Abstract
The Maliki scholar al-Turtushi (d. 520/1126) left al-Andalus in 476/1083, travelling to the East where he visited Egypt, Syria and Iraq, performing the pilgrimage in 480/1087. Next, he lived in Jerusalem and Damascus between the years 481/1087-490/1096, and finally moved to Egypt, settling in Rushayd (Rosetta) and afterwards in Alexandria. He never returned to al-Andalus. Among the many works he wrote, his Kitab al-hawadith – which was highly influential in Abu Shama’s al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al-bida` wa-l-hawadith - has been twice edited (by M. Talbi and A.M. Turki), and a number of studies devoted to some of the practices he dealt with in it. What has not been noticed until now is that many of the innovations described can be shown to refer to the Fatimid context in which al-Turtushi lived during his stay in Egypt. My paper will be a ‘Fatimid’ reading of al-Turtushi’s text, with the aim of identifying which practices were considered by the Andalusi scholar to be dangerous – and therefore ‘innovated’ - and why, thus shedding light into his perception of the boundaries of Sunnism.
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