Sapping the Narrative
Ibn Kathir’s Account of the Shūrā of ʿuthman in Kitab Al-Bidaya Wa-L-Nihaya
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8969326 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aaron M Hagler (0000-0002-4535-4772, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 303-321 |
| Publication date | 2015-04-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0020743815000069 |
| OpenAlex | W2147149148 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 25 |
One mission of Ibn Kathir's Kitab al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya fi al-Taʾrikh (The Book of the Beginning and the End in History) is to provide a Sunni answer to a generally ʿAlid-legitimizing corpus of early Islamic historical accounts. Part of the 13th- and 14th-century movement that sought to rehabilitate the image of Syria and the otherwise reviled Umayyad dynasty (r. 661–750), Ibn Kathir's grand work of history cleverly reframes the early Islamic narrative to fit into what he considers a more “properly” Sunni framework than his sources provided. This article focuses on Ibn Kathir's presentation of the shūrā , the council appointed by ʿUmar and charged with choosing from among its six members his successor. It identifies the literary tools Ibn Kathir employed and offers a framework for his strategy of employing them. Whether through narrative aside or criticism of other historians, Ibn Kathir's recasting of a pro-ʿAlid grudge story as an Umayyad apologetic highlights moments of sectarian contention and emphasizes the evolution of Sunni opinion on ʿAli and ʿUthman
Art · Aside · Criticism · History of Islam · Islam · Literature · Narrative · Presentation (obstetrics · Successor cardinal · Textual criticism · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classics · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy
Historians of the Middle East.
The Venture of Islam, Volume 1
Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography
Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History
A History of Muslim Historiography
Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period
The Cambridge History of Egypt
Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period.
Medieval Arabic Historiography
The Rise of Historical Writing Among the Arabs
Political Ideas in Early Islamic Religious Thought
Hadith al-'ashara or the Political Uses of a Tradition
How Did the Early Shî'a become Sectarian
Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus, 1190-1350
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |