Dept of Near Eastern Studies Dr. Scott Lucas Spring 2010

NES 696I: Advanced Islamic Studies General Description: The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers. This course prepares students to engage the classical Arabic sources in the core Islamic disciplines of Qur’anic commentaries, Hadith literature, Islamic law, and Sufism. Prerequisite: Advanced Arabic, unless by permission of the instructor Grades: Class presentations: 30%; Research paper: 70%. Students will make at least 5 class presentations of specific books on the syllabus during the semester. They must provide information about the book’s author, contents, arrangement, and utility for researchers. A sample passage will be read and distributed in class. Each presentation will receive a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or E. The research paper will receive a letter grade of A, B, C, D, or E. The topic must be approved by the instructor. The final grade will be awarded according to the following scale: A = 90-100% B = 80-89% C = 70-79% D = 60-69% E = 0-59% Syllabus Required book: Khalidi, Tarif, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period (1994). PART I: Getting Started Week 1: Basic Tools

Transliteration Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI2) Encyclopaedia Iranica Encyclopedia of the Qur’an (ed. Jane McAuliffe) Fuat Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums (GAS) = Tarikh al-turath

al-‘arabi

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Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (GAL) Al-Nadim, Kitab al-Fihrist li-l-Nadim (ed. Reza Tajaddod) ‘Umar Rida Kahhala, Mu‘jam al-mu’allifin Hajji Khalifa (Katip Çelebi), Kashf al-zunun ‘an asami al-kutub wa al-funun Muhammad Fu’ad ‘Abd al-Baqi, al-Mu‘jam al-mufahras li-alfaz al-Qur’an

al-karim A.J. Wensinck, Concordance et Indices de la Tradition Musulmane www.islamport.com W. Wright, Arabic Grammar (revised 3rd edition)

Week 2: Biographical Dictionaries and Historical Works Tarif Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period (1994) Wadad al-Qadi, “Biographical Dictionaries: Inner Structure and Cultural Significance,” in George Atiyeh, The Book in the Islamic World (1995): 93-122. Ruth Roded, Women in Islamic Biographical Collections: From Ibn Sa‘d to Who’s Who (1994). Ibrahim Hafsi, “Recherches sur le genre tabaqat dans la literature arabe,” Arabica, 23 (1976):227-65; 24 (1977): 1-41, 150-86. George Makdisi, “Tabaqat-Biography: Law and Orthodoxy in Classical Islam,” Islamic Studies (Islamabad), 32 (1993): 371-96. PART II: Biographical Dictionaries Week 3: General Biographical Dictionaries al-Dhahabi, Siyar a‘lam al-nubala’ (ed. Shu‘ayb al-Arna‘ut) al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam al-Dhahabi, Tadhkirat al-huffaz Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-a‘yan (trans. Baron William M. Slane)

Ibn al-‘Imad al-Hanbali, Shadharat al-dhahab Scott Lucas, Constructive Critics, Hadith Literature and the Articulation of Sunni Islam (2004): 40-112; 157-92. Week 4: Companions & Successors (sahaba and tabi‘un) Ibn Sa‘d, Kitab al-tabaqat al-kabir (Complete edition not in UA library) Abu Nu‘aym al-Isbahani, Ma‘rifat al-sahaba

Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghaba Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba Lucas, Constructive Critics, 202-8; 266-75. Lucas, “Al-Hakim al-Naysaburi and the Companions of the Prophet: An Original

Sunni Voice in the Shi‘i Century” (forthcoming). Week 5: Hadith Scholars & Critics al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-kabir

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Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa al-ta‘dil al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-kamal (not in UA library) al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-i‘tidal Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib al-tahdhib, al-Taqrib, & Tahrir al-taqrib Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Lisan al-mizan Lucas, Constructive Critics, 113-56. Christopher Melchert, “Bukhari and Early Hadith Criticism,” JAOS, 121 (2001): 7-19. Eerik Dickinson, The Development of Early Sunnite Hadith Criticism: The Taqdima of Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi (2001). Week 6: Cities & Regions al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Madinat al-salam=Tarikh Baghdad Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh madinat Dimashq (80 vols; UA only has a Mukhtasar) Ibn Samura, Tabaqat fuqaha’ al-Yaman Ibn al-Faradi, Tarikh al-‘ulama’ wa al-ruwat li-l-‘ilm bi-l-Andalus Ibn al-Khatib, al-Ihata fi akhbar Gharnata

al-Suyuti, Husn al-muhadara fi akhbar Misr wa al-Qahira Dominique Urvoy, Le Monde des Ulémas andalous du V/XIe au VII/XIIIe siècle: étude sociologique (1978). David Morray, An Ayyubid Notable and His World: Ibn al-‘Adim and Aleppo as portrayed in his biographical dictionary of people associate with the city (1994) Daphna Ephrat, A Learned Society in a Period of Transition: the Sunni ulama of eleventh century Baghdad (2000). Weeks 7 & 8: Legal Scholars Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, Tabaqat al-fuqaha’ al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-asma’ wa al-lughat Taj al-Din al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-kubra (not in UA library) Ibn Abi al-Wafa’, al-Jawahir al-mudiyya fi tabaqat al-Hanafiyya Qadi ‘Iyad, Tartib al-madarik wa taqrib al-masalik li-ma‘rifat a‘lam madhhab Malik Ibn Farhun, al-Dibaj al-mudhahhab fi ma‘rifat a‘yan ‘ulama’ al-madhhab Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Tusi, Fihrist Muhammad Baqir al-Khuwansari, Rawdat al-jannat fi ahwal al-‘ulama’ wa al-sadat R. Kevin Jaques, Authority, Conflict, and the Transmission of Diversity in Medieval Islamic Law (2006). (Not in UA library) Christopher Melchert, The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law (1997). Hossein Modarressi, An Introduction to Shi‘i Law: A bibliographical study (1984). Week 9: Theologians al-Ash‘ari, Maqalat al-islamiyyin

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Ibn Hazm, al-Fisal fi al-milal wa al-ahwa’ wa al-nihal (Spanish translation: Miguel Asin Palacios, Abenhazam de Cordoba Y Su

Historia Critica De Les Ideas Religiosas [1927-32], vols. 3-5) al-Shahrastani, al-Milal wa al-nihal (Partial English translation: Muslim Sects and Divisions, trans. A.K. Kazi and J.G. Flynn [1984]) (Not in UA library) Ibn al-Murtada, Tabaqat al-Mu‘tazila = Die Klassen der Mu‘tazaliten (in Arabic) al-Qadi ‘Abd al-Jabbar, Fadl al-i‘tizal wa tabaqat al-Mu‘tazila (ed. Fu’ad Sayyid) Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert Hidschra, 6

vols. (1991-7). (Not in UA library) Week 10: Sufis

al-Sulami, Tabaqat al-sufiyya al-Sulami, Dhikr al-niswa al-muta‘abbidat al-sufiyyat = Early Sufi Women, trans.

Rkia Cornell (1999) (Not in UA library) Abu Nu‘aym al-Isbafani, Hilyat al-awliya’ al-Sha‘rani, al-Tabaqat al-kubra = Lawaqih al-anwar fi tabaqat al-akhyar Jawid Mojaddedi, The Biographical tradition in Sufism: from al-Sulami to Jami

(2001). Al-Qushayri’s Epistle on Sufism, trans. Alexander Knysh (2007): 17-74.

Week 11: Other biographical dictionaries & useful classical sources al-Sam‘ani, al-Ansab Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-udaba’ Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-buldan

al-Suyuti, Bukhyat al-wu‘a fi tabaqat al-lughawiyyin wa al-nuha Ibn Abi Usayba, ‘Uyun al-anba’ fi tabaqat al-atibba’ Abu al-Faraj al-Isbahani, Kitab al-aghani Ibn Qutayba, al-Shi‘r wa al-shu‘ara’

PART III: Overview of Classical Sunni Commentaries Weeks 12-15: A Selection of Classical Sunni Commentaries A) Qur’an Commentaries (tafsir): www.altafsir.com al-Tabari, Jami‘ al-bayan ‘an ta’wil ay al-Qur’an al-Zamakhshari, al-Kashshaf al-Baghawi, Tafsir al-Baghawi = Ma‘alim al-tanzil al-Razi, al-Tafsir al-kabir = Mafatih al-ghayb (Not in UA library) al-Baydawi, Anwar al-tanzil wa asrar al-ta’wil

al-Qurtubi, al-Jami‘ li-ahkam al-Qur’an Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, Tafsir al-bahr al-muhit

Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘azim al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-manthur fi al-tafsir al-ma’thur & al-Jalalayn

B) Hadith Commentaries al-Tahawi, Sharh ma‘ani al-athar (not technically a commentary)

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al-Khattabi, Ma‘alim al-sunan sharh Sunan Abi Dawud Ibn al-‘Arabi, ‘Arida al-ahwadhi bi-sharh Sahih al-Tirmidhi (Not in UA library) Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, al-Tamhid & al-Istidhkar al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim Ibn Battal, Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-bari bi-sharh Sahih al-Bukhari Badr al-Din al-‘Ayni, ‘Umdat al-qari sharh Sahih al-Bukhari al-Qastallani, Irshad al-sari li-sharh Sahih al-Bukhari al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-kubra (not technically a commentary) al-Baghawi, Sharh al-sunna (not technically a commentary)