Historical Studies

The present volume—the first of its kind—deals with takfīr: accusing one´s opponents of unbelief (kufr). Originating in the first decades of Islam, this practice has been applied intermittently ever since. The nineteen studies included here deal with cases, covering different periods and parts of the Muslim world, of individuals or groups that used the instrument of takfīr to brand their opponents—either persons, groups or even institutions—as unbelievers who should be condemned, anathematized or even persecuted. Each case presented is placed in its sociopolitical and religious context. Together the contributions show the multifariousness that has always characterized Islam and the various ways in which Muslims either sought to suppress or to come to terms with this diversity. With contributions by: Roswitha Badry, Sonja Brentjes, Brian J. Didier, Michael Ebstein, Simeon Evstatiev, Ersilia Francesca, Robert Gleave, Steven Judd, István T. Kristó-Nagy, Göran Larsson, Amalia Levanoni, Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, Hossein Modarressi, Justyna Nedza, Intisar A. Rabb, Sajjad Rizvi, Daniel de Smet, Zoltan Szombathy, Joas Wagemakers.

From the time of its foundation in 284/897, the Zaydī Imamate of Yemen was home to Muʿtazilī ideas. During the first centuries and starting with Imam al-Hādī ila ʼl-Ḥaqq (d. 298/911), Zaydī ideology included elements akin to the opinions of the Baghdad School of the Muʿtazila as founded by Bishr b. al-Muʿtamir (d. 210/825). However, in the 5-6th/11-12th centuries, we see a rise in popularity of Bahshamiyya ideas, a sub-group of the Basran School of the Muʿtazila around Abū Hāshim al-Jubbāʾī (d. 321/933). These ideas were systematized and elaborated upon by the Zaydī theologian al-Raṣṣāṣ (d. 584/1188). Among those who resisted Bahshamī ideas to defend the teachings of the earlier imams was the jurist, theologian and author of more than 100 works, Ḥusām al-Dīn al-ʿAnsī (d. 667/1268). This volume contains a facsimile of the largest copy of al-Maḥajja al-bayḍāʾ fī uṣūl al-dīn, al-ʿAnsī’s major theological handbook, covering the first four parts out of eight.

This book is a detailed analysis of the reception and transmission of the doctrinal, legal, literary, and exegetical oeuvre of al-Šarīf al-Murtaḍā, arguably one of the most important thinkers of the medieval period, within and beyond Twelver Šīʿism. The study undertakes an archaeological inquiry of sorts into al-Murtaḍā’s monographic works and their transmission through an analysis of their manuscript tradition from al-Murtaḍā’s time until the contemporary period, covering the full range of the disciplines that he addressed. Inspired by similar quests undertaken by scholars of early modern Europe, this study also pays special attention to the various clusters of one-volume libraries of al-Murtaḍā's writings, the earliest witnesses of which can be traced back to the sixth/twelfth and seventh/thirteenth centuries, and it discusses their astoundingly linear transition from manuscript to print. The resulting insights into the transmission of al-Murtaḍā’s oeuvre allow for a careful reconstruction of the relative chronology of al-Murtaḍā’s works in the various disciplines, a necessary foundation for future in-depth analysis of the development of his theological, legal, and exegetical thought.

Among the responsa collections by al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā that still remain to be edited are the Jawābāt al-masāʾil al-Sallāriyya, which consist of responsa to eight questions most of which revolve around issues related to the subtleties of kalām. On the basis of the two earliest witnesses of this text, MS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Petermann II [Pm.] 169 and MS Mashhad, Āstān-i quds 1448, an edition has been prepared.

This paper revolves around a hitherto unknown heresiography from northern Iran, Asās al-maqālāt fī qamʿ al-jahālāt, which is preserved in a unique manuscript contained in a majmūʿa (Ms. Tehran, Majlis 10727). In the introduction, we describe the multitext codex, one of the few extant codices testifying to the continuous presence of Zaydism in northern Iran beyond the sixth/twelfth century. Additionally, we discuss two alternative tentative identifications of the author of Asās al-maqālāt, Abū Muḍar Shurayḥ b. al-Muʾayyad al-Muʾayyadī al-Shurayḥī and Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Shurayḥī al-Muʾayyadī. While the latter is entirely unknown, Abū Muḍar is renowned for his Asrār al-Ziyādāt, and we attempt to situate him more precisely in the chronology of Zaydī scholarship. Finally, we provide an editio princeps of Asās al-maqālāt fī qamʿ al-jahālāt.

Departing from a collective manuscript copied partly in the hand of the renowned Yemenī scholar ʿAbd Allāh b. Zayd al-ʿAnsī (d. 667/1268) and partly in the hand of his nephew, Muḥammad b. Aʿsad, that contains three works concerned with Qurʾānic passages taken to support ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and the ahl al-bayt and pro-ʿAlid traditions culled from of Sunnī ḥadīth collections, the reception of the Kitāb al-ʿUmda of the Twelver Shīʿī author Ibn al-Biṭrīq al-Ḥillī (d. 600/1203–1204 or 601/1204–1205)—one of three works contained in the codex—among the Zaydīs of Yemen is analyzed in detail. It is shown that this work, together with Ibn al-Maghāzilī’s (d. 483/1090) Manāqib ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, were the principal available sources for the Zaydīs of Yemen up until the time of the Imām al-Manṣūr bi-llāh (d. 614/1217) for the Sunnī canonical ḥadīth collections.

The book consists of a critical edition of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Ḥusaynī's Commentary on the Muqaddama by al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, a text that is preserved in a unique manuscript (MS Atıf Efendi 1338/1), with introduction.

MS Yale, Landberg 510, a multitext volume, contains unique copies of two doctrinal works composed as it seems by an Imāmī scholar of the sixth/twelfth century, ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥamza b. ʿAbd Allah b. Ḥamza al-Ṭūsī al-Mashhadī al-Shāriḥī al-maʿrūf bi-Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, al-Wāfī bi-kalām al-muthbit wa-l-nāfī and al-Masʾala fī tanzīh dhāt al-khāliq ʿan al-talawwuth bi-waṣmat al-fanāʾ wa-l-ʿadam. Both tracts show the author’s close familiarity with the doctrinal systems of the followers of Abū Hāshim al-Jubbāʾī (d. 321/933) on the one hand and Abū l-Ḥusayn al-Baṣrī (d. 436/1044) on the other. The discussions revolve around the contested Bahshamite notion that the “non-existent” (maʿdūm) is a “thing” (shayʾ), as well as the related doctrine that essences (dhawāt, sg. dhāt) are “real” or “actual” (thābit) in the state of non-existence (ʿadam). The paper introduces the author and the two tracts and provides critical editions.

The Imāmī scholar Abū Jaʿfar Ṭūsī (d. 459-60/1066-7) was born in Ṭūs in Khurāsān. Having completed his basic education there, he left for Baghdad, which at the time was ruled by the Shīʿī Buwayhid dynasty. In Baghdad he attended the classes of various prominent scholars, notably the leading Imāmī rationalist of his time, al-Shaykh al-Mufīd (d. 413/1022) and his successor al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā (d. 436/1044). After the death of al-Murtaḍā, Ṭūsī, who had already made a name for himself as a thinker and a writer, became the undisputed leader of the Imāmī community. About ten years later Baghdad was invaded by the Saljuqs and Ṭūsī’s house and libraries were laid to waste. Tūsī fled to Najaf where he remained until his death. Al-Muqaddima fi ʼl-kalām on concepts in theology figures among Ṭūsī’s most important works. The commentary by Najīb al-Dīn al-Ḥusaynī (d. 582/1186) printed in facsimile here are lecture notes, made by one of his students.

From the Executive Editors: Unlike other, “mainstream” fields of Islamic studies, the scholarly exploration of Shiism began late and evolved slowly, an observation that applies, with some variations, to all three major subdivisions of Shiism—Zaydism, Ismailism and Twelver Shiism.1 One reason for the late and reluctant evolvement of Shii Studies was that the pioneers of Islamic studies in Europe were confined to a limited—and biased—range of sources when it came to the study of Shiism. Most of the works they were able to access came from places such as Istanbul and Cairo—important intellectual centers of Sunnism, where Shii texts were the exception—while the rich holdings of the libraries of Persia, the main repository for the religious-intellectual traditions of Twelver Shiism and Ismailism, were for a long time out of reach for Western scholarship, as was the case with the libraries of Yemen with their collections of Zaydi works. Unable to consult works by Shii authors first hand, Western scholars were exposed to the biased image of Shiism as presented in Sunni sources which they took at face value. The resulting overall negative image of Shiism prompted scholars to exclude this important branch of Islam from their scholarly endeavours, even when a lack of sources was no longer an issue. Moreover, although an ever growing number of scholars are nowadays engaged in the study of Shiism, there is up until now next to no institutional support for Shii Studies within the academic landscape of North America or Europe—be it in the form of a chair or university position or a research institution specifically devoted to Shii Studies. It is in an attempt to remedy this imbalance and to make a distinctive contribution to current scholarship on Shiism and its integration into the broader field of Islamic studies that Shii Studies Review was established, an international scholarly forum for research on Shiism with the goal of contributing to the discovery and examination of different intellectual traditions throughout the history of Shiism.2 Shiism as a field of academic inquiry is to be understood in the broadest sense here—the journal is dedicated to the study of Imami, Ismaili, Zaydi, and other trends related to Shii thought throughout history, up until the contemporary period. Taking an expansive view of the richly variegated Shii traditions in both thought and practice and their cultural and social contexts, it aims to serve as outlet for original studies, critical editions of classical and pre-modern texts, and book reviews on Shii law, ḥadīth, Qurʾānic exegesis, philosophy, kalām, ritual and practices, classical and contemporary literature, and other aspects of the history of Shiism. Moreover, Shii Studies Review will also serve as a forum to inform about ongoing initiatives to advance the scholarly inquiry of Shiism, and the rubric “Shii Treasures in North American and European Libraries” will showcase relevant manuscripts and manuscript collections. This first volume is dedicated to Professor Hossein Modarressi in recognition of his seminal contributions to the study of Shiism.3 1 Cf. the surveys by Etan Kohlberg, “Western Studies of Shiʿa Islam,” Shīʿism, Resistance, and Revolution, ed. Martin Kramer, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1987, pp. 31-46; Stefanie Brinkmann, “Ein Mangel an Quellen und fehlendes Interesse? Zum späten Einstieg der deutschen Schia-Forschung,” Orient: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur des Orients 4 (2009), pp. 25-43; Sabine Schmidtke, “The History of Zaydī Studies: An Introduction,” The neglected Šīʿites: Studies in the legal and intellectual history of the Zaydīs = Arabica. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 59 iii-iv (2012), pp. 185-199; Khalil Andani, “A Survey of Ismaili Studies Part 1: Early Ismailism and Fatimid Ismailism,” Religion Compass 10 viii (August 2016), pp. 191-206 ; idem, “A Survey of Ismaili Studies Part 2: Post-Fatimid and Modern Ismailism,” Religion Compass 10 xi (2016), pp. 269-282 . 2 In addition to this, three book series specifically devoted to the study of Shiism have recently been launched by Brill, Leiden, namely “The Classical Shīʿah Library” and “The Modern Shīʿah Library” , both of which feature English translations of key Shii texts, as well as “Shii Islam: Texts and Studies”, which publishes original studies on all aspects of the history of Shiism, critical editions of classical and pre-modern texts, as well as collective volumes on Shii themes. 3 See Law and Tradition in Classical Islamic Thought: Studies in Honor of Professor Hossein Modarressi, ed. Michael Cook, Najam Haider, Intisar Rabb, and Asma Sayeed, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, “Part IV: The Scholarly Output of Professor Hossein Modarressi”. 1 Cf. the surveys by Etan Kohlberg“Western Studies of Shiʿa Islam,” Shīʿism Resistance and Revolutioned. Martin Kramer Boulder Colorado: Westview Press 1987 pp. 31-46; Stefanie Brinkmann “Ein Mangel an Quellen und fehlendes Interesse? Zum späten Einstieg der deutschen Schia-Forschung” Orient: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Politik Wirtschaft und Kultur des Orients 4 (2009) pp. 25-43; Sabine Schmidtke “The History of Zaydī Studies: An Introduction” The neglected Šīʿites: Studies in the legal and intellectual history of the Zaydīs = Arabica. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 59 iii-iv (2012) pp. 185-199; Khalil Andani “A Survey of Ismaili Studies Part 1: Early Ismailism and Fatimid Ismailism” Religion Compass 10 viii (August 2016) pp. 191-206 ; idem “A Survey of Ismaili Studies Part 2: Post-Fatimid and Modern Ismailism” Religion Compass 10 xi (2016) pp. 269-282 .

Shii Studies Review, Volume Five (2021) Dedicated to the Memory of Sayyid Ḥasan al-Ṣadr al-Kāẓimī (b. 1272/1856, d. 1354/1935)

This article offers critical editions of three texts by Zaydī theologians of sixth/twelfth-century Yemen refuting philosophical notions. The three texts are Qāḍī Jaʿfar b. Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Salām al-Buhlūlī’s (d. 573/1177–78) Kitāb al-Risāla al-munāṣifa li-l-mutakallimīn wa-l-falāsifa (Masʾalat al-nafs) and two tracts by al-Ḥasan al-Raṣṣāṣ (d. 584/1188), Masʾala fī ibṭāl al-qawl bi-talāzum al-hayūlā wa-l-ṣūra wa-anna l-jism murakkab minhumā, a refutation of hylomorphism, and al-Masʾala al-kāshifa ʿan buṭlān shubhat al-falāsifa, a refutation of the philosophers’ doctrine of the eternity of the world. Qāḍī Jaʿfar’s tract, of which only a fragment has come down to us, contains four extensive quotations from an unidentified philosophical work. These are strikingly similar to those cited by Rukn al-Dīn Ibn al-Malāḥimī (d. 536/1141) in his Tuḥfat al-mutakallimīn fī l-radd ʿalā l-falāsifa; likewise, Qāḍī Jaʿfar’s responses to the arguments of the philosophers closely resemble those given by Ibn al-Malāḥimī. However, a comparison of the relevant passages shows that the possibility that Qāḍī Jaʿfar had consulted Ibn al-Malāḥimī’s Tuḥfa as his source can safely be excluded. Both rather seemed to have relied on a common and so far unidentified source, possibly written by a Muʿtazilī author. Qāḍī Jaʿfar’s tract is thus another early Muʿtazilī critique of Avicennan philosophy that can shed some additional light on the reception of Ibn Sīnā’s (d. 428/1037) philosophy among the mutakallimūn before Ibn al-Malāḥimī.

The present volume focuses on aspects of Islamic thought in Iran and Yemen, and other regions of the Middle East, ninth through fifteenth century CE, through a close study of manuscript materials. The book's sixteen chapters are arranged under five rubrics: Mu'tazilism, Zaydism in Iran and in Yemen, Twelver Shi'ism, Mysticism, and Bibliographical Traditions. The material included in the book has been published previously in a different version. The appearance of these studies together in a single volume makes this book a significant and welcome contribution to the field of classical Islamic Studies. Full access available through https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2dswqs

The rich sīra literature relating to the careers of imāms is a genre characteristic for the Zaydī communities in Yemen and in Iran. These documents were composed by close companions, secretaries or other personnel in their vicinity, often inspired in structure and terminology by the sīra of the Prophet Muḥammad. Their primary function was to legitimize the imāms, and describing their merits therefore formed an important element of such documents. The sīra of the Imām al-Mahdī li-Dīn Allāh Abū Tayr Ah ̣ ̣mad b. al-Ḥusayn (d. 656/1258) was composed by Sharaf al-Dīn Yaḥyā b. al-Qāsim al-Ḥamzī (d. 677/1278-9). The primary significance of the section of the sīra that is devoted to Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn’s formation, which is edited and analysed in the article, is that it provides a detailed picture of the intellectual scene in Yemen during the 7th/13th century and informs us about the characteristics of the formation of scholars during this period. Moreover, the document informs us about the works that were part of the transfer of knowledge from Iran to Yemen that began with the unification of the Caspian Zaydiyya and the Zaydīs in Yemen during the imamate of Abū Tālib ̣ al-akhīr (d. 520/1126) and gradually increased throughout the 6th/12th century until the death of the Imām al-Mansūr bi-llāh in 614/1217.

Yemen’s war and humanitarian crisis are in the news, but very little is known about the rich cultural heritage of the southwestern corner of Arabia throughout history. Also largely unknown are Yemen’s geographic and economic diversity or their impact on recent events. Yemen’s diversity owes much to conquest, trade, and migration between Yemen and Christian Ethiopia, Sassanian and Islamic Iran, Fatimid and Ayyubid Egypt, Ottoman Turkey, the African coast and Southeast Asia. In this panel experts on different periods of Yemeni history and its diverse contemporary contexts probe beyond current politics to share their insights and discuss potentials for future scholarly research on Yemen.