement the Law, but which sometimes tended to supplant it; called nn, it was employed by Sulaymn the Great as by the other sultans, and was applied not only to financial questions, but also to questions such as the problem of succession. Later, in the 19th century, the sultans sought, under the pressure of various circumstances, to modernise the structures of the Ottoman state. This is not the place to examine the reforming measures known as theTanmt [q.v.], but it should be recalled that it was in their capacity as leaders of an important Muslim community that the sultans introduced modifications in the traditional fih, as in the organisation of public powers. The movement culminated in the formulation of the constitution of 1876 which envisaged a parliamentary rgime and which did not come into force until 1908. The installation of a parliamentary rgime, then the appearance of the officers of the Committee of Union and Progress, had the effect of calling into question, even before the First World War, the sultanate and the caliphate. The Young Turks had at first been cautious, and if they sought to circumscribe the powers of the sultan, they tended also to use the expedient of the caliphate to maintain Turkish influence over the Arab lands. The issue of the war modified the assumptions of the problem, since the new Turkish nationalism, whose champion was Muaf Keml, had nothing to do with the caliphate. The suppression of the ancient institutions was nevertheless gradual. Muaf Keml began by attacking the sultanate, while recognising the caliphate as a moral link, sacred and respected by the entire Muslim world. On the 1st November 1922, the sultanate was abolished by the Grand National Assembly of Ankara, which reserved for itself the right to choose the holder of the caliphate under the terms of the Constitution adopted in January 1921 and which declared the sovereignty of the people. The sultan Meemmed VI, deposed by means of a fatw, went into exile and was replaced by Abd Madjd, who had been chosen by the Assembly and was asked to consider himself only as the caliph of the Muslims. In fact, the new caliphate was illdefined, and fruitless discussions were held regarding the functions to be attributed to a figure in whom Muaf Keml, in April 1923, recognised above all supreme inter-Islamic authority and the symbol of Islamic solidarity, and yet who held no real spiritual power, for he did not have the right to appoint s, mufts or preachers. In January 1924 Muaf Keml declared: The idea of a single caliph, exercising supreme religious authority over all the peoples of Islam, is an idea taken from fiction, not from reality. In February, the caliphate was abolished by the National Assembly which was then endowed with all powers of legislation (tashr). The prayer was delivered in the name of al-ukmaaldjumhriyya wa 'l-milla al-islmiyya. Meanwhile, a group of ulam had drafted a document which was circulated not only in Turkey but also in the Arab countries and which tried to show that the problem of the caliphate was a question not of theology but of practical politics, that the caliphate had not been instituted by the Prophet and that it did not constitute a fundamental element of Islam. The abolition of the caliphate, of which the concept had changed somewhat since the 7th/13th century, was none the less powerfully resented in the Middle-East, where various projects were attempted for the restitution of this institution, considered to be fundamental to the very life of the community of Islam. The sharf of Mecca, usayn, made an attempt to have himself recognised as caliph, but succeeded only with a few neighbouring princes. In 1926, two congresses were held, which had the object of debating the issue of the caliphate; one took place in March, in Cairo, the other in July at Mecca, without any result. The western powers, for their part, sought to encourage the restoration of the caliphate, on the condition that the holder be their ally. In 1930 there was denunciation from certain Muslim quarters of the policies of the British, who continued to give financial support to the former Ottoman sultan while backing King usayn, and those of the French, who favoured the Bey of Tunis. Then in 1931, a congress of ulam and political figures was held in Jerusalem. It had no result other than to affirm the spirit of solidarity which still existed among Arab and Muslim countries and which was the origin of the Congress of Arab Unity held in 1937 and from which arose the League of Arab States, founded in 1944. Meanwhile, the attempt of King Fr 17

of Egypt, in 1939, to revive the caliphate to his own advantage, met with vigorous opposition from the Turkish government. The rise of nationalism thus brought about the transformation of a pan-Islamic movement into a simply pan-Arab movement. In fact, Muslim opinion was in general resigned to the new situation, entrusting interpretation of the Law to the doctors, and political affairs to the de factoauthorities. Even in 1922, the reformist Rashd Ri had proposed a plan for the reform of the caliphate in his work al-hilfa aw al-Imma al-Um; he asserted that no Arab sovereign was worthy to accede to this office and he proposed the holding of a seminar with the purpose of drawing up a list of doctors from among whom the caliph would be chosen; the rle of the caliph would essentially have been to adapt Islamic law to the conditions of modern life. But such a project was never realised. More radical was the theory advanced by a shaykh of al-Azhar, Al Abd al-Raz, who, in 1925, wrote an essay entitled al-Islm wa-ul al-ukm Islam and the bases of power, which caused a sensation in traditionalist Muslim circles because it laid down a doctrinal basis for the separation of the temporal and the spiritual, and suggested that the government of the Prophet at Medina was not dependent on the prophetic mission. This work was condemned by theshaykhs of al-Azhar, but the notion of temporal sovereignty continued nevertheless to take root in Muslim circles during the decades that followed. (D. Sourdel)
^

IN POLITICAL THEORY There are two references to khalfa in the urn (Sra II, 30 and Sra XXXVIII, 26). The first, We have made thee a khalfa in the land; then judge between the men with the truth, and follow not thy desires, lest they cause thee to err from the path of God, refers to Adam. The second, We have made thee akhalfa in the earth; so judge between the people with truth is addressed to David. The plural (khalif and khulaf), which occurs frequently, means successors (i.e. progeny) (see further R. Paret, Signification coranique de alfa, in Studia Islamica, xxxi (pars prior), 211-17, and W. Montgomery Watt, Islamic political thought, Edinburgh 1968, 32 ff.). For the commentators such as Zamakhshar, the concept of Adam included or typified all mankind and the prophets, while David had the dual rle of king and prophet. Although there is no indication that the word khalfa was intended to serve as the title of the successor of Muammad, both the passages quoted above are important for the development of the theory of the khalfa as the successor of the prophet, and his office, the khilfa. It is asserted by Muslim historians that the term khalfa was first used as the title of the successor of Muammad by Ab Bakr, but it is doubtful whether he ever assumed it as a title (Caetani, Annali dell' Islam, 11 A.H., para. 63 n. 1). From the reign of Umar b. al-hab, however, khalfat raslAllh, successor of the messenger of God, became the common designation of the leader of the community, the amr al-muminn [q.v.], the Commander of the Faitful, the title which Umar had adopted on his election (cf. Ibn haldn, al-Muaddima, ed. Quatremre, Paris 1858, i, 408-14, ed. Beirut 1886, 227-30 and cf. M. A. Shaban,Islamic history A.D. 600-750 (A.H. 132), Cambridge 1971, 19, and idem, The Abbsid Revolution, Cambridge 1970, 140-1 on amr al-muminn). The title khalfatraslAllh implied the assumption by Muammad's successor of Muammad's functions as judge and temporal leader of the community. Muammad's prophetic function, on the other hand, was held to have ceased with him and it was believed that the spiritual guidance of the community had been inherited by the community as a whole. The khalfa, thus, had no authority to give new interpretations to religious matters: his function was merely to maintain old doctrines. His office was simply a delegation of authority for the purpose of applying and defending the shara. The title khalfat raslAllh was commonly applied to the orthodox or rightly guided caliphs (the Rshidn), who were regarded as the representatives or successors of Muammad. Muwiya's claim to the caliphate, if it was based on the text of the urn (XVII, 35), was to be sultan: as

18

such he was not Muammad's deputy but God's, and the title khalfat Allh, vicegerent of God, appears to have been approved by the Umayyads (D. S. Margoliouth, The sense of the title halifah, in A volume of oriental studies presented to E. G. Browne, ed. T. W. Arnold and R. A. Nicholson, Cambridge 1922, 327). The phrase khalfat Allh had earlier excited the indignation of Ab Bakr, because of the boldness of its implication. It was, nevertheless, used by assn b. Thbit in A.D. 35 in an elegy he wrote on the caliphUthmn (Dwn of assnIbnThbit ed. W. N. Arafat, GMS, N.S. xxv/1-2, London 1971, i, 96). The Abbsids later employed the title khalfat Allh, but its use was resisted by many of the ulam, who rejected the idea that the khalfa was the representative of God and the implication of autocratic power contained in the title (I. Goldziher, Muhammadanische Studien, ii, 61, H. A. R. Gibb, al-Mawardi's theory of the caliphate, in Studies on the Civilization of Islam, ed. Stanford J. Shaw and W. R. Polk, London 1962, 158, S. D. Goitein, Attitudes towards government in Studies in Islamic history and institutions, Leiden 1966, 203). An attempt to limit the true caliphate to the Rshidn, on the basis of a tradition attributed to the prophet which states the caliphate after me will be thirty years: then it will become kingship (quoted by Margoliouth, op. cit., 328), did not become accepted doctrine. Later Sunn jurists, however, drew a distinction between the caliphate of the Rshidn, the khilfat al-nubuwwa (the vicariate of prophecy) and the later caliphate which they held to have had the character of worldly kingship (mulk) [q.v. in IMMA]. As used in the sources, the terms khalfa and imm (and khilfa and imma [q.v.], which refer to his office) are broadly interchangeable. The former is primarily applied to the supreme leader of the Muslim community as the ruler of the community exercising the temporal functions of Muammad, while the latter is applied to him as the religious leader of the community and derives from his function of leading the prayers of the community, which, in the view of the Sunns, was his most important function. The propriety of the election of Ab Bakr was, in fact, defended by many jurists on the ground that he had led the prayers. In fihliterature the terms imm and imma are used in preference to khalfa and khilfat. Among later writers traces are occasionally to be found of a distinction between the functions of the leader of the community as khalfa and as imm. For example Rwand alleges that ughril b. Arsln's atabeg, Muammad Pahlavn-djahn, used openly to say, The imm should occupy himself with delivering the khuba and leading the prayers, which are the best of actions and the greatest of deeds and which uphold (or protect) profane rulers; and he should entrust kingship to sultans and leave rule to this sultan (i.e., ughril) (Rat al-udr, ed. Muammad Iqbl, GMS, N.S. ii, London, Leiden 1921, 334). Politics and religion in Islam were inextricably mixed and the political doctrines of the khalfa as the leader of the community cannot be easily separated from the theological and juridical doctrines concerning his office [see IMMA]. The early doctrinal disputes and religious polemicsthe controversies over the imamate raised by the first civil war, the development of the Shat Al and the hawridj schisms, the succession of the Umayyads and their overthrow by the Abbsids, the Mutazil movement and its refutation by the Ashars, and the polemics against the Rawfi and hawridjprofoundly influenced the development of the political theory as well as the religious doctrine of the khalfa, as also did Hellenistic and Sasanian theories of government. As the temporal head of the community, whose internal organisation was secured by a common acceptance of and submission to the shara, the caliph was the symbol of the supremacy of the shara. He, like other believers, was subordinate to it and they owed him obedience only as its representative. So far as there was an element of contract in the relations between him and his followers this was to be found in the baya [q.v.]. Termination of the contract was only permitted if a change took place in the status and condition of the caliph such as might cause prejudice to the rights of the community. The weakness of the position was that no tribunal was specified to decide upon his deposition. Gradually the political doctrines of the imamate were worked out in the light of political developments (cf. H. A. R. Gibb, al-Mawardi's theory of the caliphate, 154-5). Significantly, most 19

of the important expositions of the theory of the caliphate were written, if not at a period of crisis, at least at a time when some fairly major problem faced the Muslim community and was exercising the minds of the faithful. In the turbulent years following the transfer of power from the Umayyads to the Abbsids, Ibn al-Muaffa [q.v.], who died probably in 139/756, concerned at the internal dissensions within the community, felt the need for a definition of the powers and authority of the caliph. Recognising the change in the basis of the caliphate which had taken place with the Abbsid revolution, and believing that the only bond between the caliph and his army was religious conviction, he made right belief the cornerstone of his political programme. Convinced of the need for stability, he proposed a rigid control by the state. He suggested that the caliph should supersede and regulate ray [q.v.] as used in the ancient schools of law and recommended that he should create a code based on (i) precedents and usage (siyar), (ii) tradition and analogy, and (iii) his own decisions which would in turn be emended by succeeding caliphs. Ibn al-Muaffa's pleas, however, went unheeded: orthodox Islam rejected the view that ray was the domain of the ruler and referred the final decision toidjm [q.v.] (see further S. D. Goitein, A turning-point in the history of the Muslim state, in Studies in Islamic history and institutions, 149-67). Ab Ysuf (d. 182/798) [q.v.] represents a somewhat different point of view. Disturbed by contemporary practices, many of which seemed contrary to the spirit of the early caliphate as reflected in the works of the Traditionists, he cites a number of traditions in his Kitbalhardj showing the duty of the subjects to their imm. The baya by this time was no longer of practical significance and Ab Ysuf does not attempt to maintain even the principle of election. He is aware of only one source of authority: God's choice by which the caliph became a vicegerent of God on earth (see further S. D. Goitein,Attitudes towards government in Islam and Judaism, in Studies in Islamic history and institutions, 203 ff.). By implication he holds that the actual possession of power is the necessary basis for authority and a sufficient justification for its exercise, irrespective of the ruler's personal qualifications. Although Ab Ysuf, who looks upon the caliph as the shepherd of his people, bases the principles of true Islamic government upon the sunna of the Rshidn and of Umar b. Abdal-Azz, and implicitly protests against the prevailing cult of the Sasanian tradition (cf. Gibb, The evolution of government in early Islam, inStudies on the civilization of Islam, 45), he opens the way, by his acceptance of the caliph as the khalfat Allh, to the theory of the ruler as the Shadow of God upon earth, which was later to be transferred to the temporal ruler once the caliph had ceased to be the effective and immediate source of power (cf. A. K. S. Lambton, Quis custodiet custodes, in Studia Islamica v (1956), 125-48). Al-jhiz (d. 255/868-9) [q.v.] approaches the question of the imamate from yet another point of view and bases his argument on the need for an imm on the predatory nature of men and their lack of understanding, an argument frequently put forward later in the works of Islamic philosophers and the writers of mirrors for princes (see further Ch. Pellat, L'imamat dans la doctrine de i, in Stud. Isl., xxv (1961), 23-52). Preoccupied with the feud between the supporters of the Abbsids and their opponents, he raises the question of the duty to resist an impious government. In this, his concern is not with the right to resist badgovernment as such, but simply with the duty to oppose the transgression of the law which was involved by the abandonment of Islamic government by the imm. When this happened al-jhiz held that it was the duty of the imm's subjects to denounce and depose him, though he limits this duty by the possibility of fulfilment (see further Pellat, locc. cit., and also B. Lewis, Islamic concepts of revolution, in Revolution in the Middle East, ed. P. J. Vatikiotis, London 1972, 35 ff.). By the end of the 3rd/9th century the political control of the Abbsid caliph was on the one hand becoming increasingly eroded by his governors, who had usurped his temporal powers, and on the other threatened by movements of politico-religious dissent. This made a restatement of the basis and nature of caliphal authority imperative. One of the first to attempt this was al-Billn (d. 403/1013) [q.v.], who in his exposition of the imamate was 20

mainly concerned to defend the Sunn position against the threat of the Sha (see further A. Abel, Le chapitre sur l'imamat dans le Tamhid d'al-Baqillani, in Le Shi'isme imamite, Paris 1970, 55 ff., and Y. Ibish, The political doctrine of al-Baqillani, Beirut 1966). Al-Mward (d. 450/1058) [q.v.], starting from the premiss that authority was delegated by God to the imm and that he alone could delegate this to others, is primarily concerned to maintain the theoretical validity of the caliph's authority and his delegation of this in spite of the actual usurpation of his power by others. In al-Akmal-sulniyya, he lays down the qualifications of the imm [see IMMA] and discusses the functions of his office, having in mind the limitations imposed upon the caliph by political circumstances. Like various writers before him, al-Mward speaks of the forfeiture of the imamate, without, however, laying down any legal means by which this might be brought about. In his discussion of the formal institutions of government he concentrates mainly upon what constitutes a valid investiture by the caliph of his functionaries, in particular the wazr and the amr. Some two centuries earlier al-jhiz had defined political obligation with regard to the overthrow of an impious imm in terms of possibility. Al-Mward went further. Constrained by necessity and expediency, he limited even the political obligations of the caliph as the executor of the shara by the possibility of fulfilment. (See further H. A. R. Gibb, al-Mawardi's theory of the caliphate). In the 5th/11th and 6th/12th centuries the jurists continued to wrestle with the problem of how to assert the supremacy of the caliph. They were all concerned to a greater or lesser degree with the caliph's mission as the vicegerent of the prophet, and with his duty to defend Islam and to administer the affairs of the community. Among them were Ab Yal (380458/990-1066) Ibnal-Farr [q.v.], Ibn Al (431-513/1040-1119) [q.v.], juwayn, the Imm alaramayn (419-499/1028-1105) [q.v.], and al-Ghazl (450-505/1058-1111) [q.v.]. The last named breaks new ground on the subject of the relationship of caliph and sultan in his Itid al-itid. The caliph remains the symbol of the supremacy of the shara but the sultan is associated with him and recognised as the holder of coercive power (see further L. Binder, alGhazali and Islamic government, in The Muslim world, July 1955, and H. Laoust, La politique de azl, Paris 1970). Ibn jama (639/1241-733/1333) [q.v.], writing after the extinction of the caliphate by the Mongols, broadly speaking transfers to the de facto rulers the constitutional theories worked out by earlier jurists, holding that the seizure of power itself gave authority, while Ibn Taymiyya (661-728/1263-1328) [q.v.], seeking a more radical solution, denied the obligatory nature of the caliphate (see further H. Laoust, Essai sur les doctrines sociales et politiques de Ibn Taimya, Cairo 1939, idem, Le trait du droit publique d'Ibn Taimya, Beirut 1948). (A.K.S. Lambton)
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IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM This term may have any of the following meanings, all carrying the idea of vicarship, when used in writings dealing with or pertaining to certain aspects of Islamic mysticism: He may be the ub or perfect man, al-insn al-kmil [q.v.], around whom the spheres of being evolve, upon whom the Muammadan Reality (al-aamuammadiyya), which is the hidden side (bin) of his own reality in the world, irradiates. This makes the ub the khalfa of the Prophet on the plane of manifestation (hir). In this sense the founders of the aras [q.v.] and their successors, when identified with the ub, are referred to as khulafof the Prophet (see e.g. Muammad Abu 'l-Masin alwuadj, al-Badral-munr al izbal-shdhilal-kabr, Alexandria 1314, 19; Muammad M Abu 'l-Azim, al-uhr al-madr al ulb al-abrr, Cairo 1340, 32; MuammadAbdal-Ram al-Nashshb, Asrr al-aa li-man yasluku al-ara, Cairo 1921, 66 f.).

21

They do not unite al-khilfaal-hira with al-khilfaal-bina, however, as did al-khulaf alrshidn, but held only al-khilfaal-bina (cf. Ubayd Allhli b. Muammadal-usann alanl, Fatal-Ramal-Ramn bi-shar naatikhwn, Cairo 1312, 176; Muammadal-Nr, alNafaat al-hadiyya al wird al-sdtal-amadiyya, Alexandria 1316, 109, 111). This is also referred to as al-khilfa al-kubr (cf. ahr al-Dndir, al-Fat al-mubn fm yata allaa bitiry al-muibbn, Cairo 1306, 118). He may be the successor of the (alleged) founder of a ara or to the deceased leader of a group of mystics, without the connotations attached to the term as mentioned under (1). The term may refer to his immediate successor (see e.g. Ta al-DnAbd alRamn al-Wsi, Tiry al-muibbn f abat khirat al-mashyikh al-rifn, Cairo 1305; 20, Karm al-Dn al-Barmn, Tan rawat al-azhr wa-minyat al-sdt al-abrr, Tunis 1325, 343; al-Nashshb,Asrr, 64 f.) or to the successor to al-khilfa, i.e. to the position of supreme leadership over the ara or group as shaped by its founder or first leader and/or their successors (see e.g. jall Dn al-Karak, Lisnal-tarf bi-l alwal al-sharf SdIbrhmDas, ed. AmadIzz al-Dn halaf Allh, an 1969, 5 f., for al-khilfa al-Birhmiyya, and al-jabart, Adjibal-thr, i, 70, for al-khilfa alWafiyya). Equivalent to al-khilfa in this sense is the term sadjdjda [q.v.]. According to Abd alWahhbal-Sharn, al-Anwr al-udsiyya f marifat awid al-fiyya, Cairo-Beirut 1962, 6, i, 185, preference for succession of a deceased shaykh [q.v.] should be given to the eldest of his disciples. The successor may already have been designated by the ara's leader during his lifetime (on this see e.g. MuammadAbdal-B al-Laknaw, al-Mina al-madaniyya f mukhtrt al-fiyya, Medina 1330, 88 ff.). In addition, the f manuals mention the existence of consensus among the disciples about the successor as a legitimate basis for the assumption of leadership (cf. al-Laknaw, al-Mina, 93). Hereditary patrilineal succession to the leadership position became the rule adopted by many of the f orders. This practice is frowned upon by those belonging to al-Nashibandiyya [q.v.] such as Muammad b. AbdAllh al-hn, alBahdja al-saniyya f db al-ara al-alyya al-hlidiyya al-Nashibandiyya, Cairo 1319, 33, and it is discarded as Sha custom by authors belonging to al-Shdhiliyya [q.v.], such as Al SlimAmmr, Abu 'l-asanal-Shdhil, Cairo 1951, 62, i, 31. He may be a murd [q.v.] who, after having reached a certain stage of mystical perfection as defined by the teachings of the ara to which he belongs, is granted permission by his spiritual master to initiate novices and to guide them on the mystical path. This includes permission to transmit the ara's prayers, to lead aras [q.v.] and to grant the status of khalfa to his own disciples in turn. To this effect a socalled idjza (Pers./T. idjzatnma/icazetname) [q.v.] is granted to him by his spiritual master, possibly during a festive gathering of the ara's members, when the idjza is read (cf. P. Kahle, Zur Organisation der Derwischorden in Egypten, in Isl., vi (1916), 157). The actual investiture may consist in the pronounciation of a special oath-formula, themubyaat al-khilfa (cf. al-Laknaw, al-Mina, 89) which differs from the common ahd formula [q.v.]. An idjza of this type may be defined as the deed of spiritual succession granted to a murd. It is generally referred to as idjzat alkhilfa (Pers./T. khilfatnma, hilafetname), or just khilfa. This document generally contains a more or less elaborate exposition of rights and obligations of its recipient and mentions the silsila [q.v.], i.e. the chain of initiation and transmission of mystical knowledge also known as sanad [q.v.] al-khilfa (cf. Amad b. Muammad alashshsh, al-Sim al-madjd f shan al-baya wa 'l-dhikr wa taln wa-salsil al-ar, aydarbd 1327, 67 ff.). Provided with the seal of its purveyor, who must have been similarly authorised by his own spiritual master, and sometimes endorsed by a number of witnesses, who may also be khalfas (cf. Muammad b. Mubrak Alaw Kirmn (Amr hurd),Siyar al-awliy, Dihl 1302, 179) it constitutes the khalfa's primary source of legitimation as a teacher of the ara. The idjzat al-khilfa need not necessarily be restricted to the permission to transmit mystical knowledge, but may 22

also contain permission to teach and transmit texts of a different nature. It can also contain permission to initiate into and to teach the methods of more than one ara (cf. Muammad b. Sulaymn al-anaf Baghdd, al-ada al-nadiyya f db al-ara al-Nashibandiyya wa 'l-bahdja al-hlidiyya, Cairo n.d., 45). The fact that somebody has been granted the idjzat al-khilfa means only that he possesses the prerequisites for initiating and guiding disciples of his own, independent of his spiritual master. He is not under the obligation to do so, and he may very well refrain from setting himself up independently until after his master's death (cf. e.g. Amr hurd, Siyar al-awliy, 169, and for present-day practice, Syed Naguib al-Attas, Some aspects of Sufism as understood and practised among the Malays, Singapore, Malaysian Sociological Research Institute, 1963, 37). He may also choose not to set himself up independently but to accept the spiritual leadership of another khalfa as his master's legitimate successor. In this case a renewal of the ahd may take place with the latter (see e.g. Mamd b. Aff al-Dn al-Waf, Mahid al-ta f radd al-munkirn al ahl alar, Cairo 1960 (various editions), 145). According to the tenets of some aras, a shaykh has the obligation to grant the idjzat al-khilfa to a disciple who has attained perfection (cf. al-hn, al-Bahdjat al-saniyya, 43). Other aras, however, like alishtiyya [q.v.], and a halwatiyya [q.v.] branch like al-Sharwiyya, do not seem to have known such a rule, and some of the principal shaykhs of these orders refused to grant an idjzat khilfa to any of their disciples (cf. amdalandar, hayr al-madjlis, ed. K. A. Nizami, Aligarh, n.d., 287 f. On the last regular khalfa of al-Sharwiyya, see Muammad Abduh al-idjdj, Min alm sad, Cairo 1969, 63 ff. His idjza was edited by Amad al-hir, Cairo 1328). Formal registration of the permission to initiate and the transmission of mystical knowledge in an idjza seems to be a relatively late development (cf. AbdAllh b. al-SayyidAlaw b. asan al-As, uhr al-ai f bayn al-arik, n.p. [Bombay] 1312, 26 f.), coinciding with the period in which Islamic mysticism became institutionalised in gradually expanding formal organisations, the arias, during and after the 8th/14th century. 4. He may be the deputy of the head of an order in a particular area. The precondition for assignment to such a position is formal investiture as khalfa and hence possession of an idjzat khilfa, which is crucial for the legitimation of any claims for the office or position of local deputy. Appointment as khalfa in this sense may be to an already existing group of murds, in succession to a deceased or suspended predecessor (cf. Muammadal-Bakhsh alalab, Shamsal-mafkhir. hayl li-Kitb alid al-djawhir, Cairo 1908, 27; Amr hurd, Siyar alawliy, 197; Abd al-amad Zayn al-Dn, al-jawhir al-saniyya wa 'l-karmt al-amadiyya, Cairo 1277, 55), in charge of a particular tekke [q.v.] or zwiya [q.v.] (see e.g. al-Bakhsh, Shams almafkhir, 64) or, in a particular area where the ara has no adherents, in order to proselytise (see e.g. Muammad Abu 'l-Hud al-Sayyd, Tanwr al-abr f abat al-sda al-Rifiyya alakhyr, Cairo 1306, 110; MuammadHshim Badakhshn, Zubdat al-mamt, Lucknow 1885, 70-1, 347, 382; Baghdd, al-ada al-nadiyya, 85). The degree to which thesekhalfas could and did act independently of the incumbent(s) of a position of superior authority within the ara differs considerably among the variousaras over time and in diverse areas. The position of the office of khalfa may differ within the organisational hierarchies of the orders. Thus within the Central African diriyya branch, having its centre at Ujiji (Tanzania), khalfas are inferior to and nominated by a category of officials known as maakida(sing. akida), (cf. J. M. Cuoq, Les Musulmans en Afrique, Paris 1975, 325). Within a ara such as al-Amadiyya al-Marzia, the khulaf of its semi-autonomous sub-sections (buyt) rank under the shaykh of the bayt, who is a khalfa himself in the sense mentioned in section 3 above (cf. MuammadasanShams Dn,Rislaal-Amadiyya al-Thniyya, Cairo 1376, 59). In the Maghrib and West Africa, the local deputy of the head of an order is generally referred to asmuaddam [q.v.]. This is also the case within a number of Shdhiliyya orders in the Middle East and Egypt, e.g. al-Yashruiyya (cf. J. van Ess, Libanesische Miszellen 6, Die Yaruya, in WI xvi (1975), 1-103, passim), and a now defunct Egyptian branch of Niriyya. Within the latter ara, the muaddams (khalfas) ranked under the so-called nyibs, who as 23

provincial deputies of the ara's leader held jurisdiction over them (cf. Ibrhmhall, alMardji, Cairo 1934, 40 f.). Frequently, the khilfa in a particular area was inherited within the family and developed into a virtually autonomous power position which allowed its incumbents to pay only nominal allegiance to the head or principal leader of their ara. In many cases, this constituted the prelude to the formation of an independent branch or an entirely new ara. The position of the khalfa as murshid [q.v.] is to all intents and purposes the same as the position of the head of a ara. Therefore, the rules for spiritual leadership, i.e. the pre-conditions which allow one to assume the position of shaykh, found in f manuals, also apply to the position of khalfa. It is only in relatively late 19th and 20th century manuals of the Egyptian orders, which became integrated parts of a highly developed bureaucratic organisation, that sets of rules pertaining to the office of khalfa may be found. Within this organisation a limited number ofkhalfas in various areas received additional confirmation as local deputies of the heads of their orders from the head of Bakriyya [q.v.], and formed a special category of dignitaries within the administration. They held jurisdiction over those khalfas who could only claim this status by virtue of the idjzat al-khilfa in their possession. Within some of the Egyptian orders, a khalfa may continue to hold some degrees of authority over either the khulafaordained by him or over those within a particular area. In this case, he is referred to by the term khalfat al-khulaf. In Persia under the afawids [q.v.] a similarly-named office existed, which was defined by V. Minorsky as a special secretariat for f affairs. The incumbent to this office was regarded as the vicar of the king, on whose behalf he acted and appointed khalfas in the provinces (cf. Minorsky, Tadhkirat al-mulk. A manual of afawid administration, London 1943, 55, 125 ff.). A possibly identical office of this name was also known in another Sh ara, the Nimatullhiyya [q.v.] (cf. R. M. Savory, The office of khalfat al-khulaf under the afawids, in JAOS, lxxxv (1965), 497). He may be the pre-eminent representative and principal propagator of a ara in a particular area acting independently, i.e. duly authorised as mentioned in section 3 above but not paying allegiance to any of the ara's leaders elsewhere. It is this meaning which can be most safely adduced whenever the term khalfa is mentioned in conjunction with the name of a ara or of a ara founder, when the latter is not a contemporary of the khalfamentioned and when there is no evidence of the existence of this ara as an organisation. It should be interpreted as such in passages in a variety of texts in Arabic, Persian and Turkish as diverse as the following ones in which the relevant passage is found on the pages indicated: MuammadayfAllh aljaal, Kitbal-abat f khu al-awliya wa 'l-lin wa 'l-ulam wa 'l-shuar f 'lSdn, Cairo 1930, 40; al-jabart, Adjibal-thr, i, 210; MamdShukral-ls, alMisk al-adhfar, Baghdd 1930, 141; Tzuk-i jahngr, ed. Sayyid Amadhn, Ghazipur 1864, 211; Ewliy elebi, Seyatnme, Istanbul 1938, x, 237. Within al- Bektshiyya [q.v.] it refers to a rank of spiritual achievement which could be attained only by those who had been ordained as bb. It is marked by the donation of the idjzat al-khilfa as mentioned in section 3 above and was the pre-condition for investiture as dede. The latter degree entailed, among other rights, the right to participate in the elections of a dede bb. Investiture as dede entailed the right to appoint heads (bbs) of tekkes. In addition, the term khalfa may denote the representative of the head of the Sansiyya order who has been sent on a mission to a zwiya (cf. H. Duveyrier, La confrrie musulmane de Sidi Mohammed Ben Al es-Senos et son domaine gographique, Rome 1918, with notes by C. A. Nallino, 11, n. 1), the head of a holy lineage among the Mourides in Senegal (cf. D. B. Cruise O'Brien, The Mourides of Senegal. The political and economic organization of an Islamic brotherhood, Oxford 1971, 111), and in Turkey prior to 1925, the vicar of the head of a tekke, as reported by J. P. Brown, The darvishes or oriental spiritualism, London repr. 1968, 114. It may take a similar meaning in the Maghrib, where the term may denote the vicar of the head of a zwiya (cf. V. 24

Crapanzano, The amadsha, Berkeley and Los Angeles 1973, 81 f.). In MamlkEgypt, the offices of the custodians of the shrines of Amad al-Badaw and IbrhmDas [qq.v.] became detached from the leadership positions of the aras founded by or named after these saints. Ever since, the incumbent to either of these two offices has been known as khalfat al-mam, while the head of the Birhmiyya ara and the heads of the various Amadiyya branches are referred to askhalfat IbrhmDas and khulaf Amadal-Badaw respectively (cf. Tarr an wafat al-khilfa bi 'l-mam al-amad, n.p. [Cairo], n.d. [approx. 1898], and al-Karak, Lisnaltarf, 5 f.). (F. de Jong)
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IN THE SUDANESE MAHDIYYA The term had various significances during the Sudanese Mahdiyya (1881-98). The originator of the Mahdist movement, MuammadAmad b. AbdAllh, as a leading member of the Sammniyya ara, was commissioned in 1292/1875-6 to appoint khalfas by MuammadSharfNr al-Dim, the head of this ara in the Egyptian Sudan: one letter of appointment is extant (see MuammadIbrhmAb Salm, al-Murshid il wathi Mahd, [Khartum] 1969, no. 1). (2) After his public manifestation as Mahd (1 Shabn 1298/29 June 1881), MuammadAmad appears to have conferred the title of khalfa on at least some of those to whom he delegated authority to administer the baya: two examples have been calendared by Ab Salm, al-Murshid, nos. 23, 62. (3) This use of the term khalfa for local Mahdist leaders fell into disuse, and the title became restricted to three of the Mahd's principal companions, Abd Allh b. Muammad al-Taish [q.v.], Al b. Muammad il (a pious man of the tribe of Dighaym from the White Nile), and MuammadSharf b. mid (the Mahd's son-in-law). The Mahdiyya was represented as an eschatological drama, reviving the primitive umma in the end-time. In this drama, the Mahd was the Successor of the Apostle of God (halfat RaslAllh), and his three companions the Successors respectively of Ab Bakr (halfat al-idd), Umar (halfat al-Fr), and Al (halfat al-arrr). The date of this development is uncertain; perhaps before the Mahd left Ab (Raman 1298/August 1881) or during the following months, while he was at adr (cf. R. C. [von] Slatin,Fire and sword in the Sudan, London 1896, 138; F. R. Wingate, Ten years captivity in the Mahdi's camp 1882-1892, London 1892, 14). In a letter dated 5 Radjab 1300/12 May 1883, the Mahd informed MuammadMahd al-Sans that he had been designated by the Prophet as the Successor of Uthmn, but al-Sans ignored this approach. The letter is calendared in Ab Salm, al-Murshd, no. 113; there is a good text in Manshrt ... MuammadMahd b. AbdAllh, ii, 70-3 (Khartum 1963, photographic reproduction of corpus lithographed during the Mahdiyya). The pre-eminence of Abd Allh b. Muammad was stressed in a proclamation of the Mahd (17 Rab I 1300/26 January 1883), where he is styled khalfat al-khulaf (calendared in Ab Salm, al-Murshid, no. 78; text in Manshrt, i, 30-2). The restriction of the title khalfa, and the special status of Abd Allh b. Muammad, aroused resent- ment. One of the Mahd's most influential supporters, al-Manna Isml, a holy man of Kordofn, fell from grace and was ultimately executed after claiming the khilfa (see Ab Salm, al-Murshid, no. 112, dated after 4 Radjab 1300/11 May 1883; A. R. C. Bolton, El Menna Ismail: Fiki and Emir in Kordofan, in Sudan Notes and Records, xvii/2, 1934, 229-41). Another pretender to the khilfa, Fakhr al-Dnasan, was reproved in two letters from the Mahd (calendared in Ab Salm, al-Murshid, nos. 351, 352, dated 2-4 Shawwl 1301/26-28 July 1884: texts in Ab Salm (ed.), Manshrt al-Mahdiyya, n.p., 1969, 76-9). 25

(4) When on the Mahd's death, Abd Allh b. Muammad succeeded him as head of the Mahdist state, the analogy to Ab Bakr's succession to the Prophet was emphasized in a proclamation by the two junior khalfas and the Mahd's kin (text in Ab Salm (ed.), Manshrt al-Mahdiyya, 84-9, dated 8 Raman 1302/22 June 1885). From this time, AbdAllh assumed the new style of khalfat Mahd, the Successor of the Mahd, which was not used as a formal title by his two colleagues. His reign saw the appearance in Dr Fr [q.v.] of another pretender the holy man called Ab jummayza, who claimed the vacantkhilfa of Uthmn, but who died about the beginning of 1889. (P.M. Holt)
^

Bibliography
( I ) The history of the institution of the caliphate Sir Thomas W. Arnold, The Caliphate, Oxford 1924 and 2nd edn. 1965 (completed for the modern period by S. Haim), remains the basic work, to be completed, for the older period, by E. Tyan, Institutions du droit public musulman, i, Le califat, Paris 1954, ii, Califat et sultanat, 1957. On special aspects, see M. A. Shaban, Islamic history, A.D. 600-750 (A.H. 132), Cambridge 1971 W. Montgomery Watt, God's caliph. Qur'anic interpretation and Umayyad claims, in Iran and Islam (ed. C. E. Bosworth), Edinburgh 1971, 565- 74 D. S. Margoliouth, The sense of the title Khalifah, in A volume of oriental studies presented to E. G. Browne, ed. T. W. Arnold and R. A. Nicholson, Cambridge 1922 Rudi Paret, Signification coranique de alfa et d'autres drivs de la racine alafa, in St. Isl. xxxi, (1970), 211-17 idem, alfat Allah - Vicarius Dei, in Mlanges d'islamologie (Armand Abel), Leiden 1974, 224-32 D. Sourdel, Le vizirat abbside, Damascus 1959-60. H. Siddiqui, Caliphate and sultanate in medieval Persia, Karachi 1969 H. Busse, Chalif and Grossknig, Beirut 1969 G. Makdisi, Ibn Aql et la rsurgence de l'Islam traditionaliste au XI sicle, Damascus 1963
e

idem, Les rapports entre calife et suln l'poque saljqide, in IJMES, vi (1975), 228-36 H. Mason, Two statesmen of mediaeval Islam, vizir Ibn Hubayra, caliph an-Nir li-Dn Allh, The Hague-Paris 1972 Hartmann, La conception gouvernementale du calife an-Nir li-Dn Allh, in Orientalia Suecana, xxii (1973), 52-61 idem, An-Nir li-Dn Allh, Berlin 1975, esp. 109-21 van Arendonk, Les dbuts de l'imamat zaidite au Ymen, Fr. tr., Leiden 1960 R. Strothmann, Das Staatsrecht der Zaiditen, Strasbourg 1912. R. Hartmann, Zur Vorgeschichte des abbsidischen Schein-Chalifats von Cairo, in Abh. des deutschen Ak. der Wiss. zu Berlin, phil.-hist. Klasse, 1947, No. 9, Berlin 1950, 3-10 Ayalon, Studies on the transfer of the Abbsid caliphate from Bagdd to Cairo, in Arabica, vii, (1960), 41-59. H. Inalck, The Ottoman empire, the classical age 1300-1600, London 1973 H. A. R. Gibb and Bowen, Islamic society and the West, ii/1, Oxford 1950 Lvi-Provenal, Hist. Esp. mus., iii, passim

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M. van Berchem, Titres califiens d'Occident, in JA (1907/1), 245-335 R. Brunschvig, La Berbrie orientale sous les afides, i, Paris 1940, esp. 40. ( II ) In political theory Additional Bibliography: C. H. Becker, Islamstudien, i W. Barthold, Khalif i sultan, in Mir Islama, i, 203 ff., 345 ff. (abridged German tr. in Isl., vi (1915), 350 ff. abridged English tr. by N. S. Doniach in IQ (1963), 117-135) Th. W. Juynboll, Handbuch des islamischen Gesetzes, Leiden 1910 T. W. Arnold, The caliphate, London 1924 Tyan, Institutions du droit public musulman, Paris 1956, ii H. A. R. Gibb, The heritage of Islam in the modern world (i), in International Journal of Middle Eastern studies, 1 (1970), 3-18 W. M. Watt, God's caliph: Qurnic interpretations and Umayyad claims, in Iran and Islam, in memory of the late Vladimir Minorsky, ed. C. E. Bosworth, Edinburgh 1971, 565-74. For the works of the Muslim theorists mentioned above see under the relevant articles. ( III ) In Islamic mysticism In addition to the references in the text, see J. S. Trimingham, The Sufi orders in Islam, Oxford 1971, 174 ff., and idem, Islam in the Sudan, Oxford 1949, 202 ff., which also gives an abbreviated English text of an idjzat khilfa. On the appointment of khalfas and on the khilfat nmas issued by a 7th/13th century isht mystic, see K. A. Nizami, The life and times of Shaikh Faridu'd Dn Ganj-i-Shakar, Aligarh 1955, 92 ff., and idem, Some aspects of religion and politics in India during the thirteenth century, Bombay 1961, 214 ff. and also 349-52 for the texts of two khilfatnmas drawn from Amr hurd's Siyar al-awliy. The text of a isht idjza translated from the Urdu may be found in G. R. Smith, A Muslim saint in South Africa, in African Studies, xxviii/4 (1969), 267-8, 277 f. For the text of a diriyyaidjza, as well as for the text of an idjza of a mixed nature (i.e. ilm and taawwuf), in a French translation, see A. Abel, Les musulmans noirs du Maniema, in Corr. d'Orient, iv (Brussels 1960), 22 and 151 ff. A translation of a late 19th century Amadiyyaidjza, together with a discussion of its contents and significance, may be found in E. Kmmerer, Die Amadya. Beitrge zur Kenntnis eines gyptischen Derwischordens, Diss. Tbingen 1953 (unpublished). On the rank of khalfa (T. halife) in al-Bektshiyya, see in addition to J. K. Birge, The Bektashi order of dervishes, London 1937, 165 f., where this is dealt with somewhat defectively, Amad Sirr Dede Bb, nn al-ara al-Bektshiyya, Cairo 1959, 5. For details about the office of khalfa in various aras in Egypt in the 19th and 20th century, and concerning the contents and significance of idjzas, see F. De Jong, The f orders in post-Ottoman Egypt (forthcoming), in particular chs. iii and x. Examples of f manuals and other texts defining the relationship between the shaykh of a ara and his khulaf as mentioned in section 4 above are: MuammadUthmn al-Mrghan, al-Zuhr al-fia f u al-ar al-dia, Bl 1316, 9 f. idem, Minwl al-ara al-hira al-nrniyya, in al-Rasil al-Mrghaniyya, Cairo 1939, 108 ff. Abd Salm al-alwn, Sra al-alliyya, Manra 1339, 97 ff. Muammad liMusin (ed.), Murshid al-slikn il ar al-muhtadn, Cairo 1927, 20 ff. AmadAbd al-Munim Abd Salm al-alwn, al-ub al-rabbn SdAbd Salm al-alawn, batuhu, nashatuhu, ilmuhu, aratuhu, atharuhu f 'l-umma al-islmiyya, Cairo 1970, 22 ff. Salmaasanal-R, nn arat al-sda al-midiyya al-Shdhiliyya, Cairo 1965 (revised ed.), 9 ff. An English translation of these latter regulations is found as an appendix to M.

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Gilsenan, Saint and Sufi in modern Egypt, Oxford 1973. On the position of the khulaf in almidiyya al-Shdhiliyya, a ara with which this study mainly deals, see in particular 82 ff. ( IV ) In the Sudanese Mahdiyya P. M. Holt, The Mahdist state in the Sudan, 1881-1898 , Oxford 1970, 119-25.
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C ITATION : Sourdel, D.; Lambton, A.K.S.; Jong, F. de; Holt, P.M. "halfa." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; , Th. Bianquis; , C.E. Bosworth; , E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_COM-0486>

Abbsids (Banu 'l-Abbs)

, the dynasty of the Caliphs from 132/750 to 656/1258. The dynasty takes its name from its ancestor, al-Abbs b. Abd al-Mualib b. Hshim, the uncle of the Prophet. The story of the origins and nature of the movement that overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and established the Abbsid dynasty in its place was for long known only in the much-revised version put about when the dynasty had already attained power, and, with it, respectability. A more critical version was proposed by G. van Vloten (De opkomst der Abbasiden in Chorasan, Leiden 1890, and Recherches sur la domination arabe, le chiitisme et les croyances messianiques sous le califat des Omayyades, Amsterdam 1894), and developed by J. Wellhausen (in the final chapter of his Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz, Berlin 1902; English transl., Calcutta 1927). His findings, with some modifications, have been confirmed by subsequent research, and more especially by the new information that has come to light in recent years on the early history of the Sha sects, notably in the Fira al-Sha of al-Nawbakht (ed. H. Ritter, Istanbul 1931). They were to a remarkable degree anticipated by Ibn haldn in his history. The Abbsid party that won power from the Umayyads was known as Hshimiyya. According to the later chronicles, this name referred to Hshm, the common ancestor of al-Abbs, Al and the Prophet, and it has been taken as asserting a claim to the succession based on kinship with the Prophet. In fact the name was of a quite different significance, and reveals very clearly the true origins of the Abbsid party. During the Umayyad period the large number of Shite and pro-Shite sects and parties that flourished in different parts of the Empire, but especially in Southern Ir, may be broadly divided into two main groups. One of them followed the pretenders of the line of Fima, and was, generally speaking, moderate, differing from the dominant faith chiefly by its support, on legitimist grounds, for the political claims of the house of Al. The other first appeared in the revolt of al-Mukhtr, who rose in 66/685 in the name of Muammad, a son of Al by a anaf woman. For the next sixty or seventy years the claims of Muammad b. al-anafiyya and his successors were advanced by a series of sects of a more extreme character, deriving their main support from the resentful and imperfectly Islamised mawl and embodying in their teachings many ideas brought by these converts from their previous religions. After the death of Muammad b. alanafiyya in 81/700-1, his followers split into three main groups, one of which followed his son Ab Hshim Abd Allh [q.v.], and was known after him as Hshimiyya. On the death of Ab Hshim without issue in 98/716, his followers again split into several groups, one of which maintained that Ab Hshim had bequeathed the Imamate to Muammad b. Al b. Abd Allh just before he died in the house of Muammad b. Al's father in Palestine. This group continued to be known as Hshimiyya, and also as R wandiyya (cf. S. Moscati, Il testamento di Ab Haim, RSO 1952, 28 ff.). It may be noted in passing that the doctrine that the Imamate

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can be bequeathed or transferred by the Imm to another person is by no means infrequent in early Shism (see B. Lewis, The origins of Ismlism, Cambridge 1940, 25 ff. and 44 ff.). Whether or not the story of the bequest of Ab Hshim is, as has been suggested, fictitious, the main fact remains clear: that Muammad b. Al took over the claims of Ab Hshim, and, with them, the sect and propaganda organisation of the Hshimiyya, which he then proceeded to transform into the instrument of the Abbsid party. He seems to have lost little time in using it. The accounts given by the historians of the first Abbsid missions are incomplete and in part contradictory. Broadly, they indicate that intensive propaganda began from about 100/718. From headquarters in Kfa, the Hshimiyya sent emissaries to hursn, one of whom, hidsh, won considerable success, but was executed in 118/736 after prematurely showing his hand. The moderate Sha, whose support Muammad b. Al was still seeking, were alienated by the extreme doctrines taught by hidsh, and after his death Muammad deemed it advisable to disavow him and place his own organisation in hursn under the control of the Shite chief missionary, Sulaymn b. Kathr [q.v.]. A period of inactivity followed, during which Muammad died in 125/743. His son Ibrhm [q.v.] succeeded to his claims and was accepted by the followers in hursn, including Sulaymn b. Kathr. With Ibrhm a new phase of activity began. In 128/745-6 Ibrhm sent his mawlAb Muslim [q.v.] as his personal representative to hursn. The sources differ on the origin of Ab Muslim, but agree that he was a Persian, and a freedman of Ibrhm. The use of thekunya was at that time a privilege rarely enjoyed by non-Arabs, and its employment by Persian emissaries of the Abbsids like Ab Muslim, his lieutenant Ab jahm, and his rival Ab Salama al-halll is not without significance. Considered in the light of the statements in some sources that Ab Muslim claimed or was granted membership of the Abbsid house, it may well be an example of the practice, common among the extreme Sha, of granting to favoured supporters adoptive membership of the house of the Prophet, and thus, incidentally as it were, of the Arab nation. A modified form of this method of adoption later became part of the dynastic policy of the Abbsid caliphs (see ABN). Ab Muslim's mission to hursn achieved a rapid and resounding success. While his main appeal was to the Persian mawl, he also found important support among the Yemenite Arabs, and is said to have won over many of the Zoroastrian and Buddhist dihns, some of whom were now converted to Islam for the first time. Opinions differ as to the nature of Ab Muslim's teachings. Two things are clear howeverthat he was a loyal agent of the Hshimiyya, and that they were a part of the extremist wing of the Sha. It seems likely therefore that the doctrines he taught were of the kind current among the extreme Sha probably including elements of Iranian origin, and thus the more acceptable to those whom he addressed. The hoisting of the black flags, later accepted as the emblem of the house of Abbs, had at this stage a messianic significance. Black flags were among the signs and portents listed in the eschatological prophecies current at the time, and had been used as emblems of religious revolt by earlier rebels against the Umayyads. Their use by Ab Muslim was thus an appeal to messianic expectations. His activities aroused some opposition among the more moderate Arab Sha, led by Sulaymn b. Kathr, but a tactical withdrawal of Ab Muslim from hursn was sufficient to demonstrate that no effective movement was possible without him and his policies, and led to his return as undisputed leader of the mission. By Raman 129/May-June 747 he was ready to show his hand. The time and the place were auspicious. The moderate Sha and the hawridj, the two most important opposition movements against the Umayyads, had both shot their bolt the former in the risings of 122/740 and 126/744, the latter in the rebellion of 127/745. These served the double purpose of weakening the Umayyad regime and, by their failure, eliminating possible rivals to the Hshim succession. Ir, the main centre of previous anti-Umayyad movements, was exhausted, and was moreover subject to special Umayyad surveillance. In concentrating their attention on hursn, the Abbsids were breaking new grounds. Their choice was good. An active and warlike Persian population, imbued with the religious and military traditions of the frontier, was deeply resentful of the inequalities imposed by Umayyad rule. The Arab 29

army and settlers, half Persianized by long residence, were sharply divided among themselves, and even during the triumphal progress of Ab Muslim diverted their own energies and those of the Umayyad governor, Nar b. Sayyr [q.v.], to Arab inter-tribal strife. Soon Ab Muslim was able to take Marw, and then, ably seconded by his general aaba [q.v.], an Arab of the tribe of ayy, seized all hursn from the crumbling Umayyad power. From hursn the Abbsid forces advanced to Rayy and then, after defeating a relieving Umayyad army from Kirmn, captured Nihwand. The way was now open to Ira. In 132/749 the Abbsid army crossed the Euphrates some 30 or 40 miles north of Kfa, and engaged and defeated another Umayyad army led by Ibn Hubayra [q.v.]. aaba fell on the field of battle, but his son, al- asan b. aaba, took command, and following up the victory, took possession of the city of Kfa. Ibrhm al-Imm had fallen into the hands of the Caliph Marwn in 130/748, and died shortly after. It was therefore his brother, Abu 'l-Abbs [q.v.] who was hailed as Caliph by the Hshim troops in Kfa in 132/749, with the title al-Saff. The accession of the first Abbsid Caliph was accompanied by the first breach with the revolutionaries, when the missionary Ab Salama [q.v.] was put to death in obscure circumstances, allegedly for attempting to bring about the replacement of the Abbsids by the Alids. Ab Muslim undertook his removal, perhaps in return for Abbsid acquiescence in the death of Sulaymn b. Kathr. Meanwhile another Abbsid army, led by Ab Awn, advanced from Nihwand towards Mesopotamia. In 131/749, in the neighbourhood of Shahrazr, east of the Lesser Zb river, he inflicted a crushing defeat on an Umayyad army led by AbdAllh, the son of the caliphMarwn. Marwn now himself took the field, and marched across the Tigris towards the Greater Zb river, to engage the army of Ab Awn. The latter had meanwhile handed over his command to AbdAllh, the uncle of al-Saff, who had arrived from Kfa with considerable reinforcements. The battle of the Greater Zb, in 132/750, sealed the fate of the Umayyad Caliphate. The defeated Mar- wn fled to Syria, where he tried in vain to organize further resistance. The victorious Abbsid troops advanced through arrn, the residence of Marwn, into Syria, occupied Damascus, and then pursued Marwn into Egypt, where he was killed and his head sent to al-Saff in Kfa. The authority of the new Abbsidcaliph was now established all over the Middle East. Much has been written about the historical significance of the Abbsid revolution, which historians have rightly seen to be something more than a mere change of dynasty. Many nineteenth century orientalists, unduly influenced by the racial theories of Gobineau and others, saw in the struggle a conflict between the Aryanism of Iran and the Semitism of Arabia, ending in a victory for the Persians over the Arabs, the destruction of what Wellhausen called the Arab Kingdom of the Umayyads, and the establishment of a new Iranian Empire under a cloak of Persianized Islam. There is at first sight much to support this view: the undoubted role of the Persians in the revolution itself, the prominent place of Persian ministers and courtiers in the new regime, the strong Persian elements in Abbsid government and culture. It is not surprising to find some statements to the same effect in the Arabic sources (Cf. al-Masd,Murdj, viii, 292; al-ji, al-Bayn wa 'l-Tabyn, iii, 181 and 206; etc.). More recent writers have however made important modifications in the theories both of Persian victory and of Arab defeat. Shism, for long regarded as an expression of the Iranian national consciousness, was of Arab origin, and had its main centre among the mixed Arab, Aramaean and Persian population of southern Ir. It was taken to Persia by Arabs, and remained strongest in areas of Arab settlement like umm. The revolt of Ab Muslim was directed against Umayyad and Syrian rather than Arab rule as such, and won the support of many Arabs, especially among the Yemenites. There were many Arabs even among its leaders, including the redoubtable general aaba. Though racial antagonisms no doubt played their part in the movement, and though Persians were prominent among the victors, they nevertheless served an Arab dynasty, and, as the fate of Ab Muslim, Ab Salama and the Barmakids shows, received short shrift if they fell foul of their masters. Many high offices under the state were at first reserved to Arabs, Arabic was still the sole official language, Arabian land remained fiscally privileged, and the doctrine of 30

Arab superiority remained strong enough, on the one hand, to induce Persians to provide themselves with fabricated Arab pedigrees, on the other to provoke the nationalist reaction of the Shubiyya [q.v.]. What the Arabs had lost was the exclusive right to the fruits of power. Persians as well as Arabs came to the Abbsid court, and the favour of the ruler, often expressed in the form of adoption into the Royal household, rather than pure Arab descent, came to be the passport to power and prestige. If a term must be set to the Arab Kingdom, it must be sought in the gradual cessation of the allowances and pensions formerly paid as of right to the Arab warriors and their families, and in the rise to power of the Turkish guards from the time of al-Mutaim. The real significance of the Abbsid victory must be sought in the facts of the change that followed it, rather than in dubiously documented hypotheses on the movement that produced it. The first and most obvious change was the transfer of the centre of gravity from Syria to Ir, the traditional centre of the great cosmopolitan Empires of the ancient Middle East, and of the civilisation to which Toynbee has given the name Syriac. The first Abbsid caliphal-Saff set up his capital in the small town of Hshimiyya, which he built on the east bank of the Euphrates near Kfa. Later he transferred the capital to al-Anbr. It was his brother and successor, Manr, in many ways the real founder of the Abbsid Caliphate, who established the permanent capital of the Empire in a new city on the west bank of the Tigris, near the ruins of Ctesiphon and at the intersection of several trade-routes. Its official name was Madnatal-Salm, but it is usually known by the name of the small town that previously occupied the site Baghdd. From this city or its neighbourhood the Abbsid dynasty first ruled, and later reigned, as heads of the greater part of the Islamic world for five centuries. The period of their sovereignty, covering the great epoch of classical Islamic civilisation, may be conveniently considered in two parts. The first, from 132/750 to 334/945, saw the gradual decline of the authority of the caliphs and the rise of military leaders ruling through their troops. During the second, from ca. 334/945 to 656/1258, the caliphs, with one exception, retained a purely nominal suzerainty, while real power, even in Baghdd itself, was exercised by dynasties of secular sovereigns. The main events of these two periods will be treated under the names of the various caliphs, dynasties, places, etc. Here only the broad outline of events will be given, and an attempt made to describe the main characteristics of each period.
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132/750334/945 The Abbsid Caliphate in the days following its establishment must have seemed very insecure to contemporary eyes. Rebels rose against it on every side and for a long time every new caliph had to face risings in and around even the metropolitan province of Ir. In Syria, Arab supporters of the deposed Umayyads gave trouble, and found encouragement in the growing legend of the Sufyn, a messianic figure of the house of Umayya who competed with the Alid pretenders for the support of the discontented. The Alids themselves, temporarily disorganised by the frustration of their hopes, and kept under close surveillance, were for a time in eclipse, but soon reappeared as the most dangerous and determined opponents of Abbsid rule. Even the hawridj remained an active, if minor, opposition force. Nor were the ostensible supporters of the dynasty wholly reliable. In the prevailing atmosphere of mistrust, only members of the Abbsid family were appointed to the highest positionsbut when Abu 'l-Abbs al-Saff died and his brother Ab jafar succeeded as Caliph with the title Manr, their uncle, Abd Allh b. Al, commanding the troops and raiders on the Byzantine frontier, revolted and proclaimed himself caliph, and this serious threat was averted thanks in the main to Ab Muslim. There remained the problem of Ab Muslim himself and the Hshimiyya. The Abbsids, like others before and after them who had come to power on the crest of a revolutionary movement, soon found themselves faced with a

31

conflict between the tenets and objectives of the movement on the one hand and the needs of government and Empire on the other. The Abbsids chose continuity and orthodoxy, and had to face the angry disappointment of some of their followers. Ab Salama had already been destroyed. Ab Muslim himself was put to death as soon as Manrfelt strong enough to dispense with his uncomfortable presence. These steps, and the suppression of the more consistent wing of the Rwandiyya [q.v.], alienated the extremist following of the Abbsids, some of whom found an outlet in a series of religio-political revolts in Irn, while others later joined the ranks of the Ismls, the extremist wing of the FimidSha that grew up in the course of the 2nd/8th and 3rd/9th centuries. At the same time, however, the changes reassured the orthodox, thus helping Manr to meet the dangers of rebellion and foreign war, and during his long and brilliant reign, to lay the foundations of Abbsid government. In this task, and especially in the elaboration of the centralised administrative structure, Manr was ably seconded by a family that was to play a vital role during the first half century of Abbsid rule. The Barmakids [q.v.] are usually described as Persians, but they were of a very different kind from the hursnian rebels who followed Ab Muslim. Their religion before conversion to Islam was neither Zoroastrianism nor any of its heresies, but Buddhism, and they belonged to the aristocratic, landowning priesthood of the Central Asian city of Balkh, an ancient capital whose imperial and commercial traditions provided a fund of experience to the ruling class of its citizens. It was after the foundation of Baghdd that hlid al-Barmak appeared as the righthand man of Manr, and thereafter he and his descendants developed and directed the administration of the Empire, until the dramatic and still unexplained fall of the Barmakids from power under Hrn al-Rashd in 187/803. With the transfer of the centre of the Empire to the East, the destruction of the Arab aristocratic monopoly of high office, and the firm establishment in power of the Barmakids, Persian influences became stronger and stronger. Sasanid Persian models were followed in the court and the government, and Persians began to play an increasingly important part in both political and cultural life. This process of Persianisation continued during the reigns of Mahd and al-Hd; the prejudice against the employment of mawl in high places gradually disappeared. To replace the weakening bond of Arab nationality the caliphs laid increased stress on Islamic orthodoxy and conformity, trying to weld their cosmopolitan Empire into a unity based on a common faith and a common way of life. Al-Manr's renunciation of the heterodox origins of the Abbsid movement was followed under his successors by a deliberate policy of wooing the orthodox theologians and makers of opinion, and laying a greater stress on the religious element in the nature of the authority exercised by the caliphs. This policy, when contrasted with the dissolute lives led by many of the caliphs and their courtiers, often led to charges of hypocrisy, but was in the main successful in achieving its object. Mecca and Medina were rebuilt, the pilgrimage from Ir organised on a regular basis, and orthodoxy reinforced by an inquisitorial persecution of the various heretical movements and of Manichaeism, which at this time became prominent, under the name of Zandaa, as a revolutionary movement of the poorer classes (see ZIND). For a time an attempt was made to impose the Mutazil doctrine, which, if H. S. Nyberg's attractive hypothesis is correct (see EI MUTAZILA), was an official Abbsid attempt at a compromise with the Sha. From the time of al-Mutawakkil this attempt was abandoned, and thereafter the Abbsids adhered, formally at least, to the most rigid orthodoxy.
1

The reign of Hrn al-Rashd is generally regarded as the apogee of Abbsid power, but it is at this time that the first portents of decline are seen. In Persia, the series of religious revolts that had followed the martyrdom of Ab Muslim became ever more threatening, and challenged Abbsid authority in the Caspian provinces as well as in hursn. In the west, Abbsid authority disappeared almost completely. Spain had rejected the Abbsids and become independent under an Umayyad prince as far back as 138/756. After the death of Yazd b. tim, the last effective Abbsid governor of North Africa, in 170/787, independent dynasties arose, first in Morocco and then in Tunisia, and the authority of Baghdd was never again asserted west of Egypt. TheAghlabids of Tunisia, exercising 32

hereditary and independent rule under the nominal suzerainty of the caliph, set the pattern for a whole series of subsequent local hereditary governorships, whose encroachments eventually reduced the effective sovereignty of the Caliphate to central and southern Ir. Another danger-sign showed the weakness of the defences of the Empire. By Abbsid times the frontiers of Islam were more or less stabilised. The only foreignwars of any importance were with the Byzantines, and even these seem to have been of more show than effect. The inconclusive campaigns of Hrn were the last major offensives launched against Byzantium by the Caliphate. Thereafter Islam was on the defensive. Byzantine armies sought out weak points in Syria and Mesopotamia, while hazar invaders entered Islamic territory in the Caucasus and Armenia. Perhaps the most serious factor of weakness was the obscure internal convulsion that culminated in the degradation of the Barmakids and the assumption by Hrn of the reins of power in his own not too competent hands. This step seems to have shaken the alliance with the Persian aristocratic wing of the movement that had brought them to power, which the early Abbsids had maintained long after shedding the more extremist elements. After Hrn's death, smouldering conflicts burst into civil war between his sons Amn and alMamn. Al-Amn's strength lay mainly in the capital and in Ir, al-Mamn's in Persia, and the civil war has been interpreted as a national conflict between Arabs and Persians, ending in a victory for the latter. The same objections can be raised to this explanation as to the corresponding theory concerning the Abbsid revolution itself. The civil war was more probably a continuation of the social struggles of the immediately preceding period, complicated by a regional rather than national conflict between Persia and Ir. Al-Mamn, relying on eastern support, for a while projected the transfer of the capital from Baghdd to Marw, but some time after his victory wisely decided to return to the Imperial city. Thereafter Persian aristocratic and regional aspirations found an outlet in local dynasties. In 205/820 hir, the Persian general of al-Mamn, made himself virtually independent in hursn, and founded a dynasty. His example was followed by others, who, while for the most part still recognizing the suzerainty of the caliphs, deprived them of all effective authority in most of Persia. While the power of the caliphs in the provinces was gradually being reduced to the granting of diplomas of investiture to the de facto rulers, theirauthority even in Ir itself was dwindling. A spendthrift court and a inflated bureaucracy produced chronic financial disorder, aggravated by the loss of provincial revenues and, subsequently, by the exhaustion or loss to invaders of gold and silver mines. The caliphs found a remedy in the farming out of state revenues, eventually with the local governors as tax-farmers. These farmer-governors soon became the real rulers of the Empire, the more so when tax-farms and governorships were held by army commanders, who alone had the force to impose obedience. From the time of al-Mutaim and al-Wthi, the caliphs became the puppets of their own generals, who were often able to appoint and depose them at will. Al-Mutaim is usually credited with the introduction of the practice of using Turks from Central Asia as soldiers and officers, and from his time the dominant military caste became mainly Turkish. In 221/836 he built a new residence at Smarr, some 60 miles north of Baghdd. Smarr remained the Imperial residence until 279/892, when al-Mutamid returned to Baghdd. Its foundation illustrates the growing gulf between the caliph and his praetorians on the one hand and the people of Baghdd on the other. Its art and architecture illustrate the emergence of a new ruling caste with different tastes and traditions. Under al-Wthi the power of the Turks continued to grow. A serious attempt to reassert the supremacy of the Caliphate was made by his successor al-Mutawakkil, who tried to break the power of the Turkish guards and to rally support against them among the theologians and the civil population, whose orthodox fanaticism he sought to placate by renouncing and suppressing the Mutazil doctrines of his predecessors and enforcing the regulations against the Christians and Jews. The attempt ended in failure. The murder of al-Mutawakkil in 247/861 was followed by a period of anarchy. During an interval of nine years four caliphs succeeded one another, but all were helpless in the hands of the Turkish guards, whose control of the court and the capital grew firmer, while the provinces relapsed into anarchy or, at best, autonomy. In Southern Ir a 33

revolt broke out among the negro slaves, known as Zandj [q.v.], who worked on the salt marshes near Bara. This rapidly developed into a major threat to the Empire. The Zandj leader, who displayed brilliant generalship, defeated several imperial armies, and was able to establish effective control over much of Southern Ir and South West Persia. The lines of communication linking Baghdd with Bara, and therefore with the Persian Gulf and the trade route to the East, were cut, and by 264/877 Zandj parties were raiding within 17 miles of Baghdd itself. But meanwhile a period of greater stability had begun in the capital. The caliphal-Mutamid, who succeeded in 256/870, was not a very effective ruler, but his brother al-Muwaffa soon became the real master of the capital, and during the twenty years of his rule did much to restore the failing strength of the house of Abbs. His first task was to restore order and stability in Baghdd itself, then to tackle the problems presented by the Zandj and by the encroachments of provincial leaders, especially the affrids in Persia and the ulnids in Egypt and Syria. By 269/882 he had expelled the Zandj from all their conquests, and in 270/883 finally crushed them. Though failing to destroy the affrids and ulnids, he did succeed in checking their ambitions, and facilitated the task of his successors. On the death of al-Muwaffa in 278/891, he was succeeded as real ruler by his son al-Mutaid, who became caliph on the death of al-Mutamid in the following year. AlMutaid and his successor al-Muktaf were both able and energetic rulers. In Persia and Egypt the authority of theCaliphate was for a time reasserted, leaving the governmentfree to deal with the menace of Shism, now active again in a militant and extreme form. After the rise of the Abbsids and the consequent disappearance of the anaf line of pretenders, it was the Fimid line of Imms who commanded the support of most of the Sha. After the death of jafar al-di in 148/765, these split into two groups, one of which, known as Isml, inherited many of the functions, doctrines and followers of the vanished anafiyya. The transformation of the Caliphate in the 8th and 9th centuries from an agrarian, military state to a cosmopolitan Empire with an intensive commercial and industrial life, the growth of large cities and the concentration of capital and labour, subjected the loose social structure of the Empire to grave strain, and engendered widespread discontent. The rapid growth of the intellectual life of Islam, and the clash of cultures and ideas resulting from outside influence and internal development, again helped to prepare the way for the spread of heretical movements which, in a theocratic society, were the only possible expression of moral or material dissent from the existing order. The endemic disorders and upheavals of the late 9th and early 10th centuries brought these strains to breaking point, and the caliphs were called upon to deal with a series of challenges ranging in form from the revolutionary violence of the armaians [q.v.] in Barayn, Syria-Mesopotamia and Southern Arabia, to the more subtle and ultimately more effective criticism of peaceful moralists and mystics in Baghdd itself. AlMutaid died after a defeat at the hand of the armaians, but his successor al-Muktaf managed to crush the armaian revolt in Syria and Mesopotamia, and, at the time of his death in 295/908, was leading a successful counter-attack against the Byzantines, who had sought to exploit the anarchy of the Muslim Empire. The Shite danger was however far from ended. After a brief struggle for power, al-Muktaf was succeeded by his brother al-Mutadir, still a boy of 13. During his minority, and the long and ineffective reign that followed it, the destructive tendencies halted by the regent al-Muwaffa and his two successors reappeared. The armaians resumed their activities, and from their bases in Barayn threatened the lifelines of the Caliphate, while in the west another wing of the Isml movement established a Fimid anti-Caliphate in Tunisia. In North Syria the beduin amdnid dynasty established itself, while in Persia another Shite family, the Byids, began to build a new dynasty that soon threatened even Ir. In the capital, growing disorder and confusion culminated in the death of the caliph, while fighting his general Munis. Under his successors al-hir and alR, the decay of the authority of the Caliphate was completed. The event that is usually taken to symbolise this process was the grant to the governor of Ir, Ibn Ri, of the title amr al-umarCommander of Commanders. This title, apparently intended to assert the primacy of the military commander of Baghdd over his colleagues elsewhere, served at the same time to give formal recognition to the existence of a supreme temporal authority, 34

exercising effective political and mili- tary power, and leaving the caliph only as formal head of the state and the faith and representative of the religious unity of Islam. In 334/945 came the ultimate degradation, when the Byid Amr Muizz al-Dawla entered Baghdd, and the title of amr al-umar, and with it the effective control of the city of the caliphs, passed into the hands of a Shite dynast. Almost two centuries had passed between the enthronement of al-Saff and the arrival of Muizz al-Dawla. Though most of the period still awaits adequate investigation, certain broad lines of development can be discerned. In government, the early Abbsid caliphs continued along the lines of the late Umayyads, with far less break in continuity than was at one time believed. Certain changes, begun under the preceding dynasty, continued at an accelerated pace. From an Arab super-shaykh governing by the intermittent consent of the Arab aristocracy, the caliph became an autocrat, claiming a divine origin for his authority, resting it on his armed forces, and exercising it through a vast and growing bureaucratic organisation. Stronger in this respect than the Umayyads, the Abbsids were nevertheless weaker than the old oriental despots, in that they lacked the support of an established feudal caste and a priestly hierarchy, and were themselves theoretically subject to the Holy Law, of the authority of which their office was the supreme embodiment. With the transfer of the capital to the East and the entry of increasing numbers of Persians into the service of the caliphs, Persian influences grew in the court and the administration, which was organised in a series of dwns [q.v.] or ministries, under the supreme control of the wazr [q.v.]. Provincial government was carried on jointly by the amr [q.v.] (Governor) and mil [q.v.] (financial administrator), under the general surveillance of the capital, exercised through the agents of the ibal-bard (Director of Posts and Intelligence) (see BARD). In the army the Arab element gradually lost its importance, and the pensions formerly paid to Arabs were discontinued except for serving soldiers. The core of the early Abbsid army consisted of the hursns, a term that is to be understood in a regional rather than national sense, and covering both Arabs and Persians from hursn. In time these gave way to the Turkish slave troops, who from the time of al-Mutaim onwards became the main element in the army and, in consequence, the main source of political authority for the various amrs and commanders whose power replaced that of the caliphs. The Abbsids came to power through a religious movement, and sought in religion the basis of unity and authority in the Empire they ruled. While broadly successful in this purpose, they had throughout to contend with a series of religious opposition movements, and with the mistrust or reserve of the more conscientious elements among the Sunn religious leaders. The political breakdown of the 9th and 10th centuries, resulting in the fragmentation of power in the Empire as a whole and the decline and eventual collapse of authority in the capital, had no immediate ill-effects on the economic and cultural life of the Caliphate. The Abbsid accession had been followed by a great economic revival, based on the exploitation of the resources of the Empire through industry and trade, and the development of a vast network of trade relations both within the Empire and with the world outside. These changes brought important social consequences. The Arab warrior caste was deposed, and replaced by a ruling class of landowners and bureaucrats, professional soldiers and literati, merchants and men of learning. The Islamic town was transformed from a garrison city to a market and exchange, and in time to the centre of a flourishing and diversified urban culture. The literature, art, theology, philosophy and science of the period is examined elsewhere (in individual articles). Here it need only be remarked that this was the classic age of Islam, when a new, rich and original civilisation, born of the confluence of many races and traditions, came to maturity.
^

334/945656/1258 During the long period from the Byid occupation of Bghdd to the conquest of the city by the Mongols, the Caliphate became a purely titular institution, representing the headship of 35

Sunn Islam, and acting as legitimating authority for the numerous secular rulers who exercised effective sovereignty, both in the provinces and in the capital. The caliphs themselves, except for a brief revival towards the end, were at the mercy of the secular rulers, who appointed and deposed them at will, and only one of them, al-Nir, has left any mark on history. The appointment of Ibn Ri as amr al-umar was the first of a long series, and marked the formal recognition of the office of secular sovereign. The main history of the period will be found in the articles on the various dynasties that held it. In the second quarter of the 10th century a number of princes of the Shite Persian house of Bya (or Buwayh), originating in the highlands of Daylam, extended their rule over most of western Persia, and forced the caliphs to grant them legal recognition. In 334/945 the Byid prince Muizz al-Dawla entered Baghdd, and wrung from the caliph al-Mustakf the title of amr al-umar. For over a century the caliphs were compelled to submit to the final humiliation of accepting these Shite mayors of the palace as absolute masters. Despite their Shism, the Byids made no attempt to install an Alid caliphthe twelfth Imm of the Ithnashar Sha had disappeared some 70 years earlierbut gave outward homage to the Abbsids, retaining them as an orthodox cover for their own power and an instrument of their policy in the Sunn world. It was from the extremist Sha that the real threat to the Abbsids came. In 356/969 the Isml Fimids from Tunisia conquered Egypt, and were soon able to extend their power into Syria and Arabia. For the first time a powerful independent dynasty ruled in the Middle East that did not recognize even the titular authority of the Abbsids, but on the contrary founded a Caliphate of their own, challenging the Abbsids for the headship of the whole Islamic world. The political and military power of the Fimids was supported by an elaborate religious organisation, commanding a multitude of agents, propagandists and sympathisers in the Abbsid dominions, and also by a skilful economic policy aimed at diverting the Eastern trade from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, and thus at the same time strengthening Egypt and weakening Ir. (See B. Lewis, The Fatimids and the Route to India, Istanbul Iktisat Fak. Mecm., 1950, 355-60). It is indeed arguable that the diversion of Shite energies due to the predominance of the Byids in the East was one of the factors that saved the Abbsid Caliphate from extinction at this time (see H. A. R. Gibb, The Caliphate and the Arab States, in History of the Crusades, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, vol. i.). In time the Byid Empire broke up into a number of smaller states, under Byid and other rulers, while in Persia the power of a new dynasty, the Seldjus, was steadily growing. By the middle of the 11th century Byid power was at an end, and a Turkish general called alBassr was able to occupy Baghdd and proclaim the khuba in the name of the Fimidcaliph. This brief episode was the high water mark of Fimid power. In 447/1055 the Seldju ughr l-beg entered Baghdd, and had himself proclaimed as Suln. This title is often attributed by the chroniclers to earlier rulers who exercised a sovereignty not greatly different from that of the Seldjus. The Seldju sulns of Baghdd appear however to be the first to have used the title officially and inscribed it on their coins. In effect the Seldju Great Sultanate, which lasted about a century, was the logical development of the office of amr alumar, and the title has remained in use ever since for the holder of supreme secular power. The Seldjus brought several important changes. Unlike their predecessors they wereTurks and Sunns, and with their advent the power of the Turks, that had been growing intermittently since the time of al-Mutaim, was finally established. By now the Turks in the Middle East were no longer all slave or freed soldiers, imported from Central Asia; whole clans of free, nomadic Turks began to migrate westwards, playing an increasingly important role and in time changing the ethnic configuration of the Middle East. The replacement of a Sh by a Sunn ruler increased the prestige though not the power of the caliphs, as did also the extension of the rule of the central government, and therefore of the nominal sovereignty of the caliphs, over many hitherto independent lands. The period of the Seldjus, and of the Seldjuid and Atbeg dynasties that followed the break-up of the Great Sultanate, brought two major changes. One was the regularisation of the economic and social changes that had 36

been taking place in the preceding period, and the elaboration of a new social and fiscal order of quasi-feudal character; the other was the campaign against the Shite menace, both on the political and military level through the suppression of Shite dynasties and movements, and on the intellectual level through the creation of a network of madrasas [q.v.] to serve as centres for the formulation and defence of Sunn orthodoxy against the Shite propagandists. Both changes encountered a vigorous reaction in the form of the Assassins (see NIZRS), an active and energetic revolutionary movement that rose from the ruins of the Fimiddawa and offered a bitter and sustained challenge to Seldju rule and Sunn orthodoxy. The Assassins ultimately failed, and thereafter Shism was never again a major political factor until the rise of the afawids. After the break-up of the Great Sultanate, Ir fell under the domination of a local dynasty of Seldju princes, the last of whom was ughr l II (573-590/1177-1194). The collapse of his power and the absence of any alternative enabled the Abbsid caliphal-Nir to make a final attempt to restore the lost authority of the Caliphate. The moment was favourableof the two major dynasties of the Middle East, the Ayybids in Egypt and Syria were preoccupied with the struggle against the Crusaders, the h rizm-shh in the East with his wars against other Turkish dynasties and then against the Mongols. In this power vacuum, al-Nir attempted to create a kind of State of the Church for the Caliphate in Baghdd and Ir, and to buttress his authority by seeking popular support through the futuwwa [q.v.] organisations and making adroit use of pro-Alid sentiment. It was however only the diversion of their energies to meet the Mongol threat in the East that saved him from destruction by the h rizm-shhs. Al-Nir's successors were weak and incompetent, and when the Mongol general Hlk, having already conquered Persia, appeared before Baghdd in 656/1258, the last caliph al-Mustaim was unable to offer any serious resistance.
w w

The Mongol conquest of Baghdd and the destruction of the Caliphate are usually described as a major catastrophe in the history of Islam. Certainly they mark the end of an epochnot only in the outward forms of government and sovereignty, but in Islamic civilisation itself, which after the transformation wrought by the great wave of Tatar invasion flows in new channels, different from those of the preceding centuries. But the immediate moral effects of the destruction of the Caliphate have been overrated. The Caliphate had long ceased to exist as an effective institution, and the Mongols did little more than lay the ghost of something that was already dead. To the real organs of temporal power the Mongol invasions made little difference, the only change being that the Sultanate now began to acquire de jure recognition, and sultans began to arrogate to themselves titles and prerogatives formerly reserved to the caliphs. The Abbsid Caliphs of Egypt The establishment by Baybars of an Abbsid shadow-Caliphate in Cairo in 659/1261 has been explained by R. Hartmann as follows: the disappearance of the Caliphate in Baghdad created a political vacuum, affecting not so much the theologians as the secular rulers, who still felt the need for a legitimating authority. Ab Numayy, the Sharf of Mecca, gave formal recognition to the afid ruler of TunisiaAbAbdAllh, who had assumed the title of caliph, with the regnal name of al-Mustanir, in 650/1253. This assumption, made before the fall of Baghdd, was not in the Sunn juristic sense of the word caliph, but in that of North Africa, con ditioned by Almohad claims and practices. It acquired a new value from Ab Numayy's recognition, confirmed by Mamlk action in sending a report on the victory of Ayn jlt to AbAbdAllh and addressing him as amr al-muminnCommander of the Faithful. Baybars, stronger than his predecessor, preferred not to give this recognition to a powerful and possibly dangerous neighbour, and instead solved the problems of legitimacy and continuity by installing an Abbsid refugee as caliph in Cairo, with the same regnal name of alMustanir.

37

For the next two and a half centuries a line of Abbsids succeeded one another as nominal caliphs under the rule of the Mamlk Sultans in Cairo. Except for a brief interval in 815/1412, when the caliph al-Mustan became a stop-gap ruler for six months in the course of a feud between rival claimants to the Sultanate, the caliphs in Cairo were completely helpless and powerless, being in effect little more than minor court pensioners with purely ceremonial duties to perform on the accession of a new sultan. Attempts by the Mamlk sultans to use their Abbsid protegs as a means of gaining recognition in other Muslim countries met with some limited success, notably in India and in the Ottoman Empire where Byezd I applied to the Cairocaliph in 1394 for a diploma granting him the title of suln. But the Ottoman view of the Cairo Caliphate is perhaps best expressed by the 15th-century historian Yaz dj -oghlu Al, who in describing the role of the patriarch at the Byzantine court calls him the caliph of the Christiansa comparison that is far nearer the truth than the more common one between the caliph and the Pope (cf. P. Wittek, in BSOS, 1952, 649 f.). In 1517 the last caliph al-Mutawakkil was deposed by Selm I, the Ottoman conquerer of Syria and Egypt, and the Abbsid shadow-Caliphate abolished. A story that al-Mutawakkil transferred his title to Selm, and through him, to the Ottoman house, was first published by Mouradgea d'Ohsson in 1788 (Tableau gnral de l'Empire Ottoman, i, 269-70), and thereafter won wide acceptance. Barthold however showed this story to be completely without foundation, and it is now generally rejected by scholars

[see KHALFA].

(Table)

(genealogical table of the abbsid caliphs

38

of baghdd) (genealogical table of the abbsid caliphs in egypt (after hall Edhem, Dwel-i islmye, p.

21))

(abbsid caliphs in egypt)

The sources for the history of the Abbsid Caliphate are too numerous for anything more than a general statement to be possible. A fuller discussion of the literature will be found in J. Sauvaget, Introduction a l'histoire du monde musulman, Paris 1943, 126 ff., and of the historians in D. S. Margoliouth, Lectures on Arabic Historians, Calcutta 1930 (cf. TARKH). The first group to be considered are the chroniclers. While a large proportion of these have been published, especially for the earlier period, surprisingly little use has been made of them, and most of the Abbsid period still awaits its monographers. Still less attention has been paid to the adabliterature, perhaps the best expression of the outlook and attitude of the secular literate classes who administered the Empire, and a fruitful source of historical information. Travel and geography, poetry, theology and law all have an important contribution to make to historical knowledge, and except for the first two, have been little used. To the vast Muslimliterature may be added the smaller but still valuable literatures of the Christians and Jews, in Arabic, Syriac, Hebrew, and some other languages. Finally, there remains archeology. A useful summary and Bibliography of archeological work will be found in the abovementioned book of Sauvaget. No general history of the Abbsids has been produced for many years, and the reader must still have recourse to early and out-of-date works like G. Weil,Geschichte der Chalifen 5 vols., Mannheim-Stuttgart 1846-62; idem, Geschichte der islamischen V1ker, Stuttgart 1866 (abridged English translation by S. Khuda Bukhsh, Calcutta 1914); A. Mller, Der Islam im Morgen- und Abendland, 2 vols. Berlin 1885-7; W. Muir, The Caliphate, its Rise Decline and Fall, revised by T. H. Weir, Edinburgh 1915 and 1924. More recent but more summary treatments are given by P. K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, London 1937 and later editions; C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der 39

islamischen Vlker und Staaten, Munich-Berlin 1939 (English and French translations); Gaudefroy-Demombynes and Platonov, Le monde musulman et byzantin jusqu'aux Croisades, Paris 1931; Ch. Diehl and G. Marais, Le monde oriental de 395 a 1081, Paris 1936. Many interesting and provocative ideas on the nature of the Abbsid state and society will be found in A. J. Toynbee, A study of history, London 1934 ff. Only the accession and the first few reigns have been monographed in any detail. On the Abbsid revolution Van Vloten and Wellhausen are mentioned in the article. Th. Nldeke's Orientalische Skizzen Berlin 1892 (English translation by J. S. Black, London 1892), includes studies on Manr, the Zandj rising, and the affrids. The most valuable work to date on the early Abbsid period will be found in the studies of F. Gabrieli (Amn, al-Mamn) and S. Moscati (Ab Muslim, Mahd, al-Hd), which, with other monographs, will be found listed under the appropriate articles. For two studies by S. Moscati on particular problems connected with the Abbsid victory see Il Tradimento di Wsit, Muson 1951, 177-86, and Le massacre des Umayyades, ArO 1951, 88-115. Reference may also be made to Nabia Abbott, Two queens of Baghdad, Chicago 1937, dealing with the mother and wife of Hrn al-Rashd and giving a description of some aspects of court life, and A. F. Rif, Aral-Mamn, Cairo 1927. The period from 892 to 946 has been studied in great detail by H. Bowen, The life and times of Al ibns, Cambridge 1928. This must now be supplemented by an important additional sourcethe Akhbral-R wa l-Mutta of al-l (ed. J. H. Dunne, Cairo 1935; annotated French translation by M. Canard, 2 vols. Algiers 1946-50). Two important works of a more general character deal with the middle period: A. Mez, Die Renaissance des Islams, Heidelberg 1922 (English translation by S. Khuda Bukhsh and D. S. Margoliouth, London 1938), and Abdal-Azz al-Dr, Studies on the economic life of Mesopotamia in the 10th century, (in Arabic), Baghdad 1948. Reference may also be made to general works in Arabic by Amad Amn, A. A. Dr, asanIbrhmasan and others. On the Cairo Caliphate see R. Hartmann, Zur Vorgeschichte des Abbasidischen Schein-Chaliphates von Cairo, Abhandlungen der deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Phil.-hist. Kl. 1947, nr. 9, Berlin 1950, and Annemarie Schimmel, Kalif und Kadi im sptmittelalterlichen gypten, WI, 1943, 3-27. (B. Lewis)
[Print Version: Volume I, page 15, column 1]

C ITATION : Lewis, B. "Abbsids (Banu 'l-Abbs)." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; , Th. Bianquis; , C.E. Bosworth; , E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_COM-0002>

Abbsid Revolution
Abbsid Revolution is the term used to describe the process that led to the fall of the Umayyads and the establishment of the Abbsid dynasty in the mid-second/eighth century.
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The dawa Information about the origins and development of the Abbsid Revolution may be found in the usual corpus of classical Islamic historical texts, with the most important account still being that of al-abar, although it can now be supplemented in important ways by texts that have been more recently edited and published, notably al-Baldhur's Ansb al-ashrf (vol. 3, ed. A. al-Dr, Beirut 1978) and, above all, the anonymous text known as the Akhbr alAbbs(ed. A. al-Dr and A. Mutallib, Beirut 1971). These sources offer a wealth of information about the origins and course of the revolution, but they are also riddled with inconsistencies, contradictions, myths, and fragments of enigmatic propaganda written at 40

different times for different purposes with nuances of meaning and intent that are today elusive and difficult to interpret. A fundamental theme of the traditional accounts is that the overt and militant phase of the revolution was preceded by a covert period of proselytising and subversion known as the dawa and linked to a sectarian movement called the Hshimiyya, a subsect of the Kaysniyya. After the death of Muammad b. al-anafiyya in 81/7001, some of his followers, breaking with more radical elements of the Kaysniyya, recognised his son Ab Hshim Abdallh as imm. Thus they became known as the Hshimiyya. Ab Hshim befriended, or was befriended by, Muammad b. Al b. Abdallh b. al-Abbs, the de facto head of the Abbsid family. As Ab Hshim had no son of his own, he arranged to bequeath his position as imm and the Hshimiyya organisation to Muammad b. Al. He and a core of key followers, who are identified in the Akhbr al-Abbs (183, 1912), made their way to alumayma, an estate in al-Shart where the Abbsids were living in a kind of semi-exile, and Ab Hshim died there c. 98/716. How much of this is literally true is difficult to say; the Abbsids apparently promoted the story at one point to bolster their claim as the intended beneficiaries of the revolution but then, after securing the caliphate, were embarrassed by it and tried, unsuccessfully, to modify the story and then to suppress it in favour of the claim that they had inherited a right to the caliphate from the Prophet Muammad himself. umayma, a site in Jordan currently in the process of archaeological excavation, supposedly served as the headquarters of the movement. It was remote enough to avoid scrutiny but close enough to an important caravan route to facilitate contact between the Abbsid leadership and the Hshimiyya organisation; there are many reports of the members visiting umayma under the guise of commerce or pilgrimage to convey messages or bring financial offerings. The theatre for dawa activities continued to be Kufa, where the movement had originated, but that was too pro-Alid and too closely watched by the Umayyads to be a successful recruiting ground; after some time perhaps thirty people had joined (Akhbr al-Abbs, 194). According to a clearly legendary report (al-abar, 2:1358), Muammad b. Al himself ordered the establishment of the dawa apparatus in Khursn in the appropriately symbolic year 100/71819. More credible reports attribute the expansion of the dawa to the east to the vision and energy of Bukayr b. Mhn, a wealthy mawl of Sstn origin, who emerged as the leader of the Kufan cell of the Hshimiyya. He was eligible to be registered in the dwn and had served with Yazd b. Muhallab in Jurjn and had traveled extensively in the East. He is said to have recognised that the people in that area, especially the Persian population, were generally sympathetic to the family of the Prophet, and he is said to have won the allegiance of Sulaymn b. Kathr, an Arab veteran living near Marw (Akhbr al-Abbs, 198). Bukayr persuaded Muammad b. Al to conduct the dawa there, and a founding member of the Kufan organisation, Ab Ikrima Ziyd b. Dirham, a mawl of Hamdn, was dispatched to oversee the mission. The date of this is uncertain but was likely about the time Bukayr became head of the Kufan cell (c. 105/723). From that beginning, the dawa gradually attracted members and established cells throughout most of Khursn. The orders given to Ab Ikrima are quoted in detail in the Akhbr al-Abbs (2024) and, even if the report is somewhat fabricated, are quite revealing of methods and ideas that recur throughout the traditional story of the dawa. One is the extensive use of taqiyya and kitmn: Ab Ikrima was to operate under the pseudonym of Ab Muammad and in the guise of a merchant; the name of the imm was to be kept concealed; preaching should only use the ambiguous slogan of al-Ri min l Muammad; the actual goals of the movement should be revealed only to those who had shown they could be trusted absolutely. This emphasis on secrecy and ambiguity about the identity of the imm could have been ideological (in accordance with a doctrine of taqiyya), tactical (to guard against detection and arrest as well as to mislead potential recruits who had other candidates in mind), or strategic (to keep open the option of whom the da'wa would ultimately put in power). A second characteristic was the strict avoidance of any sign of overt political activity or violence (even while busily fanning the flames of sedition): one should not be so active as to draw the 41

attention of the authorities, there should be no appeal to draw a sword, and there should be no association with known pro-Alid militants. Finally, the dawa should be addressed not just to certain trusted Arab tribes but especially to the indigenous non-Arab population: Seek many of the Persians (al-ajim), for they are the people of our dawa and God will assist it through them. It appears, however, that these directives were implemented imperfectly. Al-abar (2:15012) reports that Ab Ikrima preached on behalf of the Ban al-Abbs, distributed food and money to the populace, and allowed himself to become involved in a dispute with a propagandist from Abrashahr (Nshpr) who supposedly argued for the superiority of the family of Ab lib over the Ban al-Abbs. He attracted the attention of Umayyad agents, and he along with a collaborator was executed by the governor, Asad b. Abdallh, in 109/727 28. Another of the missioners was exposed and executed in 113/73132 (al-abar, 2:1560). Virtually the entire top leadership of the dawa fell into the hands of Asad b. Abdallh in 117/73536; one was badly beaten, but they were eventually released either because of their tribal connections or by posing as the victims of a vendetta by the Muar for having been outspoken in their opposition to Qutayba b. Muslim (al-abar, 2:158788). One key question is whether the dawa apparatus in Khursn was actually the creation of the Abbsids and the Kufan Hshimiyya or rather was an autonomous, if like-minded, organisation that was infiltrated and eventually hijacked by them. Another question is how much control the Kufan leadership or the Abbsids at umayma actually exercised over the movement and their erstwhile agents in Khursn. Both issues are apparent in reports about the first major crisis faced by the dawa with the appearance of the missioner Umra (or Ammr) b. Yazd, who called himself, or was called pejoratively, by the pseudonym Khidsh. He is barely mentioned in most sources, probably because of later efforts to suppress the episode; there are two rather contradictory accounts of him. In one, it is implied that Khidsh, supposedly a non-Arab Christian posing as a Muslim, wrested control of the movement from Kathr b. Sad, the representative sent to replace Ab Ikrima after his execution, by virtue of his superior knowledge and debating skills (al-abar, 2:1503; al-Baldhur, Ansb, 3:1167; this would have been c. 111/729 by the estimate of Sharon, Black banners, 167). In the other, he is said to have been sent to Khursn in 118/73637 by either Bukayr b. Mhn or Muammad b. Al himself, but that upon settling in Marw he began to preach extremist doctrines like those of the neo-Mazdakites (Khurramiyya)apparently quite effectively since people, including some top das, flocked to him, listened, and obeyed (al-abar, 2:1588; Ibn alAthr, Kmil [Beirut], 5:196). These charges are generally considered to be slanders designed to discredit Khidsh, whose real offense was preference for an Alid imm. By most accounts, the Khidsh problem was not solved by the Abbsids, but by Asad b. Abdallh, who arrested Khidsh, tortured and mutilated him, and finally had him crucified at mul on the Oxus. All of this is supposed to have shocked Muammad b. Al, who cut off contact with the movement until 120/73738. Then Sulaymn b. Kathr emerged as the new leader of the dawa in Khursn, or a faction within it, and set off to restore relations with Muammad b. Al, who of course is said to have denounced Khidsh and to have admonished his followers not to accept any representative or instruction opposed to the Qurn and the Sunna. Even then, when Muammad b. Al sent Bukayr b. Mhn on a return mission to Khursn there were members of the movement who did not believe him and mocked him (al-abar, 2:1640), and followers of Khidsh, known as the Khlidiyya, were still active years later. All of this suggests very clearly that for much of its history, Abbsid direction of the movement was tenuous or nil; that the Abbsids actually had to compete for the allegiance of the movement, which was far from assured to them; and that the movement as a whole was stirring up and drawing on sentiments far removed from the official ideology of the dawa. It was probably after this episode that a more formal organisation was imposed on the movement, both to make it more effective and to maintain better control over its membership. The fullest description of this organisation is found in the Akhbr al-Abbs (213 23). There was a core leadership at Marw of twelve chiefs (nuqab), mentioned in many 42

sources, plus a group of fifty-eight missioners (das), thus making up the inner cadre of seventy members as required by Qurnic and prophetic precedent. There were forty das for Marw, seven for Abward, six for Nas, two for Balkh, and one each for Marw al-Rdh, Khwrazm, and mul. Finally, there were thirty-six dut al-dut, whose function is not certain. The names of all these officials are listed in theAkhbr al-Abbs, providing significant, but much debated, evidence regarding the geographic range and ethnic composition of the critical strata of thedawa. In general, they suggest that the dawa was a broad-based and diverse movement and not the universal or exclusive property of any one ethnic or social group.
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The revolt A critical point in the history of the dawa came in 125/743, a year marked by both the death of the imm Muammad b. Al and the revolt and execution of Yay b. Zayd in Khursn, and 126/744, with the outbreak of a virtual civil war among the factions of the Umayyad elite throughout the empire. The tragic death of Yay b. Zayd electrified public opinion in Khursn and stimulated anti-Umayyad sentiment and the desire for vengeance. Meanwhile, the struggle between the governor, Nar b. Sayyr; the leader of the old guard, al-rith b. Surayj; and their mutual nemesis, the interloper Juday al-Kirmn, paralysed the administration in Khursn. As the dawa unfolded against this background of increasing turmoil and violence, and conditions for revolution became ripe, the loyalty of the movement to the Abbsids was still far from automatic. After Muammad b. Al's death, Bukayr b. Mhn had to return to Khursn to solicit the support of the dawa leadership for Ibrhm b. Muammad as the new imm. The return delegation to Ibrhm was clearly eager for action and chaffing at the passivity imposed on the movement by Muammad b. Al, but Ibrahim continued to urge caution and restraint. He did, however, authorise the display of the black banners that were to become the symbol of revolt (Akhbr al-Abbs, 245). The delegation apparently did not return to Khursn until 127/74445; that same year Bukayr died and leadership of the Kufan cell was assumed by Ab Salama af b. Sulaymn. The transition in the history of the Abbsid Revolution from covert propaganda to armed revolt is marked above all by the appearance of a new, charismatic leader of the Khursn dawa, Ab Muslim, one of the most mysterious figures in Islamic history. The much discussed problem of who he was and how he ascended to the position of ib al-dawa is beyond any clearly historical resolution because of the myriad of conflicting reports to be found in the source material. It is unlikely that this anonymity was due, as is sometimes suggested, to either a desire to make an ideological statement or to the general policy of kitmn; as with his precursor Khidsh, it is more probably the result of a deliberate effort to blot an accurate recollection of him from the historical record. In general, one set of traditions make him out to be a man of uncertain ethnic origin and lowly social background, usually a slave in the employ of a imprisoned saddler loyal to the Abbsid cause, who was plucked from obscurity and dispatched by the imm Ibrhm to direct the dawa at the most crucial phase of its development. Others intimate that he was instead a powerful local magnate who ruled the world justly when no one had ever heard of the sons of Abbs b. Abd al-Mualib (Tarjama-yi tafsr-i abar, ed. Yaghm (Tehran19606), 1:23) and thus it should rather be said that he was the kingmaker who elevated the Abbsids from the obscurity of umayma. The former, of course, can be read as part of the Abbsid effort to show that they were in control of the dawa all along and that Ab Muslim was nothing more than a dispensable servant, while the latter mesh with what came to be a widespread resentment in the East of Abbsid perfidy and treachery symbolised above all in al-Manr's murder of Ab Muslim. The dates given for Ab Muslim's appearance as a leader of the dawa in Khursn range from 127/744 to 129/747, and the uncertainty may arise from the extended negotiations this required among all the parties involved: Ibrhm, Ab Muslim, the Kufan cell, and the Khursn leadership. It is also clear that there was strong resistance to Ab Muslim from the 43

older leadership, and Sulaymn b. Kathr vehemently objected to the assumption of authority by this nameless one (Akhbr al-Abbs, 269) but to no avail. Ab Muslim's formidable political, diplomatic, and military skills and his shrewd ability to manipulate and profit from events in Khursn quickly became obvious. For one thing, it appears to be under his guidance that dissident elements from the army, in contrast to the merchants, artisans, and retired veterans of earlier periods, began to be integrated into the dawa. It can hardly be accidental that his emergence and the turn to militancy coincided with the death of al-rith b. Surayj (128/746), whose movement so strongly resembled that of the dawa and whose former adherents might be co-opted. Likewise, he seems to have had an ability as great as that of Khidsh to attract a mass following and to bring not just mawl but non-Arabs in general into the movement (Akhbr al-Abbs, 280). In one day alone, he is supposed to have attracted followers from sixty villages (al-abar, 2:1952, cf. 2:1965). Given the fortuitous circumstances that had developed, Ab Muslim pushed forward the planned date for the revolt from Muarram 130 (September 747) to Raman 129 (June 747). He also decided to authorise diversionary attacks in outlying areas but to focus the initial military effort on the capital, Marw. This was eminently sensible, since an uprising concentrated in a remote district would have created logistical problems and given Nar b. Sayyr time to rally a counter-offensive. As it was, Nar's efforts to build a coalition against Ab Muslim were derailed when, in the course of what were supposed to be negotiations for a reconciliation, Nar's forces attacked and murdered Juday al-Kirmn, driving his son and supporters to the side of Ab Muslim. With few allies and no hope of reinforcement, Nar's position was untenable. No later than Jumd I 130/January 748, Ab Muslim was able to make a triumphal entry into Marw and take possession of the dr al-imra. Nar managed to flee, with a revolutionary army under the command of Qaaba b. Shabb al-' in pursuit. From that point on, the history of the revolution becomes essentially the story, on the one hand, of Ab Muslim's establishment of a provisional government for the eastern provinces that had been assigned to him and, on the other, the operations of the revolutionary army to destroy what remained of Umayyad power and install a new caliph. In the first case, Ab Muslim proceeded with his usual ruthlessness and efficiency to liquidate all opposition, including former allies (such as Al b. Juday), rivals in the dawa (notably Sulaymn b. Kathr), other sectarian contenders for rule (Abdallh b. Muwiya), and various troublesome new figures (such as Bihfard). In the latter, the revolutionary army won repeated victories, taking Jurjn (Dh l-ijja 130/August 748) and Rayy (afar 131/October 748), smashing the army of Ibn ubra at Jbaliq (Rajab 131/March 749), and occupying Kufa (Muarram 132/August 749). The final and essential step in the course of the revolution, the installation of an Abbsid as caliph, is perhaps the most curious and puzzling episode in the entire drama. Despite all the secrecy shrouding the identity of the imm, known only to the innermost circles of the dawa, somehow Nar b. Sayyr is supposed to have found out that Ab Muslim was working on behalf of Ibrhm b. Muammad and to have notified the Umayyad authorities, who promptly arrested him, but not the other members of his family, at umayma. Ibrhm died or was killed in prison, and Qaaba, the officer in the army who should have known the most about the intentions of the dawa, drowned while crossing the Euphrates before reaching Kufa. The victorious army was aware that Ab Salama was the leader of the dawa in Kufa and expected him to produce an imm, but who should it be? It is unlikely under the circumstances that Ibrhm could have named a successor or that the leaders of the dawa even knew for sure that he was dead. Moreover, they had never before automatically accepted a transmission of the immate; it always involved some act of designation and consent (perhaps even selection on their part). There are hints that the Kufan leadership still was not committed exclusively to the Abbsids; Abu Salama was later accused of delaying in an attempt to secure recognition of an Ald imm and he was executed. He certainly hesitated for some time before presenting Ibrhm's brother, Ab l-Abbs, to be proclaimed as the new caliph al-Saff in Rab II 132/October-November 749. Thus, ironically, the revolution resulted in the completely 44

unexpected installation of a ruler who must have been totally unheard of to virtually all of the people who had brought it about.
^

The effects of the revolution Modern historians generally agree that the Abbsid Revolution was an event of great importance in Islamic history that represented much more than a change of dynasty. But what exactly was revolutionary about it? Among the often cited and most obvious effects were an eastward shift in the centre of political power; a transformation of the concept of the caliphate; an end to the ethnic distinctions that had made Islam seem to be an Arab religion and probably a consequent increase in the rate of conversion; and a rise in the influence of Persians and Persian culture in the new Islamic oecumene. Most of these changes, however, began long before the revolution, have little apparent connection to the agenda of the dawa, or were altered by a reaction amounting to a counter-revolution under al-Manr. Behind the nebulous piety preached by the dawa, the critical if unspoken issues raised by the revolution, and perhaps driving it, were the problems of how to distribute the resources of an empire whose dynamic period of expansion had ended and how to balance the interests and power of regional magnates with those of the central government. Those issues would not be resolved for more than a century. Perhaps the more important question to ask is what did the revolution intend to change? Leaving aside the messianic and utopian expectations it clearly excited but could not possibly fulfill, about all that can be said is that it professed to seek a government based on Islamic principles and under the leadership of al-Ri min l Muammad. That it secured, at least to the satisfaction of some but hardly to all. L. Daniel
^

Bibliography
Extensive listings of source material may be found in several of the works listed below. For a survey of the historiographical issues, see Humphreys, R. S.,Islamic history. A framework for inquiry (Princeton 1991), 10427. Other sources gh, . S., The Revolution which toppled the Umayyads. Neither Arab nor Abbsid, Leiden 2003 Amabe, F., The emergence of the 'Abbsid autocracy, Kyoto 1995 Blankinship, K. Y., The end of the jihd state, Albany 1994 Idem, The tribal factor in the Abbsid revolution. The betrayal of the Imam Ibrhm b. Muammad, JAOS 108 (1988), 589603 Cahen, C., Points de vue sur la Rvolution abbaside, in Revue Historique (1963), 295338 Crone, P., On the meaning of the Abbsid call to al-Ri, in The Islamic world. Essays in honor of Bernard Lewis, ed. C. E. Bosworth et al. (Princeton 1989), 95111 Idem, The significance of wooden weapons in al-Mukhtr's revolt and the Abbsid revolution, in Studies in honour of Clifford Edmund Bosworth, ed. I. R. Netton (Leiden 2000), 1:17487 Daniel, E. L., The political and social history of Khurasan under Abbasid rule, Minneapolis and Chicago 1970 Idem, The Ahl al-Taqaddum and the problem of the constituency of the Abbasid Revolution in the Merv Oasis, in JIS 7 (1996), 15079 Frye, R., The role of Ab Muslim in the Abbasid revolt, in MW 37 (1947), 2838 Idem, The Abbasid conspiracy and modern revolutionary theory, in Indo-Iranica 5 (19523), 9 14

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Guzmn, R. M., Popular dimensions of the 'Abbasid Revolution, Cambridge MA 1990 Kennedy, H., The early Abbasid caliphate, London 1981 Lassner, J., The shaping of Abbsid rule, Princeton 1980 Idem, Islamic revolution and historical memory, New Haven 1986 Madelung, W., Religious trends in early Islamic Iran, Albany 1988 Idem, The Hshimiyyt of al-Kumayt and Hshim Shiism, in SI 70 (1989), 526 Mlikoff, I., Ab Muslim, le porte-hache de Khorassan, Paris 1962 Moscati, S., Studi su Ab Muslim, in Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei 8/4 (194950) 32335, 47495, 8/5 (195051), 89105 Nagel, T., Untersuchungen zur Entstehung des abbasidischen Kalifates, Bonn 1972 Omar, F.,The Abbasid caliphate, Baghdad 1969 al-Q, W., al-Kaysniyya f l-tarkh wa-l-adab, Beirut 1974 Sadighi, G. H., Les mouvements religieux iraniens, Paris 1938 Shaban, M. A., The Abbasid Revolution, Cambridge, 1970 Sharon, M., Black banners from the East, Jerusalem and Leiden 1983 Idem, Revolt. The social and military aspects of the 'Abbsid Revolution, Jerusalem 1990 van Vloten, G., De opkomst der Abbasiden in Chorasan, Leiden 1890 Wellhausen, J., Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz, Berlin 1902 Zakeri, M., Ssnid soldiers in early Muslim society, Wiesbaden 1995. Citation: Daniel, E. L. "Abbsid Revolution." Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Edited by: Gudrun Krmer, ; Denis Matringe, ; John Nawas and ; Everett Rowson. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ei3_COM-0025>

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Adab Literature: 9th to 13th Century

Adab encompasses various literal and metaphorical meanings. Conventionally, adab has been used to refer to the profane literature as distinct from ilm, which refers to the religious sciences. It has been defined to include the best of what had been said in the form of verse, prose, and anecdotes on every subject which an educated man, an adb, is supposed to know. The task was that of transmitting a canon of knowledge belonging to general culture, offering an education in aesthetics, and inculcating ethical values (Leder and Kilpatrick 1992). Adab literature is heterogeneous, organized in varying ways. Adab texts can be either encyclopedic or monographic in nature. Organized into books and chapters, the material illustrates aspects of the human condition. For each subject, the compiler collected a number of anecdotes and extracts of poetry or proverbs. These independent literary units, ranging in length from a few lines to a few pages, traveled from one work to another. Important variations over space and time are masked by adherence to canonical forms established by the fourth/tenth century. This literature has been seen as a literature of repetition and compilation, one that lacks originality. While it is true that adab attempts to reconstruct values, the originality of a particular text exists precisely in the choice of the reproduced texts, in their arrangement, their nuanced rewriting and in the new contexts where they are inserted (Cheikh-Moussa et al. 1999). While material on women, sex, and gender is generally scattered in encyclopedic adabworks, sometimes women are assigned a special section of the work. The last portion of the adab anthology Kitb uyn al-akhbr by Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889), entitled Kitb al-nis, defines women's physical and moral qualities. It includes sections such as: women's character and manners and who should be chosen or rejected; those who are fit to be husbands; marriage; beauty; ugliness; old women and old men; being tall or short; beards; bad smell; dowry; times of marriage contracts; advice to women on the eve of marriage; singing slave-girls; kissing; intercourse; procurement; adultery and iniquity; women's wickedness; and divorce. One significant observation about Kitb al-nis is that whereas it contains material which was normally associated with women, men are, --> --> -> --> --> --> --> --> -->nevertheless, included in almost all the sections. Al-iqd al-fard by Ibn Abd Rabbih (d. 328/940) also includes a book on women divided into the following sub-sections: the characteristics of women on marriage; the characteristics of women and their natural disposition; the characteristics of wicked women; prolific women; stories of women; divorce; those who divorced their wives and regretted it; women's deceit; concubines; those whose mother is non-Arab; bastards; and sexual potency. The Uyn and al-Iqd share a similar organizational orientation, directing the material toward themes rather than people. The material clusters around the definition and attributes of the ideal spouse. Women are the targets of complex prescriptions for proper behavior. We are informed that a woman was prized for her looks, smell, discipline, obedience, humility, and general support for her husband. In men, more stress was placed on social status, lineage, generosity, piety, and wealth. The texts do not maintain that both members of a couple must share equally in the efforts to make a successful marriage. The core of the behavioral requirements focuses on women (El Cheikh 2002). Among the monographic compilations is Akhbr al-nis by Pseudo Ibn al-Jawz, which includes among its sources Ibn Qutayba's Uyn and Ibn Abd Rabbih'sal-Iqd. The book is divided into the following chapters: the description of women; those driven by passionate love to mental disorders and madness; two chapters on jealousy; women's fidelity; women's treachery; fornication and warnings about its consequences; and women's physical constitution. The main interest of the authors in including women in their material is often the presentation of elegant verses as well as female witticisms and ruses revolving around female sexuality and women's bodies (Malti-Douglas 1991). Balght al-nis, compiled in the third/ninth century by Ibn Ab hir ayfr (d. 280/893) is a prime example of such material 47

on female eloquence. Similar material is found in monographs such as Akhbr al-adhkiy of Ibn al-Jawz (d. 597/1200), which includes a chapter on women's tricks, intelligence, and cunning. Literary specimens by women are embedded in adab anthologies. Wjida al-Araqj (1981) has --> --> --> --> --> --> --> --> --> --> -->studied the variety of women's literary contributions in the Abbsid period, including the genres of poetry, epistles, and disputations. However, while women used the classical language, they did so in a way dictated by a male-empowered discourse (Toorawa 2005) and in male-authored compilations. Concerned with slave poetesses, al-Im al-awir by Ab al-Faraj al-Ifahn provides information on women's literary activity during the Abbsid period. Devoted to 33 women poets, it includes significant material on the slave-girls Inn, Fal, and Arb. The singing slave-girls, qiyn, are a main subject of this sub-genre. Al-Ji wrote a famous epistle on the musical talents and attractive qualities of the qiyn. Laif al-luf by al-Thalib (d. 429/1038) also includes a brief chapter on slave-girls and women. Aspects of the lives of the qiyn appear in the famous Kitb al-aghn of Ab al-Faraj al-Ifahn (d. 363/972/3) as well as in Murj aldhahab wa-madin al-jawhar by al-Masd (d. 345/956). The Muwashsh by al-Washsh (d. 325/937) contains material illustrating the ravages caused by the qiyn in the hearts of their suitors. The information in these widely varied works date from different periods, a factor that fragments the picture further. The two adab anthologies of al-Muassin b. Al al-Tankh (94094 C.E.), al-Faraj bada al-shidda and Nishwr al-muara wa-akhbr almudhkara purportedly take their examples from the anecdotal repertory of the present and of the preceding generation. Al-Tankh thus privileges his personal heritage over the literary heritage (Bray 2005). These anthologies convey not only historical information but also social values and the art of social conduct (Leder and Kilpatrick 1992). The relevant anecdotes, rich in details on various aspects of Abbsid society, including women and gender relations, illustrate vividly many practices and attitudes. Even if one is not to accept these anecdotes literally, it is not impossible to extricate their historical significance. Indeed, the main issue is how to read these texts in order to tease out historical meaning. Al-Tankh's works are important for informing us that a particular sentiment existed, that it was possible for women to be involved in specific productive activities, and that a number of them could become influential and wealthy. Adab compilations define ideals. Ideals are an important and influential component in the system of meanings determining the psychological experiences for women and men. The fact that we are dealing with stereotypes and ideals is not irrelevant because these are partly formed through the perception of roles and because they serve as guidelines in developing gender roles. Although it is difficult to disentangle fact from fiction, it is possible to decipher certain aspects of the value system in which these works were comprehensible. Adab is representative inasmuch as a work of adab would never include matter which was not in concert with the accepted world values of the author/compiler and his audience. In addition, the literary form of adab often required the presention of all sides of controversial subjects. Adab makes it possible to see things from a different angle serving as a source to penetrate official attitudes and gain an insight into what people thought and how they judged actions (Rosenthal 1979). Literary texts are prescriptive. Adab compilations in particular are concerned with what people should be and do, rather than with what they are. They are main carriers of a particular gender ideology. These texts are concerned with the cultural construct of expectations built up around women. Such compilations reflect long-standing official discourses, which allow us to better understand the cultural construct of expectations built up around both men and women in adab during the Abbsid period. Nadia Maria El Cheikh

48

Bibliography
PRIMARY SOURCES Ibn Abd Rabbih, al-Iqd al-fard, ed. A. Amn et al., Cairo 19409. Pseudo Ibn al-Jawz, Akhbr al-nis, Beirut 2000. Ibn Qutayba, Uyn al-akhbr, ed. Y. awl, Beirut 1985. al-Tankh, Nishwr al-muara wa-akhbr al-mudhkara, ed. A. al-Shalj, Beirut 1971. , Kitb al-faraj bada al-shidda, ed. Abbd al-Shalj, Beirut, 1978. SECONDARY SOURCES W. al-Araqji, al-Mara f adab al-ar al-abbs, Baghdad 1981. S. A. Bonebakker, Adab and the concept of belles-lettres, in J. Ashtiani et al. (eds.), The Cambridge history of Arabic literature. Abbasid belles-lettres, Cambridge 1990, 1630. J. Bray, Abbasid myth and the human act. Ibn Abd Rabbih and others, in P. Kennedy (ed.), On fiction and adab in medieval Arabic literature, Wiesbaden 2005, 154. Cheikh-Moussa, H. Toelk, and K. Zacharia, Pour une relecture des textes littraires arabes. Elements de rflexion, in Arabica 46 (1999), 52340. N. El Cheikh, In search for the ideal spouse, in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 45 (2002), 17996. Kilpatrick, Women as poets and chattels. Ab l-Farag al-Ibahn's al-Im al-awir, in Quaderni di Studi Arabi 9 (1991), 16176. S. Leder and H. Kilpatrick, Classical Arabic prose litera ture. A researcher's sketch map, in Journal of Arabic Literature 23 (1992), 126. F. Malti-Douglas, Woman's body woman's word. Gender and discourse in Arabo-Islamic writing, Princeton, N.J. 1991. F. Rosenthal, Fiction and reality. Sources for the role of sex in medieval Muslim society, in A. L. al-Sayyid Marsot (ed.), Society and the sexes in medieval Islam, Malibu 1979, 222. S. Toorawa, Ibn Ab hir ayfr and Arabic writerly culture. A ninth century bookman in Baghdad, London 2005.
[Print Version: Volume 6, page 3, column 1]

Citation: El Cheikh, Nadia Maria. "Adab Literature: 9th to 13th Century." Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. General Editor Suad Joseph . Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ewic_SIM-0031>

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Women Literature: 9th to 15th Century

Women's literature thrived in many localities during this period of Islamic history, but it did not usually present itself as women's literature as such, in a package neatly segregated from men's literature; instead its specimens tended to be embedded in larger collectively-written texts generally ascribed to male authors, either by attribution, or, in the case of anonymous works, by default. Therefore, the sources one would consult for women's literature tend to be the same as those one would consult for men's, and the question for the student or researcher of women's texts is not What did women write? but rather How did women contribute to what was written? The answers to this question are as varied as the richness and diversity of the empire at that time would suggest; for this period of Islamic history, falling between the Abbsid overthrow of the Umayyads in 132/750 and the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 857/1453, is characterized by political decentralization and ethnic, linguistic, and cultural pluralism. The gradual weakening of the central authority in Baghdad led to the emergence of more localized seats of power, many of them vying with each other in their patronage of the arts. The resultant aesthetic cross-fertilization caused literature to blossom, such that the period witnessed the development of Arabic prose and the seeds of its fiction, the rise of Persian poetry, the golden age of Hebrew literature, and the emergence of Romance vernacular verse. This period also produced the multi-voiced and multilingual muwashsha, the picaresque maqma, and the fantastical Thousand and One Nights. On the Arabic front, the transition from an oral to a textual culture was well underway, as knowledge and folklore found newer and faster means for dissemination. The importance of the more accessible and popular literature remained, however, and its influence may be felt in literary texts' exploitations of vernacular rhythms. At the beginning of the period, Arabic figures as the dominant vehicle for Islamic literary culture, even though, paradoxically, it was often non-Arabs drawing on their native literary traditions who were producing literary texts. But during the middle of the period, that is under the Samanids (204/819395/1005) and the Ghaznavids (366/977582/1186), Persian becomes a favorite language of the courts. It is sources written in these two languages upon which this essay will focus, but with the underlying assumption that sources of women's literature exist in other languages current in the Islamic empire at this time. Of particular interest in this regard is a Turkish romance entitled Jamshd wa-Khurshd, a work listed in Kashf al-unn which is attributed to a Cappadocian poet named Jan Khtn and which jj Khalfa had seen in the handwriting of someone who died in 815/ca. 1412 (Khalfa 183558, ii, 609). Traditionally, verbal craft in Arabic has been divided into nam (verse) and nathr (prose or plain speech). While women from this time period spoke, wrote, composed, and extemporized in each category, their poetry was better preserved or anthologized and is thus better remembered today. Although some women do appear to have had careers as scribes, scholars, and secretaries, very few book-length works from this time period have been identified as female-authored and even fewer survive today. Short epistolary pieces abound but are scattered throughout a great range of sources. (Examples may be found in afwat 1937, iii, 374 and 5279, iv, 3934 and 4023). Hence women's compositions from the era are predominantly poetic. Furthermore, those textual phenomena (namely, vocal citations) that may be considered women's contributions to prose genres, from popular romantic epics to highly ornate and stylized epistles, are often versified. Indeed, Arabic and Persian literary genres often inextricably link prose and verse forms, and the dimensions and implications of this admixture, which is known as prosimetrum, have begun to garner the attention of scholars of Middle Eastern literatures (Harris and Reichl 1937, 225348). Prosimetrum bears heavily on issues of female authorship in particular, and literary constructions of gender and sexuality in general, because for the most part women contribute to prose forms as quoted speakers of verse whose poems are narrated by predominantly male narrators, compilers, and editors. Historically, women throughout the empire during this time period had considerable power to compose texts, but they had less power to frame these texts for posterity in their own names, or so it would seem, given the dearth of book-length manuscripts attributed to 50

women. To my knowledge it is not until the late fifteenth century that one finds a female Arabic prose and prose/verse writer, in the figure of the religious Damascene scholar isha al-Bniyya (d. 922/1516) who has several extant works to her name. In this regard the historical picture looks quite different from the fantastical one. Perhaps no figure has as much power to frame, narrate, cut, and paste as the legendary Shahrazd. By contrast, actual women's voices are often encased in so many diegetic levels that one is tempted to read them as masculine authorial fictions, as the words that a succession of men would have women say. Although women's poems and sayings of the Jhiliyya and early Islam are customarily framed by a chain of transmitters, or isnd , their words are often memorized and recited for their own sake as literary units. In subsequent eras, the frame, whether it be in the form of an isnd or not, undergoes a gradual epistemological shift, especially in the context of secular adab , transforming from a record of attestation to a narrative device. As a result, theAbbsid or Andalusian woman's text often presents itself as a voice in a narrative pastiche, a direct quotation casually overheard by a witness or eavesdropper to an occasion in an anecdotal setting which may itself form a story within a story. Hence it is not unreasonable to suggest that women's extant verse and verse-prose compositions from this period, whatever their method of preservation, should normally be read as part of a dialogic continuum and not treated in isolation. What follows is a discussion of sources of women's literature, categorized by method of preservation, and considered in light of frame and prosody. Textsincludes sources that relay women's words, usually poems or poetic fragments, as units of literature in their own right, with brief interpolations of commentary or narrative. This category is comprised of singleauthor dwn s, collective anthologies, and certain biographical compendia. The second category, Contexts, looks at adab compilations, popular romance and song. Here, women's voices are intimately intertwined with men's, and accepting their words verbatim often requires us to reconfigure our concept of authorship; otherwise, one is tempted to read feminine quotations as masculine hearsay. The final category, Signs, deals with epigraphic sources, or texts that are framed by material objects rather than other texts. This category, which roots women's voices tangibly in history like no other, has enormous interdisciplinary potential.
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TEXTS Generally speaking, women from this time period are not particularly well-represented in canonical medieval poetry anthologies. The standard Arabic anthologies, to the extent that they do include women's poetry, heavily privilege the ancients (mutaqaddimt) over the moderns (mudatht). In his anthology devoted to modern poets abaqt al-shuar, Ibn alMutzz (d. 296/908) highlights the work of a smattering of women poets associated withAbbsid court culture (1956, 4217). The staple Persian anthologies, such as Awf's Lubb al-albb (617/1220) and Dawlatshah's Tadhkirat al-shuar(892/1487), do cite a few key female poets, but women are under-represented there as well. Nevertheless, these resources should not be overlooked, since they provide a formal poetic framework, or textually aesthetic context, for women's poetry. Moreover, they yield important clues as to the niches that women may have carved out for themselves in the literary marketplace. For example, Jajarm's Persian anthology Munis al-arr f daqiq al-ashr(741/1342) relays three dozen quatrains by the eleventh- or twelfth-century poet Mahsat, 22 of which appear in their own independent chapter (1350/1971, ii, 11515). These 22 poems are of the shahrshb genre, a type of poem in which a tradesman is either praised or mocked. Their arrangement in an independent chapter suggests both that Mahsat was a premier poet of the genre and that, conversely, the genre held a special place in Mahsat's corpus. Finally, when perusing anthologies, it is important to consult the less canonical collections. Peripheral anthologies, especially those that focus on specific geographical locations or marginal literary forms, sometimes contain gems of women's literature that go largely unnoticed by scholars who rely too heavily on a corps set of texts. For example, a collection of Andalusian muwashshat, 51

the Uddat al-jals of Ibn Bishr, contains a full-length piece attributed to the twelfth-century Granadan Nazhn (1992, 3601), an attribution which tends to escape her biographical notices, both classical and modern.
1

In addition to the general anthologies, there exists a sub-category of gender-specific collections dating as far back as the early Abbsid era. Two keyAbbsid monographs on women's verbal craft in Arabic, Balght al-nis by Ibn Ab ayfr (d. 280/893) and Ashr alnis by al-Ktib al-Marzubn (d. 384/994), focus on women of the Jhiliyya and early Islam, leaving us with little or no impression of women's poetry and prose of their day. What they do offer us is insight into the status of specific genres of women's writing within their community. Ibn ayfr organizes his book along a moral continuum: he begins with the sacred ( adth and other utterances of female figures associated with the Prophet Muammad), moves on to the profane (such as wise sayings or ikma, dialogues with the Caliph Muwiyya and elegiac poetry) and ends with the downright obscene (mujn). AlMarzubn organizes his poetry anthology by the tribe of the poet, reflecting Abbsid scholarly interest in genealogies. Both of these works feature detailed isnd s for specific entries, and in them one finds that certain names recur frequently, perhaps suggesting a kind of women's studies specialization on the part of individual transmitters. Sadly, only a small fraction of al-Marzubn's anthology survives. Two other classical Arabic monographs that are devoted to women writers or poets who lived during this time period and that are available in published form are Al-Im al-shawir by Ab al-Faraj alIbahn (d. 356/967) andNuzhat al-julas f ashr al-nis by Jall al-Dn al-Suy (d. 911/1505). Neither of these is as substantial as either Balght al-nis or Ashr al-nis, in that their entries are brief and presented out of context, but they are the only two extant anthologies devoted to women's poetry originating after the pre- and early Islamic periods. Unfortunately, two other important works on women poets, Ashr al-jawr by the Shii poet al-Mufajja (d. ca. 320/932) and the multi-volumed al-Nis al-shawir by Ibn al-ar (d. ca. 694/1295), appear to have been lost. It is tempting to view the preponderance of pre- and early Islamic women's writing in early Abbsid anthologies as a result of two key epistemological factors: 1) the cultural importance and scholarly emphasis on the founding years of Islam, which made all linguistic and historical pursuits relating to the period meritorious almost by definition and 2) the favorable position of women speakers, poets, and storytellers in oral traditions, specifically that of pre-Islamic Arabia. In other words, the cultural centrality of the Book (the Qurn) in the early Islamic era ensured the oral transmission and ultimate written preservation of women's words at a specific moment in Arab history when high literary culture was primarily oral while the gradual rise of the book (i.e. written culture with all its accoutrements and specialist training) corresponded with, and may have contributed to, a diminishment of women's access to the literary marketplace in the subsequent era. In Arabic, the benefit of an individual female poet's dwn originating in this time period is, unfortunately, rare; for personal anthologies would help us to find patterns of themes and tropes characterizing a woman's corpus, to gauge her formal development and to compare her uvre to that of her contemporaries, predecessors, and scions. Although al-Nadm lists some 15 women's dwn s, they were, for the most part, very short; the longest were those of Hrn al-Rashd's sister Ulayya bt. al-Mahd, Inn, an associate of Ab Nuws, and Fal, a slave of al-Mutawakkil, which he measures at 20 leaves each (1970, ii, 3612). Occasionally, biographical dictionaries contain a sizeable portion of a poet's corpus in an entry, and it may be worth perusing such sources for these types of entries, especially since certain noncanonical sources have eluded scholars collating biographical material on women. One poet of considerable standing who has often been overlooked is the thirteenth-century itinerant panegyrist Sra al-alabiyya. A substantial body of her work, including a sample of her prose, is included in a biographical dictionary of prominent inhabitants of Fez, namely Amad Ibn al-Q al-Mikns's Jadhwat al-iqtibs f man alla min al-alm madnat Fs (19734, ii, 5229).
2

Mahsat, sometimes known as Mahsat Ganjaw, is a Persian poet of legendary status who 52

probably lived during the eleventh or twelfth century. Her precise dates are unknown, but various classical writers place her in the courts of Mamd of Ghazna (388/998421/1030) and the Seljuk Sultan Sanjar (511/1118552/1157). It may be that her association with the former derives from a confusion between his historical figure and that of Sanjar's governor in Azerbaijan, Sultan Mamd b. Muammad b. Malik-Shh (Rypka 1968, 199). Her birthplace is variously recorded as Ganja, Nishapour, Badakhshan, and Khojand (Ishaque 1949, 12); hence modern-day Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan can all lay claim to her. The story of her love affair with fellow poet Amr Amad, son of a preacher from Ganja, is the subject of a romance in which prose narrative is interwoven with poetic verse. Her fictional biography, as it is inscribed in this romance, follows a rags-to-riches trajectory: orphaned as a young child, Mahsat was forced to find her keep in a kharbt, which is a tavern or a house of ill repute, but due to her refinement, musical training, and talents, she quickly became a frequent guest and admired entertainer of the ruling elites. Regardless of the veracity of her life story, she ranks among the pioneers of the Persian quatrain or rub (de Blois 1994, 409). She is known, in particular, for her mastery of the shahrshb, a type of poem in which a tradesman, such as a butcher, a smith, or a carpenter, is either praised or mocked, often through elaborate puns and sexual innuendos. She has a reputation for bawdiness (de Bruijn EI ), but her penchant for sexually explicit imagery does not seem to have detracted from her respectability. Indeed, in his Ilh-nma, the Sufi mystic Fard al-Dn Ar refers to Mahsat as the scribe (dabr) endowed with pure essence (218). (See the illustration section following page 314.)
2

There are published dwn s of two women poets of Persian from this period. Mahsat's has been collated from a variety of sources, including general anthologies, histories, and legends, and is available in more than one edition. There is conflicting information about whether or not a version of her dwncirculated as a manuscript in premodern times. (De Bruijn EI , Ishaque 1949, 11n.) The size of Mahsat's corpus compares very favorably to that of her Arabic-writing female contemporaries, but an even more astounding legacy comes down to us from the fourteenth-century Jahn Khtn. Her dwn may turn out to be the richest and most significant source of women's literature in the Islamic world from this period. The first published edition, which was collated from three manuscripts, contains four qada s, over 1,400 short lyric poems (ghazaliyyt), a strophic poem (al-tarjband), an elegy (marthiyya), and a number of poetic fragments (muqaat). The sense of wholeness that accompanies such an extensive anthology with its wealth of integral (as opposed to excerpted) verse forms puts her corpus on an analytical par with the celebrated male poets of her age. Although E. G. Brown mentioned in A Literary History of Persia (190224) that he possessed a manuscript of her poetry (iii, 233n), the edited anthology was not published until the late 1990s, and the fact that scholars overlooked her work for so many decades gives one reason to pause. On the one hand it reminds us that the marginalization of women in literary canons is not a premodern phenomenon but rather a gradual process of exclusion and neglect that continues to this day. On the other hand, however, it gives one hope that other gems of Islamic women's literature are waiting to be recuperated.
2

Last but not least, works about women that are not specific to poets or writers sometimes contain poems and excerpts from women's text. This is due to the fact that they tend to deal with elite and educated segments of the female population such as noblewomen, the slaves and clients of nobles and dignitaries, scholars, and mystics. These works include Nis alkhulaf by Ibn al-S (d. 674/1275 or 1276), Al-Mustarif f akhbr al-jawr by Jall al-Dn alSuy (d. 911/1505) and Dhikr al-niswa al-mutaabbidt al-fiyyt by al-Sulam (d. 412/1021), which Rkia Cornell has cross-referenced with the section on women in Ibn al-Jawz's biographical dictionary ifat al-afwa (263327). Ultimately, they are too numerous to be listed here. Readers may wish to consult al al-Dn al-Munajjid's article on classical books about women, both extant and lost, entitled M ullifa an al-nis (1941). It is still useful but needs to be updated. It is important to bear in mind when consulting these and other sources of women's literature that obscenities are often censored in published editions and that it may therefore be necessary to consult alternative editions and/or manuscripts. It is perhaps appropriate to end this section with reference to a rare tome compiled by a woman: now 53

apparently lost, it is a book about Andalusian qiyn (singing slave girls) attributed to an author named Fatna bt. Jafar al-Mursiyya, which she is said to have composed in imitation of Ab al-Faraj al-Ibahn (Al-Tz 1992, 11920).
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CONTEXTS This category covers those sources in which what may be identified as a woman's text is embedded in another text and framed in such a way as to cast doubt on the authorial authenticity of the woman's text in question. One is more apt to consider it as a narrative voice, created by a third-person narrator/author if we take the source to be fictional, or by a third-person reporter/witness if we take it to be factual. In this category, even when woman's speech is understood to represent what was actually said or written, it loses its originative force and comes across as a subsidiary text: hence the woman speaker is rarely identified as an author or even as a contributing author to the frame text. Here, a male, or potentially female, narrator or editor always exerts some control over woman's text, but not always to the same degree, and sometimes woman's text may influence the way man or woman frames it. In this category one finds first and foremost adab . The term applies to a wide variety of predominantly secular works meant to edify, enlighten, and entertain. They are often constructed around exemplary, historical or legendary anecdotes, or akhbr, cited to illustrate a point. An isnd often serves to frame the akhbr, but the narratological transitions between anecdotes and the thematic connections amongst them also function as hermeneutic structures that frame women's words and their meanings. To attempt to inventory all the adab works that include potentially authorial women's citations would be cumbersome, suffice it to highlight just a few. One branch of adab that is particularly rich with women's words, witticisms, and verses is that which Bray dubs the palace tradition (1999, 756). It refers to sources that relay anecdotes about the noblewomen, jawr, and courtesans who occupied or frequented Abbsid (and, in Iberia, Umayyad) palaces, as well as those of subsequent regimes. These sources include Kitb al-aghn by Ab al-Faraj al-Ibahn (d. 356/967), Al-Iqd al-fard by Ibn Abd Rabbih (d. 328/940) and Naf al-b min ghun al-Andalus alrab by al-Maqqar (d. 1041/1631), but there are countless others. The question is not so much what adab to read but how to read it. Incidentally, like the poetry anthologies of their day, these sources often privilege women's writing of preceding eras, but they are still rich with quotations of the latter-born. Another fecund branch of adab includes epistles composed on a variety of topics by the likes of al-Ji (d. 255/869). In epistles such as al-Qiyn, al-Bayn wa-altabyn, and Kitb al-ayawn, as well as many lesser known works, al-Ji cites women with great frequency. One work which is attributed to him pseudonymously is al-Masin wa-aladd. The work features a series of vignettes about women, and the way in which it is organized, with passages focusing on the ndiba (mourner), the mjina(dissolute), the arbiyya (woman from Arabia), the mutakallima (speaker or theologian), the nshiza (sexwithholding wife), etc., lends insight into how women and their words were socially classified, potentially with regard to how non-Arab women were gradually assimilated into an Arabicspeaking society and the linguistic and literary influences that permeated cultural exchanges. These anecdotes, in other words, provide us with scenes of cultural interface that help us to tease out the threads interweaving, in most cases, the Persian- and Arabic-speaking literary milieus. Bray discusses the work in connection with an article exploring the generic status of bleeding poetry, that is poems composed by both men and women dedicated to an important figure on the occasion of his or her bloodletting ( fad ) (1999, 7592). This type of poetry, especially insofar as it is associated with women, brings up at least two potentially provocative points of comparison between tropes that recur in Islamic literature across temporal and geographical boundaries. First, one finds an interesting opposition between the bleeding poems, which are basically short panegyrics offered to a bled and hence cured patron, and pre-Islamic elegies of blood vengeance, in which the spilt blood of the slain kinsman is likened to the menses and therefore synonymous with a state of pollution that can 54

only be cleansed through retaliation. (Stetkevych 1993, 161205) The second point of comparison occurs in the thematic syncretism between Arabic and Persian blood imagery. Mahsat's erotic poems are rife with allusions to blood, and she occasionally addresses or refers to the phlebotomist or fad (Ishaque 1949, 16 and 28). Indeed, blood provides rich and multifaceted metaphors for literature in general, and for Arabic and Persian poetry in particular, and examples of women writers' usage of blood imagery may give us insight into the mechanisms by which women transform objectifying tropes into sources of subjective agency. In assessing the authoritative power of woman's word within a given text, it may be useful to consider its didactic or aesthetic purposes, since the contexts of content and form impact directly on matters of authorial intent. When an author subjects the quotations of others to his or her own moral or aesthetic framework, those quotations assume a degree of fictitiousness. The Persian-language Ilh-nma by Fard al-Dn Ar (d. circa 616/1220), for example, contains brief stories about two legendary women, Mahsat and the mystic Rbia alAdawiyya (d. ca. 135/732) (1976, 115, 153, 21819). At times the women speak in the first person, but the citations do not seem to be meant as authentic attributions, for the words put into their mouths conform to the rhyme and meter of Ar's mathnaw. However, to the extent that the lines may reflect the aesthetic and philosophical viewpoints of their speakers, they in some way conform to their legendary authority and should, perhaps, at least be considered as echoes of authorial presences. Since the stories terminate with bits of mystical wisdom, it is not hard to see how a legendary Sufi figure such as Rbia would emerge as an authority in a text like the Ilh-nma. Still, formalistic and didactic considerations cast doubt on the authenticity of the citations and compromise the book's value as an accurate source of women's literary history. In some cases, however, women's words seem to shape their frames, rather than being shaped by them. Consider the example of a satirical poem by Nazhn, which appears, in more or less identical forms but in different contexts, in Al-Mughrib f ul al-Maghrib by Ibn Sad alMaghrib (or al-Andalus, d. 685/1286), Al-Ia f akhbr Gharna by Lisn al-Dn b. al-Khab (d. 776/1374), and al-Maqqar's Naf al-b. In the first two sources, the poem surfaces in biographical entries on the object of Nazhn's satire, a male poet and satirist himself. There is a difference, however, in the editorial designs of the sources' compilers; for whereas the thirteenth-century Ibn Sad cites Nazhn's poem for its slander against the satirized party's hometown of Almodvar, as is evidenced by an introductory anecdote depicting the town as a dangerous backwater (1953, i, 2223), the fourteenth-century Ibn al-Khab cites the poem for its slander of the satirized party himself, as is demonstrated by the editor's own defamation of his character, which opens his biographical entry (1955, i, 4323). In the third source, alMaqqar cites the poem, as well as the occasion on which it was uttered, as an example of the ferocity with which Andalusian satirists verbally assaulted one another (1968, i, 1903). In this instance, Nazhn's text behaves as a formal unit somewhat independently of its framework. When others appropriate her words for their own purposes, they are, in effect, offering interpretations of her text, rather than manipulating or distorting it. Beyond adab, the contextual category includes the popular genres of romance and song. Here women's voices are cited with great frequency and often by anonymous, and thus theoretically unsexed, authors. One Persian-language romance that is constructed in part on the verses of a female poet is the story ofAmr Amad u Mahsat . It recounts the star-crossed amorous adventures of Mahsat and another poet, Amad b. al-Khab. While the romance is sometimes ascribed to Jawhar of Bukhara, the version found in a manuscript at the British Library which dates from 867/1462 is unattributed. In it the two protagonists and various other characters recite quatrains to each other, at times conversationally, and their verses are interspersed with omniscient narration and dialogue. Obvious questions arise as to the authenticity of both the events recounted and the poetry cited, since history and legend, fact and fiction, are deftly interwoven. How does one interested in the historical limits and bounds of female authorship approach such a text? How cynically should one read Mahsat's words? 55

In a prosimetrical case such as this, where it would seem that the constituent poetry, or at least a key portion of it, historically precedes the narration, it is helpful to give equal weight to prose and verse when considering the plot and structure of the fictionalized account; for sometimes the quoted figure seems to direct the narrator/scribe through the course of the narrative. For example, the romance features a trip to the bazaar, where Mahsat and Amr Amad address various tradesmen, and the episode acts as a showcase for the shahrshb (Anon. 867/1462, 91b95a). Thus one can see how Mahsat's celebrated compositions in a certain genre give shape to a predominantly fictitious account of her life. Another popular genre in which women's voices are routinely cited is the song/poem known as the muwashsha . This form, with compositions in Arabic and Hebrew, originated in Andalusia by the eleventh century and differs from the paradigmatically dominant Arabic qada in two key ways: first, it is divided into stanzas with varying meters and rhymes, unlike the qada , which maintains the same meter and rhyme throughout; and second, it tends to exploit vernacular language, either Arabic or Romance, especially in the final refrain, known as the kharja or exit which is often written in a grammatically, if not musically, feminine voice and introduced as a direct quote with a phrase such as he said or she said. Much ink has been spilled over the kharja , its colloquial and uninhibited expressions of sexual desire, and its association with women and ephebes. Some scholars have adopted the view that many kharja s, especially romance kharja s, were pre-existing songs, coopted by the muwashsha composers, while others argue that they were constructed by those composers as a conceit. The kharja s contain some of the earliest specimens of Romance lyric, and they have therefore piqued the interest of scholars of European literatures, some of whom, most notably Theodor Frings, found in them evidence that medieval European courtly love poetry evolved out of a kind of primordial female emotiveness (Monroe 1974, 16). But few have analyzed the femininity of the kharja in the context of a gender dynamic running throughout the form as a whole. Is the muwashsha an inherently masculine paradigm, as has been said of the polythematic qada ? (al-Sajdi 2000, 12146). Must a woman's voice be confined to the exit? If so, how does one account for the aforementioned muwashsha attributed to Nazhn? Up till now, discussions about women's potential involvement in the authorship of the muwashsha have been limited to its final refrain. This would seem to place them in a subordinate position vis--vis the poem's author who would appropriate their words to his own devices. Hence a woman's authorship of the entire lyric would seem to be by definition subversive, unless of course the feminine voice is more integral to the entire form than its scholarly relegation to the kharja would have one believe. Nazhn's biographers do not mention her involvement with this strophic genre, and the attribution may be incorrect, but questions provoked by the historical fact of female authorship of the muwashsha remain; for other women, such as the eleventh-century Andalusian poet Umm al-Kirm, are known to have been muwashsha composers.
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SIGNS Throughout the previous category, women's voices are often buried under many layers of male narratives. Indeed, it sometimes seems that textual excavations are required to locate those sites in Islamic literature where women contributed, as authors, to hybrid textual forms, be they anecdotal compilations, episodic and prosimetrical romances, or multi-voiced lyrics. These texts come down to us framed in other texts. But what of those texts that are framed by objects, materials into which their words are inscribed, carved, and stitched? Literary histories cite numerous examples of women's verses punctuating all kinds of objects from fruit to garments and vessels. The Cordoban princess and poet Wallda bt. alMustakf (d. 484/1091), for instance, famously wore a robe embroidered with provocative verses. While most of these objects may have receded into oblivion, the few that do remain may be immensely helpful in situating women writers in their historical, social, political, cultural, and material contexts. Two significant examples of artefacts bearing on women's literature from this period are (1) a ceramic bowl at the Victoria and Albert Museum in
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London whose exterior is decorated with a quatrain ascribed to Mahsat (see the illustration section following page 314) and (2) the tombstone of Maymna al-Hudhaliyya (RCEA 9, no. 3306), which features a poem written in the voice of the deceased, and is currently located at the Archaeological Museum in the Citadel, on the Maltese island of Gozo. While the texts themselves are brief and may be of limited value to students and researchers of literary styles and forms, they have an enormous amount to teach us about outlets for women's poetry, its historical settings and circumstantial occasions. In this way they root women's words in time and place much more firmly than the scribes and copyists of manuscripts. In a seminal article entitled Mahsati Ganjavi et les potiers de Rey, Firouz Bagherzadeh sorts through textual, archaeological, art-historical, and religio-political evidence in order to determine the probable source of a quatrain appearing on the outside of the aforementioned ceramic bowl. Bagherzadeh notes that the poem is attributed both to Mahsat and to the Seljuk panegyrist Anwar (d. ca. 586/1190) and sets out to determine which attribution is correct. By considering information about the bowl's provenance and its Haft-rang variety, the author is able to pinpoint the date (11551223 C.E.) and the location (Irq-i Ajam) of its origin. Then, by contemplating the geopolitical and social history of the region, Bagherzadeh is able to deduce that Mahsat is more likely to have been the quatrain's composer than Anwar. The latter, a committed Sunni, would not have been a popular choice of poets in Irqi Ajam during that period of intense sectarianism due to the predominantly Shii sympathies of the inhabitants of the region (Bagherzadeh 1992, 166). Moreover, Mahsat's reputed poetic dalliance with tradesmen and artisans suggests that she would have been a favorite for the Haft-rang master ceramists (1992, 173). In sum, this unlikely source of women's literature helps to authenticate an attribution, and this is no small feat in the case of a poet whose career has been overshadowed by her legend. The bowl also underscores Mahsat's importance as a poet for the mercantile classes and not merely for the ruling elite. At about the same time that the bowl was created in Irq-i Ajam, or, to be more precise, in 569/1174, a woman named Maymna bt. al-asan b. Al al-Hudhal died in the Mediterranean, perhaps on the Maltese island of Gozo, where her gravestone is said to have been found in a field by the road from Xewkija to Sannat (Grassi 1989, 35). This woman whose name is etched in stone lies in authorial obscurity today. Nevertheless, a brief poem of self-mourning written in her voice lives on in a marble stele that apparently once marked her grave. The poem, along with the rest of the funerary inscription, was preserved in stone and hence theoretically free from the distortions and mistakes inflicted on texts passed down by imperfect copyists and scribes, but it was subjected instead to the erosive forces of nature and time. Variations of the text thus exist as a result of divergent readings of its single source. The renowned nineteenth-century scholar Michele Amari remarked that few epigraphs, in Arabic or in any other language, yielded as many interpretations as Maymna's tombstone (Grassi 1989, 219), also known as Majmna's tombstone or the Sciara inscription. While the poem itself may not have been written by the deceased woman, the fact that it was written in her voice is significant; for it demonstrates that women had access to semantic authority even in the remote corners of the Islamic world and even beyond its geopolitical boundaries. Indeed, the Christian Normans captured Malta in 483/1090, more than eight decades before Maymna's death, and many Muslims remained and prospered there until Frederick II expelled them in 647/1249. On the outside, texts are always framed, either by an object or by another text. How one handles that frame influences their meanings and our interpretation of them. Sometimes a frame seems permanent and unbendable, as in the case of a gravestone. At other times a frame seems logically constructed around resemblances and identities, as in the case of collective poetry anthologies and individual dwn s. But the vast majority of frames, such as those that occur in adab , contain and circumscribe with a great measure of malleability. In order to assess the strength of women's words within these frames, thereby broaching the subject of women as agents of collective authorship, one needs, first and foremost, to deconstruct the frame. In the vast majority of cases, this will be, at least in part, a 57

narratological endeavor, since women's words are most often narrated by men. On the inside, in the middle of the frame, lies the core of woman's word; since this is usually a poem, one must work with poetics. Do woman's devices ever trump man's frame? Or, narrated by man, does woman herself figure as his trope? If we open up texts of masculine or anonymous transmission and edition to the possibility of feminine co-authorship, even if only in a fraction of cases, then we lend historical agency to female personages, both real and imaginary, who would otherwise remain trapped in a realm of symbolism and allegory.
Notes

. Nazhn bt. al-Qil, a twelfth-century Andalusian poet known for her satire (hij) and obscenity (mujn), has poems and poetic fragments scattered throughout biographical dictionaries and adab compilations. In addition, Ibn Bishr attributes a fulllength muwashsha to her. Her precise dates and social circumstances are unclear, but anecdotal evidence places her in the company of the pioneering vernacular poet Ibn Quzmn (d. 555/1160), and she is said to have been the daughter of a judge (di Giacomo 1947, 17n).
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. Sra al-alabiyya is a thirteenth-century poet who found patronage in the afid and Mrinid courts of the Islamic west. Many of her panegyrics are dedicated to the Azaf family of Ceuta. Her eastern origins are evident both in her nisba (the Aleppan) and in her verse, where she often expresses longing for the east.
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. Jahn Khtn, a fourteenth-century poet from Shiraz, has the most extensive extant textual legacy of any woman from the period. Despite the enormity of her corpus, citations of her work in canonical Persian sources seem to be somewhat limited; nevertheless her rounds of flyte with Ubayd-i Zkn (d. ca. 772/1371) are celebrated. She married Amn al-Dn Jahram, a minister to the Injuid ruler Shh Shaykh Ab Isq.
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. Wallda bt. al-Mustakf (d. 484/1091) was the daughter of an Umayyad caliph of Cordoba. She led an independent life, remaining unveiled and unmarried, and hosted literary gatherings. She is quite famous for having had a tortuous affair with the canonical male poet Ibn Zaydn (d. 463/1071) and slightly infamous for having had a romantic liaison with the female poet Muhja al-Qurubiyya. Wallda's compositions, mostly love poems and satires, are playful and provocative.
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Marl Hammond
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Bibliography
PRIMARY SOURCES Anon., Amr Amad u Mahsat, in Three romances, Or. 8755, British Library, London, 867/1462, 22b108a. F. D. Ar, The Ilh-nma or Book of God, trans. J. A. Boyle, Manchester 1976. Ibn Bishr, Uddat al-jals. An anthology of Andalusian Arabic muwashshat, ed. A. Jones, Cambridge 1992. Ibn al-Jawz, ifat al-afwa, ed. I. Ramadn and S. al-Lam, 4 vols., Beirut 1989. Ibn al-Khab, al-Ia f akhbr Gharna, i, ed. M. A. Unn, Cairo 1955. Ibn al-Mutzz, abaqt al-shuar, ed. A.-S. A. Farr, Cairo 1956. Ibn al-Q al-Mikns, Jadhwat al-iqtibs f man alla min al-alm madnat Fs, 2 vols., Rabat 19734. Ibn al-S, Nis al-khulaf. Jiht al-aimma al-khulaf min al-arir wa-al-im, ed. M. Jawd, Cairo 1960. Ibn Sad, al-Mughrib f ul al-Maghrib, ed. Sh. ayf, 2 vols., Cairo 1953.

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Ibn ayfr, Balght al-nis, Beirut 1987. al-Ibahn, al-Im al-shawir, ed. N. . al-Qays and Y. A. al-Smirr, Beirut 1984. Jahn Malak Khtn, Dwn-i Kmil, ed. K. Rd and K. A. Nazd, Tehran 1374/1995 or 1996. al-Ji, al-Masin wa-al-add, ed. Y. Fart, Beirut 1997. Jajarm, Munis al-arr f daqiq al-ashr, ed. M. . abb, ii, Tehran 1350/1971. Mahsat, Dwn, ed. . Shihb, Tehran 1957. al-Maqqar, Naf al-b min ghun al-Andalus al-rab, ed. I. Abbs, 8 vols., Beirut 1968. al-Marzubn, Ashr al-nis, eds. S. M. al-n and H. Nj, Baghdad 1976. as-Sulam, Early Sufi women. Dhikr an-niswa al-mutaabbidt a-fiyyt, ed. and trans. R. E. Cornell, Louisville, Ky. 1999. al-Suy, al-Mustarif min akhbr al-jawr, ed. .-D. al-Munajjid, n.p. 1963. , Nuzhat al-julas min ashr al-nis, ed. A.-L. shr, Cairo 1986. SECONDARY SOURCES . . Abd al-Wahhb, Shahrt al-Tnisiyyt, Tunis 1934, 1966 .
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M. Abu-Rub, La posie galante des femmes potesses, in La posie galante andalouse, Paris 1990, 23380. F. A. al-Alw, isha al-Bniyya al-Dimashqiyya. Ashhar alm Dimashq awkhir ahd al-Mamlk. Dirsa wa-nu, Damascus 1994. M. Amari, Le epigrafi arabiche di Sicilia, Palermo 1881, repr. 1971. W. M. A. al-Aruqj, al-Mara f adab al-ar al-Abbs, Baghdad 1981. F. Bagherzadeh, Mahsati Ganjavi et les potiers de Rey, in J. Bacqu-Grammont and R. Dor (eds.), Varia turcica XIX. Mlanges offerts Louis Bazin, Paris 1992, 16176. F. de Blois, no. 235, in Persian literature. A bio-bibliographical survey 5.2. Poetry ca. A.D. 1100 to 1225, London 1994, 409. J. A. Bray, Third- and fourth-century bleeding poetry, in Arabic and Middle Eastern Literatures 2:1 (1999), 7592. E. G. Browne, A literary history of Persia , 4 vols., Cambridge 190224. J. T. P. de Bruijn, Mahsat, EI .
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P. Dawlat bd, Manr kharadmand. Jahn Malak Khtn wa-fi, Tehran 1374/1995. L. Di Giacomo, Une potesse andalouse du temps des Almoades. afa Bint al-jj arRuknya, in Hesperis 34 (1947), 9101. S. al-Dwahj, Wallda bt. al-Mustakf, in S. al-Dwahj, Aqil Quraysh, Mosul 1955, 99109. Epitaphe no. 3306, in Rpertoire chronologique d'pigraphie arabe 9 (1937), 734. F. Fresnel, Lettre M. le Dr. C. Vassallo, in Journal asiatique, series 4:10 (1847), 43743. S. A.-W. Furayyi, al-Jawr wa-al-shir f al-ar al-Abbs, Kuwait 2002. T. Garulo, Una poetisa oriental en al-Andalus. Sra al-alabiyya, in al-Qantara 6 (1985), 15377. , Dwn de las poetisas de al-Andalus, Madrid 1986. V. Grassi, L'pigrafia araba nella isole Maltesi, in Studi Magrebini 21 (1989), 992. Gruendler, Lightning and memory in poetic fragments from the Muslim west. afah bint al-jj (d. 1191) and Srah al-alabiyyah (d.c. 1300), in A. Neuwirth and A. 59

Pflitsch (eds.), Crisis and memory. Dimensions of their relationship in Islam and adjacent cultures, Beirut 2001, 43552. M. Hammond, He said she said. Narrations of women's verse in classical Arabic literature: a case study. Nazhn's hij of Ab Bakr al-Makhzm, in Middle Eastern Literatures 6:1 (2003), 3 18. J. Harris and K. Reichl (eds.), Prosimetrum. Cross-cultural perspectives on narrative in prose and verse, Cambridge 1997. Sh. asanayn, Mahsat wa-nishuh al-adab, in Nis shahrt f al-siysa wa-al-adab f al-ar alSaljq, Cairo 1989, 67104. Huart, La potesse Fadhl. Scne de moeurs sous les khalifes abbasides, in Journal asiatique 7:17 (1881), 543. M. Ishaque, Mahsat of Ganja, in Indo-Iranica 3:4 (1949), 1128. , Four eminent poetesses of Iran, Calcutta 1950 (useful appendix 4595). Khalfa, Lexicon bibliographicum, ed. G. Fluegel, 7 vols., Leipzig 183558. M. Y. Khulayyif, al-Shir al-nis f adabin al-qadm, Cairo 1991. F. Meier, Die schne Mahsat, i, Wiesbaden 1963. T. Monroe, Introduction, in Hispano-Arabic poetry. A student anthology, Berkeley 1974, 371. A. Muhann, Mujam al-nis al-shirt f al-Jhiliyya wa-al-Islm, Beirut 1990. . al-D. al-Munajjid, M ullifa an al-nisa, in Majallat majma al-ilm al-Arab 16 (1941), 21219. al-Nadm, The fihrist. A tenth-century survey of Muslim culture, ed. and trans. B. Dodge, New York 1970. F. Nawzd (ed.), Mahsat-nma, Tehran 1999. M. al-Raysn, al-Shir al-nisw f al-Andalus, Beirut 1978. Rossi, Le lapidi sepolcrali arabo-musulmane di Malta, in Revista degli studi orientali 12 (1930), 42844. Rypka et al., History of Iranian literature, Dordrecht 1968. Z. afwat (ed.), Jamharat rasil al-Arab, 4 vols., Cairo 1937. al-Sajdi, Trespassing the male domain. The qadah of Layl al-Akhyaliyyah, Journal of Arabic Literature 31:2 (2000), 12146. Salm, Zann sukhanvr, Tehran 1957. Schimmel, A nineteenth century anthology of poetesses, in M. Israel and N. K. Wagle (eds.), Islamic society and culture. Essays in honour of Professor Aziz Ahmad, New Delhi 1983. M. al-Shaka, Shirt al-Andalus, in M. al-Shaka, uwar min al-adab al-Andalus, Beirut 1971, 85217. S. P. Stetkevych, The mute immortals speak. Pre-Islamic poetry and the poetics of ritual, Ithaca, N.Y. 1993. A.-H. al-Tz, al-Mara f trkh al-Gharb al-Islm, Casablanca 1992. M. J. Viguera, Aluhu lil-mal. On the social status of Andalus women, in S. K. Jayyusi (ed.), The legacy of Muslim Spain, Leiden 1992. Citation: Hammond, Marl. "Literature: 9th to 15th Century." Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. General Editor Suad Joseph . Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 60

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Overview The word harem refers to the female members of a household, or to the dedicated architectural enclosure in which they live. Few Islamic institutions can rival the harem in the concerted even obsessive manner in which it has been represented in art, literature, social theory, and political discourse. Although there is today a relatively consistent tissue of images that defines popular conceptions of the harem, this vision is thrown into question by the historical and geographical variability revealed by scholarly research. For its part, some of this research has tended to approach its subject teleologically, attempting to trace the historical unfolding, maturation, and institutionalization of an ideal, and thereby exhibiting totalizing tendencies of its own. In fact, harem is a word that has corresponded to many realities in different times and places realities not necessarily organized within a logically coherent developmental program. ETYMOLOGY The Arabic root -r-m, from which harem is derived, generally refers to prohibition, unlawfulness, veneration, sacredness, inviolability in other words, it conveys the notion of a taboo (Ibn Manr 1988, 61519). Although its derivatives occur no fewer than 83 times in the Qurn referring to dietary laws and prohibitions during the pilgrimage, the holy months, and the sacred precincts of Mecca in which it is forbidden to kill not once does the word refer to women or to women's quarters. That connection is, however, established in certain classical Arabic dictionaries, where urma is said to refer to something held sacred and inviolable, something which it is one's duty to honor and defend, and only in this specific sense to a man's wives and family (al-Jawar 1287 A.H., 486; al-Fayrzbd 1289 A.H., iv, 110). Another word derived from the same root is arm, which refers to those parts of a house or property (for example a well) whose use is forbidden to all but the rightful owner, and more particularly to the part of the house into which one enters and upon which the door is closed (al-Zabd n.d., viii, 240, al-Azhar 19646, v, 47). Once again, it is in this quite specific sense of the private quarters of a house that the women's apartments came to be known as the harem. The Persian word andarn, which means interior and denotes the women's quarters of a house, is precisely equivalent to this term. The common practice of referring to this arrangement as sexual segregation is inexact, as it is not based on sex alone. Adult men and women who are forbidden ( maram , another derivative of the same root) from marrying each other by virtue of kinship for example a brother and sister can share a common space; in this sense, if the harem is a zone occupied by women, then it is necessarily forbidden (arm) to men other than their kin. RELIGIOUS BASIS Though harem does not denote women or women's quarters in the Qurn, there is a verse that has been taken as laying the foundation for the separation of men and women. It reads, in part: And when you ask them [feminine] for something, ask from behind a veil (ijb); that makes for greater purity for your hearts and for theirs (33:53). Although commentators agree that them in this verse refers specifically to the Prophet's wives, they have usually generalized it to include all Muslim women, and have taken this verse as ordaining that men and women must be spatially separated (al-Qurub 1364 A.H., xiv, 227). The degree to which such separation is fundamental to Islam has been debated. Fatima Mernissi argues that the Prophet's home in Medina created a space in which the distance between private life and public life was nullified, in which the living quarters opened easily onto the mosque, and which thus played a decisive role in the lives of women and their relationship to politics (1991, 113). However, there are prophetic traditions (adth) that suggest that this practice did not last for example one that describes how the Prophet 62

stretched a curtain between afiyya and the people to emphasize that she was his wife; and another that relates how isha refused to admit the brother of her foster uncle into her apartment following the revelation of the verse of the veil, until the Prophet gave her leave on the grounds of kinship. There is even a tradition that admonishes men to Beware of entering upon the ladies (al-Bukhr 1979, 62: 22, 89; 40, 166; 159). The verse of the veil is, incidentally, the origin of the word purdah after the Persian word for curtain or veil that denotes female seclusion in India. Relatedly, the women's quarters are known there as zenana , after zenn, Persian for women. The segregation of women from non-maram men was generalized following the death of the Prophet, both under the leadership of the Caliph Umar b. al-Khab (r. 63444 C.E.), known for his strict views concerning women, and as a result of the growing influence of peoples with whom the Arabs came into contact through military conquest (Ahmed 1992, 4178). HISTORY Since residences with separate quarters for women were the province of only the wealthiest few, it has historically been royal and imperial harems that have provided the paradigm for discussions and representations of the harem. Evidence suggests that the first royal harems appeared during the Umayyad period (661750 C.E.); by the Abbsid period (7501258 C.E.), they had become established not only as fact, but also as mythology. Thus, within less than a century of his death, the Caliph al-Mutawakkil (r. 84761 C.E.) was related by al-Masd to have had 4,000 concubines in his harem, with all of whom he enjoyed conjugal relations (186177, vii, 276); al-Khwrizm went even further a few decades later, placing the number at 10,000 (1297 A.H., 137). Hrn al-Rashd (r. 786809 C.E.), whose name is indelibly linked to tales of fabulous harems thanks to the Thousand and One Nights , is another illustrious Abbsidcaliph known to have had many concubines. But the importance of this period for the institution of the harem transcends caliphs and their concubines. Historically, the establishment of Islamic orthodoxy was deeply imbued with the mores and material reality of the Abbsid elite, and that is true in particular of gender relations. Thanks to successive military victories, upper-class Abbsid men had gained the ability to procure large numbers of female slaves unencumbered by the legal rights and protections enjoyed by freeborn Arab women. As foreign women thus became traded commodities, harems populated by chattels gradually replaced more equal matrimonial unions, heralding an acute decline in the status of women (Abbott 1946, 67). This is one of several ways in which the harem has played a determining role in the construction of gender in the Muslim world. To varying degrees, Islamic societies established after the collapse of the Abbsid dynasty continued the practice of keeping harems. For instance, the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556 1605 C.E.) had many consorts, placed by his contemporary Ab al-Fal at more than 5,000. Such numbers, however, are better understood as indicators of a ruler's stature and prestige; thus, Ab al-Fal suggests that the large number of women a vexatious question even for great statesmen furnished his majesty with an opportunity to display his wisdom (1843 1949, i, 44). This is doubtless why the fact that the Mamluk ruler al-Ashraf Inl (r. 145361 C.E.) had only one wife, Zaynab, and no concubines led the biographer al-Sakhw to write: In that respect, he was indeed unique among kings (n.d., xii, 445). Of course this statement pertains specifically to royal households; there is scant information on how the common people lived at the time, and what does exist tends to be circumstantial. For instance, Amad Abd al-Rziq has argued on the basis of architectural evidence oblique entrances and screened windows to block the view from the outside that Mamluk women must have been secluded at all levels of society. While he also claims that this practice forced Mamluk-era builders to distinguish between the parts of the house reserved for women and those parts open to visitors, this view is not unanimously shared (1973, 17881). One context in which residences at least those of the wealthier families were separated 63

into such sections was the Ottoman Empire. Known as harem (orharemlik) and selmlk , women's quarters and greeting place, this dichotomous spatial arrangement is commonly viewed as based strictly on gender; in fact, it is more aptly representative of a private/public cleavage, provided that this cleavage is not conceptualized in too close an analogy with its Western manifestations. On the one hand, the harem was an inner sanctuary for both male and female members of the household, while the selmlk was a public stage for welcoming and entertaining guests of both genders; on the other hand, however, women engaged in social, economic, and even political activities from behind harem walls, suggesting that the word private fails to capture the full range of experiences in which women partook there (Hegland 1991, al-Sayyid Marsot 1978). Interpreting these concepts at least for late Ottoman Istanbul, it is also worth noting that only 2.29 percent of all married men were polygynous; among those, furthermore, the average number of wives was only 2.08 (Duben and Behar 1991, 1489). Thus, the harem was much more likely to be a monogamous (albeit extended) family's private quarters than a space dedicated to housing multitudes of women. The low numbers just quoted are not unusual; surveys indicate that the proportion of polygynous households in North Africa and South Asia does not exceed 5 percent. Although much higher proportions sometimes over 40 percent are reached in Sub-Saharan Africa, harems are not common there. In Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, communal ownership of land and the predominance of women in agricultural work make polygyny widespread, but seclusion impractical; by contrast, individual ownership of land and the predominance of male-dominated plough farming in Eurasia and North Africa make seclusion possible, but polygyny undesirable (Boserup 1970, 3752, Goody 1973). This underscores the fact that harem is principally a system of female seclusion, and not just polygyny by another name. Ultimately, as Islamic countries engaged in modernization attempts modeled after the West, women came to be viewed as gauges of success, and harems as embarrassing relics of a past best forgotten. It is no coincidence that a book describing such an experiment in Westernization is entitled Turkey without Harems (Olivero 1952). A PLETHORA OF IMAGES Throughout history, women have played a significant role in masculinist symbolic economies. Accordingly, the harem has figured prominently as a carrier of meaning, both in the Muslim world and elsewhere. And, as often happens with such laden concepts, it has had many different and sometimes contradictory meanings. One of the characteristics most commonly attributed to the harem in Western thought is oppression. In the works of Montesquieu and other Enlightenment thinkers, the harem was viewed as a microcosm of oriental despotism the master representing the sultan, and the subservient women, his effeminate subjects (Grosrichard 1979, 1479). In nineteenthcentury religious tracts, the harem was invoked to garner support for missionary work under the guise of restoring Eastern women's dignity through Christianity (Bac 1998). In the writings of feminists such as Bront and Wollstonecraft, it provided a tool with which both to mark the oppression of women as alien to civilized Europe, and to render feminism less threatening by displacing its target to distant lands (Zonana 1993). In the hands of antifeminists, the confinement of harem women was used as a cautionary tale of what might happen to European women if they were granted the sexual freedoms that feminists supposedly demanded (Ridley 1983, 74). In contrast to the Western view of the harem as pure oppression, many Muslim historiographers represented it as an instrument of power and den of intrigue, claiming that royal harem women brought ruin upon their countries by usurping sovereignty which was rightfully the ruler's. In Abbsid, Fimid, Ottoman, and many other contexts, misogyny thus provided a vocabulary of protest when economic crises or military defeats made it useful to find a scapegoat. In truth, these women's social and political activities were not the exception but the rule, as they performed key mediating functions between the ruler and his subjects 64

(Peirce 1993). Another staple of Western discourse on the Orient was eroticism: the harem was represented as a monument to male scopic desire, a phallocratic fantasy where an army of women existed only to sexually service a unique master. Among the most common tropes in this discourse were the device of representing harem inmates as European, and therefore safe for transgressing Western men; the tendency to portray them as unindividuated pluralities; the careful attention given to their grooming practices such as the application of henna and the depilation of pubic hair; the great popularity of images such as the Turkish bath and the slave market; and the wildly exaggerated notions of harem women's sexual desires, including accounts of lesbianism, bestiality, and masturbation (Schick 1999, 197226). By contrast, some Muslim writers have approached the harem as an inviolable sanctum analogous to the aramayn the holy sanctuaries of Mecca and Medina. The Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy has given the equation of domesticity with femininity the weight of divine law: writing that The Arabic namesakan, to denote the house, is related to the word sakina, peaceful and holy, while the word harim, which means woman, is related to haram, sacred, which denotes the family living quarters in the Arab house, he warns against constructions that might violate the home's womanly inwardness (1973, 57). Stripped of such masculinist essentialism, the idea that seclusion engenders a female spatial autonomy that affords Muslim women freedoms their Western counterparts have historically lacked is articulated by Leila Ahmed, who views the harem as a system that enables women to have frequent and easy access to other women in their community, vertically, across class lines, as well as horizontally, and where women share living time and living space, exchange experience and information, and critically analyze often through jokes, stories, or plays the world of men (1982, 524, 529). This echoes the observations of the eighteenthcentury British travelers Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Lady Elizabeth Craven, that thanks to seclusion and veiling, Ottoman women have in reality more liberty than we have (Montagu 1763, ii, 334). By its proximity to Europe, the Ottoman Empire was best situated to provide most of the stock images that came to constitute Western conceptions of the harem. In the seventeenth century, works like Michel Baudier's Histoire gnralle du serrail, Ottaviano Bon's A Description of the Grand Signor's Seraglio, and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier's Nouvelle relation de l'intrieur du serrail du Grand Seigneur laid the basis for fantastic descriptions of imperial harems that remain as alive today as they were when first written. But these authors had never been inside a harem, and had to rely on native informants of dubious truthfulness, as well as each other. Though first-person narratives by the women who actually inhabited the harems are rare, they do exist and constitute valuable sources of information. For example, the Humyn-nmah of Gulbadan Begum, daughter of the Mughal Emperor Bbur (r. 152630 C.E.) and sister of Humyn (r. 153056 C.E.), offers a fascinating account of the lives of royal harem women in India as well as the political events during the reigns of the first three Mughal emperors. Most extant first-person narratives by harem women are more recent: Gayatri Devi's account of the Rajput court in Jaipur, Taj al-Saltana's memoirs of the Qjr court, and Leyl Saz's account of the Ottoman court all belong to the early twentieth century (for a nineteenthcentury view, see Fig. 5). SPACE AND GENDER CONSTRUCTION There is a great deal of variability in the ways the harem has been represented. But like any social institution, the harem is in essence a representation; and like the history of any social institution, its history is therefore largely that of its representation. Rather than searching for the true essence of the harem in religious texts or historical practices, it is more fruitful to conceptualize it primarily as a socially constructed space, often more imagined than physical, and to focus on how it has functioned to construct gender. Feminist geographers stress the mutually constitutive nature of space and gender, arguing that the differences in the ways men and women experience space are not only a consequence 65

of gender differences, but are also productive of them (McDowell 1999). As Doreen Massey writes, geography matters to the construction of gender, and the fact of geographical variation in gender relations is a significant element in the production and reproduction of both imaginative geographies and uneven development (1994, 2). Massey's reference to geography must be understood in the broadest sense, as encompassing spatial structures not only natural but also artificial, not only physical but also imagined. As a spatial construct, the harem has historically played a fundamental role in the construction and reproduction of gender not just in the Muslim world, but also in the West, where it has been an omnipresent trope for centuries. Analyzing the relationship between space and alterity, David Sibley has shown that marginalization is associated not only with characterisations of the group but also with images of particular places, the landscapes of exclusion which express the marginal status of the outsider group (1992, 107). Segregation reproduces itself: spaces of otherness become not only repositories of others, but producers of alterity as well. Whether the locus of patriarchal oppression or an autonomous space of feminine liberty, the harem system has provided the spatial basis of gender difference. And since spatial differentiation often coexists with power differentiation, it has been implicated in the production and perpetuation of power assymetries along gender lines. But that necessarily means that it is also a site of resistance; indeed, the ongoing political struggle over veiling and seclusion can be viewed as an aspect of spatial politics, a contest over the restructuring of space. rv n Cem l Sch ck
^

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world. Essays in feminist literary criticism, Chicago 1993, 16590. Citation: Sch ck, rv n Cem l. "Space: Harem." Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. General Editor Suad Joseph . Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ewic_COM-0283>

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Sexualities and Queer Studies

Interest in the various aspects of and possible common points between sexualities in the Islamic world through the ages has been a minor but continuous academic concern during the last three decades, boosted by the emergence of women's and gender studies, almost synchronously with gay/lesbian studies in the mid-1980s and then queer studies in the 1990s. Three groups of epistemological issues pertaining to gender and sexual identity in Islamic societies are addressed here: the constructionist vs. essentialist approach, the relevance of constructing Islamic sexualities as a field of research, and the interactions between Western and traditional constructions of sexual identity in modern Islamic societies. This article will deal mainly with sources in Arabic, which remained the language of the cultured elite of the Islamic world until the twelfth century. Sources for other regions will be mentioned in the Bibliography. The field of women's studies, which deals primarily with contemporary societies from a sociological, ethnographic, or political perspective, has provided us with raw information on gender structures; however, studies devoted exclusively to male identity and culture have appeared only recently. Writers dealing with same-sex behavior in Islam or in Arab societies, although informative, often seem unaware of the deeper issues associated with the vocabulary they use. Homosexuality, pederasty, inversion, and lesbianism are used without questioning their meanings, while Arabic terms such as liw andtakhannuth are immediately equated or linked with homosexuality and effeminacy without further investigation. Although G.-H. Bousquet discusses the actual importance of zin (profligacy) in North Africa, despite its harsh condemnation in fiqh, he merely notes that pederasty between children or young people does not cause great indignation it is far from being unknown between adults. It is well known that a particular region of Tunisia is famous in this matter (Bousquet 1953, 60). From a different perspective, al-Munajjid attempts to portray the sexual habits of the Umayyad and Abbsid eras, including same-sex relations, through anecdotes quoted in adab works. The author seems to understand these anecdotes as factual reflections of reality, concerning the whole of medieval society, without explaining that such words as liw do not bear the same meaning in classical and modern Arabic, whether because he assumes his readers' knowledge of the issue or, more likely, because he himself assumes that liw means homosexuality. The pervasiveness of sexual matters in adab causes him to call the Abbsid age the era of sex, which he attributes to an alleged loss of religious feeling among the aristocracy (al-Munajid 1958, 45) and, above all, to the Persian influence. Whether hushed up, coyly alluded to, frowned upon, or rejected as products of foreign influence and past attitudes, same-sex relations have long been a blind spot in twentiethcentury Arab sources. The subject is reluctantly addressed by Pellat in his 1983 Encyclopedia of Islam article, written from the perspective of normative discourses produced by Islamic societies concerning liw. With A. Bouhdiba's ground-breaking La sexualit en islam, however, sexuality in Islam was made into a specific, coherent object of study. More recent research has focused on the perceptions reflected in cultural production, essentially literature, whether classical or modern, but until recently there have been very few attempts at evaluating discursive praxis in the light of gender construction theory. Scholarly debates catalyzed by queer studies, primarily concerned with the relevance of the concept of (sexual) identity, are highly useful in the study of non-European cultures, which in turn could certainly benefit from academic debate on the construction of sexuality in Islamic societies. Interaction with non-European civilizations during the colonial era, particularly the Islamic East as an epitomic cultural Other (R. Burton's sotadic zone), is closely related to the Western construction of a homosexual identity, with the help of what R. C. Bleys calls the ethnographic imagination's mapping of the geography of perversion. In return, this deconstruction may now apply to Islamic cultures and enrich a discipline that has been hitherto primarily concerned with early Greek and Roman homosexualities. The possible links 69

between pre-Islamic substratum conceptions of gender and same-sex relations, particularly Greek and Persian, and later Arabo-Islamic cultural features, have yet to be explored. The resemblances and differences between the classical Greek erastes/eromenos relationship and the Islamic poet/amrad (beardless youth) relation need to be studied as well. It has often been noted that the pervasiveness of homoerotic poetry begins with the Abbsid caliphate period (7501259), when the Persian heritage merged into Islamic culture. But the mere fact that the love of boys is connected with shubiyya (pro-Persian claims) in some belles-lettristic works does not allow the researcher to attribute the appearance of homosexuality in Islamic civilization to an outside influence. Much research has been devoted to the extent to which Western definitions of homosexuality and, recently, the gay liberation movement, have influenced Islamic societies' perception of same-sex behaviors, as well as perceptions by homosexuals of themselves. An identity closely linked with heterosexuality probably first appeared in the nineteenth century during the age of encounters between colonial Europe and the Islamic world. The colonial era's influence on gender construction in Islamic countries often resulted in the imposition of a strict conception of heterosexuality, sometimes in a Victorian moral code that was eagerly and rapidly islamicized. B. Dunnes's work on the normalization of sexuality in Egypt shows how the colonial power pressured reluctant local authorities to outlaw homosexual practices. A similar process occurred in India and is analyzed by S. Bhaskaran. The impact of nineteenth-century European morality on the construction of Islamic sexualities is also underlined by A. Najmabadi in her work on Qjr Iran. Following Michel Foucault, particularly the English translation of the first volume of his Histoire de la sexualit, researchers began to look at how sexuality is historically constructed in discourse, and how culture normalizes sexual acts so as to define genders and limits. Historians have sought to analyze the construction of homosexuality, while literary scholars explore the various bonds that define male identity, and demonstrate how each culture at different periods has conceived of sexuality. These works show how, during a long period of maturation beginning in fifteenth-century Europe and gaining speed from the eighteenth century on, homosexuality was historically invented as a specific category and opposed to a norm that mainly defines itself by what it excludes (Eribon 1998, 15), the assumption being that heterosexuality is not so much a natural or universal concept and way of living one's sexuality as a constructed definition of gender, excluding same-sex attraction and intercourse. Historians regarded as essentialists, on the other hand, have considered same-sex attraction to be a universal minoritarian paradigm, regardless of its crystallization as an independent concept in history, that can rightfully be subsumed as homosexuality or gayness; they have subsequently endeavored to examine its developments at various periods and locations. Since the 1990s, queer theory can be seen as a later development of the constructionist approach, aimed at severing gay and lesbian studies from a minoritarian and identitarian approach. Although such epistemological issues have seldom been addressed per se in studies pertaining to the Islamic domain, most authors have noticed that both normative texts (Qurn, hath, fiqh) and perceptions of sexuality (as reflected in literature or in interviews during fieldwork) deal primarily with acts linked to penetration (anal or vaginal) or behaviors seen as substitutes for penetration: intercrural intercourse (tafkhdh), masturbation (nik al-yad, dalakor jald umayra), and intervaginal intercourse (saq, literally pounding, an analogy being made with the crushing of saffron leaves), with a puzzling lack of mention of oralgenital acts. All these forms of behavior are considered through the prism of licitness by doctors of the law, or through the prism of social and literary acceptability by littrateurs, but classical authorities never derive from them the definition of a minoritary identity. The first convincing attempt from a constructivist perspective to study the medieval understanding of sexual irregularities was made by E. K. Rowson, who highlighted a number of essential points concerning medieval perception of genders and sexual behaviors in his work on medieval Arabic vice lists. Modern prioritization of sexual object choice over sexual 70

activity does not fit this perception, which sees the adult male as penetrator and the female as penetrated. Within this framework, the preference of an other-sex or same-sex partner for the male is a matter of choice (both options are illicit outside the frame of nik) whereas the preference for the passive position in anal intercourse (called ulq until the ninth century, then ubna or bigh) is always perceived as an illness, and is widely discussed in adab literature, often in amusing fashion. Female refusal to accept male penetration is equally culpable. Parallels are drawn between active anal intercourse (liw) and fornication (zin): they are both illicit but expectable attempts by the male to satisfy his instincts as penetrator whereas a beardless youth's acceptance of the role of passive partner for money, provided he derives no pleasure from it, is socially acceptable, though formally outlawed by religion. It should be stressed, however, that such analysis should not be seen as a key to understanding contemporary attitudes toward same-sex relationships, nor as a definitive refutation of essentialist views. The concept of bisexuality, only recently discussed in academic works, could also be used to describe some same-sex behaviors. More recently, the AIDS epidemic has focused the attention of researchers on sex workers and their customers. Some articles in the Aggleton collection on male prostitution and AIDs, such as S. Khan's investigation of the South Asian zone or Boushaba's study of Morocco, suggest the idea of bisexuality might help build a slightly more balanced idea of same-sex relations in modern Islamic societies. Particularly interesting is the case of khinth or takhannuth, which can be translated variously as effeminacy, transvestism, transsexualism, or hermaphroditism a puzzling inconsistency that is solved when one considers that the term refers to various failings to achieve masculinity in its behavioral features. In his essay on the effeminates of early Medina, Rowson argues that it was not until the ninth century that khinth was associated with homosexual intercourse. Although interesting studies on gender-crossing are included in Murray and Roscoe, there have been no monographs until now on the different realizations of khinth in Islamic societies. U. Wikan discusses at large the Omani khanths she observed during fieldwork in the 1970s. The term is almost unattested in classical Arabic, ignored by Ibn Manr in the Lisn al-Arab, and barely appears as an adjective in a verse by the fourteenth-century poet al-Araj al-f, quoted by al-afad in al-Wf bi-al-wafayt, in which the beloved is called aby khanth al-dall (a kid withkhanth coyness). It can be noted that modern East Arabian dialects use the term khanth as a derogatory insult for the passive partner in homosexual intercourse, but the transvestite/transsexual figure described is highly reminiscent of the early Islamic mukhannath, with the exception of homosexual prostitution, a feature of the modern khanth unmentioned in discourse concerning the mukhannath. Wikan's conclusion that it is the sexual act, not the sexual organs, which is fundamentally constitutive of gender allows us to understand why the man who enters in a homosexual relationship in the active role in no way endangers his male identity (Wikan 1982, 175). The high value placed on female purity renders seeking the company of a khanth socially ambiguous: both a greater individual shame than seeking forbidden intercourse with a woman, through female prostitution or, worse, through intercourse with a married woman, and a lesser social shame given that it does not require the female to break sexual interdicts. The Omani institution of khanth therefore sheds light not only on Islamic societies alone, but on the statute of same-sex relations in any society that puts strong emphasis on female virginity and chastity. For the same reason, khawals, male dancers in nineteenth-century Egypt who performed dressed as women, eventually replaced female dancers entirely after Muammad Al Pasha ordered a ban on female prostitutes and dancers in 1836. Research on the variations and permanencies of the terminology of same-sex relations in various languages used in Islamic countries is needed. In the case of Arabic, it is probable that neologisms such as shudhdh jins, sexual deviationism (early twentieth century?), 71

and mithliyya jinsiyya, homosexuality (late 1990s), were coined to translate the European concepts of homosexuality. English words such as gay (and to a lesser extent queer) have now become part of the usual vocabulary in the main urban centers of the Islamic world. But why and how did they partly replace traditional terms? In the Arabic-speaking world, when were the former meanings of l (enamoured of young men seeking the active role in anal intercourse), mujir (male prostitute),mabn (grown man seeking the passive role in anal intercourse), musiqa (woman flaunting penis-hate and practicing tribadism), and so forth, lost and replaced either by new meanings (l understood as a synonym of male homosexual, siq identified with lesbianism) or by borrowed terms? To what extent do these neologisms cover the precise domain of homosexuality in mainstream Western culture? Do modern and ancient dialects (and urban slang or underworld languages) retain in their terminology the remembrance of premodern gender constructions, and are these consistent with elite adabconceptions? Language partly allows a tempering of the constructionist idea of a dividing line between sexual acts rather than sexual preferences in classical Islamic societies: the repetition of homosexual acts, even by the active partner, might turn a mere amusement or ersatz into an illness, or something that could remotely evoke an identity; moreover, when a man often sleeps with other men, one cannot be sure of what really takes place between them, and as alTawd mischievously said of the tenth-century Persian vizier Ibn Abbd, kam arbatin f alqawmi rat jabatan (many a spear has become a quiver). Frdric Lagrange

Bibliography
Primary sources in Arabic classical period All information concerning the early period is to be sought in eighth-century and later sources, and commands caution in terms of its historical value. Keyword searches (liw, siq, ubna, ulq, etc.) can be conducted on the www.alwaraq.com site, which offers more than a million pages of classical Arabic works online. Although awkward to use, A. Schmitt's BioBibliography on male-male sexuality and eroticism in Muslim societies (Berlin 1995) is useful. Same-sex relations are widely mentioned in tenth-century adab works such as alIfahn, Kitb al-Aghn, al-Rghib al-Abahn, Muart al-udab, al-Q al-Jurjn, alMuntakhab min kinyt al-udab, pseudo-Tawd, al-Risla al-Baghddiyya, etc. Sukhf (ribaldry) related literature at later periods offers many examples of same-sex erotica, the most famous of which is the thirteenth-century al-Tfsh, Nuzhat al-albb. See also shadow plays by Ibn Dniyl, fourteenth-century al-Nawj, or even eighteenth-century al-Shirbn, Hazz al-quf. Primary sources internet Gay Islamic websites calling for a reinterpretation of Qurnic verses condemning the People of Loth include www.al-fatiha.net, www.queerjihad.org, andwww.angelfire.com/ca2/queermuslims. Many gay and lesbian groups of Islamic cultural heritage in the United States and Europe have sites. See, for instance, the sites of the Gay and Lesbian Arab Society (http://www.glas.org/), Gays and Lesbians in African Studies (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/ASA/glas.html), Kelma (http://www.kelma.org/kelma.html), Gay Maroc (http://gay.ma.tripod.com/fr/), Homan (www.ho-man-iran.org), and Sangat for South-Asian gays (http://members.aol.com/youngal/sangat.html). Similar groups have appeared in a more timid manner in Muslim countries and countries with important Muslim communities such as Malaysia. See, for example, the site of Lambda Magazine,www.qrd.org/www/world/europe/turkey/dergi/index.html, and that of Out, www.outinmalaysia.com/index1.html. Further study of the impact of the internet on gay attitudes in Islamic countries (through personal computers or internet cafs) is much needed. Secondary G ENERAL 72 sources

D. F. P. Aggleton (ed.), Men who sell sex. International perspectives on male prostitution and AIDS, Philadelphia 1998. R. C. Bleys, The geography of perversion. Male-to-male sexual behaviour outside the West and the ethnographic imagination 17501918, New York 1995. Bouhdiba, La sexualit en islam, Paris 1975. , Sexuality in Islam, trans. A. Sheridan, London 1985. M. Chebel, L'esprit de srail, Paris 1988. D. Eribon, Traverser les frontires, in D. Eribon (ed.), Les tudes gay et lesbiennes, Paris 1998, 11 25. M. Foucault, Histoire de la sexualit. La volont de savoir, Paris 1976. , The history of sexuality, trans. R. Hurley, New York 1980. D. F. Greenberg, The construction of homosexuality, Chicago 1988. M. Ghoussoub and E. Sinclair-Webb (eds.), Imagined masculinities, London 2000. E. Kosofsky, Construire des significations queer, in D. Eribon (ed.), Les tudes gay et lesbiennes, Paris 1998, 10916. G. H. A. Juynboll, Siq (tribadism) in Encyclopdie de l'islam, 1997. S. O. Murray and W. Roscoe (eds.), Islamic homosexualities, New York 1997. Pellat, Liw (sodomy), in Encyclopdie de l'islam, 1983. S OUTH A SIA S. Asthana and R. Oostvogels, The social construction of male homosexuality in India. Implications for HIV transmission and prevention, in Social Science and Medicine 52 (2001), 707 21. S. Khan, Through a window darkly. Men who sell sex to men in India and Bangladesh, in P. Aggleton (ed.), Men who sell sex, Philadelphia 1999, 195212. , Culture, sexualities, and identities. Men who have sex with men in India, in Journal of Homosexuality 40 (2001), 99115. R. Vanita and S. Kidwai (eds.), Queering India. Same-sex love in India. Readings from literature and history, New York 2000. S UB -S AHARAN A FRICA W. Roscoe and S. O. Murray (eds.), Boy-wives and female-husbands. Studies of African homosexualities, New York 1998. Vangroenweghe, Sida et sexualit en Afrique, Anvers 2000. See also Dakan (1997), a film by Guinean director Mohamed Camara, the first African film to deal with homosexuality. M IDDLE E AST AND N ORTH A FRICA G.-H. Bousquet, L'thique sexuelle de l'islam, Paris 1953. Dunne, Sexuality and the civilizing process in modern Egypt, Ph.D. diss., Washington, D.C. 1996. Hayes, Queer nations. Marginal sexualities in the Maghreb, Chicago 2000. Ibrhm Mamd, al-Muta al-mara, al-shudhdh al-jins f trkh al-Arab (The forbidden pleasure. Homosexuality in Arab history), Beirut 2000.

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G. Menicucci, Unlocking the Arab celluloid closet. Homosexuality in Egyptian film, in Middle East Report 206 (1998), 326. al al-Dn al-Munajjid, al-ayt al-jinsiyya ind al-Arab (Sex life of the Arabs), Beirut 1958. Najmabadi, Male lions and female suns. The gendered tropes of Iranian modernity, University of California Press, Berkeley (forthcoming). K. Rowson, The effeminates of early Medina, in Journal of the American Oriental Society 111 (1991), 67193. , The categorization of gender and sexual irregularity in medieval Arabic vice lists, in J. Epstein and K. Straub (eds.), Body guards. The cultural politics of gender ambiguity, New York 1991, 5079. Sprachman, Suppressed Persian. An anthology of forbidden literature, Costa Mesa 1995. U. Wikan, Behind the veil in Arabia. Women in Oman, Baltimore 1982. W. Wright, Jr. and E. K. Rowson (eds.), Homoeroticism in classical Arabic literature, New York 1997. I SRAEL Sumakai Fink, Independence Park. The lives of gay men in Israel, Palo Alto 1999. Walzer, Between Sodom and Eden. A gay journey through today's changing Israel, New York 2000. C ITATION : Lagrange, Frdric. "Sexualities and Queer Studies." Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. General Editor Suad Joseph . Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ewic_SIM-0009>

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al-Hs h imiyya
, name of the administrative capital of the Abbsids before the building of Baghdd, referring not to a single place but to wherever the Caliph chose to establish his residence. The confusion as to the location of Hshimiyya stems from the existence of more than one place of that name, as each in turn was occupied for a period as the official residence of the Abbsid Caliph. The founder of the dynasty, al-Saff (d. 132/754), after leaving al-Kfa, settled at a site opposite ar Ibn Hubayra [q.v.], where he built a city and named it Hshimiyya (situated midway between al-Kfa and Baghdd; cf. Yt, iv, 946confuses with Madnat b. Hubayra; Iakhr, BGA, i, 85; Ibn awal, BGA, ii, 166; Muaddas, BGA, iii, 53, 115, 130i). Previously the Caliph had begun construction at ar Ibn Hubayra itself, but he abandoned this location when the populace, in preference to Hshimiyya, persisted in referring to the town by the name of its founder, the last Umayyad governor of Ir, Yazd b. Umar b. Hubayra. This same Yazd originally built a city on the Euphrates near al-Kfa, but was forced to abandon this site by order of the Umayyad Caliph Marwn II (presumably MadnatIbn Hubayra, which abar and Yt confuse with ar Ibn Hubayra; cf. Annales, iii/1, 80, 183; Mudjam, i, 680, iii, 208; iv, 123, 946; Baldhur, Fut, 287). In 134/752, al-Saff moved once again and established his capital near al-Anbr, formerly the Persian city Frz Sbr, but he died in 136/754 before completing it (Fut, 287; Yab, ii, 42930;Buldn, 237; Ibn utayba, K. al-Marif, 189; Dnawar, Akhbr, 372-3; Ibn Rustah, BGA, vii, 109; abar, iii/1, 80, 87; Masd, Tanbh, 339; K. al-Uyn in Fragmenta Historicorum Arabicorum, i, 211). The authorities report that Manr, who now became Caliph, established his residence at a new location in the general vicinity of al-Kfa which, according to al-abar, was adjacent to MadnatIbn Hubayra (Yab, ii, 450; al-abar, iii/1, 271, 272, 319). This site is not to be confused with ar Ibn Hubayra, which, as previously noted, was situated midway between alKfa and Baghdd. These accounts seem to suggest that the centre of al-Manr's administration was the city near al-Kfa which was first built and later abandoned by the governor of Marwn II. There were, therefore, no less than four Abbsid capitals: the three capitals of al-Saff at ar Ibn Hubayra, at the site opposite that town, and at al-Anbr, and also the capital of Manr at MadnatIbn Hubayra. The proclivity of the Abbsid Caliphs for this constant moving is still unexplained; but it does suggest that they were searching for a site which could satisfy certain particular needs. Following a riot in the court of his palace, Manr began the journey which led to the founding of Baghdd. In 146/763, the administrative agencies of the government were moved to the new location signifying the formal transfer of the capital (al-abar, iii/1, 129-33, sub anno 141/758, 271, 418 ff. also gives dates 136, 7; hab, Cairo ed., i, 67 = Paris ed., 2; Mudjam, i, 680). (J. Lassner)

Bibliography
In addition to the works mentioned in the text: T. Nldeke, Sketches from Eastern History, London 1892, 123-30 Streck, Die alte Landschaft Babylonien, 54 G. Le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, London 1900, 6-10 Reitemeyer, Die Stdtegrndungen der Araber im Islam, Leipzig 1912, 41 ff., 49 J. Lassner, Some speculative thoughts on the search for an Abbsid capital, in MW, lv (1965), 135-7 see also AR IBN HUBAYRA.
[Print Version: Volume III, page 265, column 2]

C ITATION : Lassner, J. "al-Hshimiyya." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; , Th. Bianquis; , C.E. Bosworth; , E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. 75

Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-2791>

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Bag h dd
. Baghdd is situated on both banks of the Tigris, at 33 26 18'' Lat. N. and 44 23 9'' Long. E. respectively. Founded in the 8th century A.D. it continued to be the centre of the Abbsid Caliphate till its fall, and the cultural metropolis of the Muslim world for centuries. After 1258 it became a provincial centre and remained under the Ottomans the centre of the Baghddwilyet. In 1921 it became the capital of modern Ir.
^

History. The name Baghdd is pre-Islamic, related to previous settlements on the site. Arab authors realise this and as usual look for Persian origins (cf. Madis, al-Bad, iv, 101; Ibn Rusta, 108). They give different hypothetical explanations, the most common of which is given by God or Gift of God (or the Idol). (see hab, i, 58-9 (Cairo); Yt, i, 678-9; Abu 'l-Fid, i, 292; Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 6; Bakr, i, 169; Ibn al-Fah, Mashhad MS. f. 29 b). Modern writers generally tend to favour this Persian derivation (cf. Salmon, Introduction, 23-4; Le Strange, Baghdad, 10-11; Streck, Landschaft, i, 49-50; Herzfeld, Paikuli, 153; W. Budge,By Nile and Tigris, i, 178; JRIA., i, 46-94). Others tend to give the name an Aramaic origin meaning, the home or enclosure of sheep (Y. Ghanma and A. Karmal in Lughat al-Arab, iv, 27; vi, 748. Note Tabar's reference to Sal-Baar, the cow market, on the site of Baghdd (iii, 277). Delitzsch favours an Aramaic origin without explaining the meaning (Delitzsch, Paradies, 206, 238). A legal document on the time of Hammurabi (1800 B.C.) mentions the city of Bagdadu (Schorr, Altbabylonische Rechtsurkunden No. 197 l. 17.) This indicates that the name was in use before Hammurabi and definitely before any possible Persian influence. Bag and Hu are rendered by the same sign. However a boundary stone from the time of the Kassite King Nazimarutta (1341-1316 B.C.) mentions the city Pilari on the bank of Nah. Sharri in the district of Bagdadi (De Morgan, Dlgation en perse, i, 86-92). This with the mention of Bagdatha several times in the Talmud makes Bag the more acceptable reading (Obermeyer, Landschaft Babylonien, 1929, 147 ff.; Jewish Encyc., Baghdad). Another boundary stone of the reign of the Babylonian king Mardukapaliddin (1208-1195 B.C.) mentions the city Baghdd (Dlgation en Perse, iii, 32-39). Adad-nirari II (911-891 B.C.) plundered places amongst which was Bagda(du) (Synchronistic History, iii L. 12 = K BI, 200). In the 8th century B.C. Baghddbecame an Aramaean settlement. Tiglatpilasser III (745-727 B.C.) mentions Bagdadu in connexion with an Aramaean tribe (Delitzsch, Paradies, 238). From it is only fair to admit that the origins of the name are not clear. The fact that Bag was adopted by the Iranians about the 8th century B.C. to denote God, and that it figured in personal names does not change the situation (Reallexikn, i, 341). Manr called his city Madnatal-Salm (city of peace), in reference to paradise (urn, vi, 127; x, 26). This was the official name on documents, coins, weights etc. Variations of the name, esp. Bughdn and appelations such as Madna Ab jafar, MadnatManr, Madnat alhulaf and Al-Zawr were used (Ibn al-Fah, f. 29b; Yt, i, 678; Ibn Rusta, 108). Zawr seems to be an old name as the Fakhr states (al-Fakhr, 145; cf. Mustawf, Nuzha, 41). For later explanations see Masd, al-Tnbh (Cairo), 312; Yt, ii, 954). Arab authors state that Manr built his city where many pre-Islamic settlements existed, the most important of which was the village of Baghdd, (see abar, ii, 277; and i, 2067; Ibn jawz, Mankib, 7; Yab, Buldan, 237), on the west bank of the Tigris north of art (abar, iii, 277). Some consider it of Badry and refer to its annual fair (hab, i, 25-7; Ibn jawz, Manaib, 6; Yab, Buldn, 275) and this would help to explain why Karkh was later the quarter for merchants. A number of old settlements, chiefly Aramaean, were on the western side in the vicinity of Karkh. Among these is habiyya (by Bbal-Shm), Sharafniyya, and north of it Wardniyya which 77

became within al-arbiyya quarter, Snya near the junction of art with the Tigris (later alAta) auft at the corner where the Rufayl canal flows into the Tigris, and Bartha where the Karkhya canal branches from the s canal. Three small settlements were between the Karkhya canal and art, i.e., Sl, Warthl (later alln quarter) and Banwr. Karkh itself (Aramaic karkha meaning a fortified town) takes its name from an earlier village, which Persian traditions attribute to Shpr II (309-379 A.D.) (Mustawf, 40; see abar, iii, 278 9; hab, 27, 33, Ibn al-Athr, ii, 342-3, Yt, iii, 613 and Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 7). According to Xenophon the Achaemenids possessed vast parks in the district of Baghdd (at Sittake). Arab authors refer to two such gardens (cf. hab, 28; Mustawf, 40). Near the mouth of the s canal, there was a Sasanian Palace (arSbr) where Manr later built a bridge. The old anara (al-anara al-ata) across the art canal, south-west of the Kf gate, was Sasanian. On the eastern side, S al-Thalth and hayzurn cemetery were pre-Islamic. There were some monasteries in the area which are pre-Islamic like Dayr Mrfathion (al-Dayr al-At) where al-huld palace was built, Dayr Bustn al-uss, and Dayr al-jthal near which Shaykh Marf was buried. (abar, iii, 274, 277; Ibn al-Fah, f. 36-37a; hab, 46, 28; Masd, al-Tanbh, 312; hahab,Duwal, i, 76; Mustawf, 40). None of these ancient settlements attained any political or commercial importance, so that the city of Manr may be regarded as a new foundation.Baghdd is very often confused with Babylon by European travellers in the middle ages and sometimes with Seleucia, and appears in their accounts as Babel, Babellonia, etc. The erroneous application of the later name to Baghdd is likewise common in the Talmudic exegetic literature of the Babylonian Geonim (in the Abbsid period) as well as in later Jewish authors. Pietro della Valle who was in Baghdd (1616-7) was the first to refute this error, widely spread in his time. Down to the 17th century the name Baghdd was generally known in the West in the corrupted form Baldach (Baldacco) which might be derived from the Chinese form of the name (cf. Bretschneider, Medieval Researches, i, 138; ii, 124; Travels of Marco Polo, ed. Frampton, 29, 126). The Abbsids turned to the east and looked for a new capital to symbolise their dawla. The first caliph, al-Saff, moved from Kfa to Anbr. Al- Manr moved to Hshimiyya near Kfa, but he soon realised that the turbulent pro-Alid Kfa was a bad influence on his army, while Hshimiyya was vulnerable as was proved by the Rwandiyya rising (cf. Yut, i, 680-1; abar, iii, 271-2; Fakhr (Cairo), 143). He looked, therefore, for a strategic site. After careful exploration, he chose the site of Baghdd for military, economic and climatic considerations. It stood on a fertile plain where cultivation was good on both sides of the river. It was on the hursn road and was a meeting place of caravan routes, and monthly fairs were held there, and thus provisions could be plentiful for army and people. There was a net of canals which served cultivation and could be ramparts for the city. It was in the middle of Mesopotamia, and enjoyed a temperate and healthy climate and was fairly safe from mosquitoes (Yab, 235-8; abar, iii, 271-5; Yt, i, 679-80;Manib, 7-8; Muaddas, Asan al-Tasm, 119-120; Ibn al-Athr, v, 426-7; Ibn al-jawz, 7; Yab, ii, 449; Fakhr, 143-5). Apocryphal stories about its merits and al-Manr's destiny to build it found circulation later (cf. Yab, Buldn, 237; Fakhr, 144; abar (Cairo), vi, 234-5; Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 7-8). Baghdd was to succeed Babylon, Seleucia and Ctesiphon and to outshine them all.

Yab (278-891), and Ibn al-Fah (290/903), give early detailed descriptions of Baghdd by quarters, while Suhrb (c. 900 A.D.) describes the net of canals in the area. The city with its fortifications and its inner plan looks like a big fortress. There was first a deep ditch, 40 dhir (= 20.27 m.) wide, surrounding the city, then a quay of bricks, then the first wall 18 dhir (= 9 m.), at the base, followed by a space 56.9 metres in width (= 100 dhir, see for measures Rayyis,hardj) left empty for defensive purposes. Then came the main wall of sunburnt bricks34.14 metres high, 50.2 metres wide at the bottom and 14.22 metres at the top 78

with great towers numbering 28 between each two gates except those between the Kfa and Bara gates which numbered 29. On each of the gates a dome was built to overlook the city, with quarters below for the guards. Then came a space 170.70 metres wide where houses were built. Only officers and loyal followers (mawl) were allowed to build here, and yet each road had two strong gates which could be locked. Then came a simple third wall enclosing the large inner space where only the caliph's palace (Bbal-hahab), the great mosque, the dwns, houses of the sons of the caliph, and twosafas, one for the chief of the guard and the other for the chief of police, were built. To ensure control of the city and facilitate communications internally and with caravan routes externally, the city was divided into four equal parts divided by two roads running from its equidistant gates. The hursngate (also called Bbal-Dawla) was to the N.E., the Baragate to the S.E., the Syria gate to the N.W. and the Kfagate to the S.W. To get to the inner circle, one had to cross the ditch and to pass five doors, two at the outer wall, two huge doors at the great wall and one door at the inner wall (see Yab, Buldn, i, 238-242; abar, iii, 322-3, Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 9-10; hab, 9-12; Ibn al-Athr, v, 427-8, 439; Yab, ii, 449; Ibn al-Fah, MS, f. 33a). Ancient imperial traditions are also noticeable in the plan. The seclusion of the caliph from his people, the grandiose plan of the palace and the mosque to show the greatness of the new dawla, the division of the people in separate quarters which could be locked and guarded at nightall testify to that. Manr granted some devoted followers and captains tracts of land by the gates outside the city, and gave his soldiers the outskirts (arb) to build and granted some of his kinsfolk outlying places (arf) (Yab, ii, 449-50; cf. Ibn awal, i, 240). The glory of the Round City was the Green Dome, 48.36 metres high, towering over the palace with a mounted horseman on top. It fell in 329/941 on a stormy night, probably struck by a thunderbolt (l, R, 229, Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vi, 317-18; Manib, 11; Abu 'l-Masin, iii, 270; hab, 11). However its walls lasted much longer, and they finally crumbled in 653/1255 A.D. (Ibnal-Fuwa, 303, SibIbn al-jawz, Mirtal-Zamn, viii, 67). Marble and stone were used in the building of the Bbal-hahab, and gold decorated its gate. It continued to be the official residence for about half a century, and though Rashd neglected it, Amn added a new wing to it and built a maydn around it. During the siege of Baghdd in 198/814 it suffered much damage. Then it ceased to be the official residence and was neglected (cf. IbnalFuwa, 303). The mosque (jmiManr) was built after the palace and thus was slightly divergent from the ibla (cf. abar (Cairo), vi, 265, Ibn al-Athr, v, 439). In 191/807 Rashd demolished it, and rebuilt it with bricks. It was enlarged in 260-1/875 and finally in 280/893. Mutaid added another court to it and renewed parts of it (Muntaam, v, 21, 143). The mosque had a minaret (hab, v, 125) which was burnt in 303/915 (Muntaam, vi, 130), but was rebuilt again (cf. Ibn al-jawz, Muntazam, vii, 284). It continued to be the great mosque of Baghdd during the period of the caliphate. It was flooded in 653/1255 and survived this and the Mongol invasion.

The plan of Baghdd reflects social ideas. Each quarter had a responsible personage, and generally had a homogeneous group, ethnically (Persian, Arabs, hwrizmians), or by vocation. Soldiers had their homes outside the walls, generally north and west of the city, while merchants and craftsman had their centres south of the arat in Karkh (see Ibn alFah, MS. f. 37b; 33b, 29b). Markets play a prominent part in the plan of Baghdd. Initially, along each of the four ways from the great wall to the inner wall were high arched rooms (t) where shops were put, thus constituting four markets (cf. abar, iii, 322). Besides, the Caliph ordered that each of the four sections outside the wall should have ample space for markets, so that each section should have a great market (Yab, Buldn, 242). Safety considerations prompted Manr in 79

157/773 to order the removal of markets from the Round City of Karkh. He wanted to keep the turbulent populace away from the city and to ensure that gates of quarters are not left open at night for the markets, and to guard against possible spies infiltrating into the city. He drew a plan for the markets to be built between the art and s canals (abar, iii, 324-5; Ibn aljawz, Manib, 13-4; Yt, iv, 254). Each craft or trade had its separate market or road (darb). Among the markets of Karkh, were the fruit market, the cloth market, the food market, the moneychangers' market, the market of bookshops, the sheep market (Yab, Buldn, 241, 245, 246, 253; Isakhr, 84, Ibn awal, 242; hab, 22, 31, 67, Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 26-28). With the growth of the city we hear of merchants from hursn and Transoxania, Marw, Balkh, Bukhr, hwrizm, and they had their markets at arbiyya quarter, and each group of these merchants had a leader and a chief (Yab, Buldn, 246-248). It seems that each craft had its chief chosen by the government (see Dr, Tarkhal-Ir al-Itid, 81). There is a tradition that Manr wanted to pull down a part of the white Palace in Ctesiphon to use the bricks in his buildings, but that he stopped because expenditure did not justify the operation. Another report attributes to Manr the idea of repairing that palace, but says that he did not have the time to carry it through. Both traditions are reminiscent of the Shubiyya controversy. The city was built mainly of sun-burnt bricks. Yab reports that the plan was drawn in 141/755 (Yab, Buldn, 238) but work started on 1 jumd 145/2 Aug. 762 (hwrizm's report in hab 2; cf. Wiet, Yab, 11, n. 4). Four architects worked on the plan of the city. adjdjdj b. Art was the architect of the mosque (abar (Cairo), vi, 265, 237; Yab, 241). Manr assembled 100,000 workers and craftsmen to work in the construction (Yaub, 238, abar, iii, 277). A canal was drawn from Karkhya canal to the site to provide water for drinking and for building operations (Yab, 238). It seems that in 146/763 the palace, mosque and dwns at least were completed and Manr moved to Baghdd (abar, iii, 313, hab, 2). By 149/766 the Round City was completed (abar, iii, 353; hab, 2-3). The 'Round City' of Manr is a remarkable example of town planning. It was circular so that the centre was equidistant from the different parts and could be easily controlled or defended. Arab traditions consider this design unique (Yab, 238; Ibn al-Fah, f. 33b; hab, 67; hahab, Duwal, i, 76). However, the circular plan is not unfamiliar in the Near East. The plan of Uruk is almost circular (V. Christian, Altertumskunde, ii, table 13). Assyrian military camps are circular enclosures. Creswell enumerates eleven cities that were oval or circular, amongst which are arrn, Agbatana, Hatra and Drbdjird. Drbdjird bears a remarkable resemblance to the city of Manr in its plan (Creswell, Early Muslim Arch. (short), 171-3; Meissner, Babylonien und Assyrien, i, table 161). It is likely that the architects of the Round city knew of such plans. Ibn al-Fah indicates that the choice of the plan was between the square and the circle and that the latter is more perfect (Buldn, MS, f. 33b). It is however more probable that the idea of the circular fort was responsible for the plan. abar states al-Manr made four gates (for the city) on the line of military camps (abar (Cairo), vi, 265). There are different reports on the dimensions of the city of Manr. A report makes the distance from the hursngate to the Kfagate 800 dhir (= 405.12 metres) and from the Syrian gate to the Baragate 600 dhir, (= 303.12 metres), (hab, 9-11; Ibn al-Fah, MS, f. 33b). Another report from Wak makes the distance between each two gates 1200 dhir (= 608.28 m.) (hab, 11). Both reports underestimate the size of the city. A third report given by Rab, one of the builders of the city, gives the measurement as one mile between each two gates (or 4000 dhiramursala or 1848 metres: D. Rayyis, 278; hab, 8. This estimate is given in Ibn al-jawz, Mankib, 9; Yt, i, 235; Abu 'l-Masin, i, 341; Irbill, Tibr, 54). This is confirmed by the measurement carried by the orders of Mutaid and reported by Badr alMutaid (hab, 5; Abu 'l-Masin, i, 341). This makes the diameter of the city 2352 metres.

80

Yab's estimate of the distance between each pair of gates outside the khanda as 5000 black dhir (or 2534.5 metres) becomes probable in this light (Buldn, 238-9). Various reports are given of al-Manr's expenditure on the city. One report makes the cost 18 million, understood to mean dnrs (hab, 5; Ibn al-jawz,Manib 34; Yt, i, 683; Irbill, Tibr, 543). A second puts it at a hundred million dirhams (Abu 'l-Masin, i, 341). However the official report based on caliphal archives states that Manr spent on the Round City four million, eight hundred and eighty three dirhams (abar, iii, 326; Muaddas, Asan al-Tasm, 121; hab, 5-6; see also Ibn al-Athr, v, 419; Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 34). This is understanble if we take into account the low cost of labour and provisions and the strictness of Manr in supervising his accounts. In 157/773 Manr built a palace on the Tigris below the hursngate, with spacious gardens, and called it al-huld. The place was free of mosquitoes and noted for the freshness of its air. The name was reminiscent of paradise (abar, iii, 379; hab, 14; Yt, ii, 783; Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 12; Ibn al-Athr, vi, 71; Ibn al-Fah f. 37b). Strategic considerations, al-Manr's policy of dividing the army, and lack of space soon led the caliph to build a camp for his heir Mahd on the East side of the Tigris. The central part was the camp of Mahd (later called Rufa after a palace built by al-Rashd), where his palace and the mosque were built, surrounded by the houses of officers and followers. The commercial side was soon expressed in the famous ss of Bb al-. The military side is shown by a wall and a ditch surrounding the camp of Mahd. Work started in 151/768 and ended in 157/773. Rufa was almost opposite the city of Manr (Yab, Buldn, 251-3; Isakhr, 83-4; hab, 23-5; Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 12-13; Muaddas, 121; Abu 'l-Masin, ii, 16; Yt, ii, 78). Baghdd expanded rapidly in buildings, commercial activities, wealth and population. People crowded into east Baghdd, attracted by al-Mahd's gifts, and later by the Barmakids who had a special quarter at the Shammsiyya gate (Yab, Buldn, 251; Aghn (Bl), vi, 78, v, 8; Ibn hallikn (Bl), ii, 311). Yay the Barmakid built a magnificent palace and gave it the modest name aral-n (Aghn, v, 8). jafar built a great luxurious palace below easternBaghdd, which was given later to al-Mamn. At the time of al-Rashd, the eastern side extended from the Shammsiyya gate (opposite the arabbul gate) to Mukharrim (its southern limit is the modern Mamn bridge) (Yab, Buldn, 253-4). On the other side Amn returned from the huld palace, where al-Rashd resided, to Bbal-hahab, renewed it and added a wing to it and surrounded it by a square (cf. jahshiyr, Cairo 1938, 193, Ibn al-Athr, xi, 152). Queen Zubayda built a mosque on the Tigris (called after her) near the Royal palaces and another splendid mosque at her aa north of the city (Yt, iv, 211; Ibn hallikn, 188; Mustaraf (Bl ed.), i, 289). She also built a palace called al-arr near al-huld (cf. hab, i, 87). The western side expanded between the arabbul gate in the north and the Karkh quarter, which in turn extended as far as great s canal (this flowed into the Tigris at the present Tull hashm al-Dawra); to the west it almost reached Muawwal (Mashri, 1934, 89; cf. poem in Yt, i, 686; Masd, vi, 454, abar, iii, 874, 876). Poets extol the beauty of Baghdd and call it paradise on earth. Its wonderful gardens, green countryside, its splendid high palaces with sumptuous decorations on the gates and in the halls, and their exquisite rich furniture were famous (cf. abari, iii, 873, 874; l, Aml, ii, 237; Yt, i, 686). Baghdd suffered a severe blow during the conflict between Amn and al-Mamn. War was brought to the city when it was besieged for fourteen months (Masd, vi, 456). Exasperated by the stubbornness of the defence, hir ordered the destruction of the houses of the defenders, and many quarters between the Tigris, Dral-Ra, (north of the hursngate), the Syrian gate, the Kfagate up to art, the Karkhya canal and Kunsa were devastated (abar, iii, 887). The work of destruction was completed by the rabble and the lawless volunteers and the ayyrn. The huld palace, other palaces, Karkh, and some quarters on the 81

east side suffered heavily. Destruction and ruin raged until the splendour of Baghdd was gone, as abar and Masd put it (see abar, iii, 870-879, 925-6; Masd, vi, 454-459; Ibn alAthr, vi, 188 ff.). Chaos and trouble continued in Baghdd until the return of al-Mamn from Marw in 204/819. Al-Mamn stayed at his palace, enlarged it considerably to add a racecourse, a zoo, and quarters for his devoted followers (Yt, i, 807). Then he gave this palace to Al-asan b. Sahl to become al-asan palacewho bequeathed it to his daughter Brn. Baghdd revived again under al-Mamn. Al-Mutaim built a palace on the eastern side (Yab, 225; cf. hab 47). Then he decided to look for a new capital for his new Turkish army.Baghdd was too crowded for his troops and both the people and the old divisions of the army were antagonistic to his Turks and he feared trouble. During the period of Smarr (836-892) Baghdd missed the immediate attention of the caliphs (cf. Yab, ii, 208; Irbill, 161) but it remained the great centre of commerce and of cultural activities. Baghdd also suffered from Turkish disorders, when al-Mustain moved there from Smarr and was besieged by the forces of al-Mutazz, throughout the year 251/865-6. At this period, Rufa extended to S al-Thalth (up to modern Samawal St.). Al-Mustan ordered the fortification of Baghdd; the wall on the eastern side was extended from the Shammsiyya gate to S al-Thalth, and on the western side from at Umm jafar around the quarters up to art, and the famous hir Trench was dug around it (abar, iii, 1851). During the siege, houses, shops and gardens outside the eastern wall were devastated as a defensive measure (abar, iii, 1571) and the eastern quarters of Shammsiyya, Rufa and Mukharrim suffered heavily. In 278/892 al-Mutamid finally returned to Baghdd. He had asked Brn for the asan palace, but she renewed it, furnished it to suit a caliph and handed it to him (cf. Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, v, 144). Then in 280/893, al-Mutaid rebuilt the palace, enlarged its grounds and added new buildings to it, and built prisons on its grounds (mamr). He added a race-course and then surrounded the area with a special wall. It was to be Dral-hilfa and remained, with additions, the official residence (hab, 52; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vi, 53; Manib, 15; Tankh, Nishwr, viii, 15; Abu 'l-Masin, iii, 85; Irbill, 173). Then he laid the foundations of the Tdj palace on the Tigris nearby, but later saw much smoke from the city. He decided to build another palace, two miles to the north-east. He built the magnificent and lofty al-Thurayy, linked it with an underground passage to the ar (al-asan), surrounded it with gardens, and brought water to it from the Ms canal (see the description of Ibn al-Mutazz, Dwn (Beirut ed. 1913), 138-9). He also ordered, in order to keep the air pure, that no rice and palm trees be cultivated around Baghdd (see Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, v, 142). The Thurayy lasted in good condition till 469/1073-4 when it was swept by the flood and ruined (Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 15; Yt, i, 808). The ruin of the Round City started now. Al-Mutaid ordered the demolition of the City wall; but when a small section was pulled down, the Hshimites complained, as it showed Abbsid glory, so alMutaid stopped. People however gradually extended their houses at the expense of the wall and this led ultimately to the demolition of the wall and the ruin of the City (Tankh, Nishwr, i, 74-5). Al-Muktaf (289-295/901-907) built the Tdj with halls and domes, and a quay on the Tigris. He built a high semi-circular dome on its grounds, so that he could reach its top mounted on a donkey. (hab, 48; Irbill, 175, Yt, i, 80; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, v, 144). In 289/901 alMuktaf pulled down the palace prisons and built a Friday mosque (jmial-ar) which became the third Friday mosque, until the time of al-Mutadr (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vi, 3, hab, 62). Al-Mutadir (295-320/908-932) added new buildings to the Royal palaces and beautified them fabulously; he paid special attention to the zoo (ayr al-wush) (cf. hab, 48, 53). hab's detailed description for the year 305/917-18 is striking. The strong wall surrounding the palaces and the secret passage from the audience hall of al-Mutadir to one of the gates were 82

necessary defensive measures (see hab, 51) Among the wonders was dr al-shadjara, a tree of silver, in a large pond with 18 branches and multiple twigs, with silver or gilt birds and sparrows which whistled at times. On both sides of the pond were 15 statues of mounted horsemen which moved in one direction as if chasing each other (54). There was a mercury pond 30 20 dhir with four gilt boats and around it was a fabulous garden. The zoo had all sorts of animals. There was a lion-house with a hundred lions. There was the Firdaws palace with its remarkable arms. Twenty three palaces were counted within the Royal precincts (cf. hab, 53-55; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vi, 144). Baghdd reached its height during this period. The eastern side extended five miles (1 mile = 1848 m.) from Shammsiyya to Dral-hilfa in the 4th/10th century (Iakhr, 83). ayfr (d. 893) reports that al-Muwaffa ordered the measurement of Baghdd before 279/892; its area was found to be 43,750 djarbof which 26,250 djarb were in east Baghdd and 17,500 djarb in west Baghdd (Ibn al-Fah, f. 44b; cf. Ibn awal, i, 243). Another version of ayfr makes eastern Baghdd at the time of al-Muwaffa 16,750 djarb (1 djarb = 1366 sq.m.) and western Baghdd 27,000 djarb; this is more probable, as west Baghddwas still more important then. Another version puts the area at 53,750 djarb, of which 26,750 djarb were east and 27,000 djarb west (hab, 74). It is more likely that the last figure represents the period of al-Mutadir when much expansion took place in east Baghdd. In all these reports the length of Baghddon both sides was almost the same. For the first figure, considering the length of Baghdd as stated by Iakhr and by ayfr, Baghdd was, in 279/892, about 7 km. in length and 6 km. in width, while under al-Mutadir (320/932) it was about 8 km. in length and 7 km. in width. Baghdd's geographical position, its active people (cf. jiz, Bukhal, 39, Tankh, Faradj, ii, 11), the encouragement of the state to trade (cf. Yab, 590) and the prestige of the caliphate, soon made Baghdd the great centre of commerce (see Dr, Tarkhal-Ir alItid, 143-157). Markets became an essential feature of its life, in Rufa and esp. in Karkh. Each trade had its market, and among those were the fruit market, the cloth market, the cotton market, the market of booksellers which had more than a hundred shops, the moneychangers' market and the arn market in Karkh. Markets for foreign merchants were at SBbal-Shm. On the eastern side, there was a variety of markets including S al-b for flowers, a food market, the goldsmiths' market, the sheep market, a booksellers' market, and a market for Chinese merchandise (Yab, Buldn, 241, 246, 248, 254; Iakhr, 48, hab, 22, 65 ff., 36, 69; Ibn al-jawz,Manib, 26, 27-8; Ibn awal, 242). Since the time of Manr a mutasib was appointed to watch over markets, to prevent cheating and to check on measures and weights (cf. hab, 20; b, Rasil, 114, 141-2; Mward, 141-2). The mutasib also supervised baths and possibly watched over mosques (hab, 78). He also prevented subversive activities. Each market or craft had a chief appointed by the government. In a craft there were the ni and the Ustdh (cf. Ikhwnal-af, i, 255; cf. Essays of jiz (ed. Sandb), 126). Baghdd exported cotton stuffs and silk textiles esp. kerchiefs, aprons, turbans, crystals turned on lathes, glazed-ware, and various oils, potions and electuaries (uddal-lam, 11a; Muaddas, 128). Baghdd manufactured shirts of different colours, turbans of thin texture and celebrated towels (Dimash, Tidjra, 26). Its thin white cotton shirts were peerless (Ibn al-Fah, 254). The salan (silk stuff), the mulam and attb stuffs (of silk and cotton) of Baghdd were famous (uddal-lam, 38; Nuwayr, i, 369; Abu 'l-sim, 35; Muaddas, 323; Ibn awal, 261). Excellent swords were made at Bb al- (Arb, 50). It was famous for its leather manufacture and for the manufacture of paper (cf. Ibn al-Fah, 251). A great incentive to commerce and industry was the development of the banking system in Baghdd as shown in the activities of the arrfs and djahbadhs. The arrfs had their own markets esp. in Karkh (cf. jahshiyr, 228) and primarily served the people, while djahbadhs served mainly the government and its officials. 83

Baghdd grew international in population. Its inhabitants were a mixture of different nations, colours and creeds, who came for work, trade, as recruits for the army, slaves, and for other careers. It is noticeable that the populace began to play an important part in its life (see Ibn al-Athr, viii, 85-6; Miskawayh, i, 74-5; Ifahn, Tarkh (Berlin), 130). On their revolt against the rise in prices in 307/919, and their efforts to keep order in 201/816 during the confusion which followed the murder of Amn (see abar, iii, 1009-1010; Ibn al-Athr, vi, 228-9 and vii, 13-14). The activities of the ayyrn and shur began at this period (see abar, iii, 1008, 1586; Masdi, vi, 457; 461 ff.). It is difficult to give an estimate of the population of Baghdd. Estimates of mosques and baths are obviously exaggerated (300,000 mosques and 60,000 baths under al-Muwaffa, 27,000 baths under al-Mutadir, 17,000 baths under Muizz al-Dawla, 5,000 under Aud alDawla, 3,000 baths under Bah al-Dawla; hab, 74-6; Ibn al-Fah, f. 59b; Hill alb, Rusm Dral-hilfa, MS. 27-30). Baths were counted in 383/993 and found to number 1500. Traditions stress that each bath serves about 200 houses (Ibn al-Fah f. 59b, 60a; Hill al-b, MS. 29). If the average number in a house was five, then the population of Baghdd was about one million and a half. Al-Mutadir ordered Sinn b. Thbit to examine doctors and to give licences only to those qualified, and the result was that 860 doctors were given licences (Ibn al-Athr viii, 85; Ibn Ab Uaybia i, 221 f., 224, 310; al-if, 194 f.). If we add doctors serving in government hospitals and those who did not have licences, the number would probably reach a thousand. The number of people who prayed on the last Friday of the month at the mosque of Manr and that of Rufa were judged by measuring the area for prayer to be 64,000 (Ibn al-Fah, f. 62a; see also abar, iii, 1730). The number of boats about the end of the 3rd/9th century was calculated to be 30,000 (Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 24). From those figures and the area of Baghdd we can estimate the population of Baghdd in the 4th/10th century at a million and a half. Itld, a contemporary, gives this estimate too. There were aristocratic quarters such as hir, Shammsiyya, al-Mamniyya and Darb Awn. There were poor quarters like aat al-Kilb, and Nahr al-Dadjdj (Abu 'l-simBaghdd, 23, 106). Houses were of two stories, and those of the common people were of one storey. Those of the rich had baths and were usually divided into three quarters surrounded by a wallthe ladies' quarters, the reception rooms, and the servants' quarters. Special attention was paid to gardens (Aghn, ii, 73, iii, 31, ix, 144, v, 38, xvii, 129; Hill al-b, Rusm, 32). Carpets, divans, curtains and pillows were noted items of furniture (Abu 'l-sim, 36). Fans and specially cooled houses and sardbs were used in summer (see j. Mudawwar, Harat al-Islm, 117, 30). Inscriptions and drawings of animals and plants or human faces decorated entrances (ibid., 29; Abu 'l-sim, 7, 36). A special feature of the life of Baghdd is the vast number of mosques and baths as indicated. Baghdd was the great centre of culture. It was the home of anaf and anbal schools of law. It was the centre of translations, in Bayt al-ikma and outside, and of some scientific experimentation. Its mosques, especially jmiManr, were great centres of learning. The large number of bookshops which were sometimes literary salons, indicates the extent of cultural activities. Its poets, historians, and scholars are too numerous to mention. One can refer to the History of Baghdd by hab to see the vast number of scholars, in one field, connected with Baghdd. Not only caliphs, but ministers and dignitaries gave every encouragement to learning. The creative period of Islamic culture is associated with Baghdd. Later in this period, public libraries as centres of study and learning were founded, the most famous being the Dr al-Ilm of Ab Nar Sbr b. Ardashr. When the madrasa appeared, Baghddtook the lead with its Nimiyya and Mustaniriyya and influenced the madrasa system both in programme and architecture. Much attention was paid to hospitals, especially in the 3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries. Of these, the Bmristnal-Sayyid (306/918), al-Bmristn al-Mutadir (306/918) and al-

84

Bmristn al-Aud (372/ 982) were famous. Ministers and others also founded hospitals. Doctors were at times subject to supervision (see above). Under al-Rashd there were three bridges in Baghdd (Yab, ii, 510). The two famous ones were by Bbhursn, and at Krkh (cf. Yab, ii, 542, jahshiyr, 254; abar, iii, 1232). AlRashd built two bridges at Shammsiyya, but they were destroyed during the first siege (Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 20; Ibn al-Fah f. 42a). The three bridges continued to the end of 3rd/9th century (Ibn al-Fah, f. 42a). It seems that the northern bridge was destroyed and Iakhr talks of two bridges only (Ibn al-jawz, Manib 20, Iakhr, 84). In 387/997 Bah al-Dawla built a bridge at S al-Thalth (Mishraat al-attnn) to become the third bridge. This indicates a shift of emphasis from N. Baghdad to S al-Thalth (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 171; cf. Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 20; hab, 71-2). Life in Baghdd was stable until Amn. The first siege brought out turbulent elements in the mma. Flood and fire also began to play their rle from the last quarter of the 3rd/9th century. Flood in 270/883 ruined 7,000 houses in Karkh. In 292/904 and 328/929 Baghdd suffered considerably from flood (abar, iii, 2105; Ibn al-Athr, viii, 371, Abu 'l-Masin, iii, 157 and 266). In 373/983 flood swept beyond the Kfagate and entered the city (l, R, 278; hab, 16). The neglect of canals, especially during the ' Amr al-Umar' period (324 334/935-945, was responsible for floods and for the ruin of the Bdray district (Miskawayh, ii, 1.9; l, R, 106, 225, 137-8). Consequently, whereas scarcities and plague were rare before 320/932 they were recurrent after that (cf. Ibn al-Athr, vii, 177, 187, 338). The scarcity of 307/919 was a result of monopoly and was quickly overcome. Scarcities occurred in 323/934, 326/937, 329/940 (with plague), 330/941, 331/942 (with plague), 332/943, 337/948 and life became unbearable (l, R, 61, 104, 236, 251; Ibn al-Athr, viii, 282, 311; Ifahn,Tarkh, 125; Abu 'l-Masin, iii, 270, 274). In 308/920 and 309/921 Karkh suffered considerably from fire (Ibn al-Athr, viii, 89, 95). In 323/934 the fire of Karkh swept over the quarters of the arn(the drug sellers), the ointment sellers, jewellers and others and its traces could be seen years after (l, R, 68). The Buwayhid period was rather hard for Baghdd. Muizz al-Dawla (in 335/946) first repaired some canals at Bdray and this improved living conditions (Miskawayh, ii, 165). A period of neglect followed and many canals which irrigated west Baghdd were in ruins. Aud al-Dawla (367-372/977-982) had them cleared up, and rebuilt bridges and locks (Miskawayh, ii, 406; iii, 69; Ibn al-Athr, viii, 518). Then we hear no more of such activities. Building activities were limited. In 350/961 Muizz al-Dawla built a great palace at the Shammsiyya gate with a large Maydn, a quay, and beautiful gardens. For this palace he took the seven iron doors of the Round City and spent about a million dnrs (11 million dirhams). However, it was pulled down in 418/1027 (Tankh, Nishwr, i, 70-1; Ibn al-Athr, viii, 397-8; ix, 256). Aud al-Dawla rebuilt the house of Sabuktakn, chamberlain of Muizz al-Dawla, at upper Mukharrim, added spacious gardens to it, and brought water to it by canals from Nahr al-hli at great expense. It became the Dral-Imra or official residence of the Buwayhids (hab, 58-9; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 77-8; cf. Miskawayh, iii, 124). Aud al-Dawla found Baghdd in bad shape. He ordered that its houses and markets be renewed and spent much money in rebuilding its Friday mosques; he repaired quays by the Tigris, and ordered the wealthy to repair their houses on the Tigris and to cultivate gardens in ruined places which had no owners. He found the central bridge narrow and decayed and had it renewed and broadened (Ibn al-Athr, viii, 558; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 114; Miskawayh, ii, 404-406). In 372/982 he built the Aud Hospital, appointed doctors, supervisors, storekeepers to it, and provided it with plenty of medicines, potions, instruments and furniture. Wafs were allotted to it for its upkeep (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 112-114). However, Baghdd declined under the Buwayhids (Tankh, Nishwr, i, 66 makes it in 345/956 one tenth of its size under al-Mutadir). The city of Manr, was neglected and had no life

85

then (Muaddas, 120). Most of the quarters of W. Baghdd were in bad shape and had shrunk. The most flourishing section of W. Baghdd was Karkh, where the merchants had their places of business. Thus the western side is now called Karkh (Ibn awal, i, 241-2; Muaddas, 120). The eastern side of the city was more flourishing, and dignitaries generally resided there (cf. Ibn awal, 240). Here, the bright spots were the Bb al- where the great market was, the Dral-Imra at Mukharrim and the caliph's palaces at the southern end (cf. Muaddas, 120; Ibn awal, i, 240-1; Iakhr, 84). Odd houses reached Kalwdh. Ibn awal saw four Friday mosques: the mosque of Manr, the Rufamosque, the Barthmosque, and the mosque of Dr al-uln (241). Then in 379/989 and 383/993, the ata mosque and the arbiyya mosque became Friday mosques (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 671,hab, 53-4, Ibnal jawz, Manib, 21-2, Ibn al-Athr, ix, 48). Ibn awal saw two bridges, one out of order (i, 241). It seems there were three bridges at the time of Muizz al-Dawla (one at the Shammsiyya gate (near his palace), the other at Bb al and the third at S al-Thalth. The first was transferred to Bb al-, making two there, then one went out of order (cf. Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 20). Baghdd suffered much from the turbulence of the mma, from sectarian differences encouraged by the Buwayhids, and from the ayyrn. Our sources talk much of the ignorance of the mma, their readiness to follow any call, their good nature and their lawlessness (cf. Masd, v, 81, 82-3, 85-7; Ghazl,Fai, 53, Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 31-2; Baghdd, Fira, 141). In 279/892 al-Mutaid forbade u and fortune-tellers to sit in the streets or mosques, and forbade people to congregate around them or to indulge in controversies (Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, v, 122, 171). Before the Buwayhids, the anbals were the source of trouble. They tried at times to improved morals by force (cf. Ibn al-Athr, viii, 229-30, 84-5, 157-8; l, R, 198). At this period, sectarian troubles multiplied and caused much loss in property and people. The Buwayhids made the 10th of Muarram a day of public mourning, ordered the closing of markets, and encouraged the populace to make processions with women beating their faces (cf. Ibn al-jawz, vii, 15). On the other hand, the Ghadr on 18 hu 'lidjdja was made a day of celebrations. This led the Sunns to choose two different days, each eight days after the ones mentioned (cf. Ibn al-Athr, ix, 110). Conflicts between the Shs and the Sunns became usual occurences at this period, starting from 338/949 when Karkh was pillaged (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vi, 363). In 348/959, fights between the two groups led to destruction and fire at Bb al- (ibid, 390). In 361/971 troubles in Karkh led to its burning and 17,000 people perished, 300 shops, many houses and 33 mosques were burnt down (Ibn alAthr, viii, 207; cf. Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 60). In 363/973 fire burnt much of Karkh (Miskawayh, ii, 327). In 381/991 troubles broke out and fire recurred in many quarters (Ibn alAthr, ix, 31). In 1016 the Nahr bi, Bbal-un and much of the BbBara quarters were burnt (Ibn al-Athr, ix, 102; see also viii, 184, ix, 25-6, 32, 58). In 422/1030 many markets were ruined during the troubles (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, viii, 55). More damage and confusion was caused by the ayyrn who were especially active throughout the last quarter of the 4th/10th cent. to the end of this period (on their activities during the two sieges of Baghdd see abar, iii, 877, 1008-1010, 1552, 1556-7; Masd, vi, 450 ff.). Historians misunderstand their activities and show them as robbers and thieves. But their movement is a product of their hard living conditions and of political chaos. Their rise was against the wealthy and the rulers, and this explains why their activities were directed primarily against the rich, the markets, the police and the dignitaries (cf. Tankhh, Faradj, ii, 106, 107-8; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 174, 220; Ibn al-Athr, ix, 115). They had moral principals such as honour, and help to the poor and to women, co-operation, patience and endurance. The Futuwwa later was somewhat related to their movement (cf. Ibn al-jawz, Talbs Ibls, 392; ushayr, Risla, 113-4; Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, viii, 77; Tankh, Faradj, ii, 180). In the 4th/10th century they were organised, and among the titles of their chiefs were al-Mutaaddim, al-id, and al-Amr, and they had special ceremonies for initation (see Muntaam, viii, 49, 151, 78, Miskawayh, ii, 306, ushayr, op. cit., 113; TankhFaradj, ii, 109). However they were divided into Shs and Sunns (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, viii, 78-9). 86

The ayyrn kept people in constant terror for life and property. They levied tolls on markets and roads or robbed wayfarers and constantly broke into houses at night. They spread havoc by sword and fire and burnt many quarters and markets esp. Bb al- and S Yay (in east Baghdd) and Karkh, as those were the quarters of the wealthy. People had to lock the gates of their streets, and merchants kept vigil at night. Disorder and pillage made prices high (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 151, 220, viii, 21-2, 44, 47-50, 54-5, 60, 72-5, 79, 87, 142, 161). A preacher prayed in 421/1030 O God! Save the state from the populace and the rabble (Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, viii, 44). Burdjum, a notorious ayyr leader, practically ruled Baghdd for four years 422-425/1030-1033, and spread havoc (ibid, 75-6). The government was powerless (cf. 49) and they were left to levy taxes and tolls to avoid their terror (ibid., 78). Many people left their quarters and departed for safety (ibid., 142). Their terror continued till the advent of the Saldjs (ibid., 161). In 447/1055 Tughril Bey entered Baghdd, and the Saldjs reversed Buwayhid policy and encouraged the Sunns (cf. Abu 'l-Masin, v, 59). In 450/1058 Bassr, a rebel, seized Baghdd in the name of the Fimids (cf. Abu 'l-Fid, ii, 186; Ibn al-alnis, 87). He was defeated and killed by the Saldj forces in 451/1059 (Abu 'l-Fid, ii, 187-8). During this period Baghdd assumed a shape which thereafter changed but little. In 448/1056 Tughril Bey enlarged the area of Dr al-Imra, pulled down many houses and shops, rebuilt it and surrounded it with a wall (Ibn al-jawz, viii, 169). In 450/1058 it was burnt down and rebuilt again (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, vii, 778). It became known as DralMamlaka. It was rebuilt in 509/1115, but was accidentally burnt in 515/1121 and a new palace was built (Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 16; Muntaam, ix, 223). Malikshh enlarged and rebuilt the mosque of Mukharrim, which was near the palace, in 484/1091 and was hence called jmialSuln. It was repaired in 502/1108 (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, ix, 159), and was finally completed in 524/1129 (Abu 'l-Fida, ii, 211; Ibn al-jawz, Manib; 23; Abu 'l-Masin, v, 135). Life centered in E. Baghdd around the caliphal palaces. Al-Mutad (467-487/1074-1094) encouraged building; and the quarters around the palacessuch as Baaliyya, aa, alaba, Adjama, etc. flourished. He also built the Riverain-palace (Dr Shiiyya) by the old Tdj palace (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, viii, 293; Ibn al-Athr, x, 156; cf. Le Strange, 253; cf. IbnalFuwa, 21). In 524/1129 the Tdj palace was pulled down and rebuilt (Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, x, 14). These quarters were not walled and they suffered much from the flood in 1070. In 488/1095 al-Mustahir built a wall around the so called arm quarters. Then in 517/1123 al-Mustarshid rebuilt it with four gates and made it 22 dhir in width. The flood of 554/1159 surrounded the wall, made a breach in it, and ruined many quarters. The breach in it was repaired and a dyke was begun, and completed later around the wall (cf. Ibn aljawz, Manib, 34; idem,Muntaam, x, 189-190). Other attempts to rebuild the wall or repair it took place under al-Nir and al-Mustanir (Ibn Fuwa, 16, 111). This wall set the limits of East Baghdd till the end of Ottoman period. Baghdd was in decline during this period and lived on its past glory. From the 2nd half of the 5th/11th century, there were many changes in its topography. Many quarters in western Baghdd were ruined, and waste land replaced previous gardens or houses (cf. hab, 67 and Tankh, Nishwr, i, 74-5). This probably explains the increase in the number of Friday mosques. The old quarters of Shammsiyya, Rufa and Mukharrim were neglected (cf. Ibn awal, 241). Benjamin of Tudela, who visited Baghdd around 567/1171, talks of the greatness of the caliphal palace, with its wall, gardens, a zoo and a lake. He speaks highly of the Aud Hospital with its sixty doctors, and a sanatorium for the mad. He found 40,000 Jews in Baghdd with 10 schools for them (Itinerary, ed. and tr. A. Asher, New York, 1840-2, i, text 54-64, tr. 93-105; Arabic tr. by E. H. Haddad, Baghdd 1945, 131-8). Ibn jubayr described Baghdd in 581/1185. He noticed the general decline, and criticised the arrogance of its people (218). Much of the eastern side was ruined, yet it had seventeen separate 87

quarters, all with two, three or eight baths (225). The caliphal quarters, with magnificent palaces and gardens, occupied about a quarter or more of the area (226-7). This side was well populated and had excellent markets (228). urayya was the largest quarter, (very likely between the modern al-Ars bridge and Rasal-arya) and near it the suburb (rab) of Murabbaa (probably by SayyidSuln Al now). It had three Friday mosques, jmial-Suln, north of the wall, and the Rufamosque about a mile north of the latter (228-9) and jmialhalfa. There were about thirty madrasas (colleges), all housed in excellent buildings with plenty of wakf and endowments for their upkeep and for the students' expenses. The most famous madrasa was the Nimiyya which was rebuilt in 1110 (229). He describes the wall, built by al-Mustarshid, surrounding Shariyya as having four gates1. Bbal-Suln to the north (later called Bbal-Muaam). 2. Bb al-afariyya (N.E.), later, Bb al-Wasn. 3. Bb al-alaba (E.), later Bb al-illisim. 4. Bb al-Baaliyya (S.), later BbalShar. The wall surrounded Shariyya in a semi-circle reaching the Tigris at both ends (229). He talks of the populous quarter of Ab anfa, while the old quarters of Rufa, Shammsiyya, and most of Mukharrim were ruined (cf. 226; Ibn awal, 241). In western Baghdd ruin spread everywhere. Of quarters here, he mentions Karkh as a walled city, and the BbBara quarter which contained the great mosque of Manr and what remained of the old city (225). By the Tigris was the Shr quarter which constituted with Karkh, BbBara and urayya the largest quarters of Baghdad (225). Between al-Shri and the BbBara was the quarter of Sal-Mristn, like a small city, with the famous Aud hospital which was well staffed and provisioned (225-6). Of other quarters he noticed the arbiyya quarter as the northernmost, and the Attbiyya, famous for its silk-cotton attb cloth (226). Ibn jubayr (229) talks of 2000 baths and eleven Friday mosques in Baghdd. At the time of al-Mustarshid (512-29/1118-1134) there was one bridge near the s canal, later moved to Bb al-urayya. During the period of al-Musta (566-575/1170-1179) a new bridge was made at Bb al-urayya, and the old one was returned to its place by the s canal. Ibn jubayr saw the first bridge only, but confirms that there were usually two bridges and Ibn aljawz, who wrote just before the fall of Baghdd, confirms this (Ibn al-jawz, Manaib, 20; Ibn jubayr, 225). Half a century later, Yt (623/1226) gave some useful data. He shows western Baghdd as a series of isolated quarters each with a wall and separated by waste land of ruins. arbiyya, alarm al-hir in the north, ahr Sdj with Nariyya, Attbiyyn and Dr al-azz southwest, Muhawwal to the west, ars to the east, and urayya and Karkh in the south are the noted quarters. In East Baghdd, life centered in the quarters around armDral-hilfa which occupy about a third of the area enclosed in the walls. Of the large flourishing quarters were Bb al-Azadj with its markets, al-Mamniyya next to it, S al-Thalth, Nahr al-Muall and urayya (Yt, i, 232, 441, 444, 534, 655, ii, 88, 167, 234, 459, 512, 783, 917, iii, 193-4, 197, 231, 279, 291, 489, iv, 117, 252, 255, 385, 432, 457, 713-4, 786, 841, 845). Friday mosques increased in Gharbiyya (W. Baghdd) at this period, indicating the semiindependent status of quarters. Ibn al-jawz mentions six between 530/1135 and 572/1176 in addition to jmiManr (Ibn al-jawz, Manib, 23, see also Ibnal-Fuwa). The mosques of Karkh were repaired by Mustanir (Ibnal-Fuwa, 15), and jmial-ar was renewed in 475/1082, and again by al-Mustanir in 673/1235 (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, ix, 3; Le Strange, 269). The amariyya mosque (still present) was built in 626/1228 (Ibnal-Fuwa, 4). The strength of fism is shown by the large number of Ribs [q.v.] built during the last century of the caliphate. They were built by the caliphs or their relatives (cf. Ibnal-Fuwa, 2, 74, 75, 79, 80, 87, 117, 261, Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, ix, 11, Ibn al-Athr, xi, 77, 33, xii, 27, 678).

88

Much attention was given to the founding of madrasas (colleges). This movement could be explained initially by the religious revival among Shfis, and by political and administrative needs; but it was continued as a cultural movement. Ibn jubayr saw thirty madrasas in east Baghdd (Ibn jubayr, 229; see also M. jawad, in Review of the Higher Teachers' College, Baghdd, vol. v, 110 ff., vol. vi, 86 ff.). Other madrasas were founded after Ibn jubayr's visit (cf. Ibnal-Fuwa, 24-5, 53, 128, 308, Ibn al-Athr, xi, 211). The most famous were the Nimiyya founded in 459/1066, the madrasa of Ab anfa founded in the same year (Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, viii, 245-6, still existing as Kulliyat al-Shara) and al-Mustaniriyya, founded by al-Mustanir in 631/1233 and continued till the 17th century. All those madrasas specialised in one of the four schools of law, except the Mustaniriyya and the Bas hriyya (founded in 653/1255) which taught the fih of the four schools (see Ibnal-Fuwa, 308; Ibn aljawz, Muntaam, viii, 245-6, 246-7; Ibn al-Athr, x, 38; Ibnal-Fuwa 53-4, 58-9; cf. Awwd inSumer, i, 1945). There was a maktab (school) for orphans established by Shamsal-Mulk (son of Nim al-Mulk) (Ifahn, Seljuks, 124-5). In 606/1209 guest-houses (driyfa) were built in all quarters of Baghdd to serve the poor in Raman (Ibn al-Athr, xii, 286; other references, ibid. 184; Ibnal-Fuwa, 94). Baghdd suffered at this period from fire, flood and dissension. In 449/1057 Karkh and Bb Muawwal quarters and most of the market of Karkh were burnt down. In 451/1059 much of Karkh and old Baghdd was burnt (Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, viii, 81; Ibn al-Athr, x, 5). The quarters and markets near the Muall canal and Dr al-halfa were burnt more than once (Ibn al-Athr, x, 35, 67, 318; Ibn al-jawz, Muntaam, viii, 241, ix, 61, 148, 184, x, 35). In 551/1156 fire spread from neighbouring quarters to Dral-hilfa and neighbouring ss (Ibn al-Athr, xi, 143; there were other fires in those quarters in 560/1164, 569/1173, 583/1187 Ibn al-Athr, xi, 270, 372; Muntaam, x, 212). The ayyrn were fairly active in Saldj days. They pillaged shops and houses and caused insecurity (see between 449/1057 and 537/1142 Ibn al-jawz,Muntaam, viii, 139, 234; Ibn alAthr, x, 204, 383, xi, 29, 26, 59, 63). The troubles of the mma and their sectarian fights (anbals against Shfis and Sunns against Shs) continued to give rise to much bloodshed and destruction. Ibn al-Athr reports a temporary conciliation in 502/1108 and adds Evil always came from them (i.e., the mma) (x, 329; see also x, 80, 259, 104, 108-109, 112, 117-8). This was short-lived, and quarrels and fights continued and became terrible under al-Mustaim (Ibn al-Athr, x, 360, xi, 271, 344, xii, 133, 216). In 640/1242 fights took place between the Mamniyya and Bb al-Azadj quarters which involved the Nimiyya market, and between Mukhtra and Sal-Suln quarters, and between auft and urayya (in W. Baghdd) quarters; many were killed and shops pillaged (Ibnal-Fuwa, 175-7; cf. Ibn Abi 'l-add, ii, 554). By 653/1255 things had deteriorated considerably. Fights tooks place between Rufa (Sunn) and huayriyyin (Sh), and soon people of BbBara supported Rufa while Karkh supported the others (Ibnal-Fuwa, 298-9). These quarrels also indicate the spirit of competition between quarters which increased by the lack of government control. When fights renewed between Karkh and BbBara, the soldiers sent to stop it, pillaged Karkh and that made the situation worse (ibid., 267-277). The climax came in 654/1256, when someone was killed by the people of Karkh, and the soldiers, sent to keep order, were joined by crowds of the mma and pillaged Karkh, burnt several places in it, killed many and took away women. Reprisal followed, but the tragedy was not forgotten (ibid., 314-315). The ayyrn were very active at this time. They pillaged shops, robbed houses at night and even the Mustaniriyya was twice robbed (Ibnal-Fuwa, 378, 254, 260, 262). The government was too weak to keep order. Floods recurred, indicating the weakness of government and the neglect of irrigation. In 641/1243 floods reached the Nimiyya and its neighbourhood and ruined some quarters. In 646/1248 floods surrounded east Baghdd, destroyed a part of the wall, and reached quarters of arm. It also flooded Rufa and many of its houses fell. West Baghdd was submerged, and most houses fell except part of BbBara 89

and Karkh. Houses on the river collapsed. Floods entered Baghdd in 651/1253, and again in 653/1255 when a great number of houses collapsed and cultivation was damaged. The worst flood was in 654/1256 when both sides were surrounded by water and the flood even entered the markets of eastBaghdd, Dral-hilfa and the Nimiyya (Ibnal-Fuwa, 186-7, 267, 229233, 277, 304, 317-19). Thus nature and man joined hands to eclipse Baghdd. Two years later, Baghdd was invaded by the Mongols. On 4 afar 656/10 Feb. 1258 the Caliph al-Mustaim made an unconditional surrender. Its people were put indiscriminately to the sword, for over a week. Large numbers of the country people who flocked to Baghdd before the siege shared its tragic fate. Estimates of the number killed vary between 800,000 and two million, the estimate mounting with the lapse of time (Fakhr, 130; Ibnal-Fuwa, 281; hahab, Duwal, ii, 121; Ibn Kathr, Bidya, xiii, 202). The Chinese traveller Ch'ang Te states (1259) that several tens of thousands were killed; his information is obviously from Mongol sources (Bretschneder, Medieval Researches, i, 138-9). It is thus difficult to give any figure, but it probably exceeded a hundred thousand. Many quarters were ruined by siege, looting or fire, and the mosque of the caliphs, and the shrine of Kimayn were burnt down (Ibnal-Fuwa, 327-330; Ibn al-Ibr, 27). Baghdd was however spared from complete devastation, and the fatw exacted from the ulam that a just kfir is better than an unjust imm probably helped. Before leaving, Hleg ordered the restoration of some public buildings. The supervisor of waf rebuilt the jmi al-hulaf and saw to it that schools and the ribs were reopened (Ibn al-Ibr, 475; Ibnal-Fuwa, 337). Culture suffered much, but it was not uprooted. Baghddbecame a provincial centre in all respects. Until 740/1339-40 Baghdd remained under the lkhnids and was administered by a governor with a Shihna and a military garrison (cf. Ibnal-Fuwa, 331). The Mongols registered the population of Baghdd in tens, hundreds, and thousands for the sake of taxation. A poll-tax was imposed on all except the aged and children; it continued to be levied for about two years (Ibnal-Fuwa, 339, cf. juwayn, (trans. Boyle), i, 34). Baghdd began to revive gradually, as its administration was chiefly entrusted to Persians; much of this is due to the policy of AMalik juwayn, governor for about 23 years (657/1258-681/1282). Under him, the minaret of jmi al-hulaf and the Nimiyya market were rebuilt, and the Mustaniriyya was repaired and a new water system added (Ibn al-Fuwat, 371). The mosques of Shaykh Marf and amariyya were repaired (ibid., 408; Azzw, Tarikh al-Ir, i, 267, 296). Some of the old schools resumed work, especially the Nimiyya and Mustaniriyya, the Bashriyya, the Tatashiyya and Madrasat al-Ab (cf. Ibn Baa, Cairo 1918, i, 140-1; IbnalFuwa, 182, 385, 396; Azzw, Tarkh, i, 318). juwayn's wife founded the Imatiyya school for the four schools of law, and a ribnear it (Ibnal-Fuwa, 377). The lkhn Takdar (881/1281) sent a message to Baghdd asking for the return of endowments to schools, and mosques, as under the Abbsids, probably a pious with (Karmal, al-Fawz, 12). The lkhns' policy led to outbreaks against non-Muslims. They patronised Christians, and exempted them from the djizya. They rebuilt churches and opened schools. This led to an outbreak against them in 665/1263. The Jews rose to prominence under Arghn (683-690/1284-1291) through Sad Dawla the Jewish financeminister, who appointed his brother governor of Baghdd. In 690/1291 Sad Dawla was killed and the populace in Baghdd fell on the Jews. Under Ghzn, non-Muslims suffered through dress distinctions, the reimposition of the polltax and the attitude of the mob, and many adopted Islam (cf. Amr Ibn Matt, Kitb al-Madjdal, 120-122, 125; Ibnal-Fuwa, 354; 465-6; 483; Waf, ii, 238; Karmal, op. cit., 14-15, 21; Azzw, i, 349, 513). Uldjayt stirred up trouble when he vascillated between Shism and Sunnis m. The lkhns tried to impose theao (paper money) [q.v.], but it was very unpopular in Baghdd and was finally abolished by Ghzn in 697/1297 (Ibnal-Fuwa, 477, 492). During this period we have the accounts of three geographers: IbnAbd al-Ha (c. 700/1300), Ibn Baa (727/1327 and Mustawf (740/1339). 90

The author of the Marid states that nothing remained of western Baghdd except isolated quarters, the most populated of which was Karkh (201). He mentions the urayya quarter, the populous Ramliyya quarter, the Daral-Ra market, Dr al-azz standing alone where paper was manufactured, and the Bb Muawwal quarter which stood as an isolated village (Marid (Cairo ed.), 146, 201, 507, 773, 1088). He refers to the Aud hospital, and indicates that nothing remained of al-arm al-hir, Nahr Tbi and aa quarters, while Tth quarter looked like an isolated village (Marid, 280, 837, 397, 1403). Of East Baghdd, the Marid states when the Tartars came, most of it was ruined. They killed its people and few were left. Then people from outside came (201). He states that the alaba, urayya and atat al-Adjam were populous quarters (Marid, 417, 1088, 1110). Ibn Baa follows very closely after Ibn jubayr. However he mentions two bridges in Baghdd and gives new details about the excellent baths in the city (Cairo ed. 1908, i, 1401). He states that mosques and schools were very numerous, but they were in ruins (ibid. i, 140). Mustawf's data is significant. His description of the wall of East Baghdd agrees with that of Ibn jubayr. It had four gates, and encloses the city in a semi-circle with a circuit of 18,000 paces. Western Baghdd, he calls Karkh; it was surrounded by a wall with a circuit of 12,000 paces. He found life easy inBaghdd and people pleasant, but their Arabic was corrupt. He found Shfis and anbals dominant in Baghdd, though adherents of other sects were numerous. Madrasas and ribs were numerous, but he noted that Nimiyya was the greatest of them all while Mustaniriyya was the most beautiful building, (Nuzha, 40-42). It is possible that the Sitt Zubayda tomb belongs to this period, and the lady concerned could be Zubayda, the granddaughter of the eldest son of Mustaim (Azzw, i, 406). In 740/1339 asan Buzurg established himself in Baghdd and founded the jalyirid dynasty which lasted till 813/1410. The Mardjnmosque dates from this period. From its inscriptions, we know that Mardjan, a captain of Uways, started building the madrasa with its mosque under asan Buzurg and finished the building under Uways in 758/1357. This madrasa was for the Shfis and anafs (text of inscriptions in ls, Masdjid, 45 ff.; Massignon,Mission, ii, 1 ff.). Only the gate of the madrasaor mosque laterremains now. Beyond this we hear of flood, siege or troubles which caused much damage and loss. Baghdd was twice taken by Tmr, first in 795/1392-1393 when the town escaped with little damage, and second in 803/1401 when its population was indiscriminately put to the sword, and many of its public (Abbsid) buildings and quarters were ruined. This was the devastating blow to culture inBaghdd. In 807/1405 Amad the jalyir returned to Baghdd, restored the walls destroyed by Tmr, and tried to repair some of the buildings and markets, but his time was short. In 813/1410 Baghdd passed to the ara oyunlu Turkomns who held it till 872/1467-8, to be followed by oyunlu Turkomns. Baghdd sank still deeper under the Turkomns and suffered considerably from misrule. Many of its inhabitants left the city, and the ruin of the irrigation system accounts for the recurrence of flood with consequent devastation. Under the year 841/1437 Marz says Baghdd is ruined, there is no mosque or congregation, and no market. Its canals are mostly dry and it could hardly be called a city (Marz, Sulk, iii, 100. see Azzw, iii, 79 ff.; Karmal, 61 ff.). In addition, tribalism spread and tribal confederations begin to play their turbulent rle in the life of the country. In 914/1507-8 Baghdd came under ShhIsml afaw, and a period of Perso-Ottoman conflict for the possession of Baghdd opened, typified in the Baghdd song between the Persians and the Rm, what woe befell us. On Shh Isml's orders, many Sunn shrines, esp. those of Ab anfa and Abdal-dir Gln, were ruined, and many of the leading Sunns were killed. However, he started building a shrine for Ms al-Kim. He appointed a governor with the title halfat al-hulaf (Azzw, iii, 336-343). Many Persian merchants 91

came to Baghdd and increased commercial activity. After a brief space in which the Kurdish chief hu 'l-Far seized Baghdd and announced his allegiance to SulnSulaymn nn, Shhahmsp seized the town again in 936/1530. In 941/1534 SulnSulaymn entered Baghdd. He built a dome on the tomb of Ab anfa, with the mosque and madrasa, rebuilt the mosque,tekke and tomb of Gln and had guest-houses for the poor at both mosques. He also had the shrine and mosque of Kimayn, started by ShhIsml, completed (Sulaymn-nma, 119, Ewliya elebi, iv, 426; ls, Masdjid, 117; Azzw, iv, 28 ff.). He ordered landed property to be surveyed and registered, and organised the administration of the province (Ewliya elebi, iv, 41). The administration was entrusted to a governor (pasha), defterdr (for finances), and a K. A garrison was stationed in Baghdd with the janissaries as its backbone. Few buildings were erected during the following period. In 978/1570 MurdPasha built the Murdiyya mosque in the Maydn quarter. The Gln mosque was rebuilt. igalazde built a famous inn, a coffeehouse and a market. He also built jmi al-agh or jmi al-hafffn, and rebuilt the Mawlaw tekke, known now as the afiyya mosque (Azzw, iv, 116, 128-132; cf. ls, Masdjid, 30-1, 62-4). asan Pasha built the mosque known after him, also called jmi al-Wazr (Gulshan-i hulaf 66; Ewliya elebi, iv, 419). He also made a rampart and a ditch around Karkh to protect it from Bedouins. Europeans travellers begin to visit Baghdd at this period. They speak of it as a meeting place of caravans, and a great centre of commerce for Arabia, Persia and Turkey. Caesar Frederigo (1563) saw many foreign merchants in the city. Sir Anthony Sherley (1590) saw excellent goods of all sorts and very cheap (Purchas, viii, 384). It had a bridge of boats tied by a great chain of iron and when boats passed up or down the river, some of the boats of the bridge were removed until the traffic had passed (Ralph Fitch in 1583, Hakluyt, iii, 282-3). Rauwolf (1574) saw streets narrow and houses miserably built. Many buildings were in ruins. Some public buildings like the Pasha's residence and the great bazaar or exchange were good. Its baths were of low quality. The eastern side was well fortified with a wall, and a ditch, while the western side was open and looks like a great village (Rauwolf, Travels, in Ray's collection, London 1605, i, 179 ff.). The city walls were built of bricks and had subsidiary works including four bastions on which heavy bronze guns in good conditions were mounted (Texeira, Travels, Hakluyt ed., 31). The circuit of the walls is given as two to three miles. John Eldred (1583) noticed that three languages were spoken in Baghdd, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian (Hakluyt, iii, 325). Ralph Fitch (1583) found Baghdd not very great but very populous. The Portuguese traveller Pedro Texeira (1604) estimated houses in east Baghdd at twenty to thirty thousand. There was a mint in Baghdd in which gold, silver and copper coins were struck. There was a school of archery and another of musketry maintained by the government (Travels, Hakluyt ed., 31). Following the insurrection of Bakr the Subash, ShhAbbs I conquered Baghdd in 1032/1623. School buildings and Sunn shrines, including the mosques of Gln and Ab anfa, suffered destruction. Thousands were killed or sold as slaves and others were tortured (Ktib elebi, Fadhlaka, ii, 50; hulat al-thr, i, 383; Azzw, iv, 178-182). In this period the Sary (governmenthouse) was built by af ul hn, the Persian governor. Baghdd was regained by the Ottomans in 1048/1638 under the personal command of SulnMurd IV. He had the shrines, especially the tombs of Ab anfa and Giln, rebuilt. On his departure, the Bb al-Tillisim was walled up and continued thus until it was blown up by the retreating Turks in 1917. His Grand Vizier put the ala (castle) in good repair. Further information comes from travellers of this period, like Tavernier (1652), Ewliya elebi (1655) and Thevenot (1663). The wall around east Baghddwas almost circular in shape. It was 60 dhir high and 10-15 dhir broad, with holes for guns. It had large towers at the principal angles, of which four were famous at this periodand smaller towers at short distances from each other. On the large towers brass cannons were planted. The wall was completed on the river side for proper defence (the map of Na al-il drawn for SulnSulaymn in 1537 92

already shows this wall. A. Sousa, Atlas of Baghdd, 12). There were 118 towers in the wall on the land side and 45 on the river side (djdj halfa (1657), jihn-nm, 457 ff.; Ker Porter (1819) reports 117 towers of which 17 were large (Travels, 265); cf. Buckingham, Travels, 372). The wall had three gates on the land side, (as the Tillisim gate was walled up): BbImm alAam in the north at 700 dhir from the Tigris, aranl k apu (BbKalwdh) or the dark gate in the south at 50 dhir from the Tigris, and A apu (Bb al-Wasn) or the white gate in the east. The fourth gate was at the bridge. Ewliya elebi measured the length of the wall and found it 28,800 paces in slow walking or seven miles (1 mile = 4,000 paces), while djdj halfa makes its length 12,200 dhir or two miles (Niebuhr and Olivier consider the length of East Baghdd two miles). Wellsted thought the circuit of the walls 7 miles. Felix Jones, who surveyed Baghdd in 1853, gives the circuit of the walls of EastBaghdd including the river face as 10,600 yards or about 6 miles (Olivier, Voyage, ii, 379-80; Wellsted, Travels, i, 255; Felix Jones, 318; cf. Rousseau, 5 and Tavernier, 84). The wall was surrounded by a ditch, sixty dhir in width, with water drawn from the Tigris. At the north-western corner of the wall stood the ala (inner castle), from the Bbal-Muaam to the Tigris; it was encompassed by a single wall with little towers upon which cannon were planted. Barracks, stores of ammunition and provisions as well as the treasury and the mint were there. The Sary, where the Pasha resided, stood below the castle; it had spacious gardens and fair kiosks. On the other end of the bridge at Karkh stood a castle called ushlar alas or Birds' castle, with a gate on the bridge (Ewliya elebi, iv, 416; djdj halfa, jihnNm, 457-50; Tavernier, 64; Thevenot, Voyage, ii, 211). Ewliya elebi refers to the numerous mosques of Baghdd and mentions nine important mosques. Of the schools, two were the largest, the Mardjniyya and Madrasat al-hulaf (Mustaniriyya). Of the many inns two were good. He mentions eight churches and three synagogues, and gives exaggerated figures for tekkes (700) and ammms (500). The bridge of boats had 37-40 boats according to the height of the river, and some boats in the middle could be removed either for safety at night, or for river traffic, or as a military precaution. The main languages of the city were Arabic, Turkish and Persian. Baghdd had the best carrier-pigeons. However Baghdd was still in decline; its population was at the low figure of 15,000 (Tavernier, Travels, London 1678, 85-6; Ewliya elebi, Siyat, iv, 420 ff.; Thevenot, Voyage, ii, 211). Baghdd was governed by 24 pashas between 1048/1638-1116/1704 and there was no room for real improvement. The pashas were semi-autonomous, and the power of the janissaries was great. The power of the tribes rose and gradually became a threat to the life of the city. Little was done beyond repairs to the city walls or mosques. Kkasan Pasha (1642) built three towers near Burdjal-Adjam. hak MuammadPasha rebuilt abiyat al-Fti and repaired the walls after the flood of 1657. Amad Bushn repaired the towers especially Burdj al-jwsh (aush)and built Burdj al-bn (1687). Mosques received some attention. DeliusaynPasha (1644) rebuilt the amariyya mosque. haak Muammad (1657) built the hak mosque at Rasal-arya. ilidr usaynPasha (1671) rebuilt at-Fal mosque which became known as jmiusaynPasha and surrounded the shrine of Umar Suhraward by a wall and brought water to it by a canal. Abd al-RamnPasha (1674) repaired the jmiShaykh Marf and completed the dam started by his predecessor to protect Aamiyya from flood. Kaplan Muaf (1676) rebuilt jmial-Shaykhal-udr which became known as jmi al-aplniyya. Umar Pasha (1678) repaired the mosque of Ab anfa and allotted new wafs to it. Ibrhm Pasha (1681) renewed jmiSayyidSuln Al, and jmial-Sary. Isml Pasha (1698) rebuilt jmi al-hafffn (Azzw, iv, 27, 64, 109, 116, 143, Gulshan-i hulaf, 102, 103, 105, 106, ls, Masdjid, 37, 57-8).Amad Bushn (1678) built the famous hnBan Sad, while ilidr usaynPasha built a new bazaar near the Mustaniriyya. The beginning of the 18th century saw the eyalet of Baghdd terribly disorganised, the janissaries masters of the city, the Arab tribes holding the surrounding country, and peace or 93

security for trade non-existent. The appointment of asan Pasha in 1704, followed by his son Amad, inaugurated a new period for Baghdd. They introduced the Mamlks (Klemen) to check the janissaries and laid the foundation for Mamlk supremacy which lasted till 1831. The janissaries and Arab tribes were controlled, order was restored and the Persian threat averted. asan Pasha rebuilt the SaryMosque (jaddasan Pasha). He abolished taxes on firewood and on foodstuffs, and relieved quarters from exactions following murders (Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, vol. i, pt. I, 1193-4; Sulaymn Fi, urb al-Irniyyn, MS. f. 18-19; idem, Trkh al-Mamlik, MS. f. 4; adat al-Zawr (abridged), MS. 9; Gulshan-i hulaf, 225). Amad Pasha continued on the lines of his father and enhanced greatly the prestige of Baghdd. Ndir Shh besieged Baghdd twice, in 1737 and 1743, and though the city suffered much in the first siege, Amad Pasha held out and saved the city. When Amad Pasha died in 1747, Constantinople tried to reimpose its authority on Baghdd but failed, because of Mamlk opposition. In 1749 SulaymnPasha was the first Mamlk to be made governor of Baghdd. He was the real founder of Mamlk rule in Ir. Henceforth the sultan had to recognise their position and generally to confirm their nominee to the governorship. asan Pasha, who was brought up at the Ottoman court (slave household), wanted to follow its example; he established houses and initiated the training of Circassian and Georgian Mamlks and sons of local magnates in them. Sulaymn now expanded this and there were always about 200 receiving training in the school to prepare officers and officials. They are given a literary education and training in the use of arms, the art of chivalry and sports, and finally some palace education, to create in lite for government (Sulayman Fi, Tarkh al-Mamlik; Dawat al-Wuzar, 8). A governing class was formed, trained, energetic, and compact. But their weakness came from jealousies and intrigues. SulaymnPasha subdued the tribes and assured order and security, and encouraged trade. Al Pasha followed in 1175/1762 and Umar Pasha in 1177/1764 (Tarkh-i jewdet , i, 339-40). In 1766 the establishment of a British residency in Baghdd was sanctioned by Bombay (Gazetteer, i, 1225). In 1186/1772 a terrible plague befell Baghdd and lasted six months; thousands perished, others migrated, and commercial activities came to a standstill (Gazetteer, i, 324).
2

Security made Baghdd a great commercial centre. An eye-witness wrote in 1774, this is the grand mart for the produce of India and Persia, Constantinople, Aleppo and Damascus; in short it is the grand oriental depository (Gazetteer, i, 1243). Dissension and weak leadership among the Mamlks led to a period of troubles, of tribal chaos, and the Persian conquest of Bara. It ended whenSulaymnPasha the Great became governor (1193/1779) and combined Baghdd, Shhrizr and Bara. The tribes were checked, peace was restored and Mamlk power revived (Tarkh-i jewdet, ii, 146, 157, 158; f, Tarikh al-Mamlk, 19 ff., 54 ff., S. Fi, Tarkh al-Mamlk, f. 16-7). SulaymnPasha repaired the walls of east Baghdd, and built a wall around Karkh and surrounded it with a ditch. He rebuilt the Sary. He also built the Sulaymniyya school and renewed the aplaniyya, Fal and hulaf mosques. In addition, he built the S al-Sarrdjn. His kahya started building theAmadiyyamosque (jmial-Maydn) to be completed by the kahya's brother (Uthmn b. Sanad, (abridg. ed.), 70-73, 76-7). His last year (1802) saw a plague in Baghdd (Gazetteer, i, 1285; Ysn Efendial-Umar, Gharib al-Athar, 64). KkSulaymn (1808) abolished execution except when religious courts decided it, and forbade confiscations and cancelled dues to courts, and allotted salaries to judges (S. Fi, Tarkh al-Mamlk, f. 16; Dawat al-Wuzar, 250). Dwd Pasha came (1816) after a troubled period. He controlled the tribes and restored order and security. He cleared up some irrigation canals, established cloth and arms factories, and encouraged local industry. He built three large mosques, the most important being the aydar-hna mosque. He founded three madrasas. He also built a s by the bridge. He organised an army of about 20,000 and had a French officer to train it. His energetic and intelligent administration brought prosperity to the city. However, he had to impose heavy taxes in Baghdd. Dwd's fall and the end of the Mamlks came about as a result of Mamd 94

II's centralising and reforming policy, aided by a terrible plague, scarcity, and flood, which affected most of the city population (1247/1831) (adat al-Zawr (abridg. ed.), MS. f. 43-44, 53, 55-56; A. R. Suwayd, Nuzhat al-Udab, MS. f. 41-42; Mirt al-Zawr, 59; S. Fi, Tarkh alMamlik, MS. f. 39-52; Gazetteer, i, 1316; Frazer, Travels, i, 224-5; Handbook of Mesopotamia, i, 801). The administrative system of Baghdd was copied on a small scale from that of Constantinople. The Pasha held supreme military and administrative power. As the head of the administration was the katkhud (or kahya) who was like a minister. He was assisted by the defterdr, who was director of finances, and by the dwn efendisi or chief of the chancellery. There was the commander of the palace guards and the agh of the janissaries. There was the as the head of the judiciary. The Pasha called the dwn which included the kahya, the defterdr, the , the commander and other important personages, to discuss important issues. In the palace there were houses, with teachers and instructors (llt) to educate the Mamlks (jewdet, ii, 287, iii, 204, Uthmn b. Sanad, 31-2, 56, 39; Rousseau, 25 ff.). The Mamlkarmy was of 12,500 and in case of need it could be raised to 30,000 by local levies and contingents from other parts of the wilyat (S. Fi, Mamlk, f. 51-2). European travellers of this period give some data on Baghdd. Some notice that the walls were constructed and repaired at many different times, the old portions being the best (Buckingham, Travels (1827), 332; see Felix Jones, Memoir, 309). The enclosed area within the walls (east) according to Felix Jones' measurement was 591 acres (cf. Dr. Ives, Journey, London 1778, 20; Rousseau, Description, 5). The wall on the river seems to have been neglected and houses were built on the bank (Olivier, Voyage (1804), ii, 379). A large part of the city within the walls, particularly in the eastern side, was not occupied. The section near the river was well populated but even there gardens abounded so that it appeared like a city arising from amid a grove of palms (Niebuhr, ii, 239; Buckingham, 373, Wellsted, Travels (1840), i, 255). The Sary was spacious, enclosing beautiful gardens, and was richly furnished (Rousseau, 6; Ker Porter, 263). The western side Karkh, was like a suburb with numerous gardens. It was defenceless at first, (Rousseau, 5; Ives, 28), until SulaymnPasha the Great built its wall. It had four gatesBb alKim (N.), Bbal-Shaykh Marf (W.), Bbal-illa (S.W.), and Bab al-Kraimt (S.). The walls were 5,800 yards long, enclosing an area of 246 acres (F. Jones, 309). (Ker Porter (1818) found it well furnished with shops along numerous and extensive streets (Ker Porter, ii, 255; alMunsh Baghdd, Rila, 31). Moreover it was not so populated as the eastern side, and generally inhabited by the common people (Niebuhr, ii, 244; Rousseau, 4). The bridge of boats was 6 ft. wide and people use it or use guffas to cross the river (Ker Porter, ii, 255; Niebuhr, ii, 243; al-Munsh Baghdd, 243). The population gradually increased in this period. Rousseau (c. 1800) estimates it at 45,000, Olivier at 80,000, while the inhabitants put the figure at 100,000 (Rousseau, 8; Olivier, ii, 385); Buckingham (1816) made the estimate 80,000 (Travels, ii, 380)). Ker Porter (1818) puts the figure at 100,000 (Travels, 265). Al-Munsh Baghdd echoes local views in saying that there were 100,000 houses in Baghdd of which 1,500 were Jewish and 800 were Christian (Rila, 24). By 1830 the estimate is brought to 120,000-150,000 (Frazer, i, 224-5 and Wellsted). There was a mixture of races and creeds. The official class was Turkish (or Mamlk), the merchants primarily Arab, and there were Persians, Kurds and some Indians (Buckingham, 387; Niebuhr, ii, 250; Ker Porter, ii, 265; Wellsted, i, 251). There were numerous bazaars in Baghdd especially near the bridge, and the grand ones were vaulted with bricks, while the others were covered with palm trees. There were many khns, 24 ammms, five great madrasas, and twenty large mosques and many small ones (Buckingham, 378-9; Ives, 273; al-Munsh Baghdd, 31; Niebuhr, ii, 230; Wellsted, i, 257; Olivier, ii, 382). The streets were narrow, and some had gates closed at night for protection. Houses were high, with few windows on the streets. The interior consists of ranges of rooms opening into a square interior court usually with a garden. Sardbs were used to avoid heat in summer, while 95

open terraces were convenient for the late afternoon. In summer people slept on the roof (cf. Buckingham, 380). Baghdd had some industries especially tannery and the fabrication of cotton, silk and woolen textiles (Rousseau, 9-10). From 1831 to the end of the Ottoman period, Baghdd was directly under Constantinople. Some governors tried to introduce reforms. Memed RashdPasha (1847) was the first to try to improve economic conditions. He formed a company to buy two ships for transport between Baghdd and Bara, the success of which led to the corresponding British project. Nmi Pasha (1853) founded the damr-khna which could repair ships (Chiha, 54, 589;Gazetteer, i, 1360, 1365-6, 1372). Midat Pasha (1869-1872) introduced the modern wilyet system. The wl had a muwin, or assistant, a mudr for foreign affairs, and a mamn or secretary. The wilyet was divided into seven sandjas, headed by mutaarrifs, Baghdd being one of them (Gazetteer, i, 1442, 1447-8). He abolished some obnoxious taxesthe itisb (octroi duty) on all produce brought to the city walls for sale, the libiyya, a tax on river crafts, khums aab, or 20% on fuel, and rs bkr, a tax on irrigation wheels for cultivation, and replaced it by a ushr on agricultural produce (Gazetteer, i, 1442). In 1870 Midat founded a tramway linking Baghdd with Kimayn, and it continued for 70 years (Al aydarMidat, Life, 51). He established (1869) the first publishing house, the wilyet printing press in Baghdd, and founded al-Zawr, the first newspaper to appear in Ir as the official organ of the provincial government; it continued until March 1917 as a weekly paper (Azzw, vii, 241; Ali Haydar Midhat, The Life of Midat Pasha, London 1903, 47 ff.; arrz,Arabic Press, i, 78; Handbook of Mesopotamia, i, 81). With the exception of a few French Missionary schools, there were no modern schools in Baghdd. Between 1869-1871, Midat established modern schools, a technical school, a junior (Rushdi) and a secondary (Idd) military schools, and a junior and secondary civil (Mulk) schools (Za r No. 182; Azzw, viii, 21; Slnme-i Baghdd (1900), 454; Chiha, 100-102). Midat pulled down the city walls as a step towards its modernisation. He completed the Saray building started by Nmi Pasha (Chiha, 66). The educationmovement started by Midat continued after him. The junior girls' school was opened in 1899 (Slnme, 1318). Four primary schools were opened in 1890, and a primary teachers' school in 1900 (Slnme-i Marif, Istanbul 1900; S. Fay, Nil, 58-9). By 1913 there were 103 schools in Ir, 67 primary, 29 junior (Rushd), 5 secondary and one college, the law college (Lughat al-Arab, 1913, 335). Five printing presses were founded between 1884-1907. Newspapers appeared in Baghdd after 1908 and by 1915, 45 papers were issued by different people. Wls followed Midat in quick succession and little was achieved. In 1886 conscription was established (for Muslims only). In 1879 the hospital built by Midat was finally opened (Zawr, No. 810). In 1902, a new bridge of boats, wide enough for vehicles to pass, and with a cafe on the south side, was constructed (ls, 25; Handbook, ii, 374). In 1908 Baghdd sent three representatives to the Ottoman Parliament (Azzw, viii, 165). In 1910 NimPasha constructed a bund surrounding east Baghdd to protect it from floods (Azzw, viii, 200-1). He was the last energetic wl. Administration was headed by the wl assisted by a council, about half of which consisted of elected members, and the rest were appointed (ex-officio). About two of the elected members were non-Muslims. The wl was assisted by a immam (Zawr, No. 1369; Slnme 1292 A.H.). Among important offices were the Marif directorate, the Tapu directorate, the registration office, and the civil courts (Slnme (1300), 82-96). Until 1868, Baghdd was the centre of the three eylets of Mawil, Bara and Baghdd. In 1861, Mawil became separate and in 1884 Bara was separated and Baghdd became the centre of three Mutaarrifliks (Chiha, Province, 85). The plague and flood of 1831 left terrible marks on Baghdd. Most of the houses of East Baghdd were ruined and two thirds of the space within the walls was vacant, while most 96

Karkh was ruined. The walls on both sides had great gaps opened by the flood. The city was in a miserable state compared to the days of Dwd Pasha (Frazer, Travels, i, 269, 233-4, 252). Southgate (1837) noticed that the city was slowly recovering from the calamity, and put the population at 40,000. But he saw the madrasas neglected and their allowances not properly used (Southgate, Narrative, 2 vols. 1851, II, 180, 165-6; Handbook of Mesopotamia, i, 80-1). When Felix Jones surveyed Baghdd (1853-4) things had improved. He mentions 63 quarters in East Baghdd, 25 quarters in Karkh, most of which still retain their names (Memoir, 339; cf. Frazer, 233-4). The population of the city increased steadily after the middle of the 19th century. In 1853 they were about 60,000 (Felix Jones, 315, 329). In 1867, the male population of Baghdd is given as 67,273 (Lughat al-Arab, 1913). In 1877 they were all estimated at 70 to 80 thousand (Persian Gulf Gazetteer, 8; Geary, Through Asiatic Turkey, 1878, i, 126). In the 1890s the estimate was 80 to a 100 thousand (Harris, From Batum to Baghdad, 299; Cowper, Through Asiatic Turkey, 270). In 1900 they were put at 100,000 (Chiha, Province, 165; see Slnme (1320 A.H.), 136-7, 181). Another estimate for 1904 is given at 140,000 (Handbook of Mesopotamia, i, 89). By 1918, the population is given as 200,000 (Handbook, ii, 334; Als,AkhbrBaghdd, 280-1; cf. R. Coke for the figure 185,000 in 1918, Baghdd, 298). Travellers were impressed with the great admixture of races, the diversity of speech and the rare freedom enjoyed by non-Muslims and the great toleration among the masses (Jones, 339; Olivier, ii, 388-9). This mixture left its imprint on the dialect of Baghdd (Abd Laf, ms Lahdjat Baghdd MSS.). However, Arabic was the common language. The Arab population was increased by the advent of tribal elements (Geary, op. cit. i, 136, 214). Usually people of one creed or race congregated in a particular quarter (cf. F. Jones, Memoir, 339). The Turks generally occupied the northern quarters of the city, while Jews and Christians lived in their ancient quarters north and west of S al-Ghazl respectively. Most of the Persians lived on the west side but Karkh was mainly Arab (F. Jones, 339; Persian Gulf, 9, 79-80; Handbook, ii, 381; Southgate, ii, 182). Though people of the three religions spoke Arabic their dialects differed (Lughat al-Arab, 1911, 69-71). At the turn of the century there were still some industries. Among the textiles of Baghdd were silk stuffs, cotton fabrics, stuffs of wool-silk mixture, striped cotton pieces, and coarse cotton cloth for head-scarves and cloaks, sheets and women outer garments. The silk fabrics of Baghdd were famous for their colour and workmanship. An excellent dyeingindustry existed. Tanning was one of the principal industries, and there were about 40 tanneries at Muaam. Carpentry and the manufacture of swords were advanced. There was a military factory for textiles (Handbook, i, 231; Slnme (1300), 79, 136). The Baghdd bazaars were covered, or uncovered like Sal Ghazl. At the eastern bridgehead was the chief place for trade in the bazaars of the Sary, Maydn, Shordja and the cloth bazaar rebuilt by Dwd Pasha. Some bazaars had crafts with their own guilds and usually the bazaar was named after it, such as S al-affr (coppersmiths) S al-Sarrdjn (saddlery), S al-gh, (silversmiths), S al-hafffn (shoemakers) etc. (Ewliya elebi, iv, 22;M.G.T.B., i, 22-3). There were two important streets, one from the North Gate to near the bridge, and the other from the SouthGate to the end of the main bazaar. In 1915 the North Gate was connected with the SouthGate by a road, now known as Rashd street (Handbook, i, 377; Slnme (1318 A.H.), 599-600). In 1922 Nmi Pasha tried to repair some of the streets (Slnme (1318 A.H.), 60). In 1307/1889 Sirr Pasha transfered the Maydn to an open square with a garden (see Slnme (1321), 76). In 1285/1869 Midat formed a municipal council by election and orders were issued to clear the streets. In 1879 municipalities were formed and orders were issued for achieving 97

cleanliness and drainage (Zawr, No. 231, No. 878, No. 817, No. 1774, Lughat al-Arab, i, 17; Slnme (1300), 136). Lighting with kerosene lamps was adopted and given to a contractor, but in fact only streets with notable residents were lit (Zawr, No. 490, no. 837) (see furtherBALADIYYA.) At the beginning of the 20th century the city of Baghdd covered an area of about four sq. m. The remains of the city wall on the East side demolished by Midat formed with the river a rough parallelogram about 2 miles long with an average width of over a mile. About a third of this area was empty or occupied by graveyards or ruins, and towards the south much space was covered by date groves. Karkh began further upstream than East Baghdd but it was much smaller in length and depth (Handbook, ii, 276). In 1882 there were 16,303 houses, 600 inns, 21 baths, 46 large mosques (djmi) and 36 small mosques (masdjid), 34 children's maktab and 21 religious schools, 184 coffee-shops and 3,244 shops (Slnme (1300), 136). In 1884 the figures were: 16,426 houses, 205 inns, 39 baths, 93 djm and 42 masdjids and 36 children's maktabs (Slnme (1302), 335). In 1903 Baghdd had 4,000 shops, 285 coffeeshops, 135 orchards, 145 djmi, 6 primary schools, 8 schools for non-Muslims and 20 convents (tekke), 12 bookshops, one public library, 20 maktabs for boys, 8 churches, 9 tanneries, one soap factory, 129 workshops for weaving, 22 textile factories (Slnme(1321), 179). By 1909 houses reached 90,000 in number. There were 3 private printing presses, 6 churches and 6 synagogues (Slnme (1324), 223). Shukr al-Als described 44 mosques in East Baghdd and 18 in Karkh (Als, Masdjid; Massignon, Mission, ii, 63-5). The temperature in Baghdd ranged from 114 to 121 F. in summer, and from about 26 to 31 F. in winter, but it sometimes rose to 123 F. in summer and fell to 20 F. in winter. Baghdd produced some distinguished poets during the Ottoman period, like Ful [q.v.], hihn [q.v.], Akhras and Abdal-B al-Umar; historians like Murta, Ghurb and M. Shukr ls; jurists like AbdAllh Suwayd and Abu 'l-Than al-Als (see Als, al-Misk alAdhfar, Baghdd 1930). Modern Baghdd has changed considerably, especially since the thirties. It has expanded to link up with Aamiyya and Kimayn to the north, with the eastern bund to the east, with the great bend of the Tigris to the south, and with the al-Mar al-Madan and with nearby suburbs like Manr and Mamn cities. There are 76 quarters in Karkh and Rusfa, 8 in Aamiyya, 4 in Karradh Shariyya and 6 in Kimayn (Sousa, AtlasBaghdd, 21-5). The population of the Baghdd municipality in 1947 was 466,733; it had mounted to 735,000 by 1957. Traditional styles of building gave way to houses, built on western lines, in areas beyond the old city, while the old sections are being gradually transformed. The bridge of boats is gone, and four permanent bridges have been constructed. The process of modernisation, both material and social, is too rapid to be recorded here. (A.A. Duri)

98

(BAGHDAD (HISTORICAL & MODERN))

^

Bibliography
The sources have been mentioned in the article. In addition to the major works of historians like abar, Masd, Yab, Ibn al-Athr, geographers like Ibn Rusta, Ibn al-Fah (Mashhad MSS.), Ibn awal, Yab, Muaddas, Yt, Marid al-Iil, uddAlam and Mustawf, and travellers like Ibn jubayr, Ibn Bata and Benjamin of Tudela, the following should also be mentioned: Ibn al-S, Al-jmi al-Mukhtaar, ed. Muaf jawd, Baghdd 1934 Ibn al-jawz, ManibBaghdd, Baghdd 1921 idem, al-Muntaam, aydarbd, Deccan, 1357-9 A.H. Miskawayh, Tadjrib al-Umam, vols i-vii (ed. and transl. by Amedroz and Margoliouth, 1920-1 Suhrb, Adjib al-Alm al-Saba, ed. Hans von Mzik, Leipzig 1930 al-Shbusht, Kitb al-Diyrt, ed. Gurgis Awwd, Baghdd 1951 Hill al-b, Rusm Dral-hilfa, Dept. of Ant. Library MS. no. 2900 Ibnal-Fuwa, al-awdth al-jmia, ed. by Muaf jawd, Baghdd 1351 A.H. Sl, Akhbral-R wa 'l-Mutta Bi'llh, Cairo 1935 Tankh, Nishwr al-Muara, vol. i, Cairo 1921, vol. viii, Damascus 1930 M.Sh. al-Als, al-Misk al-Adhfar, i, Baghdd 1930 Ewliya eleb, Siyat-nme, vol. iv, Constantinople 1314 A.H. al-MunshBaghdd, Rila, trans. Abbs Azzw, Baghdd 1948 Slnmes of Baghdd for the years 1299 A.H., 1300 A.H., 1301 A.H., 1312 A.H., 1317 A.H., 1318 A.H., 1321 A.H., 1324 A.H. W. B. Harris, From Batum to Baghdad, Edinburgh 1896 usayn, Akhbral-Dawla al-Saldjiyya, ed. by Muh. Ibl, Lahore 1933 Chiha, La Province de Baghdad, Cairo c. 1900 djdj halfa, jihnnm, Constantinople 1145 A.H. Yasin al-Umar, Gharib al-Athar, ed. by M.S. jall, Mawil 1940 Abbs al-Azzw, Tarkhal-Ir bayn Itillayn, 8 vols., Baghdd 1936-58 Uthmn b. Sanad al-Bar, Mali al-ud fi Akhbral-WlDwd, D. of Ant. Library NS. no. 233 (abridged by A.H. Madan), Cairo 1317 A.H. Salmn Fi, Tarkh al-Mamlik f Baghdd, (MS. Lib. Dept. of Ant. Baghdd no. 1227) Salmn Fik, urb al-Irniyyn fi 'l-Ir (Lib. of D. of Ant. Baghdd no. 1952) adiat al-Zawr, abridged by Abdul-Rahmn al-Suhraward (MS.) Abd al-Rahmn al-Suhraward, Nuzhat al-Udab f Tardjim Ulam wa Wuzar Baghdd (MS.) M. Karmal, al-Fawz bi 'l-Murd f Tarkh Baghdd, 1329 A.H. FerdnBey, Munshat al-Saln, Istanbul 1274 A.H. Ktib elebi, Fadhlaka, ii, Istanbul 1297 Murta, Gulshan-i hulaf

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Muh. Amn, Baghdd we son dithe-i Diy, Istanbul 1338-41 A.H. jewdet Pasha, Tarkh , Istanbul 1301-9
2

Al-Azd, ikyat Abi 'l-sim Baghdd, ed. A. Mez, Heidelberg 1902 al-Zawr (Gov. Gazette, Dept. of Ant. Library) Q. Shahraban, Tadhkirat al-Shuar, ed. A. M. Karmali, Baghdd 1936 ls, Masdjid Baghdd, Baghdd 1346 A.H. Ibn ayfr, Tarkh Baghdd, vi, Leipzig 1908 Cl. Huart, Histoire de Baghdad dans les temps modernes, Paris 1904 J. R. Wellsted, Travels in the city of the caliphs, 2 vols. London 1840 Rousseau, Description du pachalik de Baghdad, Paris 1809 Sarre and Herzfeld, Archologische Reise im Euphrat und Tigris-Gebiet, Berlin 1900 Rev. H. Southgate, Tour through Armenia, Kurdistan, Persia and Mesopotamia, 2 vols., London 1850 de Thevenot, Relation d'un voyage fait au Levant, 2 vols., J. S. Buckingham, Travels in Mesopotamia, London 1827, Felix Jones, Memoir on Baghdad, Bombay 1857 Niebuhr, Voyage en Arabie, vol. ii, 1780 Ker Porter, Travels in Syria, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, 2 vols., London 1817-20 J. G. Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, vol. i, pts. I and II, Calcutta 1925 Handbook of Mesopotamia, 4 vols., London 1917 Olivier, Voyages, 2 vols., Paris 1804 S. H. Longrigg, Four centuries of Modern Iraq, Oxford 1925 Reallexikon der Assyriologie, Berlin 1928 L. Massignon, Mission en Mesopotamie, vol. ii, Cairo 1912 Ives, Journey from Persia to Baghdad, London 1778 Map of the Iraq Academy by A. Sousa and M. jawd, with its Dall Mufaal, Baghdd 1958 Le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, Oxford 1924 R. Levy, A Baghdad Chronicle, Cambridge 1929 Abel, Les Marchs de Baghdad, in Bulletin de la Socit belge d'tudes gographiques, 1949, 148-164 S. Sassoon, History of the Jews in Baghdad, Letchworth 1949 I.A., art. Bagdad, (by M. Cavid Baysun) R. Coke, Baghdad the City of Peace, London 1927 M. Streck, Die Alte Landschaft Babylonien, i, Leiden 1900 Sousa, Atlas Baghdad, Baghdd 1952. M. Canard, Hamdnides, i, 155-74 Makdisi, The topography of eleventh century Badd = Materials and notes, in Arabica vi, 1959, 18-97 and 281-309
[Print Version: Volume I, page 894, column 2]

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Duri, A.A. "Baghdd." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; , Th. Bianquis; , C.E. Bosworth; , E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_COM-0084>

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Bayt al-ikma
Bayt al-ikma (the House of Wisdom) was the palace library of the early Abbsid caliphs, mentioned in the sources only in connection with al-Rashd (r. 170193/786809) and alMamn (r. 196218/812833). The idea, developed in twentieth-century scholarship, that the Bayt al-ikma was a bureau for the large-scale translation of Greek books into Arabic, operating along the lines of a modern research institute or even a university, is entirely incorrect. While we have little information about the real nature of this library, it is clear that it had more to do with collecting and preserving books of pre-Islamic Iranian and early Arabic lore than with transmitting Greek science. The expression bayt al-ikma (as well as the alternate expression, khiznat al-ikma) is apparently the Arabic translation of a Middle Persian term for libraries of the Ssnian kings. A Middle Persian account from the sixth century C.E. states that the Ssnids and their predecessors kept copies of books of religion and science in a ganj (treasury, storehouse), a word equivalent to Arabic khizna (Shaki, 11425). amza al-Ifahn (d. after 350/961) reports that in pre-Islamic Iran books containing recastings in verse of Persian historical lore, warfare, and romances were stored in houses of wisdom (buyt al-ikma) for the Ssnian kings (al-Amthl al-dira an buyt al-shir, cited by Gregor Schoeler, 2:308). db al-mulk, a book on royal deportment deriving from Ssnian sources and ascribed to al-Sarakhs (d. 286/899), provides information on the role of the palace library (bayt al-ikma) in connection with the king's study of royal history (Rosenthal, 109). The Arabic term was probably coined in early Abbsid times, in the second half of the second/eighth century. Our source of information on this matter is almost exclusively the late fourth/tenth-century book catalog of al-Nadm (written 376/987), al-Fihrist (ed. Gustav Flgel, 2 vols., Leipzig 18712, repr. Beirut 1964), on which some of the later sources are largely dependent. The term bayt al-ikma alternates with khiznat al-ikmaSahl b. Hrn (d. 215/830), for example, is cited as both hib bayt al-ikma, 10, and ib khiznat al-ikma, 120 and sometimes the institution is referred to merely askhizna (5 [bis], 19). In the Fihrist these terms are most frequently associated with the caliphs Hrn al-Rashd and, especially, alMamn. The construction in which this is expressed is either an ifa (khiznat al-Mamn, alMamn's storehouse [of books], 5) or a prepositional phrase with li- (khiznat al-ikma lilMamn, the storehouse of wisdom of al-Mamn, 274). Courtiers of al-Mutawakkil (r. 232 47/84761) in the next generational-Fat b. Khqn (d. 247/861; 116, 143) and Al b. Yay b. al-Munajjim (d. 275/8889; Yqt, Irshd al-arb, ed. D. S. Margoliouth, Oxford 1922 , 5:467) are also designated as having their own bayt or khiznat al-ikma of an unsurpassed number of books, showing that the terms refer to a library in the conventional sense. In view of its association with the caliphs al-Rashd and al-Mamn and of the Ssnian origin of both the terms and the institution, it seems beyond reasonable doubt that the references are to a palace library.
2

The Fihrist provides the following information about this library when it is mentioned in association with the names of these two caliphs. Among their holdings that are mentioned explicitly are books described as having old-fashioned copy-hand (qadm al-naskh, 21), one, presumably in Arabic, allegedly written in the hand of Abd al-Mualib b. Hshim, the grandfather of the prophet Muammad (5), another written in the imyarite script (5), and still another in the Sdn script (19). The activities that were carried out in the library included book copying (Alln al-Shub, 105)clearly as a means to enrich the collections and book binding (Ibn Ab l-arsh, 10). Mentioned as affiliated with the library are Sahl b. Hrn (10, 120, 125) and Salm (120, 243, 268, 305) as directors or librarians (ib), and, as associated employees, Ab Sahl al-Fal b. Nawbakht (fl. c. 158193/775809; 274), Sad b. Hrn (120, 125), and Muammad b. Ms al-Khwrazm (d. c.232/847; 274), as well as Yay b. Ab Manr al-Munajjim and the Ban Ms (Ibn al-Qif, Tarkh al-ukam, ed. Julius Lippert (Leipzig 1903), 4412), it being stated explicitly with regard to the Ban Ms that they were registered there (athbatahum) by al-Mamn. 102

The men mentioned as affiliated with this library were for the most part Iranians, and in a few instances it is expressly recorded in the Fihrist that they were involved in translating books from Persian into Arabic, as was the case with Ab Sahl al-Fal b. Nawbakht (274) and Salm (120); the latter is also mentioned as having prepared, like Ibn al-Muqaffa and Sahl b. Hrn both well known shubs and Middle Persian expertssummaries and extracts of Kalla waDimna (305). It is thus clear that the function of this library under the early Abbsids was similar to that under the Ssnians, that is, the preservation of the Persian heritage, although now in Arabic translations, to which there was apparently added the corresponding function of collecting and preserving Arab traditions: in addition to old books from the pre-Islamic and early Arabian tradition mentioned above were books on Arab history and warfare said to have been commissioned by al-Manr (Gutas, Greek Thought, 57 n. 49), and Hrn al-Rashd is imagined in a much later source to have ordered a book on the biographies of Persian kings (siyar al-mulk) to be brought to him from the Bayt al-ikma (preface of the Nihyat alarab f akhbr al-Furs wa-l-Arab of pseudo-Ama, cited by Al 1951, 143). It is only under alMamn that we hear of men with a different profile affiliated with the caliph's library, namely the mathematician and astronomer Muammad b. Ms al-Khwrazm, the astrologer Yay b. Ab Manr al-Munajjim, and the mathematicians known as the Ban Ms. We do not know what became of the library thereafter, but al-Nadm was able to identify copies of books from this khiznat al-ikma when he wrote his Fihrist in 376/987. The library-director Salm, though of Persian background, is recorded in the Fihrist as having been involved, as a member of a committee, in the translation of Ptolemy's Almagest (267f.) under commission by the Barmakid Yay b. Khlid (Hrn's vizier from 169/786 to 187/803). In a colophon of a manuscript containing the translation of the earliest extant Arabic paraphrase of Aristotle's logic, Salm is said also to have been involved, again together with others, in its translation for Yay b. Khlid (Kraus, 120). The capacity in which Salm was involved in these projects is not clear. It is improbable that he knew Greek or Syriac, in which case either the translations of both these works were done from Middle Persian versions, or Salm perhaps merely edited or polished the versions prepared by the translators from Greek or Syriac. In any case, the available evidence does not indicate that these projects took place in the Bayt al-ikma as part of its regular activities; the mention of the Bayt al-ikma in these instances is merely in the title identifying Salm. A similar reference to Salm as part of a committee sent by al-Mamn to Byzantium to collect Greek manuscripts (243) is to be discounted as legendary. Salm was in charge of theAbbsid palace library under Yay b. Khlid al-Barmak, as is attested not only in the Fihrist but also, independently, in Ibn Abd Rabbihi's (d. 328/940) al-Iqd al-fard (ed. Amad Amn, Amad al-Zayn, and Ibrhm al-Ibyr, Cairo 194053, 2:127, where the printed name Sulaymn is clearly an error for Salm); and the Barma-kids had already been removed from power ten years before al-Mamn's accession. Furthermore, this report in the Fihrist is part of the fictitious account that credits the translation movement to al-Mamn's dream of Aristotle (Gutas, 95104). It appears that it was from reports such as these concerning Salm that these arose in twentieth-century scholarship the myth that the Bayt al-ikma of the early Abbsid caliphs was an academy and a school for the study of the ancient sciences, and a centre for the translation of Greek works into Arabic in which unayn b. Isq (d. 260/873) was active and which was founded by al-Mamn in 217/832. Although there was some earlier speculation about it, it was DeLacy O'Leary's Arabic thought and its place in history (London 1922) that first linked the Bayt al-ikma with the Nestorian physicians of Baghdad (including unayn), asserted that it was founded by al-Mamn, and gave 832 as the official date of its establishmentall without citing any sources. Following O'Leary's unfounded assertions, and inspired by G. Bergstrsser's publication (Leipzig 1925) of unayn's bibliographic Risla of Galenic translations, Max Meyerhof published an article that was responsible for the propagation of this myth (Meyerhof, 685724). In this and subsequent publications in German, English, and Frencharticles that were widely read as authoritative in part because of the author's expertise in the history of Arabic medicineMeyerhof repeated and elaborated this 103

imaginative interpretation of the Bayt al-ikma as a full-fledged academy and institute of translation, founded by al-Mamn in 830 or 832, where all the Greek manuscripts of the caliph were kept and in which a team of translators worked under the direction of unayn b. Isq. Very nearly the same picture of the Bayt al-ikma appears in Dominique Sourdel's article in EI . Later publications describe the Bayt al-ikma as a full-fledged college of the sciences or humanities. There is, however, no evidence for these assertions, and the brief facts mentioned above constitute almost the entirety of the information that we possess on the subject.
2

Dimitri Gutas Kevin van Bladel

Bibliography
Jawd Al, Mawrid Tarkh al-abar II, Majallat al-Majma al-Ilm al-Irq 2 (1951), 13590 Paul Kraus, Zu Ibn al-Muqaffa, RSO 14 (1934) 120 repr. in his Alchemie, Ketzerei, Apokryphen im frhen Islam, ed. Rmi Brague (Hildesheim 1994), 89108 Max Meyerhof, New light on Hunain ibn Ishaq and his period, Isis 8 (1926), 685724, repr. in Fuat Sezgin (ed.), Galen in the Arabic tradition. Texts and studies(Frankfurt 1996), 3:140 Franz Rosenthal, From Arabic books and manuscripts, XVI. As-Sarakhs (?) on the Appropriate Behavior for Kings, JAOS 115/1 (1995), 109a Gregor Schoeler, Arabische Handschriften (Wiesbaden 1990), 2:308 Mansour Shaki, The Dnkard account of the history of Zoroastrian scriptures, ArO 49/2 (1981), 11425. For critical discussions of the evidence see Marie-Genevive Balty-Guesdon, Le Bayt alikma de Baghdad, Arabica 39 (1992) 13150 Franoise Micheau, The scientific institutions in the medieval Near East, in Encyclopedia of the history of Arabic science, vol. 3, Technology, alchemy, and life sciences, ed. Roshdi Rashed (London and New York 1996), 9868 S. van Koningsveld, Greek manuscripts in the early Abbasid empire. Fiction and facts about their origin, translation, and destruction, BO 55/34 (1998) 34571 Dimitri Gutas, Greek thought, Arabic culture. The Graeco-Arabic translation movement in Baghdad and early Abbsid society (2nd4th/8th10th centuries) (London and New York 1998), 5360. C ITATION : Gutas, Dimitri. "Bayt al-ikma." Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Edited by: Gudrun Krmer, ; Denis Matringe, ; John Nawas and ; Everett Rowson. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ei3_SIM-22882>

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People of the House

Literally, (the) people of the house ( ahl al- bayt), a family, a noble family, a leading family and, most probably, also those who dwelt near the house of God (see HOUSE, DOMESTIC AND DIVINE ), the Kaba (q.v.). Without the definite article al-, it means household (see FAMILY; KINSHIP; COMMUNITY AND SOCIETY IN THE QURN ). In Sh (see SHISM AND THE QURN ) as well as Sunn literature the term ahl al-bayt is usually understood to refer to the family of the Prophet (q.v.). In the Qurn the term appears twice with the definite article ( Q 11:73; 33:33) and once without it ( ahl bayt, Q 28:12). According to the lexicographers, when ahl appears in a construction with a person it refers to his blood relatives (see BLOOD AND BLOOD CLOT ), but with other nouns it acquires wider meanings: thus the basic meaning of ahl al-bayt is the inhabitants of a house (or a tent). They used to call the inhabitants of Mecca(q.v.; ahl makka ) the people of God as a sign of honor (for them), in the same way that it is said the house of God ( bayt Allh). Ahl madhhab are those who profess a certain doctrine; ahl al-islm are the Muslims, and so on (see for additional examples, Lisn alArab, s.v. ahl). The Qurn frequently uses ahl to denote a certain group of people. Sometimes the word is connected with the name of a place, and in these cases the term refers to the inhabitants of that place, such as: ahl yathrib, the people of Yathrib ( Q 33:13) or ahl al-madna, the people of Medina (q.v.; Q 9:101); ahl madyan, the people of Midian (q.v.; Q 20:40; 28:45). Sometimes the term is used to denote the people of unidentified locations such as ahl qarya, the inhabitants of a town or village ( Q 18:77; cf. 29:31, 34), ahl al-qur, towns-people, dwellers of the villages ( Q 7:96-8; 12:109; 59:7; see CITY ). At other times the word ahl refers to certain groups of people typified or identified by some ethical or religious characteristics, as in ahl al-dhikr, people of the reminder ( Q 21:7; see MEMORY ) or ahl al-nr, people of the (hell-) fire ( Q 38:64; see HELL AND HELLFIRE ). Or it has the meaning of fit for, in which case the word describes an individual, not a group, such as ahl al-taqw, (a person) fit for piety (q.v.; Q 74:56), or ahl al-maghfira, (a person) fit for forgiveness (q.v.; Q74:56). The term ahl al-bayt falls into one or more of these categories, namely people who belong to a certain house in the literal or socio-political meanings of the word. At least in one case ( Q 33:33), however, its identification with the Prophet turned the term into a major issue in qurnic exegesis and tradition literature (see EXEGESIS OF THE QURN: CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL; ADTH AND THE QURN ). The qurnic usage of ahl al-bayt is as follows: In Q 11:73 the story of Abraham (Ibrhm) and the divine messengers. When the patriarch's wife is informed that she is going to give birth to Isaac (Isq) and Jacob (Yaqb), she reacts by saying: Alas! Shall I bring forth when I am old and my husband here an old man? Verily this is a thing strange ( Q 11:72). The angels respond: Do you think the affair of God strange? The mercy and blessing of God be upon you, O people of the house (ramatu llhi wa-baraktuhu alaykum ahla lbayti). In Q 28:12 situated in the story of the rescue of the infant Moses (Ms) by Pharaoh's (Firawn) wife. The phrase appears without the definite article: Moses' sister asks, Shall I direct you to a household who will take charge of him (the infant Moses) for you? (hal adullukum al ahli baytin yakfulnahu lakum). In Q 33:33 God simply wishes to take the pollution from you, O people of the house and to purify you thoroughly (innam yurdu llhu li-yudhhiba ankumu l-rijsa ahla l-bayti wa-yuahhirakum tahran). The first two verses, Q 11:73 and Q 28:12, were understood by almost all Muslim commentators to mean family, in the first case Abraham's family and in the second the prophet Moses' family. In the case of Q 33:33, however, the word bayt most probably means not a family but the Kaba, the house of God; thus the term ahl al-bayt would seem to mean the tribe of Quraysh (q.v.) or the 105

Islamic community in general, as suggested by R. Paret (Der Plan, 130; cf. Bell, Qurn,ii, 414 n. 3; Lisn al-Arab). The tribe of Quraysh was explicitly called ahl al-bayt in an early Islamic tradition recorded by Ibn Sad: Quayy said to his fellow tribesmen, You are the neighbors of God and people of his house (innakum jrn Allh wa-ahl baytihi; Ibn Sad, abaqt, i/1, 41, l. 16). In this sense the term assumes an even wider meaning: it includes all those who venerated the Kaba. This original meaning was neglected in favor of the more limited scope of the Prophet's family, and Q33:33 became, consequently, the cornerstone for both Sh and Abbsid claims to the leadership of the Muslim community (see POLITICS AND THE QURN ). The Sha (q.v.) claimed that the verse speaks about the divine choice of the Alid family and their preference to all the other relatives of the Prophet. To be sure, the idea of divine selection was accepted also by the so-called non- Sh, or Sunn, tradition. Thus the Prophet is made to say: God created human beings, divided them into two parties, and placed me in the better one of the two. Then he divided this party into tribes (see TRIBES AND CLANS ) and placed me in the best of them all, and then he divided them into families (buyt, lit. houses) and placed me in the best of them all, the one with the most noble pedigree (khayruhum nasaban; Frzbd, Fail, i, 6). Within this concept of selection, there is a wide area of variation. The tendency of the Sha has always been to carry the list of the divine selection further down, so as to achieve maximum exclusivity. One of the most widespread traditions quoted by Sh as well as Sunn sources in relation to the interpretation of Q 33:33 is the so-called adth al- kis . Through the many variations on this adith, the idea of the holy five was established. The Prophet is reported to have said: This ya was revealed for me and for Al (see AL B. AB LIB ), Fima (q.v.), asan and usayn. When the verse was revealed, the tradition goes on to say, the Prophet took a cloak or cape (kis, meaning his robe or garment; see CLOTHING ), wrapped it around his son-in-law, his daughter and his two grandchildren and said: O God, these are my family ( ahl bayt) whom I have chosen; take the pollution from them and purify them thoroughly. The clear political message in this tradition was stressed by additions such as the one in which the Prophet says: I am the enemy of their enemies (q.v.), or invokes God, saying: O God, be the enemy of their enemies (authorities quoted in Sharon, Ahl al-bayt, 172 n. 6). To the same political category belong the various traditions which consider assistance and love for the ahl al-bayt a religious duty and enmity towards them a sin. He who oppresses my ahl bayt, the Prophet says, or fights against them or attacks them or curses them, God forbids him from entering paradise(q.v.). In another utterance attributed to the Prophet he says: My ahl bayt can be compared to Noah's (q.v.) ark (q.v.), whoever rides in it is saved and whoever hangs on to it succeeds, and whoever fails to reach it is thrust into hell (Frzbd, Fail, ii, 56-9; 75-87). Once the idea of the chosen five or the selected family was established as the main Sh interpretation of the term ahl al-bayt, there was no reason why the idea of purification (see CLEANLINESS AND ABLUTION; RITUAL PURITY ), which appears in the qurnic verse, should not be connected in a more direct way to the divinely selected family. In addition to ahl albayt, one therefore finds terms such as al-itra al- hira and al-dhuriyya al- hira, the pure family, or also the pure descendents, an expression that is more than reminiscent of the holy family (i.e. Jesus [q.v.], Mary [q.v.] and Joseph) in Christianity. And as if to accentuate this point, Fima and Mary are explicitly mentioned together as the matrons of paradise and Fima is even called al- batl, the virgin (see SEX AND SEXUALITY; ABSTINENCE; CHASTITY ), a most appropriate description for the female figure in the Islamic version of the holy family (see McAuliffe, Chosen). When the Abbsids came to power, they, too, based the claim for the legitimacy of their rule on the fact that they were part of the Prophet's family. Concurrently, therefore, the meaning of the term ahl al-bayt underwent modifications in opposite directions. While the Sha moved towards the formulation of the idea of the holy five, or the pure family described above, the Abbsids strove to widen the scope of this family to include Abbs, the Prophet's uncle, stressing that women, noble and holy as they may be, could not be regarded as a source 106

of nasab and that the paternal uncle in the absence of the father was equal to the father (see GENDER; INHERITANCE ). The extension of the boundaries of ahl al-bayt under the Abbsids followed an already existing model. The adths speaking about the process of God's selection stop at the clan of Hshim to include all the families in this clan, the libids as well as the Abbsids. Such traditions can be even more explicit, specifying that the families included in the Prophet's ahl al-bayt are l Al wa-l Jafar wa-l Aql wa-l al-Abbs (Muibb al-Dn alabar, Dhakhir al-uqb, 16). Not all the commentators accepted the idea that the term ahl al-bayt in Q 33:33 is associated with the Prophet's family in the sense that the contending parties wished. Alongside the abovementioned interpretations, one finds the neutral interpretation that ahl al-bayt means simply the Prophet's wives (nis al-nab; see WIVES OF THE PROPHET ). And as if to stress the dissatisfaction with the political and partisan undertones of the current exegesis, one of the commentators stresses that ahl al-bayt are the Prophet's wives, and not as they claim (Wid, Asbb, 139-40; Sharon, Ahl al-bayt, 175 n. 15). As may be expected, a harmonizing version also exists which interprets the term ahl al-bayt in such a way that both the Prophet's family and his wives are included. To achieve this end, the term ahl al-bayt was divided into two categories: the one, ahl bayt al-sukn, namely those who physically lived in the Prophet's home, and ahl bayt al-nasab, the Prophet's kin. The qurnic verse, according to this interpreta- tion, primarily means the Prophet's household, namely, his wives. But it also contains a concealed meaning (see POLYSEMY ), which the Prophet himself revealed by his action, thus disclosing that ahl al- baythere included those who lived in his home, such as his wives, and those who shared his pedigree. They were the whole (clan) of Ban Hshim and Abd al-Mualib. Another version of this interpretation states that the Prophet's ahl al-bayt included his wives and Al (Lisn al-Arab). In Arabic literature the term ahl bayt is used generically to specify the noble and influential family in the tribe or any other socio-political unit, Arab and non-Arab alike (see ARABS ). The nobility attached to the term is sometimes stressed by connecting it to the word sharaf . The word bayt on its own could mean nobility ( wa-bayt al-arab ashrafuh) says Ibn Manr (Lisn al-Arab, s.v. bayt). The usage of ahl al-bayt for denoting leading families in the Age ofIgnorance (q.v.; jhiliyya) as well as under Islam was very extensive. Two examples will suffice to make the point. Ibn al-Kalb (d. ca. 205/820) says thatNubta b. anala, the famous Umayyad general, belonged to a noble family of the Qays Ayaln and they are ahl bayt commanding strength and nobility(wa-hum ahlu baytin lahum bas wa-sharaf). The same is said about non-Arabs. Speaking about the Byzantine dynasties (see BYZANTINES ), Ibn Askir (d. 571/1176) mentions ten ahl buytt. The Barmakids are referred to as from the noble families of Balkh (min ahl buytt Balkh; references in Sharon, Ahl al-bayt, 180-1). It is noteworthy that the usage of the phrase people of a/the house (Ar. ahl bayt) to denote the status of nobility and leadership is not unique to theArabic language (q.v.) or Arab culture. It is rather universal: the ancient Romans spoke about the patres maiorum gentum, namely, the elders of the major clans or houses. The tradition concerning this Roman expression goes back to the early days of the Roman monarchy, when the Roman senate was composed of 100 family elders: Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome (r. 616-578 B.C.E.), enlarged the number of senate members by another 100 elders who were called the elders of the minor houses (patres minorum gentium; Elkoshi, Thesaurus, 279). In the Bible, the usage of the word house (byit) to denote a family is very common. Moreover, in many cases, the house is named after an outstanding personality, and has a similar meaning as the Arabicahl al-bayt (e.g. Gen 17:23, 27; Num 25:15; cf. Brown et al., Lexicon, 109b-110a). The most famous of such houses is the house of David (bth David). When used in this way, the word has the same meaning as the English house in reference to a royal family or a dynasty in general. It is only natural that under Islam the members of the caliphs' families were called ahl albayt. Abdallh, the son of Caliph Umar, referring to his sister's son (the future caliph) Umar b. Abd al-Azz, says: He resembles us, ahl al-bayt, which means to say that the Umayyads referred 107

to themselves as ahl al-bayt. In a letter written by Marwn II to Sad b. Abd al-Malik b. Marwn during the rebellion against Caliph Wald II (125-6/ 743-4), the future caliph referred twice to the Umayyad family as ahl bayt and ahl al-bayt (for the reference see Sharon, Ahl al-bayt). It may be concluded that once the caliphate had been established, the pre-Islamic Arabic ( jhil) practice of calling the leading and noble families of the tribes ahl al-bayt was extended to each of the four families of the first caliphs. But since Al's caliphate was controversial, the definition of his family as ahl al-bayt was not shared by the whole Muslim community. The Umayyads and their Syrian supporters (see SYRIA ) questioned the legitimacy of Al's rule, with the result that his Iraqi partisans (see IRAQ ) and the Sha not only emphasized the ahl al- bayt status of Al's descendents but also gave the term a specific and exclusive meaning. In this way, ahl al-bayt acquired a religious overtone, and in time lost its generic meaning. Once the term was attached to the Prophet's person, the road was open for qurnic exegesis, originating in Sh circles, to establish its origin in the Qurn itself. All the politically charged interpretations of the qurnic phrase ahl al-bayt emerge because its original meaning was either deliberately or unintentionally forgotten. Yet one should also take into account that such interpretations of the term in connection with the Prophet's family would have been impossible had the term not been used generally as meaning family or kinsfolk. On the other hand, it is doubtful whether in the Qurn the term ahl al-bayt (with the definite article) means family. R. Paret, who differentiates between the general term ahl al-bayt and the specific one, suggests that it literally meant the people of the house, namely those who worshipped at the Kaba. In all cases in which the term al-bayt appears in the Qurn, it refers only to the Kaba sanctuary ( Q 2:125, 127, 158; 3:97; 5:2, 97; 8:35; 22:26, 29, 33; 52:4; 106:3). Al-bayt may appear on its own or with an adjective, such as al-bayt al-atq ( Q 22:29, 33), al-bayt almamr ( Q 52:4) or al- bayt al-arm (i.e. Q 5:97). Paret goes on to suggest that the fact that the ahl al-bayt under discussion ( Q 33:33) is mentioned in the context of cleaning from pollution falls well within the idea of thepurification of the Kaba by Abraham and Ishmael (q.v.; Isml), which can be found elsewhere in the Qurn. One may therefore quite safely conclude, Paret continues, that in the two cases where ahl al-bayt appears in this form in the Qurn, the original meaning must have been the worshippers of the house, the Kaba, as prescribed by Islam (Paret, Der Plan, 128: Anhnger des islamischen Kaba-Kultes). Along this line of thought, it would not be farfetched to suggest that the original meaning of the term before Islam was the tribe of Quraysh in general and that this is what is meant in Q 33:33. As to Q 11:73 the connection with the Kaba is less certain. To sum up, the meaning of ahl al-bayt in the Qurn follows the accepted usage of the term in preand post-Islamic Arab society. It denotes family and blood relations as well as a noble and leading house of the tribe. Only in the case of Q 33:33 does the term seem to have another, more specific meaning. M. Sharon

Bibliography
i. P RIMARY : Ab Ubayda, Mamar b. al-Muthann al-Taym, Tasmiyat azwj al-nab wa-awldihi, ed. K.Y. al-t, Beirut 1985 M.. Frzbd, Fail al-khamsa, 2 vols., Beirut 1393/1973 kim al-askn, Ubayd Allh b. Abdallh, Shawhid al-tanzl li-qawid al-tafl f l-yt al-nzila f ahl al-bayt, ed. M.B. al-Mamd, 2 vols. in 1, Beirut 1974 Ibn Ab l-Duny, Abdallh b. Muammad, al-Ishrf f manzil al-ashrf, ed. N.A. Khalaf, Riyadh 1990 Ibn Sad, abaqt, ed. Sachau Lisn al-Arab

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al-Maqrz, Amad b. Al, Marifat m yajibu li-l al-bayt al-nabaw min al-aqq al man adhum, ed. M.A. shr, Cairo 1973 Suy, Iy al-mayyit bi-fail ahl al-bayt, ed. K. al-Fatl, Beirut 1995 al-abar, Muibb al-Dn Ab l-Abbs Amad b. Abdallh, Dhakhir al-uqb f manqib dhawi lqurb, Beirut 1973, 16 Wid, Asbb ii. S ECONDARY : A.A. Abd al-Ghan, al-Jawhar al-shafff f ansb al-sda al-ashrf. Nasl al-usayn, 2 vols., Damascus 1997 M.M. Bar-Asher, Scripture and exegesis in early Imami Shiism, Leiden 1999 (see 94-7 for discussion of Q 55:31, a classical locus for Sh exegesis of the adth al-thaqalayn, i.e. the two things of weight that Muammad left with his community: the Qurn and either the sunna [q.v.] of Muammad or the People of the House) Bell, Qurn F. Brown, S.R. Driver, C.A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford 1959, 109b-110a G. Elkoshi, Thesaurus proverbiorum et idiomatum latinorum, Jerusalem 1981, 279 I. Goldziher, C. van Arendonk and A.S. Tritton, Ahl al-bayt, in EI , i, 257-8
2

M.A. Isbir, Ahl bayt rasl Allh. F dirsa adtha, Beirut 1990, 1993 W. Madelung, The succession to Muammad. A study of the early caliphate, Cambridge 1997, esp. 13-5 J.D. McAuliffe, Chosen of all women. Mary and Fatima in qurnic exegesis, in Islamochristiana 7 (1981), 19-28 M.T. Mudarris, al-Nab wa-ahl baytihi. Qudwa wa-uswa, 2 vols., Beirut 1993 R. Paret, Der Plan einer neuen, leicht kommentierten wissenschaftlichen Koran, bersetzung, in E. Littmann, Orientalische Studien Enno Littman, ed. R. Paret, Leiden 1935, 121-30 M. Sharon, Ahl al-bayt People of the House, in JSAI 8 (1986), 169-84 (contains further references) id., Black banners from the east, Jerusalem/Leiden 1983, 75-82 id., The development of the debate around the legitimacy of authority, in JSAI 5 (1986), 121-41 (contains additional Bibliography on the topic) id., The Umayyads as ahl al-bayt, in JSAI 14 (1991), 116-152 (also contains additional Bibliography)
[Print Version: Volume 4, page 48, column 2]

C ITATION : Sharon, M. " People of the House." Encyclopaedia of the Qurn. General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. K.U. Leuven University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=q3_SIM00323>

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Alids
The Alids are descendants of Al b. Ab lib, the first Sh imm and the fourth caliph. Al is reported by most sources on Alid (Alaw) genealogy to have had eight-een sons (fourteen, according to al-abar, and eleven according to al-Masd), and some seventeen daughters (Table 1). Only five of Al's sons left issue: al-asan and al-usayn (by Fima, the daughter of the prophet Muammad); Muammad, known as Muammad b. al-anafiyya (by Khawla, from the Ban anfa); al-Abbs (by Umm al-Bann, from the Ban Kilb); and Umar (from al-ahb, known as Umm abb, from the Ban Taghlib). Al's eldest sons, al-asan, al-usayn, and Muammad b. alanafiyya, and their descendants, viz., the asanids, the usaynids, and the anafids, were variously acknowledged as imms by different Sh groups, as enumerated in the heresiographical literature, especially the earliest Imm heresiographies written by al-Nawbakht (d. after 300/912) and al-Qumm (d. 301/9134). The early Sha, who elaborated a distinctive conception of religious authority vested in the prophet Muammad's family, or the ahl al-bayt, survived Al's murder in 40/661 and numerous subsequent tragic events. After Al, the Sha recognised successively his eldest sons, al-asan and al-usayn, as theirimms. The martyrdom of al-usayn, together with many other Alids, on 10 Muarram 61/10 October 680 at Karbal infused a new religious fervour in the Sha and contributed to the consolidation of Sh identity. The most important event in the history of the Alid family, closely connected with the history of early Shism, was the movement led by al-Mukhtr (d. 67/687), who launched his Sh campaign on behalf of Muammad b. al-anafiyya (d. 81/7001). Ibn al-anafiyya was proclaimed the Mahd, the messianic saviour imm and restorer of true Islam, a concept that appealed greatly to the mawl. Subsequently, numerous Alid imms were acknowledged as the eschatological Mahd by their Sh followers. During the sixty-odd years intervening between al-Mukhtr's movement and the Abbsid revolution, numerous Alids were acknowledged as imms by different Sh groups. The Sh imms now hailed also from other branches of the Ban Hshim, including the non-Alid libids, the descendants of the Prophet's uncle Ab lib, and the Abbsids, the descendants of another uncle, al-Abbs. These lineages were acceptable because the ahl al-bayt, whose sanctity was supreme for the Sha, was still defined broadly in its old Arabian sense. It was after the Abbsid revolution that the Sha defined the ahl al-bayt to include only the Fimid Alids, covering both the asanids and the usaynids. In this fluid setting, Shism developed in two main branches, the Kaysniyya and the Immiyya. Later, another Sh movement led to the formation of the Zaydiyya. The radical Kaysniyya, comprised of a number of interrelated groups, recognised as their imms various anafid Alids, starting with Ibn al-anafiyya's son Ab shim (d. 98/716) as well as other Hshimids. Many Kaysn groups organised abortive revolts against the Umayyads, with little direct participation of their Alid imms. By the end of the Umayyad period, the main body of the Kaysn Shs, known as the Hshimiyya, had transferred their allegiance to the Abbsid family. The Alid imms of the Immiyya, who traced the immate in the usaynid line through alusayn's sole surviving son, Al b. al-usayn Zayn al-bidn, adopted a quiescent policy towards the established caliphate. This was articulated doctrinally by Al b. al-usayn's son Muammad al-Bqir (d. c. 114/732) and more particularly by the latter's son and successor, Jafar al-diq (d. 148/765). These usaynid imms remained in the ijz and did not engage in any insurrectionist activity. As an early exception, however, al-Bqir's half-brother Zayd b. Al rose in revolt in Kufa, the first revolt led by an Alid since the event of Karbal. Zayd, too, was defeated and killed, in 122/740. A number of ghult leaders, who deified the imms and were attached to different Sh groups, engaged in futile uprisings.

110

The Abbsid victory proved a source of disillusionment for the Alids and their Sh followers, who had all along expected an Alid, rather than an Abbsidcousin, to succeed to the caliphate. Subsequently, a number of Alids rose in revolt against the Abbsids, starting with the asanid brothers Muammad b. Abdallh al-Nafs al-Zakiyya and Ibrhm, whose revolt in Medina and Basra was suppressed brutally in 145/7623. The early Abbsid caliphs severely persecuted the Alids and placed the imms from amongst them under strict surveillance; several were reportedly poisoned. Before long, a number of Alids sought refuge in remote areas, notably the Maghrib and Persia, where they founded regional Alid dynasties. Meanwhile, on the death of Jafar al-diq in 148/765, his succession in the usaynid Imm line was simultaneously claimed by several of his sons, resulting in historic splits in Imm Shism. Several groups, such as the Afaiyya, followers of Jafar al-diq's eldest son, Abdallh al-Afa, did not survive long. One group, eventually designated as the Ithnashariyya, now recognised Abdallh al-Afa's half-brother Ms al-Kim (d. 183/799) as their new imm and then traced the immate in his progeny, ending with their twelfth imm, Muammad al-Mahd, whose reappearance before the Day of Judgement is still awaited. The Abbsid caliph al-Mamn (r. 198 218/81333) attempted to achieve reconciliation between the Abbsids and Alids by appointing Ms al-Kim's son and successor, Al al-Ri, as his heir-apparent in 201/816; but this proved futile, as Al died two years later. There were also those Imm Shs who, after Jafar al-diq, recognised the immate of his second son, Isml, the eponym of the Ismliyya, or the latter's son Muammad b. Isml. These early Ismls were organised into a rapidly expanding revolutionary movement against the Abbsids under the leadership of a series of hidden Alid imms. The success of the early Isml dawa culminated in the establishment of the Fimid caliphate in 297/909 in Ifrqiya under the leadership of the Isml imm Abdallh al-Mahd (r. 297322/90934). The Zayd branch of Shism, with an activist policy in the political field, developed out of Zayd b. Al's abortive revolt. The Zayd movement was initially led by Zayd's sons Yay (d. 125/743) and then s (d. 166/783), and other Alids accepted as Zayd imms. The list of the Zayd Alid imms has never been completely fixed, though many of them are unanimously recognised. Due to rigorous requirements in terms of religious learning, the Zayds often supported Alid pretenders and rulers as ds, or imms with restricted status (mutasibn or muqtaida), distinct from full imms. In 250/864, the asanid al-asan b. Zayd, D il l-aqq, established the first Zayd Alid state in abaristn. Subsequently, Alids upholding Zayd Shism ruled over different parts of the Caspian provinces in northern Persia, in abaristn, Daylamn, and Gln, until the early afavid times (tenth/sixteenth century). In Yemen, Alid rule based on the Zayd immate was founded in 284/897 by Yay b. al-usayn, al-Hd il l-aqq, a asanid grandson of al-Qsim b. Ibrhm al-Rass (d. 246/860), founder of a major Zayd legal school. The Rassid and Qsimid lines of Zayd imms ruled over Yemen.

Table 1. Genealogical table of the Alids. From EI2. 111

The Alids founded a number of other dynasties, mostly of the asanid lines, including the Idrsids and the Sharfs (Sadids and Alawids or Fills) of the Maghrib; the Sulaymnids and the Ban Ukhayir of Mecca and Yemen; the Ban Fulayta and the Ban Qatda of Mecca; the Ban Muhann of Medina; and the ammdids of Andalusia. The nisba of AlidAlawhas frequently been combined with a title of nobility such as Sayyid or Sharf, designating a descendant of the Prophet. The Alids of different localities were evidently often under the authority of a chief known as naqb, more fully naqb al-ashrf (also naqb al-sdt), who was knowledgeable in Alid genealogy and kept a registry of the Alids. Farhad Daftary

Bibliography
Abu-l-Faraj al-Ifahn, Maqtil al-alibiyyn, ed. Amad aqr, Cairo 1368/1949 al-Baldhur, Ansb al-ashrf, vol. 2, ed. Wilferd Madelung, Beirut 2003 Ibn al-Athr, al-Kmil f l-tarkh, ed. C. J. Tornberg (Leiden 185176), 3:3334 Ibn al-Dawdr, Kanz al-durar, ed. al al-Dn al-Munajjid (Cairo 1961), 6:916 Ibn azm, Jamharat ansb al-Arab (Beirut 1983), 3767 Amad b. Al b. Inaba, Umdat al-lib f ansb l Ab lib, ed. Muammad asan l al-liqn, Najaf 1961 Taq al-Dn Amad b. Al al-Maqrz, Itti al-unaf bi-akhbar al-aimma al-Fimiyyn al-khulaf, ed. Jaml al-Dn al-Shayyl (Cairo 1967), 1:521 al-Masd, Murj al-dhahab, ed. C. Barbier de Meynard and A. Paret de Courteille (Paris 186177), 5:1489 al-Masd, Tanbh, ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden 1984), 2979 al-asan b. Ms al-Nawbakht, Firaq al-Sha, ed. Hellmut Ritter, Istanbul 1931 Sad b. Abdallh al-Qumm, Kitb al-maqlt wa-l-firaq, ed. Muammad Jawd Mashkr, Tehran 1963 al-abar, Tarkh al-rusul wa-l-mulk, ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden 18791901), 1:34703 al-abar, The history of al-abar, vol. 17, The first civil war, trans. Gerald R. Hawting (Albany 1996), 2279 Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The new Islamic dynasties (Edinburgh 1996), 256, 502, 534, 635, 968 Farhad Daftary, The Ismls. Their history and doctrines (Cambridge 1990), 3790 Bernard Lewis, Alids, EI2 Eduard Karl Max von Zambaur, Manuel de gnalogie et de chronologie pour l'histoire de l'Islam (Hanover 1927), vol. 2, tables AE (containing genealogies of the asanid and usaynid Alids). C ITATION : Daftary, Farhad. "Alids." Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. Edited by: Gudrun Krmer, ; Denis Matringe, ; John Nawas and ; Everett Rowson. Brill, 2011.Brill Online. K.U. Leuven - University Library. 17 February 2011 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=ei3_SIM-0404>

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Law: The Four Sunn Schools of Law

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Overview This entry initially examines the factors that precipitated the rise of the four legal schools in Sunn Islam, the various methodologies the schools utilized in the derivation of juridical rulings, and the cultural factors that influenced the rulings they issued. These were important considerations in the issuance of rulings on women in Sunn jurisprudence. Based on the rulings stated in various juridical tracts, the entry also compares and contrasts the treatment of women in these schools. i. The establishment of the schools of law ( madhhib ) With the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty in the eighth century, Muslims were living under rulers who were not regarded by many as the proper authority to create the Qurnic ideal of a just social order. It was at this time that the office of a definitive group of scholars interested in recording traditions took shape. Many Followers ( tbin ) of the Prophet are also mentioned as having acumen in juridical matters. These experts in the legal field tried to define and expound Islamic legal doctrine especially on issues that pertained to rituals, inheritance, marriage, divorce, and so forth. The early scholars in the legal field formed the provenance of the fuqah a group of scholarly elite who specialized in the study of Islamic legal science, the Shara. Initially, the jurists were private individuals who were keen to discern God's intent on a particular ruling. The goal of the jurists' endeavor was to reach an understanding ( fiqh ) of the Shara, that is, to comprehend in precise terms the law of God. Guided by a corpus of precepts and laws and their own independent reasoning, the jurists, especially in the Abbsid period, attempted to construct a legal edifice by developing and elaborating a system of Shara law binding on all Muslims. They began to interpret and develop Islamic law, invoking various hermeneutical principles such as malaa (derivation and application of a juridical ruling that is in the public interest), qiys (analogy), ijtihd (independent reasoning), istisn (preference of a ruling that a jurist deems most appropriate under the circumstances), and other innovative interpretive principles. They aimed to respond to the needs of the times and to go beyond the rulings stated in the revealed texts while at the same time paying respect to the very texts that had empowered them. Increased legal activities by the fuqah led to the development of ancient schools of law in different parts of the Islamic world. Initially, the schools of law did not imply a definite organization or strict uniformity of teachings within a school. Gradually, the jurists constructed a program for private and public living centered on the Shara. The Shara, as articulated by these jurists, became a structured normative praxis and a comprehensive system that governed personal and public demeanor. The schools were named after their founders or prominent jurists in the area. ii. The jurists of the schools of law Derivation of legal rulings ( akm ) was contingent on local circumstances and the employment of different sources of law. In Medina the sunna (practices of Muammad) was informed not only by transmitted reports from the Prophet but also by the transmitted practices of the community. The local character of the traditional practices was partially incorporated in the Medinese concept of Prophetic sunna. Preponderance was frequently given to local practice over reports of Prophetic practice since it was argued by the Medinese that contemporary practice could interpret or supplement earlier practice. In his al-Muwaa , Mlik b. Anas (d. 179/795) often transmits earlier or contemporary Medinese practice on a legal point. He also cites different reports on the practices of the Prophet to vindicate his own legal opinion. He then accepts or rejects these in the light of his own reasoning and based on the practices of Medina. This selective process can be corroborated from his frequent usage of the statement, This is the opinion that we [the people of Medina] hold. In 113

essence, Mlik jurisprudence attempted to forge a closer link to practical considerations by attaching greater weight to social customs than did jurists in other areas. In contrast to the Mliks, the jurists of Kufa saw their interpretations based on reasoning ( ray ) as an equally authoritative factor in the decision of a point of law. The ray of a scholar was partially incorporated by Ab anfa (d. 150/767) as an important element in jurisprudence. The jurists of Kufa also usedqiys (analogy) in the extension of Prophetic practice and often formulated the law on rational grounds as opposed to ruling on the basis of transmitted practice that purportedly reflected Prophetic practice. Kufan society was very cosmopolitan as it was exposed to different cultures and classes. Its class distinctions were not felt in the closely-knit Arab society of Medina. The school of Medina was conservative and bound to the laws established in Medina, whereas, animated by a spirit of independent thinking and analogy, the school of Kufa was eclectic and receptive to foreign legal systems. The Kufans also incorporated the customs of the divergent cultures that were prevalent there including some Sassanian customs appropriated from Persia. The views of another prominent jurist of the time, Muammad b. Idris al-Shfi (d. 205/820), differed considerably from those of Medina and Kufa. Shfi contended that the personal opinion of the jurist must arise within rather than outside of the perimeters of Prophetic sunna. If this cannot be demonstrated, he said, then the sunna cannot be accepted as it might have arisen from the opinions of local authorities or arbitrary reasoning. Focusing on the famous Qurnic verse Obey God and His messenger, Shfi further circumscribed the definition of the sunna, restricting it to a textual and transmitted record of Prophetic practice. The Medinese and Kufans would have to base their rulings on a universal standard, the sunna as reported in accredited traditions. Although he depended on traditions from the Prophet, Shfi also allowed limited usage of analogy and a more restricted form of reasoning excluding arbitrary opinions and discretionary decisions. Recognizing the presence of spurious traditions he stipulated strict conditions for the acceptance of traditions. By insisting on the sunna of the Prophet, Shfi nullified the concept of local practices and arbitrary reasoning. Through his efforts, the four schools came to subscribe to a common theory of the sources of law (Qurn, tradition, consensus, and analogy). In contrast to the other schools of law, the main thesis of the ahl al-adth (people of tradition) was that traditions transmitted from the Prophet and his companions superseded local traditions and legal injunctions that were derived independently of revealed sources. They produced traditions to vindicate their views and based their legal system on the Qurn and traditions purportedly transmitted from the Prophet. Even though many of these traditions were spurious, the ahl al-adth spurned all forms of reasoning and some jurists, such as Amad b. anbal (d. 241/855), even claimed that weak traditions were better than human reasoning. The use of various hermeneutical devices, exposure to diverse cultural influences, and a variegated understanding of the sources, derivation, and contents of the sunna were thus important factors that precipitated differences between the schools and influenced the rulings that were issued by them. It is also important to note that the juridical manuals were composed in the male-dominated centers that excluded female voices in Islamic legal discourse. Women had little say in relation to the laws on marriage, divorce, inheritance, female testimony, and so forth. Consequently women's issues have depended on representational discourse conducted by male jurists who interpreted and articulated the rulings related to women. Moreover, patriarchal structures of Arab culture that prevailed in the eighth and ninth centuries were often incorporated in the emerging juridical literature. These were significant factors that influenced how women were treated in the juridical discourse. iii. The Qurn and adth literature on women

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Against the background of a tribal society in seventh-century Arabia, the Qurn ameliorated the situation of women considerably. It put a stop to female infanticide and prohibited men from inheriting the wives of their fathers (4:19). It also granted women rights of inheritance and permitted them to possess property. Reflecting the patriarchal society of seventh-century Arabia, the Qurn also required that men be responsible for the maintenance of women. Muammad was asked to accept the pledge of allegiance from women and they were not prevented from participating in public activities. Many female figures are praised in the Qurn. Mary is lauded for her piety and is seen as an example for all righteous people (66:12). Angels visited her and God cast His spirit into her. Similarly the Qurn has words of praise for the wife of the Pharaoh for protecting and rearing Moses and commends the Queen of Sheba for her wisdom in accepting Solomon's invitation to submit to God (27:43). The pro-female tone of the Qurn is not replicated in the adth literature. Many traditions incorporated in the adth literature that was compiled in the ninth and tenth centuries denigrated the position of women. The negative cultural evalua tion and status of a woman was thus transmitted in some of theadth reports. Some traditions maintain that women were created from a crooked rib; others claim that a woman passing in front of a man who is praying invalidates his prayer. This derogatory tone is also evident in traditions that indicate that most of the inhabitants of hell are women, that women are deficient in intellect, and that a wife's salvation is contingent on keeping her husband happy. A community that is led by women, some traditions assert, cannot prosper. Women are also portrayed as the source of fitna or seduction and therefore must be excluded from public participation. Women were therefore encouraged to pray at home rather than in the mosque. The pejorative stance on women in adth is often reflected in the juridical rulings stated in the four schools of law. For the sake of brevity, the entry focuses on the following women's issues that are discussed in the legal manuals: marriage, divorce, and the rights of inheritance. iv. Marriage Emerging in the cosmopolitan and pluralistic milieu of Kufa, anaf law puts men and women on the same footing with regard to their ability to conclude important transactions, including marriage. In Kufa, a girl who had reached the age of puberty and could manage her own affairs was allowed to marry without the consent of her guardian. Reflecting the patrilineal and more traditional outlook of Medinan society where the male members of a tribe decided on and concluded the marriages of women, Mlik insisted on the need for a guardian to conduct a marriage. The other Sunn schools of law also require the permission of the guardian to conclude a marriage of a girl unless she is not a virgin. This is a good example of how local circumstances engendered variations in the legal positions adopted by the different schools of law. Under the pressures of reformation in recent times, Tunisia, which follows Mlik law, adopted the anaf doctrine in 1957 and allowed an adult woman to choose her spouse independently of the wishes of her guardian. All four schools allow the drawing of a prenuptial agreement. Due to its extensive employment of the concept of public interest ( malaa ), anbal fiqh is more tolerant and liberal in this ruling. It permits a man to willingly stipulate in a prenuptial contract that he will not marry another wife or, for example, that he will not force his wife to leave her home town. He is bound to honor such conditions and if he violates them then the wife can unilaterally dissolve the marriage. The other three schools regard such conditions as void although the contract is seen as valid. Using the concept of talfq (literally, piecing together), Mlik wives in Tunisia and anaf wives in Syria benefit from this liberal anbal doctrine relating to provisions in marriage contracts for they are permitted to stipulate such conditions in their marriage contracts. The marriage contract has to include the mention of bridal gift, called adq or mahr . In preIslamic Arabia, this was paid to the wife's father. However, the Qurn revised this and required that the mahr be paid directly to the girl. All the four schools of law maintain that the wife has the 115

right to demand themahr immediately after the marriage has been solemnized and before it is consummated. However, if she willingly accepts the consummation then she loses the right to demand the mahr immediately. The impact of cultural factors is also evident in finding a marital partner who is equal ( kafa ). Reflecting the different classes of people inhabiting Kufa, the anafs had an elaborate system regarding compatibility, maintaining that the occupation of the husband is essential in determining whether he is equal to his spouse. Hence they recognize a detailed hierarchy of professions. Like the anafs, the Shfis and anbals also require compatibility in religion, social status, profession, and lineage. Reflecting the lack of class differences and social stratification in Medina the occupation of the husband was not deemed to be an important consideration for the Mliks. Although the concept of kafa was later adopted by the Mliks, they insist on compatibility of the couple in religious matters only. v. Divorce laws All the legal schools granted a husband the unilateral right to divorce his wife at his discretion, whereas a woman who wished to be separated from her husband had to go through a judicial process where she had to demonstrate good grounds for divorce. Sunn law accepted two forms of divorce, the regular form ( alq al-sunna ) and the reprehensible version of triple divorce called ( alq al-bida ). The former consists of a single pronouncement of divorce when the wife is not in her menstrual period and without intercourse having taken place since her last period. The husband has the right to take the wife back during the waiting period ( idda ) which lasts for three monthly cycles. Most sources agree that the triple alq was introduced by the second caliph, Umar b. al-Khab (d. 22/644), to punish some men who had divorced women in jest and had taken it lightly. In this form of divorce the laws of purity are disregarded and the repudiation is made irrevocable by a three-fold pronouncement by the husband in a single meeting. When he says to his wife, I divorce you three times she becomes prohibited from him until she remarries and consummates the second marriage. After this second marriage is terminated, she can remarry her first husband once the waiting period has elapsed. The triple alq is irrevocable and thus does not afford the opportunity for reconciliation. Although the alq al-bida is condemned as reprehensible, this form of divorce is accepted by all the four Sunn schools and is still practiced in many countries. The perilous position of women in divorce matters can be further discerned from the fact that the anafs, Mliks, and Shfis consider a divorce recited by mistake or in jest or under intoxication to be valid. The anbals, however, do not consider such a divorce valid. In recent times, reforms have been enacted in various countries to control the husband's unilateral right of repudiation. The Syrian Law of Personal Status of 1953, for example, stipulates that the triple alq is to count as a single repudiation so as to allow the couple an opportunity to reconcile. The law also requires the husband to pay compensation to the wife if the court deems that he divorced her without reasonable cause. Tunisia refuses to recognize any divorce effected outside the judicial process. The Tunisian Law of 1957 also prohibits polygyny, a practice that is endorsed by the Qurn provided the wives are treated equally. To prevent abuse of the system, the Iraqi law of 1959 requires a polygamous marriage to be validated by the court. The impingement of cultural factors engendered significant differences in other juridical opinions that emerged in the different schools. All the schools agree that maintenance is obligatory during the waiting period of a revocable divorce. The schools differed, however, on maintenance during the idda(waiting period) of an irrevocable divorce. The anafs were more favorable to the women, stating that the rules of maintenance during the idda of a revocable divorce were also applicable for an irrevocable divorce. The other schools differentiated based on whether she was pregnant or not. Unless she was pregnant, the wife in Medina was entitled to receive only lodging in her husband's home during the idda .

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Under Islamic law, the wife has limited options to initiate divorce proceedings. Her right is encapsulated in the khul (by the instigation of the wife) form of divorce. Since the Qurn recognizes khul (2:229), it is accepted by all the legal schools. However, it can be finalized only with the husband's consent. Forkhul to be valid the wife has to petition for divorce and is also required to offer some form of compensation to the husband (such as the return of the mahr). Khul operates as a single, irrevocable divorce with an idda incumbent on the wife. Contrary to anaf law, the Mliks recognized the validity of a khuldivorce even without the consent of the husband. Other differences between the schools occur in the laws pertaining to the judicial rights of a woman to seek divorce. Ab anfa refused a judicial divorce unless the husband was impotent or had other personal defects. Thus factors such as the failure to provide maintenance, intermittent absence, continuous physical abuse, or life imprisonment do not provide grounds for a judge to dissolve the marriage because divorce is seen as the husband's prerogative. In this instance, Mlik law accords more rights to the woman. She can ask for a divorce due to the husband's desertion, failure to maintain her, cruelty, sexual impotence, or chronic disease. Mlik law also recognized judicial divorce on the grounds of a husband's injurious treatment of his wife. It went further, stating that if the differences were irreconcilable, the court may finalize the divorce even without the husband's consent. The other schools of law allow a woman to demand alq on certain grounds, for example, not providing maintenance, physical abuse, or prolonged imprisonment leading to hardship for the wife. Syria, which normally follows anaf law, in 1953 adopted the more liberal Mlik law, which states that the wife may petition for divorce on such grounds as the husband's cruelty, desertion, or failure to maintain her. Differences between the schools also arose over the question of a missing husband. Mlik law was more favorable to women in this instance. Mlik held that the wife of a missing husband may seek judicial separation after a four-year waiting period. If he does not reappear within this time, she will observe the idda of a widow and is then free to remarry. The anafs, Shfis, and anbals, in contrast, state that the wife of a missing husband may not remarry as long as he may be considered alive based on the average life span of a person. The anafs fix this at 120 years, the Shfis and anbals at 90 years. Such laws reflect the patrilineal character and male dominance of eighth- and ninth-century Arabian society when many of the juridical rulings were formulated. vi. Inheritance laws In pre-Islamic Arabia, women were not accorded rights of inheritance. This was changed by the Qurn, which prescribed that certain inheritance shares be allotted to women since they were now to be counted as heirs of the deceased. The Qurn stipulated that men were to provide for and assure the economic stability of the family. Due to this requirement, they were allotted double the share of inheritance of women. Economic independence of the woman was further assured by the fact that no male relative, including the husband, could touch her property. The husband was required to maintain her from his own resources. Moreover, women could and often did initiate their own businesses. In contrast to the Arabian patrilineal system where agnatic heirs ( asaba ) were the principal heirs before Islam, the Qurn did not recognize their rights to inherit. In this the Qurn sought to reform the position of female relatives. All legal schools accept the distribution of fixed shares to the Qurnic heirs. However, pre-Islamic customary tribal laws prevailed in the Sunn law of inheritance. All four schools grant distant agnates ( asaba ) the remains of shares after the distribution to heirs that are stipulated by the Qurn. These distant agnates thus excluded the rights of the daughters of the deceased. Female heirs would only receive their share if there were no agnate heirs. By recognizing the claims of agnate collaterals, Sunn law emphasized the tribal concept of an extended family. Even in the laws of inheritance differences that affected women emerged between the Sunn schools. When no Qurnic heir or agnate relative survived the deceased, the jurists of Kufa allowed non-agnate relatives (daughters and sister's children) to inherit. Such cognate relatives 117

(called dhaw al-arm ) were not allowed to inherit in Medina. In the absence of agnate relatives, the Mliks maintained that the public treasury is a rescue heir, whereas the other three schools allow the cognate relatives such as the children of the deceased's daughter or sister to succeed in the absence of Qurnic heirs or agnate relatives. It was the patrilineal society of Medina that denied women such rights of inheritance. In many instances, therefore, the cosmopolitan society and extraneous cultural influences in Kufa led to women enjoying greater rights. Other miscellaneous differences emerged between the schools with respect to their treatment of women. The view that the anafs empower women more than the other schools is supported in their ruling that the voluntary fast of a woman without her husband's consent is reprehensible but not prohibited. In contrast, the other three schools state that it is not permissible for a woman to observe a supererogatory fast without her husband's consent if the fast will interfere with any of his rights over her. Most jurists have held that women cannot lead men in prayers, hold judicial positions, or be political leaders. However, Ab anfa asserted that a woman can act as a judge in all commercial and civil cases but not in criminal and personal injury cases. Some Mlik jurists maintained that a woman can serve as a judge in any case. The jurists concur on the issue of women's testimony in the courts. Based on the Qurnic verse 2:282, which stipulates that when one man is not available to witness a business contract two women should replace him, the jurists of the four schools extended this requirement in all cases of testimony. The verse has also been used to support the alleged inferiority of a woman's evidence as compared to that of a man. In recent times, courts have departed from the doctrines expounded in the classical legal tracts. Many Muslim countries have enforced the eclectic principle of borrowing from different law schools and have required the involvement of the judicial process so as to ensure a more equitable system and to reform the law to accord with modern contingencies. Liyakat Takim
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Bibliography
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