Al-Andalus, the Arabic name for the medieval Islamic state in Iberia, endured for over 750 years following the Arab and Berber conquest of Hispania in 711. While the popular perception of al-Andalus is that of a land of religious tolerance and cultural cooperation, the fact is that we know relatively little about how Muslims governed Christians and Jews in al-Andalus and about social relations among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. In Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus, Janina M. Safran takes a close look at the structure and practice of Muslim political and legal-religious authority and offers a rare look at intercommunal life in Iberia during the first three centuries of Islamic rule.Safran makes creative use of a body of evidence that until now has gone largely untapped by historians—the writings and opinions of Andalusi and Maghribi jurists during the Umayyad dynasty. These sources enable her to bring to life a society undergoing dramatic transformation. Obvious differences between conquerors and conquered and Muslims and non-Muslims became blurred over time by transculturation, intermarriage, and conversion. Safran examines ample evidence of intimate contact between individuals of different religious communities and of legal-juridical accommodation to develop an argument about how legal-religious authorities interpreted the social contract between the Muslim regime and the Christian and Jewish populations. Providing a variety of examples of boundary-testing and negotiation and bringing judges, jurists, and their legal opinions and texts into the narrative of Andalusi history, Safran deepens our understanding of the politics of Umayyad rule, makes Islamic law tangibly social, and renders intercommunal relations vividly personal.
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Through an examination of the structure and practice of Muslim political and legal-religious authority, a rare look at intercommunal life in Iberia during the first three centuries of Islamic rule.
Introduction1. The Structuring of Umayyad Rule2. Society in Transition3. Between Enemies and Friends4. Borders and BoundariesConclusionBibliography Index
[This book's] special genius is its deliberate juxtaposition of the idea of predetermined boundaries between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in al-Andalus with the reality of their perpetual negotation and renegotiation by jurists in light of changes in the historical conext.... For an older generation of Iberianists like me, who originally operated under the assumption that the Arabic sources of early medieval Spain—in marked contrast to the Latin ones—had little to offer on the subject of dhimmis and their relationship to the dominant community, the work of Safran has proved especially eye-opening.
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Defining Boundaries in al-Andalus is an unusually compelling work, marked by very astute and realistic social psychology. Janina M. Safran provides exquisite details of social interaction to illuminate the dynamics of conversion, social assimilation, and culture change in Islamic Spain. Safran focuses on boundaries and on the way such boundaries are defined, negotiated, tested, and maintained. The dhimma contract, which regulated relations between the superordinate Muslims and the subordinate Jews and Christians, was deceptively simple and allowed for a wide range of adaptations. The detailed cases Safran presents in her complete account of dhimma law permit the reader to grasp some of the fine texture.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781501700743
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Cornell University Press
Vekt
454 gr
Høyde
235 mm
Bredde
155 mm
Dybde
16 mm
Aldersnivå
01, UU, UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Biographical note

Janina M. Safran is Associate Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University.