Towards the end of the 7th century A.D., Iraq was in a state of near civil war, caused by social and political malaise. Factional and tribal feuds and fierce antagonism to the Umayyad reign threatened the survival of the dynasty as the unifying force of the empire. Into this situation, al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya (d.c. 100/718), a grandson of 'Alī, introduced a peace formula which was intended to pacify the rival religio-political parties. This idea found adherence especially among religious scholars, who quickly broadened its basis, attracting followers to its pacific message. Despite an unstable record of relations with the court, the movement basically supported with its ideology the legitimacy of the Umayyad reign. The popularity of the movement, especially in some scholarly circles in Kufa, led to the formation of a school of religious thought, which had relied on the basic political and religious attitudes of the early Murji'a, but transformed it into a comprehensive theological system. Although not responsible for the actual forging of Murji'ite attitudes, Abū Ḥanīfa had emerged as the eponymous epitome of the movement and the theological school. The first chapter, "Irjā', The Development of the Idea", investigates several possibilities as the source of this notion, among them the alleged Qur'ānic origin, and the Kitāb al-Irjā' attributed to al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya. The second chapter, "The Formation of the Murji'a as a ReligioPolitical Movement" surveys the social and the historical background of the Kufan milieu, the formation of the Murji'ite circle and the social elements it was comprised of, and the position of the movement in political and religious affairs in the first two decades of the 8th century .A.D. The third and last chapter, "The Transformation of the Murji'a from a Political into a Religiously-Oriented School" studies and analyses what is believed to be genuine Murji'ite treatises of religious thought, in comparison to sources of a contemporary rival school and the heresiographers. Special emphasis was laid in the analysis on the subject of theology as a medium for political views.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

When considering the available sources for Islamic history between the seventh and eighth centuries CE, there are few which have greater importance than al-Balādhurī's (d. ca. 892 CE/279 AH) Kitāb Futūḥ al-Buldān (The Book of the Conquest of Lands). While the text and its author are recognized for their importance as a historical source for the early Islamic period, there has previously been no in-depth study of either. This dissertation works to correct these gaps in knowledge of the author and his text by investigating the construction, form, content, and early reception history of al-Balādhurī's book. This research begins by providing a manuscript tradition of Futūḥ al-Buldān, including a discussion of a previously unpublished manuscript. It thereafter illuminates the background of al-Balādhurī, bringing together much of the previous scholarship on the author while augmenting that information with an analysis of biographical sources and the text itself. It situates the author and his text in its ninth/third century milieu, a period of history where the early Arabic historical tradition was still in its infancy and only just being committed to writing. It suggests the text was likely completed at the end of the "anarchy at Sāmarrā'" in the late 860s CE, and highlights the author's role at the court of several 'Abbāsid Caliphs. After this, it discusses a number of al-Balādhurī's most important (and, in some cases, previously understudied) sources of information, and argues that the author chose to differentiate when he was learning information directly from a teacher and when he had access to written sources. It then analyzes the content and themes of the text, placing special attention on the unique form of Futūḥ al-Buldān and its importance in providing modern scholars with information on the conquest, settlement, and building projects of the early Islamic world. In considering these key themes, this research then argues that Futūḥ al-Buldān defies traditional modern genre classification by borrowing form and content from several different Arabic genres including conquest literature (futūḥ), legal texts, and administrative geographies. It contends that both the text's content and form suggest that it was written to be read by courtly administrators in the service of the state as both a site of memory (lieu de mémoire) and as an "administrator's handbook" during a time of upheaval in the 'Abbāsid realm. Finally, it considers the legacy of Futūḥ al-Buldān and the popularity of al-Balādhurī's book throughout the medieval period through an analysis of textual reuse.

Cette thèse étudie la querelle qui opposa deux factions théologico-politiques musulmanes, à savoir la Murǧiʾa et la Qadariyya, sur les questions du libre-arbitre et de la prédestination divine. Les qadarites soutenaient que l’homme est le seul responsable de ses actes ; pour eux, quiconque, y compris le calife, commet un péché capital perd automatiquement sa foi. Par conséquent, il doit soit se repentir soit être exécuté. Les murǧi’ites, quant à eux, défendaient l’idée que les actions des individus devaient être renvoyées au jugement de Dieu, seul capable de juger les secrets des hommes. Pour ce courant, la foi n’est aucunement liée au comportement, étant donné que les actes de l’homme sont dictés par Dieu de toute éternité, selon la thèse de la prédestination divine. Cette position a poussé certains savants de l’époque médiévale ainsi que certains chercheurs modernes à affirmer que les murǧiʾites soutenaient les califes umayyades. Selon ces chercheurs, l’argument des murǧiʾites était que la légitimité des califes umayyades, dont le pouvoir relevait, selon eux, du décret divin, ne devait pas être mise en doute et donc que l’obéissance absolue leur était due, sous peine pour les contestataires, d’aller à l’encontre de la prédestination divine. Ce travail tente de comprendre si les théologiens se sont mêlés de politique au nom d’un rapport intrinsèque avec le théologique, ou si les politiques ont eu recours au religieux pour légitimer leur pouvoir. Pour ce faire, nous avons réévalué les principes de la doctrine murǧiʾite en étudiant ses différentes branches, afin de déterminer le type de rapport que chacune d’elles entretenait avec les califes umayyades. En effet, les différentes révoltes menées par les murğiʾites contre la dynastie contredisent l’idée d’une alliance entre les deux parties. En outre l’implication dans cette querelle théologique des musulmans non-arabes, appelés mawālī, et soutenus par les murğiʾites, pour réclamer l’égalité politique et sociale mérite d’être analysée. C’est pour cette raison que nous tentons de comprendre pourquoi et comment les revendications sociales et politiques des mawālī se sont finement entremêlées aux débats et aux questions théologiques de l’époque. L’analyse du statut et de la notion de ḫalīfat Allāh (calife de Dieu) est primordiale, car elle permet de comprendre si les Umayyades se référaient au terme ḫalīfa mentionné dans le Coran parce qu’ils considéraient leur pouvoir comme sacré ou pas. Les Umayyades ont-ils exploité des questions théologiques à des fins politiques pour légitimer leur pouvoir ? Comment la dimension religieuse a-t-elle justifié leurs actions politiques, et inversement comment leurs choix politiques ont-ils dicté leurs options religieuses ? Enfin, le recours des souverains umayyades au religieux a-t-il entravé le développement d’une réflexion politique rationnelle ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nous avons utilisé des sources très peu utilisées jusqu’à présent par les chercheurs travaillant sur cette époque ancienne, à savoir la poésie arabe et les correspondances épistolaires entre les savants et les califes umayyades. Le recours à la poésie et à la prose arabe est nécessaire, car il permet de confirmer ou d’infirmer les informations données par les historiographes musulmans dont les ouvrages sont postérieurs à l’époque considérée. / This PhD dissertation studies the quarrel between two Muslim theological-political factions, namely the Murǧiʾa and the Qadariyya, over the issues of free will and divine predestination. The qadarites held that man is solely responsible for his actions; for them, anyone, including the caliph, who committed a cardinal sin automatically was lose his faith. Consequently, he must either repent or be executed. The murǧiʾites, for their part, defended the idea that the actions of individuals should be referred to the judgment of God, the only One capable of judging men’s secrets. For this school of thought, faith is in no way linked to behaviour, given that a man’s actions are dictated by God from all eternity, according to the thesis of divine predestination. This position prompted some medieval scholars, as well as some modern researchers, to assert that the murǧiʾites supported the Ummayyad caliphs. According to these scholars, the murǧiʾites’ argument was that the legitimacy of the Umayyad caliphs, whose power came under divine decree, should not be questioned and therefore absolute obedience was due to them, by going against divine predestination. This work attempts to understand whether theologians got involved in politics in the name of an intrinsic relationship with the theological, or whether politicians have resorted to the religious to legitimize their power. To do this, we have re-evaluated the principles of murǧiʾite doctrine by studying its various branches, in order to determine the type of relationship each of them maintained with the Umayyad caliphs. In facts, the various revolts led by the murğiʾites against the ruling dynasty contradict the idea of an alliance between the two parties. Furthermore, the involvement of non-Arab Muslims, known as mawālī, in this theological quarrel, with the supported of the murğiʾites, requesting political and social equality deserves to be analyzed. For this reason, we attempt to understand why and how the social and political demands of the mawālī were finely intertwined with the theological debates and issues of that time. Analysis of the status and notion of Ḫalīfat Allāh (caliph of God) is essential, as it helps us understand whether the Umayyads referred to the term Ḫalīfa mentioned in the Qur’an because they considered their power sacred or not. Did the Umayyads exploit theological issues for political ends to legitimize their power? How did the religious dimension justify political actions, and how the political decisions oriented the religious dogma? Did the Umayyads’ recourse to religion hinder the development of rational political thought? To answer these questions, we have used sources rarely used until now by researchers working on this ancient period, namely Arabic poetry and epistolary correspondence between scholars and the Umayyad caliphs. The use of Arabic poetry and prose is necessary, as it enables us to confirm or refute the information given by Muslim historiographers whose works post-date the period under consideration.