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Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs

Name: Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs
Brand: Columbia University Press
SKU: 9780231150835
Price: 35.99 USD
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Contributors:

Tayeb El-Hibri

Publisher:

Columbia University Press

Binding:

Paperback

Book Category:

Religion, History, Social Science

Book Subcategory:

Islam, Europe, Islamic Studies

Book Topic:

History, Medieval

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The product is eligible for a complimentary return within 30 days from the date of purchase. Furthermore, individual items are shipped within 24 hours of receiving the order.

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Specifications +

Release Date:

2018-04-24

ISBN 13:

9780231150835

Weight:

1.45 lbs

Size:

9.00 x 6.00 x 1.40 inches

Pages:

448

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product description

Description

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.

About the Author
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).

Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs

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