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The Functions of Pseudographic Literature in the Cairo Sultanate (1258-1336 CE): Malahim as a Field for Performing Groups Identities and Influencing the Political Arena
Abstract by Mohamed Maslouh On Session XII-14  (Kingship and Property)

On Thursday, October 15 at 01:30 pm

2020 Annual Meeting

Abstract
My paper examines the apocalyptic Epic literature (adab al-malahim) which are usually attributed to (pseudo-)historical characters such as the prophet Danyal, Ali b. Abi Talib, or Ibn Uqb (who was supposedly the teacher of the grandsons of the Prophet al-?asan and al-?usayn). These malahim often contain predictions about the fate of certain wars, persons, the world, or even a mix between these topics. The number of these works were significantly boomed starting from the 13th century. This might be explained by arguing that the shock of the fall of the Abbasid caliphate has influenced the mentality of the Islamic world and paved the way for eschatological expectations to rise. However, the famous scholar Ibn Taymiyah in his criticism of the malahim genre mentions that these works were circulating during the reign of Nur al-Din Zengi (d.1174 CE) which shows, if true, that this answer might be too simplistic. Anyhow, as historiographical works of this era attest, and as I would argue in this paper, these malahim played a bigger role in shaping the events of the post-Mongol invasion of the Islamic East than a modern mind would imagine. The focus of this paper will be on the famous malhamah of Ibn Uqb, which there were at least 7 versions of it circulating in Damascus in the early 14th century (and I managed to actually find dozens of its copies in manuscript form which were (re)produced between the Fatimid till the late Ottoman period). My starting point would be proposing a preliminary approach to estimate the era of their production and the location of which they were written. Hence, we can better understand their aims, functions, and the groups which they produced the “forged prophecies” in those malahim. By tackling the problem of dating these works, and examining the scholarly debates about their authenticity, this paper also aims in the first place to show the usefulness of these often neglected works as sources for the social, intellectual, and political history of the medieval period. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the question of authorship in the thriving (and perhaps the unprecedented) "writerly culture" of medieval Damascus and Cairo. Its main argument is that these works allowed a broader sector of both scholars and “outsiders” from the scholarly networks to shape the socio-political arena as they provided them with a gate to access the inapproachable world of scholarly production through “un-authored” works.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Sub Area
13th-18th Centuries