This is a dissertation project on medieval Arabic rhetoric and philosophy that focuses on the innovative nature of the knowledge produced while translating and commenting on foreign works of science and philosophy in Abbasid Baghdad. Chapter One challenges colonial attitudes toward the Translation Movement as exclusively imitative and preservative. The chapter shows that the translations had practical and ideological purposes to fulfill, not simply archival ones. Translation genres are discussed to show how deletions, additions, and new material were introduced during the translation process to ensure that that translation work met the goals of the sponsors. The work of the most renowned translator, Hunayn Ibn Ishaq is discussed in some detail to illustrate the process of translation and to show that translation overlapped with knowledge making. The chapter also covers the translation done in fields such as medicine, astronomy, and philosophy. Chapter Two covers how the work of theorists such as Edward Said, Michel Foucault, and Mikhail Bakhtin enabled me to challenge an Orientalist attitude toward medieval Arabic philosophy as was as show its innovative nature. In Chapter Three, I provide a translation of al-Kindi's "A Statement on the Soul," followed by an analysis of the epistemological and persuasive significance of the treatise. The chapter illustrates how the Arabic engagement with Greek and Neo-Platonic knowledge was dialogic in nature. Chapter Four is a translation of al-Farabi's book of rhetoric. Chapter Five is an analysis of al-Farabi's theory of rhetoric that is based on the previous chapter. It focuses on his understanding of rhetoric as a logical art, how logical and rhetorical terms acquired new meanings when translated from Greek to Arabic in his work, and the rhetorical nature of his work as he adapted Platonic and Aristotelian models to suit his monotheistic context.

Le "Futuh al-Habasa", récit en arabe de différentes guerres menées par l'imam Ahmad depuis le sultanat du "Bar Sa'ad ad-din" contre le royaume chrétien d'Ethiopie entre les années 1520 et 1535/1537, relate notamment comment l'essentiel des territoires chrétiens est passé provisoirement sous domination musulmane au cours de la « conquête de l'Abyssinie » (1531-1543). En analysant cette source endogène unique en son genre, cette thèse vise à proposer un changement de perspective dans la manière dont est abordée l'histoire de l'Ethiopie, an accordant sa pleine place à l'islam éthiopien, au carrefour entre les études éthiopiennes et celles sur l'islam médiéval.L'analyse littéraire du "Futuh al-Habasa" révèle que son auteur, Arab Faqih, rédigea cet ouvrage après l'échec de la « conquête de l'Abyssinie », probablement en vue de convaincre les élites du "Bar Sa'ad ad-din" de repartir à la conquête du royaume chrétien. En faisant appel à la littérature des premiers siècles de l'islam mais aussi à des références plus contemporaines, Arab Faqih réalise ainsi une apologie du "gihad" en présentant l'imam Ahmad comme le modèle du parfait "mugahid".D'autre part l'étude de l'histoire du "Bar Sa'ad ad-din" (1415-1583), des rapports de pouvoir au sein du sultanat et des relations que ce dernier entretenait avec le royaume chrétien voisin, révèle les facteurs internes à cette société qui ont conduit l'imam Ahmad à entreprendre une telle guerre. Le Futuh al-Habasa montre enfin que cette conquête vit l'émergence de nouvelles pratiques de guerre et de nouvelles manières de la penser, et détaille le projet d'une « grande Ethiopie musulmane » qui ne survécut pas à la mort de l'imam en 1543. / The Futuh al-Habasa is an Arabic language account of a number of wars initiated by the imam Ahmad from the Bar Sa'ad ad-din sultanate against the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia between the years 1520 and 1535/1537 ; of particular interest is its narrative of the temporary Muslim domination of the majority of the Christian territories during the conquest of Abyssinia (1531-1543). Through analysis of this unique endogenous source this PhD aims to propose a new way to approach th history of Ethiopia by considering the Ethiopian Islam as a full-fledged topic, at the crossroads between the studies on Ethiopia and those on Medieval Islam.The literary analysis of the Futuh al-Habasa reveals that its author, Arab Faqih, wrote this account after the failure of the « conquest of Abyssinia », probably with a view to convince the elites of the Bar Sa'ad ad-din to march on the Christian kingdom once again. Drawing on literature from the first centuries of Islam as well as on more contemporary references, Arab Faqih thus writes an apology of gihad, presenting the imam Ahmad as being an example of the perfect mugahid.On the other hand, studying the history of the Bar Sa'ad ad-din (1415-1583), the power relationships inside the sultanate and its links with the neighbouring Christian kingdom, reveals the factors internal to this society that pushed the imam Ahmad to undertake such a war. The Futuh al-Habasa shows finally that during this conquest, new practices of war and new ways of conceiving it emerged. It also details the project of a « great Muslim Ethiopia » that didn't survive the death of the imam in 1543.

A l’instar de la philia dans l’Antiquité grecque, l’amitié en Orient musulman aux IVe/Xe et Ve/XIe siècles ne se réduit pas à la relation affective de personne à personne que nous voyons en elle aujourd’hui. Elle déborde le strict domaine de l’intimité pour dire la vie en communauté et renvoyer à une exigence de fraternité humaine généralisée. Elle participe ainsi à la constitution de groupes sociaux comme celui des raffinés à l’intérieur de l’espace aulique chez al-Waššā’, elle préside, d’après al-Sulamī, au compagnonnage spirituel des disciples rassemblés autour du maître soufi, elle concourt encore à la formation, à la cohésion et au maintien, en une totalité unifiée, du groupe des Iḫwān al-Ṣafā’, dont les membres sont déjà réunis par leur adhésion à une doctrine philosophique originale. La capacité unificatrice qu’elle recèle et les valeurs morales qu’elle promeut l’érigent, selon al-Tawḥīdī et Miskawayh, en un idéal sur lequel se régler pour ourdir la toile sociale et remédier à l’insociabilité et aux divisions qui marquent l’Empire oriental musulman à l’époque ici considérée. Dans une optique religieuse, chez al-Ġazālī, sa pratique particulière comme amitié en Dieu, orientée vers le transcendant, tend à vider le cœur de l’homme de la présence du moi pour laisser place au Très-Haut, elle contribue alors à l’élaboration d’une éthique véritablement musulmane et permet de redonner vie religieuse effective à la communauté musulmane (umma). L’amitié entre l’homme de lettres et l’homme de pouvoir, prônée par al-Tawḥīdī, peut en outre jouer un rôle politique, en ce qu’elle modifie les rapports traditionnels entre le conseiller et le prince. / Similar to the philia in Greek antiquity, friendship in the Muslim Orient, during the 4th/10th and the 5th/11th centuries, cannot be reduced to the emotional relationship between people which we see nowadays. It extends beyond the strict domain of intimacy to signify life in the community, and leads to a demand for generalized human brotherhood. It thus contributes, for al-Waššā’, to the setting up of social groups such as that of the refined ones inside the princely court; it presides, according to al-Sulamī, over the spiritual fellowship of the disciples gathered around the Sufi master; it also contributes to the forming, cohesion and maintenance, in a wholly unified organization, of the Iḫwān al-Ṣafā’ group, whose members are already united through their allegiance to an original philosophical doctrine. The unifying capacity it holds and the moral values it promotes establish it, according to al-Tawḥīdī and Miskawayh, as an ideal to look up to so as to weave the social framework and address the unsociability and divisions that characterize the era of the Eastern Muslim Empire we are studying here. Within a religious perspective, in al-Ġazālī, its particular practice as love in God, oriented towards the transcendent, tends to empty man’s heart of the ego to make place for the Most High. It then contributes to the elaboration of a truly Muslim ethic and enables to revitalize the religious life of the Muslim community (umma). The friendship between the man of letters and the man of power, advocated by al-Tawḥīdī, can, moreover, play a political role, in so far as it modifies the traditional relationship between the counsellor and the prince.

Extrait de: Thèse de doctorat--Études sur le monde arabe--Bordeaux 3, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 539-568. Index. IFPO = Institut français du Proche-Orient.

Academisch proefschrift--Leyden.

Thesis (doctoral)--Jāmiʻat ʻAyn Shams, Cairo, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 521-[548]).

Zugl.: Köln, Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Bonn. / Without thesis note.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Hafez, Mohammed ; Baylouny, Anne Marie. "June 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: Hamas, Israel-Palestinian conflict, Peace process, Gaza Strip current situation, West Bank, social movement theory, Islamist movements, Islamic nationalism, Palestinian political parties, Operation "Cast Lead," Oslo Peace Accords, Palestinian 2006 elections. Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-142). Also available in print.

Th. 3e cycle--Islamologie--Paris IV, 1977. / Bibliogr. p.197-202. Index.