Rituals of Islamic Monarchy: Accession and Succession in the First Muslim EmpireEdinburgh University Press, 2009 M05 31 - 360 pages This fascinating history explores the ceremony of the oath of allegiance to the caliph from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until the fragmentation of the caliphate in the late ninth and tenth centuries.The study of royal rituals of accession and succession in Christian Rome, Byzantium and the early Medieval West has generated an extensive literature. This has however remained unexplored in scholarship on the Islamic world. This book redresses that by examining the ceremonial of accession to the caliphate in early Islam, covering the following aspects of the subject:* The place of ritual in political practice* Changes and continuities in that practice* The problem of how best to understand accounts of ritual. It also offers a contribution to major, current debates in Islamic history: the development of Arab-Muslim identity and the formation of the 'Islamic state'. It presents an accessible discussion of 'royal' ritual in early Islam which situates developments in the Islamic world in a late antique and early medieval context, adding an important comparative context to the book. |
Contents
1 | |
19 | |
21 | |
24 | |
Allegiance to Muhammad | 40 |
Chapter 3 The oath of allegiance in the conquest society C 628C 660 | 60 |
Part II The Umayyad Caliphate C 660750 | 79 |
Introduction | 81 |
Introduction | 183 |
alMansur and alMahdı 754785 | 192 |
Chapter 11 The caliphates of Musa alHadi 785786 and Harun alRashid 786809 | 216 |
Chapter 12 Dispositive documents for the early Abbasid succession | 230 |
Part IV The Middle Abbasid Caliphate 809865 | 251 |
Introduction | 253 |
Chapter 13 From the civil war to Samarra 809847 | 259 |
Chapter 14 The caliphate of alMutawakkil 847861 | 274 |
Chapter 4 Sufyanid accession and succession C 660683 | 86 |
Chapter 5 The oath of allegiance in the early tradition and poetry C 680C 710 | 96 |
Chapter 6 The Marwanid patrimony and dynastic succession | 113 |
Chapter 7 Marwanid rituals of accession and succession | 134 |
Chapter 8 Writing and the bayʿa in the Marwanid period | 145 |
Chapter 9 The quranic content of the Marwanid documents | 168 |
Part III The Early Abbasid Caliphate C 750809 | 181 |
Chapter 15 The outbreak of the second ninth centurycivil war 861865 | 283 |
Chapter16 Abbasid documents for caliphal accession | 294 |
Conclusion | 309 |
Genealogical Tables | 318 |
320 | |
338 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abbasid Abd Allāh Abū accession accounts agreement al-Mahdī al-Malik al-Tabarī al-Walīd al-ʿahd Allāh ancient appears appointed Arabian Arabic army authority Baghdad bayʿa caliph century ceremonial Chapter claims Commander continued contract copies court covenant Crone culture death described documents early East Eastern elite empire established evidence expression extant Faithful followed given giving God’s governor hand Hārūn heir History ideas imperial important Iraq Islamic king late antique later letter loyalty Marwān Marwanid material Mecca mention military monotheist Muḥammad Mūsā Muslims nomination oath obedience palace perhaps period pledge of allegiance poetry political practice pre-Islamic present Prophet provinces quranic Qurʾān refer reflect ritual Roman ruling Sasanian secure similar sons sources status succession successor suggests Sulaymān Syria taken taking texts took tradition tribal tribes Umayyad verse walī written Yazīd ʿAbd