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.