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Classical Arabic Literature, Fatimids, Islamic Studies, Oratory, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Wisdom Literature, and 34 moreQuranic Studies, Hadith, India, Ethics, Classical Arabic Poetry, Dawoodi Bohras, al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi, Literary translation, Ismailism, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, History of Indian Islam, Preaching, »Literatures of the Middle East, Arabic Literature, Manuscripts (Medieval Studies), Islamic History, Middle Eastern Studies, Prophet Muhammad, Yemen, Wilferd Madelung, Dimitri Gutas, Hossein Modarressi, Susan Niditch, Farhad Daftary, Walter Ong, Tayyibis, Dawoodi Bohra : Gujarati Muslim Merchant in Southeast Asia, Fatimid Studies, Fatimid Art and Architecture, Fatimid-Kalbid Sicily, Ismaili studies, Fatimid, Brethren of Purity, and Ismaili thought edit
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University of Oxford faculty webpage:
https://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/people/tahera-qutbuddinedit
Nahj al-Balāghah, the celebrated compendium of orations, letters, and sayings of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) compiled by al-Sharīf al-Raḍī (d. 406/1015), is a masterpiece of Arabic literature and Islamic wisdom studied and memorized... more
Nahj al-Balāghah, the celebrated compendium of orations, letters, and sayings of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) compiled by al-Sharīf al-Raḍī (d. 406/1015), is a masterpiece of Arabic literature and Islamic wisdom studied and memorized avidly and continually for over a thousand years. Showcasing ʿAlī’s life and travails in his own words, it also transcribes his profound reflections on piety and virtue, and on just and compassionate governance. Tahera Qutbuddin’s meticulously researched critical edition based on the earliest 5th/11th-century manuscripts, with a lucid, annotated facing-page translation, brings to the modern reader the power and beauty of this influential text, and confirms the aptness of Raḍī’s title, “The Way of Eloquence.”
Research Interests:
Arabic Literature, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Virtue Ethics, Orality-Literacy Studies, and 15 moreGovernance, Islamic Philosophy, Kalam (Islamic Theology), Islamic Education, Islamic Studies, Classical Arabic Prose Literature, Islamic History, Islam, Islamic Political Thought, Islamic History and Muslim Civilization, Classical Arabic Literature, Biography of the Prophet Muhammad, Shiism, Islamic Doa, and Quran and Tafsir Studies
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
sample of the Prophet Muhammad's ethical hadith (Arabic with English translation) from Light in the Heavens, al-Qadi al-Quda'i's compilation titled Kitab al-Shihab
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
In Arabic Oration: Art and Function, a narrative richly infused with illustrative texts and original translations, Tahera Qutbuddin presents a comprehensive theory of this preeminent genre in its foundational oral period, 7th-8th... more
In Arabic Oration: Art and Function, a narrative richly infused with illustrative texts and original translations, Tahera Qutbuddin presents a comprehensive theory of this preeminent genre in its foundational oral period, 7th-8th centuries AD. With speeches and sermons attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad, ʿAlī, other political and military leaders, and a number of prominent women, she assesses types of orations and themes, preservation and provenance, structure and style, orator-audience authority dynamics, and, with the shift from an oral to a highly literate culture, oration’s influence on the medieval chancery epistle. Probing the genre’s echoes in the contemporary Muslim world, she offers sensitive tools with which to decode speeches by mosque-imams and political leaders today.
Research Interests:
Gender Studies, Arabic Literature, Iraqi History, Arabic Language and Linguistics, Arabic, and 15 morePreaching, Oral Traditions, Quranic Studies, Turkey, Islamic Studies, Oratory, Egypt, Islamic Ethics, Islamic History, Islamic Political Thought, Hadith, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Arabic-English translation, Shiism, and History of Indian Islam
Al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī was a medieval Arabic-Islamic scholar and poet committed to the Fatimid religio-political ideology. Chief missionary for their Caliph-Imams, he founded the dynamic tradition of "Fatimid daʿwa (religious mission)... more
Al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī was a medieval Arabic-Islamic scholar and poet committed to the Fatimid religio-political ideology. Chief missionary for their Caliph-Imams, he founded the dynamic tradition of "Fatimid daʿwa (religious mission) poetry” that flourished after him for a thousand years through the succeeding Ṭayyibī daʿwa and continues to thrive today.
This study examines the manner in which al-Muʾayyad's mission informed the aesthetic rules, motifs, structures, genres, motives, addressees, and aspirations of his poetry. It analyzes the characteristics of al-Muʾayyad's verse that render it distinctive, above all, its use of a unique form of esoteric tāwīl-based religious symbolism—metaphor, in fact, as manifestation, where what appears to be metaphor is the theological reality of the Imam. This book features a large number of original translations.
This study examines the manner in which al-Muʾayyad's mission informed the aesthetic rules, motifs, structures, genres, motives, addressees, and aspirations of his poetry. It analyzes the characteristics of al-Muʾayyad's verse that render it distinctive, above all, its use of a unique form of esoteric tāwīl-based religious symbolism—metaphor, in fact, as manifestation, where what appears to be metaphor is the theological reality of the Imam. This book features a large number of original translations.
Research Interests:
Across the mosques, homes, battlefields, and open town spaces of the Middle East in the seventh and eighth centuries ad, religion, politics, and aesthetics coalesced in the richly artistic public performance of spontaneous Arabic oration... more
Across the mosques, homes, battlefields, and open town spaces of the Middle East in the seventh and eighth centuries ad, religion, politics, and aesthetics coalesced in the richly artistic public performance of spontaneous Arabic oration (khuṭba). Exquisite in rhetorical craftsmanship, these interactive speeches and sermons by the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632), Imam Ali (d. 661), and other political and military leaders were also the major vehicle of policymaking and persuasion, and the primary conduit for dissemination of ethical, religious, and legal teachings. The Friday sermon that is an intrinsic part of Muslim ritual across the globe in our present time has a long history rooted in the first Friday sermon delivered by Muhammad in Medina, and more broadly in these multifunctional orations of the early Islamic world. In this chapter, I consider Arabic-Islamic oration across different social domains in its foundational age and situate religious speech within them. Drawing on a decade of research for my book published in 2019, Arabic Oration: Art and Function, I discuss the major features of classical Arabic oration, with a focus on religion, ritual, and the rhetoric of orality; further details for each of the points discussed below may be found in my book. I begin with a section on rhetoric, discussing the oral milieu of early Islamic oration and its aesthetic memory-based techniques. In a second section focusing on religion, I then discuss the pious themes of the early oration, and their diffusion across political and military speechmaking, which shows how boundaries between religion and other spheres of life were fluid in the early Islamic period. In the third section, on ritual, I say a few words about ceremonial aspects of the oration that served, among other things, as a mode of authority assertion. Altogether, I present the religious face of Arabic oration in early Islam, and some of its interconnections with art and society.
Research Interests:
Religion, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, Ritual, Islamic Studies, and 15 moreClassical Arabic Prose Literature, Islamic History, Islam, Orality, Arabic Rhetoric, Sermon Studies, Piety, Medieval Sermon Studies, Classical Arabic Literature, Muhammad, Biography of the Prophet Muhammad, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Arabic Language and Literature, Sermons and Homilies, and FRIDAY SERMON
This article discusses classical Islamic oration's power of persuasion through two lenses, one wide-angled, one focused. First, it introduces topographies of Arabic oration in its foundational oral period in early Islam, addressing... more
This article discusses classical Islamic oration's power of persuasion through two lenses, one wide-angled, one focused. First, it introduces topographies of Arabic oration in its foundational oral period in early Islam, addressing notable aspects of its art, function, and provenance. Then, it pivots to speak of major life changes induced by particular orations, or sermoninduced 'conversion'. Two early Islamic orations that induced such transformations are transcribed and briefly discussed: (1) the 'sermon describing the truly pious' by the successor of the Prophet according to the Shia and the fourth caliph according to the Sunnis, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661) in Kufa, Iraq, which is said to have caused his associate Hammam to give up his life spirit, and (2) the battlefield speech addressed to the surrounding Umayyad army by Ali's son, the Shia Imam Husayn (d. 680), in Karbala, also in Iraq, which is reported to have won over the enemy sub-commander Hurr to Husayn's side and prompted him to fight for Husayn unto death. Both are striking examples of the life-altering effects of intense and eloquent sermons, manifest here in the ultimate passagean end to life in this world and entry into the hereafter. KEYWORDS oration's power of persuasion; Husayn ibn Ali; Ali ibn Abi Talib; classical Arabic oration; khutba; taqwā (Islamic piety and virtue); Hammam Sermon; Hurr in Karbala Orations declaimed by the Prophet Muhammad and early Muslim leaders across the mosques, homes, battlefields, and open town spaces of the Middle East in the seventh and eighth centuries CE were exquisite in rhetorical craftsmanship. They were also the major vehicle of policymaking and persuasion, as well as the primary conduit for dissemination of ethical, religious, and legal teachings. Importantly, they prompted life changes in their listeners. Most of these life changes were an ongoing process, but others were more startling and immediate. In this article, I draw on ten years of research for my recently published book, Arabic Oration: Art and Function to discuss the classical Arabic oration's power of persuasion. 1 After introducing the art, function, and provenance of Arabic oration in its foundational oral period in early Islam, I discuss two instances of life-altering oration-induced on-the-spot transformations: a sermon on piety by Imam Ali (d. 661)successor of the Prophet according to the Shia and fourth Sunni caliphthat is reported to have affected his associate Hammam so strongly that it transported him straight into the afterlife; and a speech on the battlefield by Ali's son, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Husayn (d. 680), that won over the enemy commander Hurr in the heat of battle in Karbala and prompted him then and there to lay down his life for Husayn.
Research Interests:
Aesthetics, Arabic Literature, Orality-Literacy Studies, Preaching, Audience and Reception Studies, and 15 moreReligious Conversion, Oratory, Classical Arabic Prose Literature, Persuasion, Martyrdom, Orality, Medieval Sermons, Piety, Classical Arabic Literature, Imam Ali, Imam Husayn, Karbala, Shia studies, Life Change Events, and Sermons and Homilies
The 177-verse Arabic Poem of the Intellect (Qaṣīdat al-ʿAql) composed by the Indian Fatimid-Ṭayyibī Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq Sayyidna Taher Saifuddin (d. 1385/1965) breaks new ground in substance and form. In form, the poem creatively amalgamates... more
The 177-verse Arabic Poem of the Intellect (Qaṣīdat al-ʿAql) composed by the Indian Fatimid-Ṭayyibī Dāʿī al-Muṭlaq Sayyidna Taher Saifuddin (d. 1385/1965) breaks new ground in substance and form. In form, the poem creatively amalgamates the genres of qaṣīdah (poem), risālah (treatise), and waṣiyyah (testament) to produce an eloquent and innovative hybrid text. In content, it uniquely combines a philosophical exposition on Islamic theology and ethics with a road map to living a Pure Life. After an opening frame that provides a philosophical foundation, the poem's three large thematic sections draw on the Qurʾan, the Prophet's Hadith, and the sermons of Imam ʿAlī to describe principles of belief and approach, articles of character and deeds, and the grounding of both-abstract philosophy and concrete instructions-in love for and allegiance to the divine guides, the Imams and Dāʿīs, who are "God's rope." It has a gentle tone, preaching harmony between all people on earth, tranquility in one's life, cheerfulness and positivity, and an atmosphere of love and caring. The closing section brings the poet directly into the frame of reference, stating that he, as the incumbent Dāʿī, is himself the manifestation of God's rope in the current time, and those who
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Metaphysics, Translation Studies, Arabic Literature, Liturgy, Arabic, and 15 morePrayer, Islamic Studies, Doctrine of God, Islam, Fatimids, Quran, Devotional literature, Mercy, Islamic philosophy and theology, Arafah, Quranic and Islamic Studies, al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi, Hajj and Umrah, Arabic Language and Literature, and Supplications
Research Interests:
Islamic Law, Quranic Studies, Islamic Studies, Islam, Fatimids, and 15 moreIsmailism, Ismaili thought, Quran, Quranic Exegesis, Esotericism, Shariah, Faith and Reason, Shariah and Law, Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi, Shiism, Shiite Studies, Al-Quran & Hadist, Quran and Tafsir Studies, and Qadi Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man
The Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ lament-a poignant fifty-one-stanza Arabic marthiya composed by the Ṭayyibī Dāʿī l-Muṭlaq Sayyidnā Ṭāhir Sayf al-Dīn (d. 1385/1965)-holds an iconic status in the Karbala tradition of the Fāṭimid-Ṭayyibī Shīʿa of... more
The Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ lament-a poignant fifty-one-stanza Arabic marthiya composed by the Ṭayyibī Dāʿī l-Muṭlaq Sayyidnā Ṭāhir Sayf al-Dīn (d. 1385/1965)-holds an iconic status in the Karbala tradition of the Fāṭimid-Ṭayyibī Shīʿa of India. This article transcribes, translates, and analyses the lament to showcase a distinct religious tradition within a hybrid cultural milieu. The lament's forms intersect with Arabic poetic conventions set in pre-Islamic times; its themes overlap with Twelver-Shīʿī Karbala laments in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu from the Middle East and South Asia; and its performance stems from melodic Persianate-Urdu recital. Simultaneously, it reflects the Fāṭimid-Ṭayyibī heritage, particularly the teachings of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī (d. 470/1078), including the fundamentals of their Imāmate doctrine and the salvific importance of weeping for Ḥusayn.
Research Interests:
Indian Philosophy, Arabic Literature, Arabic Poetry, Indian studies, Islamic Studies, and 15 moreClassical Arabic Poetry, Islam, Fatimids, Ismailism, Elegy, India, Modern Arabic Poetry, Imam Husayn, Karbala, Shiism, Dawoodi Bohra : Gujarati Muslim Merchant in Southeast Asia, Arabic Language and Literature, Classical and Modern Arabic Literature and Culture, Arabic Literature In India, and Tayyibis
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Ottoman History, Arabic Literature, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Arabic, and 12 moreIslamic Education, Ottoman Studies, Turkey, Islamic Studies, Ottoman Empire, Islam in Turkey, Islamic History, Islamic History and Muslim Civilization, Arabic Language, Arabic Language and Literature, Islamic teaching, and Library
Within early Islam’s historical records, numerous orations by male leaders challenge political power from a rhetorical position of strength and lucidity. But a handful of orations set against the grain of society’s mores, attributed... more
Within early Islam’s historical records, numerous orations
by male leaders challenge political power from a rhetorical
position of strength and lucidity. But a handful of orations
set against the grain of society’s mores, attributed in
circumstances of war and violence to a few women, such
as Zaynab (d. ca. 62 AH/682 AD) and Umm Kulthūm (fl.
mid-first/seventh century), showcase equal claim to eloquence
and courage.² Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm are
well-known figures in the history of Islam. Their grandfather
was the Prophet Muhammad; their mother, his
daughter, Fatima al-Zahra’; and their father the first Shi’a
Imam and fourth Sunni caliph ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. Their
brothers were the next two Shi’a Imams Hasan and Husayn.
Against the backdrop of this pedigree, these women
are celebrated by Muslims for their role supporting Husayn
at the time of his martyrdom, and for protecting his
family in the ensuing months in Umayyad captivity; they
are also widely lauded for their passionate speeches narrating
the injustices and suffering sustained in Karbala.
Set against the narrative of events outlined in the historical
sources (on which more shortly), the speeches emphasize
the sisters’ bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.
Their situation is shown as fraught and fragile: they are
portrayed as captive and shack-led, having undergone
physical and emotional trauma, and the loss of their
brother and all their male family members in horrific conditions.
Yet, they are also shown professing complete certainty
in the right to speak and be heard, making ample
use of persuasive language and reasoning in proclaiming
their rectitude.
In this article, I translate and annotate Zaynab and
Umm Kulthūm’s orations delivered in the aftermath of
Husayn’s martyrdom at Karbala in the courts of Kufa
and Damascus from texts presented in the earliest extant
written source of the third/ninth century. Since all speeches
from the time were initially orally transmitted, their
historicity remains an open question, and this reservation
should be kept in mind while reading the texts at hand.
But, as I discuss in brief later in this article and argue in
detail in Arabic Oration, it is conceivable in view of their
early and wide provenance that they contain an authentic
core of themes, citations, and even some original language
from an actual past event. My analysis of the speeches attributed
to Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm their oral aesthetics,
their historical and literary contexts, and their setting
of trauma-highlights unique features of female Arabic
oratory in early Islam. While scholars have shown that
trauma often silences the female voice, we find that in this
case, in contrast, the Prophetic-lineage-based authority of
our female orators, asserted in the martyrdom context of
their orations, produces a resounding breaking of the silence.
by male leaders challenge political power from a rhetorical
position of strength and lucidity. But a handful of orations
set against the grain of society’s mores, attributed in
circumstances of war and violence to a few women, such
as Zaynab (d. ca. 62 AH/682 AD) and Umm Kulthūm (fl.
mid-first/seventh century), showcase equal claim to eloquence
and courage.² Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm are
well-known figures in the history of Islam. Their grandfather
was the Prophet Muhammad; their mother, his
daughter, Fatima al-Zahra’; and their father the first Shi’a
Imam and fourth Sunni caliph ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. Their
brothers were the next two Shi’a Imams Hasan and Husayn.
Against the backdrop of this pedigree, these women
are celebrated by Muslims for their role supporting Husayn
at the time of his martyrdom, and for protecting his
family in the ensuing months in Umayyad captivity; they
are also widely lauded for their passionate speeches narrating
the injustices and suffering sustained in Karbala.
Set against the narrative of events outlined in the historical
sources (on which more shortly), the speeches emphasize
the sisters’ bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.
Their situation is shown as fraught and fragile: they are
portrayed as captive and shack-led, having undergone
physical and emotional trauma, and the loss of their
brother and all their male family members in horrific conditions.
Yet, they are also shown professing complete certainty
in the right to speak and be heard, making ample
use of persuasive language and reasoning in proclaiming
their rectitude.
In this article, I translate and annotate Zaynab and
Umm Kulthūm’s orations delivered in the aftermath of
Husayn’s martyrdom at Karbala in the courts of Kufa
and Damascus from texts presented in the earliest extant
written source of the third/ninth century. Since all speeches
from the time were initially orally transmitted, their
historicity remains an open question, and this reservation
should be kept in mind while reading the texts at hand.
But, as I discuss in brief later in this article and argue in
detail in Arabic Oration, it is conceivable in view of their
early and wide provenance that they contain an authentic
core of themes, citations, and even some original language
from an actual past event. My analysis of the speeches attributed
to Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm their oral aesthetics,
their historical and literary contexts, and their setting
of trauma-highlights unique features of female Arabic
oratory in early Islam. While scholars have shown that
trauma often silences the female voice, we find that in this
case, in contrast, the Prophetic-lineage-based authority of
our female orators, asserted in the martyrdom context of
their orations, produces a resounding breaking of the silence.
Research Interests:
Within early Islam’s historical records, numerous orations by male leaders challenge political power from a rhetorical position of strength and lucidity. But a handful of orations set against the grain of society’s mores, attributed in... more
Within early Islam’s historical records, numerous orations
by male leaders challenge political power from a rhetorical
position of strength and lucidity. But a handful of orations
set against the grain of society’s mores, attributed in
circumstances of war and violence to a few women, such
as Zaynab (d. ca. 62 AH/682 AD) and Umm Kulthūm (fl.
mid-first/seventh century), showcase equal claim to eloquence
and courage.² Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm are
well-known figures in the history of Islam. Their grandfather
was the Prophet Muhammad; their mother, his
daughter, Fatima al-Zahra’; and their father the first Shi’a
Imam and fourth Sunni caliph ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. Their
brothers were the next two Shi’a Imams Hasan and Husayn.
Against the backdrop of this pedigree, these women
are celebrated by Muslims for their role supporting Husayn
at the time of his martyrdom, and for protecting his
family in the ensuing months in Umayyad captivity; they
are also widely lauded for their passionate speeches narrating
the injustices and suffering sustained in Karbala.
Set against the narrative of events outlined in the historical
sources (on which more shortly), the speeches emphasize
the sisters’ bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.
Their situation is shown as fraught and fragile: they are
portrayed as captive and shack-led, having undergone
physical and emotional trauma, and the loss of their
brother and all their male family members in horrific conditions.
Yet, they are also shown professing complete certainty
in the right to speak and be heard, making ample
use of persuasive language and reasoning in proclaiming
their rectitude.
In this article, I translate and annotate Zaynab and
Umm Kulthūm’s orations delivered in the aftermath of
Husayn’s martyrdom at Karbala in the courts of Kufa
and Damascus from texts presented in the earliest extant
written source of the third/ninth century. Since all speeches
from the time were initially orally transmitted, their
historicity remains an open question, and this reservation
should be kept in mind while reading the texts at hand.
But, as I discuss in brief later in this article and argue in
detail in Arabic Oration, it is conceivable in view of their
early and wide provenance that they contain an authentic
core of themes, citations, and even some original language
from an actual past event. My analysis of the speeches attributed
to Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm their oral aesthetics,
their historical and literary contexts, and their setting
of trauma-highlights unique features of female Arabic
oratory in early Islam. While scholars have shown that
trauma often silences the female voice, we find that in this
case, in contrast, the Prophetic-lineage-based authority of
our female orators, asserted in the martyrdom context of
their orations, produces a resounding breaking of the silence.
by male leaders challenge political power from a rhetorical
position of strength and lucidity. But a handful of orations
set against the grain of society’s mores, attributed in
circumstances of war and violence to a few women, such
as Zaynab (d. ca. 62 AH/682 AD) and Umm Kulthūm (fl.
mid-first/seventh century), showcase equal claim to eloquence
and courage.² Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm are
well-known figures in the history of Islam. Their grandfather
was the Prophet Muhammad; their mother, his
daughter, Fatima al-Zahra’; and their father the first Shi’a
Imam and fourth Sunni caliph ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. Their
brothers were the next two Shi’a Imams Hasan and Husayn.
Against the backdrop of this pedigree, these women
are celebrated by Muslims for their role supporting Husayn
at the time of his martyrdom, and for protecting his
family in the ensuing months in Umayyad captivity; they
are also widely lauded for their passionate speeches narrating
the injustices and suffering sustained in Karbala.
Set against the narrative of events outlined in the historical
sources (on which more shortly), the speeches emphasize
the sisters’ bravery in the face of overwhelming odds.
Their situation is shown as fraught and fragile: they are
portrayed as captive and shack-led, having undergone
physical and emotional trauma, and the loss of their
brother and all their male family members in horrific conditions.
Yet, they are also shown professing complete certainty
in the right to speak and be heard, making ample
use of persuasive language and reasoning in proclaiming
their rectitude.
In this article, I translate and annotate Zaynab and
Umm Kulthūm’s orations delivered in the aftermath of
Husayn’s martyrdom at Karbala in the courts of Kufa
and Damascus from texts presented in the earliest extant
written source of the third/ninth century. Since all speeches
from the time were initially orally transmitted, their
historicity remains an open question, and this reservation
should be kept in mind while reading the texts at hand.
But, as I discuss in brief later in this article and argue in
detail in Arabic Oration, it is conceivable in view of their
early and wide provenance that they contain an authentic
core of themes, citations, and even some original language
from an actual past event. My analysis of the speeches attributed
to Zaynab and Umm Kulthūm their oral aesthetics,
their historical and literary contexts, and their setting
of trauma-highlights unique features of female Arabic
oratory in early Islam. While scholars have shown that
trauma often silences the female voice, we find that in this
case, in contrast, the Prophetic-lineage-based authority of
our female orators, asserted in the martyrdom context of
their orations, produces a resounding breaking of the silence.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Religion, Arabic Literature, Arabic, Virtue Ethics, Islamic Philosophy, and 15 moreQuranic Studies, Islamic Studies, Faith, Islam, Moral Philosophy, Piety, Imam Ali, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, Self Transcendence, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Arabic-English translation, Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Shiism, Arabic and Islamic Studies, and Nahjul Balagha
Early Islamic society revered its articulate speakers, and later scholars held up their addresses as exemplars of eloquence. But wherein lay the power of the classical oration (khuṭba)? Did orators randomly pick and choose stylistic... more
Early Islamic society revered its articulate speakers, and later scholars held up their addresses as exemplars of eloquence. But wherein lay the power of the classical oration (khuṭba)? Did orators randomly pick and choose stylistic features, or were there certain characteristics they privileged? More importantly, what were the conscious and unconscious impetuses for their choice of aesthetic mode? It is well known that the orator employed logical argumentation based on ideas to convince his audience. I argue that in tandem with this rational argumentation, the early Arabic orator also used a stylistic mode of persuasion to sway his listeners in a subtler way, one which relied primarily on rhythm. Elsewhere, I have divided the fundamental aesthetic features of the oration into five groups: vivid imagery, audience-engagement elements, rhetorical or real questions, testimonial citation of Qurʾānic and poetic verses, dignified yet straightforward language, and most prominently, and the focus of this article, rhythm. Through a granular textual analysis of a sermon on piety by the first Shiʿa imam and fourth Sunni caliph, ʿ Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661), the article demonstrates how the entire piece is formulated rhythmically: rooted in parallelism, augmented by repetition and rhyme, and sharpened by antithesis, the sermon's pulsing beat contributes to its aesthetic and persuasive success.
Research Interests:
Aesthetics, Arabic Literature, Arabic Prose Literature, Rhythm, Orality-Literacy Studies, and 15 morePreaching, Islamic Studies, Classical Arabic Prose Literature, Islamic Ethics, Orality, Classical Arabic Literature, Shiism, Shiite Islam, Shii Islam, Medieval Preaching, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Shiism, Shiite Studies, Arabic Language and Literature, Preaching and Teaching, and Khutbah Jumat
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Nahj al-balagha ("The measure of eloquence") is an anthology of orations, epistles, and sayings attributed to Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 40/661), who was the first Shii Imam and the fourth Sunni caliph (r. 35-40/656-61). The work was compiled... more
Nahj al-balagha ("The measure of eloquence") is an anthology of orations, epistles, and sayings attributed to Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 40/661), who was the first Shii Imam and the fourth Sunni caliph (r. 35-40/656-61). The work was compiled in 400/1010 by the Twelver-Shii Baghdadi scholar and poet al-Sharif al-Radi (d. 406/1015). Acclaimed as a masterpiece of Arabic literature and a font of Islamic wisdom literature, it contains material on a range of topics, including history, theology, ethics, just governance, pragmatic instruction, and praise for the prophet Muhammad. It displays an orality-based rhythmic style grounded in intense parallelism and vivid desert and camel imagery. Its teachings focus on leading a pious life and preparing for the imminent Hereafter.
Research Interests:
Arabic Literature, Arabic, Islamic Philosophy, Oral history, Oral Traditions, and 15 moreIslamic Studies, Classical Arabic Prose Literature, Islamic History, Islam, Orality, Wisdom Literature, Arabic Rhetoric, Islamic History and Muslim Civilization, Oral literature, Classical Arabic Literature, Imam Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Shiism, Arabic Language and Literature, and Nahjul Balagha
Al-Sharif Abu l-Hasan Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Musawi al-Radi (d. 406/ 1015) was an eminent Baghdadi Twelver Shii scholar and littérateur of the Mu'tazili theological school, one of the most important intellectuals of his time. He is best... more
Al-Sharif Abu l-Hasan Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Musawi al-Radi (d. 406/ 1015) was an eminent Baghdadi Twelver Shii scholar and littérateur of the Mu'tazili theological school, one of the most important intellectuals of his time. He is best known for his compilation of the orations, epistles, and sayings of the first Shii Imam and the fourth of the Rightly Guided caliphs, Ali b. Abi Talib (r. 35-40/656-61, d. 40/661), titled Nahj al-balagha ("The measure of eloquence"). He was the appointed naqib al-ashraf (chief of the prophet Muhammad's descendants) in central Iraq, which was then under Abbasid rule (132-656/750-1258). An outstanding poet, he also wrote substantial works analysing the literary and grammatical features of the Quran and Hadith, and on theology and principles of jurisprudence.
Research Interests:
Rhetoric, Abbasid Literature, Arabic Poetry, Kalam (Islamic Theology), Quranic Studies, and 12 moreIslamic Studies, Classical Arabic Poetry, Classical Arabic Prose Literature, Islam, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Arabic Rhetoric, Mu'tazilites, Quranic Exegesis, Islamic Theology, Shiism, Arabic Language and Literature, and Nahjul Balagha
Research Interests:
Arabic Literature, Kalam (Islamic Theology), Islamic Education, Quranic Studies, Islamic Studies, and 15 moreAbbasid History, Islamic History, Buyids (Islamic History), Islam, Fatimids, Islamic Thought & Philosophy, Islamic Intellectual History, Islamic History and Muslim Civilization, Quranic Exegesis, Islamic Theology, Islamic thought, Quranic and Islamic Studies, Cairo, Shiraz, and Islamic Thought and Theology
Research Interests:
Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Studies, Shi'ism, Yemen, Islamic History, and 11 moreFatimids, Ismailism, Ismaili thought, Yemen (History), Intellectual history of early Islam, Shiia, esp. Ismailis, Shi`a, Zaydis in Yemen, Zaydi leadership, Shiite Studies, Dawoodi Bohra : Gujarati Muslim Merchant in Southeast Asia, Al-Maqrizi (1364 – 1442), Dawoodi Bohras, and Tayyibis
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Arabic Literature, Middle East Studies, Poetry, Modern Poetry, Middle Eastern Studies, and 8 moreClassical Arabic Poetry, Classical Arabic Prose Literature, Modern Arabic Literature, Modern Arabic Poetry, Novels, Classical Arabic Literature, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, and Classical and Modern Arabic Literature and Culture
Review essay exploring the relationship -- sometimes a fraught one -- between Islam and creative expression. Books reviewed: Sarah R. bin Tyeer, The Qur’an and the Aesthetics of Premodern Arabic Prose (Palgrave Macmillan 2018), and Nuha... more
Review essay exploring the relationship -- sometimes a fraught one -- between Islam and creative expression. Books reviewed: Sarah R. bin Tyeer, The Qur’an and the Aesthetics of Premodern Arabic Prose (Palgrave Macmillan 2018), and Nuha Alshaar, ed., The Qur’an and Adab (Oxford University Press, 2018).
Review published at this link: https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/like-a-bride-the-quran/
Review published at this link: https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/like-a-bride-the-quran/