This thesis proposes a methodology for the analysis of medieval Arabic biographical dictionaries. This genre is distinctive of medieval Arabic literature; modern scholarship has investigated its origins and motivations, and has widely used it as a reference tool. However, only recently have scholars considered the value of biographical dictionaries as original creations, rather than mechanical compilations, and their role in shaping our perception of the past. After a review of recent scholarship, this thesis proposes a definition of the genre, and develops an approach to the sources which combines methods used for early Islamic history (the so-called "literary approach") with quantitative history, usually applied to post-`Abbasid periods. This approach is tested on six biographical dictionaries belonging to various fields of scholarship, times of writing or geographical locations of the writer, and on the different ways in which they describe the same group of people: the scholars operating in Baghdad between ca. 892/279 and 946/334. The background for my work is a prosopography, which I have created in the form of a computer database, including all the people of this period mentioned by my sources. On this basis, I devote one section to the comparison of structure, method and criteria of each author. I then select a smaller number of scholars, who appear most often in the sources, and follow their fortune throughout several centuries, thus highlighting the processes through which some have become legendary, some have been almost forgotten, and some are famous for their eccentricity, rather than their science. The three case studies pose several questions on our perception of the past and how the medieval sources have filtered it. These questions are provisionally answered in the conclusion, where the possible future of the research is also outlined.

The aim of this thesis is to consider how Nawal El Saadawi's literary work can be examined on a theoretical level and to locate a possible theoretical framework, in her feminist texts, through which to explore the subjective identity of Arab women and the authenticity and creativity of their discourses. As it is Saadawi's literary output t~at lies at the heart of this research, this thesis begins, after establishing the theoretical framework and terminology that will be employed, with a very necessary situating of her activist and feminist literature within the context of Arabic feminist writing within the male-dominated Arabic literary tradition. The role of Arab women's creative writing in consciousness-raising, the debates around Arab female identity and subjectivity and women's awareness ofthe cultural and political dilemmas oftheir time are all drawn into the discussion. The thesis goes on to present a psychoanalytical approach to Saadawi's feminist literature as a part ofthe study of colonial relations. As I argue, the concept of colonial relations between the colonizer and the native Other can be translated into, and therefore help understand, the dynamics of gender relations within the patriarchal domination of the female Other in the Arab world. This thesis explores Saadawi's fiction and non-fiction work between 1983 and 2002, which present the Arab woman as doubly traumatized by her struggle against foreign domination and a patriarchally hierarchized system. The texts will be used to explore Arab women's oppression and struggle for freedom, and to consider Saadawi's examination of the psychological and physical imprisonment she was subjected to. The thesis culminates in an examination of the writing of the female body and of women's perception of their sexuality through creativity and imagination,a creativity and imagination which is crucial, as Saadawi's work shows, for Arab women's transcendence of gendered hierarchy. Saadawi's novel The Circling Song will be explored through a framework of (Western) poststructuralist theory, with a specific focus on Helene Cixous' concept of feminine writing, revealing the relevance and importance of such ideas for the novel. Ultimately then, what this thesis proposes is a new way of reading Saadawi's work, one which I consider an example of Arab women's struggle to achieve and locate a subjectivity in the Arab as well as the Western worlds. It draws on Western theory, not to colonise or suppress the difference.

For a long time the attention of modern scholars, in the field of Arabic literature had been directed to the study of its various aspects during what has generally been called "golden period! 'q that is to says the pre-Islamic, Early Islamic and Omayyad and first part of the Abbasid period. In approaching the literature produced during the latter part of Abbasid caliphate (towards the end of al-Mutawakkil's time 247 A.H./A.D. 861 they drew a general conclusion that it was then that Arabic literature began to decline in content and this decline persisted until modern times when it was revived by the Egyptian nineteenth century poet al-Barudi. Naturally there were exceptions to this view: al-Mutanabbi, Abu Firas al-Hamdini and Abu al-Alaal-Maarri were known for their excellence.

The work entitled "Mystical doctrines of Farīd-ud-Dīʽn ʽAttār (based on his Mantiq-ut-Tair), has been written, in order to analyse and explain thoroughly, the sūfīc views of a poet, who was considered to be better than the celebrated Sūfī poet Rūmī. ʽAttār is the nom-de-plume of Sheikh Farīd-ud-Dīn of Nishābūr, a famous district of Khurāsān in Irān, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. and was a renowned practical Sūfī-Saint of his times. Mantiq-ut-Tair is his best composition, representing him as a great Sufi and a first-rate poet of the Persian language; but nevertheless, it has not received the proper attention of the scholars. The extent interpretations of the book are very defective and misguiding. The present work, divided into four main chapters is intended to evaluate the contribution of ʽAttār to the sūfīc literature. In the first chapter, his biography has been gleaned from the original and authentic Persian and Arabic sources along with the poet's own sayings as recorded in his own verses. The second chapter contains a critical account of the origin and development of Sūfīsm upto the time of ʽAttār. In order to show the shape of the movement as found by ʽAttār. Different, standard works on Sūfīsm, in English, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and Hindi, have been consulted In Its preparation. The third chapter comprises a thorough and critical analysis of ʽAttār’s mystical doctrines, in general, as well, as, with special reference to his Mantiq-ut-Tair. In fact, it is a comparative study of ʽAttār, comparing and contrasting his sūfīc conceptions with the parallel ideas in other religions viz., Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism etc. The fourth and the last part of the book is a recapitulation of what has been discussed and explained in the preceding chapters, bringing out the focal points of ʽAttār’s mystical theories and experiences. An exhaustive work on ʽAttār has been conspicuous by its absence. The present volume is a humble effort to fill up that gap.

Abū Muḥammad ‘Umarā ibn ‘Alī was born in the Yemen in 515/1121. He studied jurisprudence at Zabid (531-535 A.H.) then he taught Shāfi ‘ī Jurisprudence there. While on pilgrimage to Mecca in 538/1145 he met the Queen al-Ḥurra of Zabid and became one of her close friends. He began trading between Aden and Zabid in 538 A.H., and became rich, famous, and a friend of Ibn Saba’ (the Dā’ī of Aden), his Vizier Bilāl b. Jarīr and his secretary al-‘Abdī. He was sent by the Prince of “al-Haramain” (Qāsim b. Hāshim b. Falita), on a mission to the Fatimid Caliph (al-Fā’iz) in Egypt in 549 A.H. So successful was his mission that the Prince of al-Ḥaramain sent him on another mission in 551 A.H. He went to Egypt and settled there, living happily until Saladin ended the Fatimid Callphate in 567 A.H. when ‘Umāra was involved in a plot to replace the son of the last Fatimid Caliph on the throne. The plot was betrayed and ‘Umāra was executed on 2 Ramaḍān 569/6 April 1175) (Chapter 1 Part I P. 28-78). 2. ‘Umāra had a good character, so that most people liked and respected him. He was a faithful and pious Moslim, so that he seemed proud of his religion. He belonged to Shāfi’ī sect by birth, education and in his way of thinking; so it was said that he was a fanatic of sunna,. He was one of the most learned of the people of his time. He studied jurisprudence, Tafsīr, Hadith, Ḥistory, Arabic literature and language. Then he wrote many books in addition to his “Dīwān”: al-Nukat al-‘Aşriyya, Tārikh al-Yaman, Shu‘arā’ al-Yaman, al-Farā’iḍ and Sīrat al-Sayyida Nafīsa. All this made him gain a good position in society (Chapter 2 P. 77-129). 3. ‘Umāra’s poetic talent was revealed in Adon by the help of al-‘Abdī, grew at Zabid, and his fame made complete in Egypt especially when he joined “Dīwān al-Shu’arā’” in the Fatimid Caliphate. So he became one of the greatest poets of his time until Saladin’s reign when he become neglected. (Chapter 1 Part II P. 131-159). 4. ‘Umāra was a panegyrist. He was expert in eulogy in which was most of his poetry, but he also wrote in most of the poetical themes common to this time; elegy opistolary-poetry, satire, love poetry, ascetic-poetry, descriptive-poetry and other themes. (Chapter 2 P. 160-230). 5. ‘Umāra constantly sought to express his ideas lucidly, so most of his poetry was understood by ordinary readers. Although his style was not distinguished, it was adequate, and his language was eloquent. He was fond of rhetorical figures (Badī’) which can be seen in most of his poetry. While he avoided strange rhymes and rare metres he wrote many "Urjāzas" and "Muwashshaḥs". (Chapter 3. P. 23I - 282). 6. ‘Umāra made use of some of his predecessors’ art, especially Abū Tammām, al-Buḥturi and al-Mutanabbī. Similarly some of his followers benefitted from his art. His poetic thought and descriptions reached a high level, and he won the admiration of Arabs everywhere. His importance, then, was as a poet who was able to recording his poetry the events which happened in his time, and he was one of the pioneers of "Muwashshaḥs" in the east. (Chapter 4. P. 283 - 318).

My interest i n writing this thesis goes back to the days when I was a student i n the University of Baghdad when I was somewhat puzzled by the opinions of some modern scholars who deemed the Arabic Qaslda a fabrication of the Islamic Transmitters and not a Jahillya product of the desert as had always been t r a d i t i o n a l l y held. I have had a love for Arabic poetry since childhood, and have used poetry as the main source whenever possible in this study. The object of this thesis is to determine the merits of the Qaslda as an artistic ideal in Arabic literature, attempting always to portray the setting of the Qaslda in its desert environment with all its vicissitudes. The task before me has not been an easy one for it has led me into fields previously unknown to me, namely viewing the place of the Arabic Qaslda in its Semitic literary environment. I have not attempted to determine whether or not the Qaslda was the work of the RGwat, but have followed the traditional view quoting wherever possible from pre-Islamic sources. The Qasida, the offspring of the barren desert of Arabia, was the poetical ideal of the Bedouin and is to this day the greatest pillar in Arabic literature. Born between the naked sand dunes in that unstable, nomadic environment, it is indeed puzzling that such a stage of poetic perfection could have been reached. It will forever leave in the mind of the reader not only the greatest admiration but also profound bewilderment as to its origins. Lost in the minds of tribal tent-dwellers.

In more than one respect, Mikhail Naimy is a unique Arab writer: through his education in Russian schools in the Lebanon and Palestine and later in Tzarist Russia, he became so familiar with Russian language and literature that he came to write poetry in that language. Later on he emigrated to the United States where he graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Arts and another in Law. Naimy lived in the United States for over twenty years. There he became very familiar with Anglo-Saxon literature. His poems in English were published in several American periodicals and newspapers including The New York Times. Mikhail Naimy is a man of innate religious feeling: born as Orthodox Christian in 1889 in the Lebanon, his wide interest in Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Muslim Sufis widened his outlook on matters concerning religion that he almost came to preach a "faith" of his own, which although broadly based on Christian teachings, came to embrace elements from almost every faith that humanity has known. It is no exaggeration to say that Naimy is one of the most influential thinkers in the Arab World, whose ideas on the question of what attitude the East should take towards Western civilization are of great importance. Naimy propagates the idea that Western civilization is corrupting to the human soul, that its materialistic attitude towards life is to be denounced and that the East should avoid adopting such a civilization. This coming from a thinker who is equally familiar with Western and Eastern cultures adds to the importance of his views, as they seem to influence a large number of younger people in the Arab World. In addition to his views regarding religion, Naimy is one of the earliest pioneers who introduced new concepts regarding literature. His views on the meaning and aims of literature constituted a revolution in literary thinking in the Arab World, a fact which is recognized by scholars interested in the development of Modern Arabic literature.

Comparative literature as a method of study of historical relationships between national literatures is hardly a century old. Though its position in Western literary scholarship is firmly established, its application to the history of Islamic literatures is still in its first stages, The literatures of the Muslim peoples can be said to belong to one common tradition, the basis of which is religious rather than literary. This tradition was established in the 'Abbãsid period, during which Islamic culture was exposed to the strong influence of two main outside factors: the eastern tradition, in which Pahlawi the literature acquired the first place, and/western, mainly Greek, tradition, first made available to the Muslims through the medium of oriental languages and only later in the original tongue. The eastern tradition proved the more potent of the two in the field of literary composition, and its influence, under which many literary genres, conventions and modes of expression developed in Islamic literature, was both stronger and. more durable. The effect of the western tradition, far-reaching in the fields of philosophy and science, was, in literature, superficial and mostly confined to literary criticism.

This thesis is a study of Mughultai's work entitled al-Zahr al-basim fi siyar Abi al-Qasim (literally "Smiling blossom in the siras of Abu al-Qasim") and seeks to place it within the wider genre of slra literature. The thesis argues that this work of Mughultai is not a sira as has generally been believed until now. Instead, I argue that al-Zahr is a commentary similar to the work upon which it tries to comment: the famous commentary on Ibn Hisham's (d. ca. 218/812-3) sira by al-Suhayi (d. 581/1185), al-Rawd al-unuf A narrative of Muhammad's life is provided by another work of MughultaJI, entitled Kitab al-Ishara, which the author himself described as an abridged version of al-Zahr. The reasons for my interpretation of al-Zahr are presented in Chapter 3 of the thesis. This chapter attempts to describe the genre of sira by proposing several fundamental characteristics that distinguish it from other genres of Muslim literary and historical tradition. In a wider sense, the thesis is concerned with the development of sira literature. Here I compare early works with those of later periods to identify changes and shifts within this broad corpus of texts. Due to the sheer amount of the material, I have identified several particularly rich case studies in around fifteen works of sira representing various stages of its development. In analyzing these cases as well as contemporary scholarly approaches to the study of sira, I address questions such as how do we recognize a work of sira; what is the place of sira in relation to other representatives of Muslim literary tradition; and how far does slra reflect the concerns and preconceptions of the generations that produced our sira texts? These questions are addressed with the aim of understanding the dynamics of this complex literature and how the authors working within the tradition perceived their task in relation to its aim and purposes, not with the aim of historical reconstruction of the life of the Prophet. Finally, the biography of the author of my main text, Mughultai is re-examined by utilising primary sources of the period. This examination takes into account the political, social and intellectual milieu of his time and its effect on his scholarly career.

This thesis is an attempt to clarify, and hence to understand, two of the rivalries which were disunifying factors in the umraa of Medina during the lifetime of Muhammad. The divisive qualities of the Ansar and the Munafiqun have, in the past, been ignored and only their influence upon the religious development of Islam has been examined. The rivalry between the Ansar and the Kuhajirun of Quraysh was the origin of the great north/south rivalry which plagued the Islamic empire in the centuries to come, although the seeds of the dispute may be found in the Jahiliya. There remains very little historical evidence of this rivalry although on one occasion it was sufficiently serious to suggest that a minor incident might have provoked a full scale civil war. When it was realized that the Muslims were going to be successful in their conflict with the Quraysh, the Ansar became more resigned to their fate although the election of Abu Bakr indicated that they were not yet reconciled to their position as second class citizens. A study of the historical activities of the Munafiqun indicates that the English word 'hypocrite' does not adequately translate the more complex connotations of the word Munafiq. Their rivalry with the other Muslims was another facet of the struggle of the Madinese against the domination of the Quraysh. They focused the resentment of the Ansar and acted as an internal opposition party until it was realized that victory was impossible. They have been portrayed as the villains of Islamic history and their name has been blackened to an extent which is not justified by a careful study of the available information. The story of their withdrawal from the Muslim army on the route to Uhud is held as an example of their perfidy and yet it seems certain that the story was a later creation designed to shift the blame for the defeat from Muhammad. The Munafiqun represented the traditional values of Madinese society and as such were closely allied to the Jewish tribes. When Muhammad finally joined the pro-Arab faction of Medina they allied themselves to the Jewish faction out of a desire to maintain the status quo. Ibn Ubayy was the leader of the Munafiqun and as such has been vilified by the Muslim historians. During the Jahiliya he had been one of the leading figures of Medina and he continued to play this role after the Hijra, championing the rights of the Madinese against the Quraysh. His early conversion led to a final reconciliation with Muhammad as evidenced by the Prophet praying for him. He failed in his objective of retaining power in the face of the threat posed by Islam because he and the Munafiqun were unable to offer an ideology which could cope with the cnanging society of the community. By accepting a principle of independent action as a tenet of belief he was unable to maintain a body of support upon which he could rely. With the loss of his Jewish allies his failure was complete. Muhammad was forced to control the two rivalries in order to preserve the existence of the umrna. In many ways he acted as a- traditional tribal leader but, by virtue of the fact that he was also the Messenger of God, he was able to apply innovative methods which had never been used effectively in Arabia. Unity was not finally achieved until after his death; however, by the emphasis which was placed upon it the basis was laid for the later expansion of Islam. Prom the study of the rivalries certain implications as to the beginnings of historical writing among the Arabs can be drawn, especially in relation to the biography of Muhammad. m The Islamic bias of the historians should have precluded the inclusion of all but a small portion of the material which relates to the rivalries; however, it did not. It may be concluded that the material was retained in explanation of the descent of Qur'anic verses and to glorify the person of Muhammad. By analysing the basic accounts of some incidents there is an obvious development seen in the handling of the material until the time of al-Tabari when tafsir was divorced from history. Ibn Ishaq had expected his readers to be conversant with the verses of the Qur'an and al-Waqidi had felt it necessary to add a more detailed explanation. It is obvious from the texts that there were other rivalries and disunifying factors in the umma, but any records of them have been removed as unnecessary for the understanding of the Qur'an and as unsuitable for the image of Muhammad as it was conceived in the years after his death. It is also certain that there were other outbreaks of the rivalry between the groups under study in this thesis which have been omitted for the same reasons.