Durham E-Theses Transcending legitimacy : Al-Awza'i and his interaction with the 'Abbasid state Alajmi, Abdulhadi How to cite: Alajmi, Abdulhadi (2004) Transcending legitimacy : Al-Awza'i and his interaction with the 'Abbasid state, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1736/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk TRANSCENDING LEGITIMACY: AL-AWZA'I AND HIS INTERACTION WITH THE `ABBASID STATE A copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. BY ABDULHADIALAJMI SUPERVISED BY DR. COLIN TURNER UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM THESIS SUBMTTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INSTITUTE FOR MIDDLE EASTERN AND ISLAMIC STUDIES 2004 l/. a, z5 AUG2004 STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be publishedwithout their prior written consentand information derived from it should be acknowledged. DECLARATION I, the author of this thesis, declare that none of the materials in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree qualification in this or any other university. ii Abstract The relationship between the scholars and the caliphs throughout Islamic history has occupied the attention of Western scholars as well as Muslims scholars alike. Several scholarly attempts have been exerted in this vein. It is the believe of this researcher that past research on the subject often lacked the methodological approach necessary for dealing with history sources and the theoretical framework needed for assessing this relationship. The inability to deal with historical sources in the most appropriate manner stem from a deep mistrust imbedded in Western attitudes towards the oral tradition. On the other hand, failure to assess this relationship in its proper theoretical frame work resulted from an overall inclination towards adopting unfounded theories about early Islamic history. Failure to use early sources coupled with adopting theories based on speculation caused major damage to the study of Islamic history. As a result, this researcher aims to restore this study and establish a new methodology to shed new light in the relationship between the scholars and the caliphs. The research is two fold: it aims to establish the authenticity of the sources used by adopting the method newly developed by Harald Motzki. This step will ensure that all the sources we use in our research pass the examination of authenticity. The following step in the research will show that an early scholar such as al-Awzä' believed that obedience to the state is part of the Islamic belief and that disobedience may result in disbelief. The final result from this is that the theological beliefs adopted by a scholar such as al-Awzä' impacted his political behavior greatly. This means that the need to understand the relationship between the scholars and the caliphs must be understood in light of the theological beliefs adopted by the scholar in question. 111 Acknowledgement I owe many people great deal of gratitude for facilitating the undertaking of this study, foremost among them is my supervisor Dr Colin Turner for his dedication and support throughout the period of study. Thanks is also due to other members of the Centre of Middle East and Islamic Studies, and the staff at Durham library. My thanks is due to Professor Khalid Keshk who helped me by reading this work and showing me the way to improve it. Also my thanks are due to academics at the University of Chicago for their invaluable assistance especially Wadad Kadi, Fred Donner, and Muhammad El-Sharawy. I owe also thanks to the staff of the Centre for Middle Eastern studies at The University of Chicago, library of University of Chicago. On a more personal note I offer my very special thanks to my friend Abdullah al-Hajeri who has been so close to me the last ten years, so I thank him for his friendship and support during this time. Similarly, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, brothers and for sisters their encouragement and moral support. A very special thank is reserved to my wife for her support and patience through out this work. Last but certainly not least, my thanks go to my children Naser, Omar, Hassna, and Afrält for the time they sacrificed with dad. IV Dedication To My Mom Rif a, for all her Love TABLE OF CONTENTS Copyright Declaration ii Abstract. iii Acknowledgements iv Dedication v Table of Contents vi Transliteration System x Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1 Chapter Two The Political, Intellectual and Sectarian Milieu at the Time of al- Awzä'i 2.1 Political Milieu 24 2.1.1 The Umayyad 25 2.1.2 The `Abbasid 38 2.2 The Intellectual and Sectarianmilieu 42 vi 2.2.1 Kharijites 46 2.3.2 Shiites 50 2.3.3 Mu'tazilites and Qadarites 56 Chapter Three Al-Awzä'i's biography 3.1 Introduction 63 3.2 Al-Awzä'i's political and social life 67 3.3 Al-Awzä'i's scholarship 76 Chapter Four Al-Awzä`i s meeting with 'Abdullah b. `AG 4.1 Introduction 110 4.2 Isnäd analysis 114 4.2.1 The tradition of al-Firyäbi 115 4.2.2 The tradition of Marwän b. Muhamad 120 4.2.3 The tradition of Abü khulayd 121 4.2.4 The tradition of Abmad b. al-Ghamr 122 4.2.5 The tradition of al-`Abbäs b. al-Walid b. Mazyad 124 4.2.6 Generalobservations about the Isnäd 125 vii 4.3 Main analysis 127 4.3.1 The tradition of al-Firyäbi 131 4.3.2 The tradition of Marwän b. Muhamad 136 4.3.3 The tradition of Abü khulayd 137 4.3.4 The tradition of Ahmad b. al-Ghamr 138 4.3.5 The tradition of al-`Abbäs b. al-Walid b. Mazyad 140 4.3.6 General observations about the maths 141 4.4 The analysis of isnäd and maths result 144 4.5 Examination of the Common link and spreading isnäd theory 146 4.6 Analysis of al-Awza'i s views towards `Abbasid legitimacy 149 Chapter Five Al-Awzä'i s Letters to the `Abbasid Caliph, prince, and government officials 5.1 Introduction 152 5.2 Examining the authenticity of al-Awz5`1s letters 153 5.3 Analyzing al-Awzä' s letters 160 5.3.1 The Category of Title 160 5.3.2 The category of Du `ä' 163 5.2.3 The Category of Purpose 172 5.2.4 The Category of Persuasion 177 5.4 Conclusion 190 VI" ChapterSix Al-Awzä'i's views towards the state 6.1 Observationsabout al-Awzä' views towards the state 195 6.2 Observations dealing with scholar's assessmentsof al-Awzä' s views 207 6.3 Recent research dealing with the interaction of the state and the scholars 215 Thesis Conclusion. 232 Bibliography 236 Appendices. Appendix A. Siyar al-Awzä i 243 Appendix B. Isnäds' Diagrams 249 Appendix C. Al-Awzä`i s letters 254 ix English Transliteration System The English transliteration systemused in this thesis is the International Journal of Middle East Studies transliteration system. Chapter I Introduction The need to understand how early Muslim scholars interacted with leaders in Muslim society is significant. This relationship shaped various aspects of Islamic life and impacted the development of Islam as it exists today. The understanding of the nature of this complex relationship requires us to account for what necessitated scholars to interact with political authority. Still, we have to keep in mind that history books tell that some scholars developed antagonistic attitudes towards the state and refused to deal with its representatives. Perhaps the main issue worthy of examination is how scholars responded to political authority when it assumed certain responsibilities or claims to legitimacy. This requires that we examine the factors shaping the attitudes of the scholars towards political authority. For this research, we developed the hypothesis that the theology `agidal of Sunni scholars played a major role in shaping their attitudes towards the state. Indeed, Sunni scholars held the belief that an up rise against the state constituted an act of apostasy; thus, scholars felt that they must find non-belligerent ways to deal with political leadership regardless of its claims to legitimacy. Perhaps the best example fitting this description is 1 This term is very significant for our study and it would not do justice to explain it here. It will be explained in detail in chapter 6. he al-Awzä`i? Our sources maintain that he interacted with the `Abbasids though rejected be their claims to political legitimacy. Again, our sources describe al-Awzä' to a scholar innovators viewing those rebelling against the state as outlaws that must be viewed as 3 departing from the foundation the Muslim community.