The rebel and the Imām in early Islam : explorations in Muslim historiography

Engaging with contemporary debates about the sources that shape our understanding of the early Muslim world, Najam Haider proposes a new model for Muslim historical writing that draws on Late Antique historiography to challenge the imposition of modern notions of history on a pre-modern society. Haider discusses three key case studies - the revolt of Mukhtar b. Abi 'Ubayd (d. 67/687), the life of the Twelver Shi'i Imam Musa al-Kazim (d. 183/799) and the rebellion and subsequent death of the Zaydi Shi'i Imam Yahya b. 'Abd Allah (d. 187/803) - in calling for a new line of inquiry which focuses on larger historiographical questions. What were the rules that governed historical writing in the early Muslim world? What were the intended audiences for these works? In the process, he rejects artificial divisions between Sunni and Shi'i historical writing. To what extent do contemporary approaches to the study of Islamic historiography reflect the presuppositions that informed the writing of early Muslim historians? A proper answer to this question requires a consideration of the classical and late antique periods. Numerous studies over the last fifty years have shown that Muslim political, social, and intellectual structures appropriated (and further elaborated) preexisting models. This claim is not universally applicable, but it seems to hold in areas ranging from coinage and court culture to legal codes and literature. A similar dynamic likely governed the relationship between late antique and early Muslim historical writing. At the very least, an approach that highlights such continuity promises a better understanding of the source material than does the current propensity to utilize categories drawn from a modern European context Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 List of Figures and Tables 10 Acknowledgments 11 Note on Transliteration and Dates 13 Explanation of Citation 14 Front Cover Image 15 1 Modeling Islamic Historical Writing 17 2 The Rise and Fall of Mukhtār b. Abī ‘Ubayd (d. 67/687) 42 3 The Life of Mūsā b. Ja‘far al-Kāẓim (d. 183/799) 131 4 The Last Years of Yaḥyā b. ‘Abd Allāh (d. 187/803) 209 5 Reconsideration 272 Appendix: The Narrative Elements for Mukhtār’s Revolt 279 Bibliography 297 Index 305 Engaging with contemporary debates about the sources that shape our understanding of the early Muslim world, Najam Haider proposes a new model for Muslim historical writing that draws on Late Antique historiography to question why we impose modern notions of history on a pre-modern society. Drawing On Case Studies From Islamic History, Haider Challenges Assumptions About The Nature Of The Sources Shaping Understandings Of The Early Muslim World.