Narrative Strategies in Early Islamic Historiography
This panel addresses a variety of narrative strategies found in Islamic historical sources from or about the early Islamic period, in three related papers. Recent scholarship on Early Islam has made significant strides in moving past issues of source criticism and has begun to explore more thematic and theoretical questions about the shape of the early historical tradition. All of the papers on this panel contribute to this scholarly conversation in innovative ways. The first explores early sectarian identity by reassessing one of the most basic yet controversial aspects of the early period, according to Sunni historiography: the chronological precedence of the conversion of Abu Bakr over that of ‘Ali. Since the primacy of the latter’s conversion forms an essential part of Shi‘i legitimacy, this paper will elucidate the formation of Shi‘i counter-narratives and explain the appearance of these competing claims in 2nd/8th-century Kufa. The second paper adds an innovative theoretical infusion to the study of another central narrative, the martyrdom of Husayn. Critiquing Rene Girard’s theorization of sacrifice and its emphasis on the violence of murder, this paper moves the discussion away from the sanctification of violence (a common theme in most studies of the subject) and examines a broader, polythetic conception of sacrifice in accounts of Husayn's martyrdom and in recorded reactions to his death. The third paper builds upon the previous two and will round out the panel with a discussion of hagiodiegesis, or oral narratives of holy lives or exemplary characters performed before a public audience, to assess the function and representation of story-telling in Arabic historiography. Using several examples from early Islamic literature as well as comparanda from the related tradition of Christian late antiquity, this paper explores the circumstances under which this practice took place and who its agents were. As such, it bridges wider discussions on hagiography and oral tradition to shed light on Islamic notions of sanctity bestowed through various form of hagiodiegesis, such as waʿad and qass. All three papers assess interrelated themes and make a nuanced contribution to the study of early Islamic history, and each emphasizes a different aspect of critical analysis (geographical/spatial, anthropological/theoretical, and literary/narratological) for the study of early Islam. The papers will be followed by a brief commentary by the organizer, an associate professor of Islamic history who specializes in early history and historiography.
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Mr. Mehmetcan Akpinar
The precedence of conversion is an important topic in early Islamic historiography. The identity of the first Muslim often became a matter of controversy among the various factions. Prominent members of the early Islamic community, such as the Prophet’s wife Khadīja and his stepson Zayd, as well as ʿAlī and Abū Bakr, are all claimed to be the first to accept Islam according to different narrative traditions. In particular, the question of whether ʿAlī or Abū Bakr were the first to convert to Islam marked the contours of sectarian polemical disputes as early as the 2nd/8th century. This paper offers an analysis of four major narrative sets which articulate Abū Bakr’s primacy in converting to Islam. A combined method of transmission and narrative analyses will show that the different narratives on Abū Bakr’s primacy came into circulation in Kufa in the early Abbasid period (between 750-800 AD). While fuelling the sectarian divides of the time, these narratives also furnished exemplary literary models for conversion accounts.
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Ms. Reyhan Durmaz
Caliph ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (r.634-644), the second successor to Prophet Muhammad, told Kaʿb al-Aḥbār to narrate what he read in the holy books to the people of Medina, right after the latter’s conversion from Judaism to Islam. Kaʿb is a semi-historical figure, who, according to the Islamic historiographical tradition, transmitted many biblical stories from Judaism and Christianity to Islam. According to this brief account, found in al-Wāqidī’s Futūḥ al-Shām (The Conquest of Syria), he met ʿUmar in Jerusalem, converted to Islam and returned to the Hijaz with him. In Medina ʿUmar asked Kaʿb to preach his knowledge of the holy books to public, and Kaʿb agreed. Inspired by this story, the current paper analyzes the act of hagiodiegesis, the practice of narrating stories about sanctified people to a public audience, in the early Islamic era, roughly defined as until the end of the Umayyad Caliphate (750 CE). In light of various examples of early Islamic literature, it explores the circumstances under which this practice took place and who its agents were. Bridging between the wider discussions on hagiography and oral tradition, this paper presents a social history of particularly slaves and converts as builders of the Islamic notion of sanctity, through various form of hagiodiegesis, such as waʿaḍ and qaṣṣ. Analyses of oral aspects of Christian hagiography in late antiquity and the Middle Ages demonstrate that hagiographical stories were orally circulated and aurally consumed in urban, semi-urban and monastic contexts. Widespread practices of reading out loud, preaching and narrating stories of holy men and women found direct continuation in the early Islamic communities. Despite coming with significant methodological problems, which also will be addressed in this paper, the study of the practice of narrating stories about sanctified people contributes greatly to our understanding of the formation and development of hagiographical traditions in Islam.
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Dr. Michael Payne
In this paper, I argue that there are two interacting ritual discourses in the al-?usayn episode. These discourses center around sacrifice and atonement, and both use symbols of hospitality and foodways. This approach functions both as a critique of Girard's theorization of sacrifice and the emphasis on violence in interpreting the murder of al-?usayn. René Girard's widely influential conception of sacrifice was one of sanctification through violence. While al-?usayn's martyrdom is often discussed as a violent sacrifice within various literatures, these discussions almost never reference theoretical explorations of sacrifice. Because of the source-critical approach to these narratives used by most historians, important concepts underpinning these examinations are often left unarticulated. Thus this paper, through an examination of al-?usayn's death, is an intervention in the scholarly discourses about both sacrifice and Arabic historiography. Through problematizing Girard's theory, with recourse both to the narratives about al-?usayn and refutations of Girard, I hope to show not only the problems of monothetic categorizations of sacrifice, but also the value of engaging with these theoretical conversations for studies of early Islamic history. Indeed, it is only through a broader, polythetic conception of sacrifice that the relationships between water, fasting, self-sacrifice, and hospitality, in both the accounts of al-?usayn's martyrdom and the reaction to his death, become apparent. My textual analysis is focused on the episode as presented in al-?abar?, because of the dual significance of this source for medieval and modern audiences, but I will also contrast this presentation with other accounts in different literatures. By understanding this form of martyrdom within the framework of sacrifice, we are able to better comprehend the memory of al-?usayn’s death within a broader context than just martyrdom or Arabic historiography. Moreover, it further emphasizes the social character of this narrative and its function.
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Dr. Daniel Mahoney
In the fourth/tenth century, the polymath Abū Muḥammad al-Hamdānī compiled a ten volume compendium, entitled al-Iklīl, that narrates the history of South Arabia from the pre-Islamic to the early Islamic periods with the aim of extolling their various achievements and virtues. Among these texts, in the eighth volume there is a section about grave inscriptions which contains reports describing the (intentional and unintentional) uncovering, exploration, and occasional looting of pre-Islamic burials by Muslims in the early Islamic period. Most of these burials, containing luxurious treasures and found in extravagant vaults, are located in South Arabia, but some of the stories take place in other parts of the Near East, such as Iran, Syria, and Egypt. While each of these reports is introduced with an isnad, the veracity of at least some may be put into question due to various fantastical elements. Nonetheless, many of these reports are framed historically through references to different early Islamic figures including caliphs and governors who often serve as arbiters for what to do with the burials. Consequently, although these texts may not be taken entirely at face value, they do vividly depict a strong imagination of the ancient histories of those buried, and show the varied ways Muslims react to them. In some reports, the bodies and grave goods are left alone and the chambers are returned to their former state. But in others, ambivalence, if not clear antipathy, towards the pre-Islamic tombs is demonstrated, even when the burial inscriptions communicate that those buried testify to belief in one god. Accordingly, these reports end in the looting and occasional destruction of the tombs, often for nothing more than financial gain. Nonetheless, even more interesting are stories that insinuate supposed repercussions of these destructive actions, such as the death of Caliph Marwān b. Muḥammad after his partial destruction of the city of Tadmur. Overall, these rich reports not only demonstrate the mixed relationships of Muslims in the early Islamic period with their pre-Islamic past, but also their inevitable confrontation with it in their surrounding landscape.
