The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 37

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 37 PDF Author:
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438402732
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
This volume of Ṭabarī's annals deals almost exclusively with the final stages of the Zanj revolt, the most serious external challenge faced by the central authorities in the last half of the third/ninth century. The rebellion, which began as an 'Alid uprising, but soon gave way to Khārijite influences, was a movement that attracted the disenfranchised elements of society in lower Iraq. Their battle against the tested armies of the Caliphate continued over three decades. And while the Zanj were never able to translate their localized successes into any decisive victory, they caused widespread chaos and great concern for those who had a vested interest in political and economic stability. In many respects, the Zanj resemble modern revolutionary movements that live off the countryside, and harass the authorities. They emerged occasionally for conventional battles, but, more often than not they resorted to unconventional warfare, taking advantage of the extremely difficult terrain in the marshy areas of the region that gave rise to them. To defeat them, the government armies had to improvise new tactics and a strategy based on the lessons of early defeats.

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 37

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 37 PDF Author:
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438402732
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume of Ṭabarī's annals deals almost exclusively with the final stages of the Zanj revolt, the most serious external challenge faced by the central authorities in the last half of the third/ninth century. The rebellion, which began as an 'Alid uprising, but soon gave way to Khārijite influences, was a movement that attracted the disenfranchised elements of society in lower Iraq. Their battle against the tested armies of the Caliphate continued over three decades. And while the Zanj were never able to translate their localized successes into any decisive victory, they caused widespread chaos and great concern for those who had a vested interest in political and economic stability. In many respects, the Zanj resemble modern revolutionary movements that live off the countryside, and harass the authorities. They emerged occasionally for conventional battles, but, more often than not they resorted to unconventional warfare, taking advantage of the extremely difficult terrain in the marshy areas of the region that gave rise to them. To defeat them, the government armies had to improvise new tactics and a strategy based on the lessons of early defeats.

The History of al-Tabari Vol. 36

The History of al-Tabari Vol. 36 PDF Author:
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791407646
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
The present volume of al-Tabari's monumental history covers the years 255-265/869-878, the first half of the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tamid in Samarra. Although the decade was one of relative calm in the capital, compared with the anarchy of the years immediately preceding, danger signals were flashing in territories adjacent to the imperial heartlands. Chief among them was the revolt of the Zanj, the narrative of which occupies the bulk of the present volume. A people of semi-servile status, the Zanj, who were based in the marshlands of southern Iraq, were led by a somewhat shadowy and mysterious figure claiming Shi'ite descent, 'Ali b. Muhammad. Their prolonged revolt against the central authorities was not crushed until 269/882. Al-Tabari's account of these momentous events is unique in both the quality and the quantity of his information. He himself was present in Baghdad during the years of the revolt, and he was thus able to construct his story from reports by numerous eyewitnesses. The result is a detailed narrative that brings alive for the modern reader the main personalities and engagements of the revolt.

The History of al-Tabari Vol. 37

The History of al-Tabari Vol. 37 PDF Author:
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780887060533
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This volume of Tabari's annals deals almost exclusively with the final stages of the Zanj revolt, the most serious external challenge faced by the central authorities in the last half of the third/ninth century. The rebellion, which began as an 'Alid uprising, but soon gave way to Kharijite influences, was a movement that attracted the disenfranchised elements of society in lower Iraq. Their battle against the tested armies of the Caliphate continued over three decades. And while the Zanj were never able to translate their localized successes into any decisive victory, they caused widespread chaos and great concern for those who had a vested interest in political and economic stability. In many respects, the Zanj resemble modern revolutionary movements that live off the countryside, and harass the authorities. They emerged occasionally for conventional battles, but, more often than not they resorted to unconventional warfare, taking advantage of the extremely difficult terrain in the marshy areas of the region that gave rise to them. To defeat them, the government armies had to improvise new tactics and a strategy based on the lessons of early defeats.

Reading the Middle Ages, Volume I

Reading the Middle Ages, Volume I PDF Author: Barbara H. Rosenwein
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442636777
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
The third edition of Reading the Middle Ages retains the strengths of previous editions and adds significant new materials, especially on the Byzantine and Islamic worlds and the Mediterranean region. This volume spans the period c.300 to c.1150.

Violence in Early Islam

Violence in Early Islam PDF Author: Marco Demichelis
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0755638018
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
The concept of jihad holds a prominent place in Islamic thought and history. Beyond its spiritual meanings, the term has historically been associated with the sweeping Arab-Believers conquests of the 7-8th century BCE. But given advances in our understanding of the historicity and chronology of the Qur'an and early Islamic texts, is it correct to identify jihad and Islam with violent conquest? In this book, Marco Demichelis explores the history of the concept of jihad in the early proto-Islamic centuries (7-8th). Deploying an interdisciplinary approach which combines the hermeneutical study of the famous 'Verses of the Sword' within the Qur'an itself, with historical writing by Islamic chroniclers as well as non-Islamic sources, numismatics, epigraphical and architectural evidence, the book questions the relationship between the religious concept of jihad and the conquests. The book argues that Christian Byzantine Foederati forices who previously fought against the Persians may have had a formative effect on the later emergence of more bellicose rhetoric. In so doing, it calls into question assumptions about warlike attitudes inherent within Islamic doctrine, and reveals a more nuanced and complicated history of religious violence in the pre, proto and early Islamic period.

The Isma'ilis

The Isma'ilis PDF Author: Farhad Daftary
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521429740
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 824

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Book Description
Scattered across the globe, the Isma'ilis constitute the second largest Shi'i community in the Muslim World. This study traces their history and doctrinal developments from their origins to the present day over a period of twelve centuries.

Reading the Middle Ages

Reading the Middle Ages PDF Author: Barbara H. Rosenwein
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 1442606029
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
Covering over one thousand years of history and containing primary source material from the European, Byzantine, and Islamic worlds, Barbara H. Rosenwein's Reading the Middle Ages, Second Edition once again brings the Middle Ages to life. Building on the strengths of the first edition, the second edition contains 40 new readings, including 13 translations commissioned especially for this book, and a stunning new 10-plate color insert entitled "Containing the Holy" that brings together materials from the Western, Byzantine, and Islamic religious traditions. Ancillary materials, including study questions, can be found on the History Matters website (www.utphistorymatters.com).

The History of Al-Tabari Vol. 37

The History of Al-Tabari Vol. 37 PDF Author:
Publisher: Suny Press
ISBN: 9780887060540
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This volume of Tabari's annals deals almost exclusively with the final stages of the Zanj revolt, the most serious external challenge faced by the central authorities in the last half of the third/ninth century. The rebellion, which began as an 'Alid uprising, but soon gave way to Kharijite influences, was a movement that attracted the disenfranchised elements of society in lower Iraq. Their battle against the tested armies of the Caliphate continued over three decades. And while the Zanj were never able to translate their localized successes into any decisive victory, they caused widespread chaos and great concern for those who had a vested interest in political and economic stability. In many respects, the Zanj resemble modern revolutionary movements that live off the countryside, and harass the authorities. They emerged occasionally for conventional battles, but, more often than not they resorted to unconventional warfare, taking advantage of the extremely difficult terrain in the marshy areas of the region that gave rise to them. To defeat them, the government armies had to improvise new tactics and a strategy based on the lessons of early defeats.

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 8

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 8 PDF Author:
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438402902
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
This volume covers the history of the Muslim community and the biography of Muḥammad in the middle Medinan years. It begins with the unsuccessful last Meccan attack on Medina, known as the battle of the Trench. Events following this battle show the gradual collapse of Meccan resistance to Islam. The next year, when Muḥammad set out on pilgrimage to Mecca, the Meccans at first blocked the road, but eventually a ten-year truce was negotiated at al-Ḥudaybiyah, with Muḥammad agreeing to postpone his pilgrimage until the following year. The Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyah was followed by a series of Muslim expeditions, climaxing in the important conquest of Khaybar. In the following year Muḥammad made the so-called Pilgrimage of Fulfillment unopposed. Al-Ṭabarī's account emphasizes Islam's expanding geographical horizon during this period. Soon after the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyah, Muḥammad is said to have sent letters to six foreign rulers inviting them to become Muslims. Another example of this expanding horizon was the unsuccessful expedition to Mu'tah in Jordan. Shortly afterward the Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyah broke down, and Muḥammad marched on Mecca. The Meccans capitulated, and Muḥammad entered the city on his own terms. He treated the city leniently, and most of the Meccan oligarchy swore allegiance to him as Muslims. Two events in the personal life of Muḥammad during this period caused controversy in the community. Muḥammad fell in love with and married Zaynab bint. Jaḥsh, the divorced wife of his adopted son Zayd. Because of Muḥammad's scruples, the marriage took place only after a Qur'anic revelation permitting believers to marry the divorced wives of their adopted sons. In the Affair of the Lie, accusations against Muḥammad's young wife ʿĀʾishah were exploited by various factions in the community and in Muḥammad's household. In the end, a Qur'anic revelation proclaimed ʿĀʾishah's innocence and the culpability of the rumormongers. This volume of al-Ṭabarī's History records the collapse of Meccan resistance to Islam, the triumphant return of Muḥammad to his native city, the conversion to Islam of the Meccan oligarchy, and the community's successful weathering of a number of potentially embarrassing events in Muḥammad's private life.

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 16

The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 16 PDF Author:
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791497623
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
This volume of al-Ṭabarī's history deals with the traumatic breakup of the Muslim community following the assassination of the Caliph 'Uthman. It begins with the first seriously contested succession to the caliphate, that of ʿAlī, and proceeds inexorably through the rebellion of 'A'ishah, T'alhah, and al-Zubayr, to the Battle of the Camel, the first time Muslim army faced Muslim army. It thus deals with the very first violent response to the two central problems of Muslim history: who is the rightful leader, and which is the true community? It is a section with the weightiest implications for the Muslim interpretation of history, wide open to special pleading. There are the Shi'a who depict ʿAlī as a spiritual leader fighting against false accusations and the worldly ambitious. Conversely, there are those who would depict him or his followers in a negative light. There are also the 'Abbasid historians, who, though anti-Umayyad, must balance a reverence for the Prophet's household (ahl al-bayt) with a denunciation of 'Alid antiestablishmentarianism. All these points of view, and more, are represented in al-Ṭabarī's compilation, illustrating the difficulty the Muslim community as a whole has faced in coming to terms with these disastrous events.