Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs

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Columbia University Press, Oct 19, 2010 - History - 512 pages

The story of the succession to the Prophet Muhammad and the rise of the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661) is familiar to historians from the political histories of medieval Islam, which treat it as a factual account. The story also informs the competing perspectives of Sunni and Shi'i Islam, which read into it the legitimacy of their claims. Yet while descriptive and varied, these approaches have long excluded a third reading, which views the conflict over the succession to the Prophet as a parable. From this vantage point, the motives, sayings, and actions of the protagonists reveal profound links to previous texts, not to mention a surprising irony regarding political and religious issues.

In a controversial break from previous historiography, Tayeb El-Hibri privileges the literary and artistic triumphs of the medieval Islamic chronicles and maps the origins of Islamic political and religious orthodoxy. Considering the patterns and themes of these unified narratives, including the problem of measuring personal qualification according to religious merit, nobility, and skills in government, El-Hibri offers an insightful critique of both early and contemporary Islam and the concerns of legitimacy shadowing various rulers. In building an argument for reading the texts as parabolic commentary, he also highlights the Islamic reinterpretation of biblical traditions, both by Qur'anic exegesis and historical composition.

 

Selected pages

Contents

CHAPTER ONE
1
CHAPTER TWO
26
CHAPTER THREE
77
CHAPTER FOUR
122
CHAPTER FIVE
154
CHAPTER SIX
205
CHAPTER SEVEN
262
CHAPTER EIGHT
300
APPENDIX ONE
307
APPENDIX TWO
315
APPENDIX THREE
325
Notes
329
Glossary
445
Bibliography
447
Index
463
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs
Tayeb El-Hibri
Limited preview - 2010
Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs
Tayeb El-Hibri
No preview available - 2018

Common terms and phrases

Abbāsid Abd al-Raḥmān Abd Shams Abdallāh Abī Abū Bakr Āisha al-Ashtar al-Zubayr alā Alī Alī’s Alid allāh Ansāb Anṣār Arab asked authority Bakr and Umar Bakr’s Balādhuri Banu Abd Shams Battle bay‘a Bukhāri caliph chronicles command companions conquest context death debate declares describes Dinawari divine early Islamic faith fitna God’s governor ḥadīth Hāshimite Humphreys Hurmuzān Ibn Abbās Ibn Abd Rabbihi Ibn Sa'd imām inna Islamic history jamā‘a Ka‘b Khārijites killed kitāb Kufa Kufans later leader leadership Marwān Medina Messenger Moses Mu'awiya Muhājirūn Muḥammad Muslim narratives narrators Persian political prayer Prophet Qādisiyya Qur’ān Qur’ānic Quraysh Rāshidūn caliphate religious reportedly Ridda role rule ruler Sa‘d Sa‘īd Sā'ir Saqīfa Sasanid Sayf saying Shī‘ī shūrā Ṣiffīn Sīra speech statement story succession Sunnī Syria Ta'rikh Tabari texts tion tradition Ubāda Ubaydallāh Umar Umar’s Umayyad Uthmān Uthmān’s reign viewed Ya'qubi Yazdajird

About the author (2010)

Tayeb El-Hibri is professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and author of Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the ʿAbbasid Caliphate (1999).

Bibliographic information

TitleParable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs
AuthorTayeb El-Hibri
Editionillustrated
PublisherColumbia University Press, 2010
ISBN0231521650, 9780231521659
Length512 pages
Subjects ›  › 

History / General
History / Middle East / General
Religion / Islam / General
  
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