Arabica

Résumé Le présent article propose une hypothèse de lecture au sein du grand œuvre du poète palestinien Mahmoud Darwich (1941-2008), à savoir celle d’un passage du motif de la dualité à celui d’un entre-deux. Il s’agit de montrer comment s’opère la création de ce nouvel espace intermédiaire et quels sont ses tenants et ses aboutissants, d’un point de vue sémantique et également structurel. L’accent est mis sur l’usage novateur que le poète va faire de l’outil prépositionnel exprimant le lieu, en particulier celui de bayna (entre), qui va symboliser, mieux que tout autre, ce nouvel espace de l’entre-deux.

Abstract The corpus of Arabic papyri contains many letters initiated by, or addressed to, women. However, this material has been under-utilized by linguists and historians to investigate how concepts of gender were constructed, performed, and potentially exploited in the early Islamic period. In this article, I analyze the arguments put forward in eight private letters of request from a brother and sister addressed to their brother. Relying on the concepts of rhetoric of truth and vernacular rhetoric, I demonstrate how the siblings give weight to their arguments, strategically use religious formulae, and appeal to social ties in the letters, and show how gender intersected with contemporary rhetoric of charity and almsgiving. This demonstrates that careful study of the rhetoric of women’s letters in Arabic papyri is a promising avenue of research that will expand our understanding of vernacular concepts of gender and social obligation in the early Islamic period.

Résumé Cet article se propose d’éclaircir le concept d’ iqwāʾ à partir de l’étude de textes classiques. L’objectif de cette étude est double. Dans la première partie de l’article, nous tenterons de décrire le phénomène connu dans la littérature classique sous le nom d’ iqwāʾ et, dans la deuxième partie, nous nous pencherons sur les récits mettant en scène al-Nābiġa accusé d’ iqwāʾ . Enfin nous aborderons, dans la dernière partie, la question des valeurs esthétiques attribuées par Ibn Ǧinnī à des phénomènes ressemblant fortement à l’ iqwāʾ . La question à laquelle nous souhaiterions répondre dans cet article est la suivante: l’ iqwāʾ a-t-il toujours été un défaut, comme semblent le laisser accroire les textes classiques? Al-Aḫfaš al-Awsaṭ n’affirme-t-il pas: «L’ iqwāʾ est un défaut bien que les Arabes l’aient beaucoup pratiqué» ( ammā l-iqwāʾ fa-maʿīb wa-qad takallamat bi-hi l-ʿArab kaṯīran )? Comment expliquer ce paradoxe apparent? Que nous dit le terme de « maʿīb » à propos de l’histoire de la critique poétique d’une part et, d’autre part, sur l’histoire des pratiques des locuteurs-poètes arabes?

Abstract The question of jihad in Ibn Taymiyya’s work and its contemporary relevance has captured scholarly interest in recent years. Among Ibn Taymiyya’s writings on jihad, which offer significant research opportunities and have been little studied, is the short treatise commonly titled: Qāʿida fī l-inġimās fī l-ʿaduww wa-hal yubāḥ ( A Rule on Plunging into the Enemy: Is this Permitted? ). Ibn Taymiyya addresses the issue ( masʾala ) of a fighter (or group of fighters) who, in a war context and for the benefit of Islam and Muslims, decides to charge into the ranks of a numerically superior infidel army, fully aware of the likelihood of death. In this article, I analyze the Quranic verses and hadiths that Ibn Taymiyya cites in this epistle to support his stance on the issue of al-inġimās . Subsequently, I review Ibn Taymiyya’s arguments in light of his other writings and compare the gathered insights with those from other religious and historical sources.

Abstract This article analyzes the intellectual origins and rhetorical function of Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿ⁠arrī’s (d. 449/1057) definition of time in his Risālat al-Ġufrān (Epistle of Forgiveness). My approach problematizes the tendency of scholars to overemphasize Greek and Zoroastrian influences on al-Maʿ⁠arrī’s philosophical beliefs in ways that diminish the significance of his poetic and Islamic contexts. Instead, I argue that al-Maʿ⁠arrī’s account of time draws on the atomistic cosmology of Muslim theologians and serves within its rhetorical setting to defend his literary predecessor Abū l-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī (d. 354/965) against the charge of being a materialist ( dahrī/dahriyya ). Beyond this argumentative context, I demonstrate how al-Maʿ⁠arrī’s engagement with the theological concept of time as the sum of momentary occurrences develops in his poetry in ways that foreground his pessimistic discourse and poetic scholarship.

This article examines the title al-Sayyid which has been claimed on the basis of numismatic evidence to have been adopted by the Marinids. A re-examination of the coin inscriptions of the Marinid amir Abd al-Rafiman b. Ali (776/1374-784/1382) demonstrates that the attribution of the title al-Sayyid to Abd al-Ratiman, and by extension to the Marinids, results from an incorrect reading of his coinage. An appendix provides a list of the principal coin issues struck by Abd al-Rabman b. Ali.

Au début du XX e siècle, lorsque l’occupation coloniale commence dans le Sahara et le Sahel central, la langue et la graphie arabes, qui sont en usage depuis plusieurs siècles dans ces sociétés islamisées, continuent d’être les médiums du droit, de la religion, des écrits personnels et de la correspondance y compris lors d’interactions avec les colonisateurs. Pourtant, l’importance des usages de la culture écrite musulmane en langue arabe et leur rôle dans les débuts de l’occupation coloniale ont longtemps été sous-estimés. Les positions des lettrés musulmans de cette région sur la colonisation, identifiables dans ces écrits, reflètent les quatre types de réponses classiques en Islam : l’évitement par la hiǧra , la soumission, la confrontation notamment par le ǧihād et l’alliance ou l’accommodement. L’analyse et la traduction d’un manuscrit composé par un lettré touareg Kel Essouk originaire du Mali actuel ayant choisi l’accommodement avec les colonisateurs et produit un texte pour répondre aux accusations de mécréance ( takfīr ), de libertinage ( tafsīq ) et d’injustice ( taǧwīr ) contre sa communauté, permettent de comprendre pourquoi certains de ces groupes lettrés ont fait ce choix.

Cairene Sufis ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Šaʿrānī (d. 973/1565) and his master ʿAlī l-Ḫawwāṣ (d. 939/1532) formulated an original mystical-legal theory that linked the existence of the religious obligation ( taklīf) as well as the origins of Islamic law to the myth of Adam’s Fall. Expressed in the form of a fatwā , the theory synthesized numerous Islamic legal, theological, and Sufi sources, including the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity ( Rasāʾil Iḫwān al-Ṣafāʾ ), which is widely regarded as the first Islamic philosophical encyclopedia. This article sheds light on the remarkable parallels between the Epistles and the Sufi theory, demonstrating that al-Ḫawwāṣ and his disciple utilized the Epistlesʾ ideas to articulate their teaching on Islamic law, the human deficiency, and self-reform, and to reinforce the spiritual authority of the local Sufi šayḫs . The convergence of social crisis and eschatological expectations during the times of the Brethren in the fourth/tenth century and the Cairene Sufis in the tenth/sixteenth century brought forth the enduring relevance of the Epistle ’s Adamic narratives in the late medieval period. This article delves into the Sufisʾ engagement with the Epistles within the wider scope of how the contentious works of the Brethren were received among Ottoman mystics and jurists in Cairo.

The contributions of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālī (d. 505/1111) to philosophy, theology, logic, metaphysics, and Sufism have been widely analysed. However, few scholars have studied his role as a jurist, even though he authored ten works on Šāfiʿī law, works that were celebrated in contemporary and later scholarly circles, and earned him the title “the second al-Šāfiʿī.” In this article, I examine his two texts in Islamic law, the Waǧīz and Ḫulāṣa , in an effort to shed light on the history of codification in the Šāfiʿī school. I argue that al-Ġazālī wrote these texts following upon his two earlier lengthy commentaries in which he canonised school doctrine. In the Waǧīz and Ḫulāṣa , he tried to standardise school doctrine by presenting concise, structured and authoritative views, and offering straightforward rulings with little discussion of internal disagreement. Al-Ġazālī’s contributions to substantive law challenge the prevailing wisdom on the early history of legal codification. In fact, al-Ġazālī sought to codify Šāfiʿī law, and his efforts had a significant influence on the later trajectories of Islamic law, providing a blueprint for many subsequent codifications.

Cairene Sufis Abd al-Wahhab al-& Scaron;a`rani (d. 973/1565) and his master Ali l-Hawwas (d. 939/1532) formulated an original mystical-legal theory that linked the existence of the religious obligation (takl & imacr;f) as well as the origins of Islamic law to the myth of Adam's Fall. Expressed in the form of a fatwa, the theory synthesized numerous Islamic legal, theological, and Sufi sources, including the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (Rasa'il Ihwan al-Safa'), which is widely regarded as the first Islamic philosophical encyclopedia. This article sheds light on the remarkable parallels between the Epistles and the Sufi theory, demonstrating that al-Hawwas and his disciple utilized the Epistles' ideas to articulate their teaching on Islamic law, the human deficiency, and self-reform, and to reinforce the spiritual authority of the local Sufi & scaron;ayhs. The convergence of social crisis and eschatological expectations during the times of the Brethren in the fourth/tenth century and the Cairene Sufis in the tenth/sixteenth century brought forth the enduring relevance of the Epistle's Adamic narratives in the late medieval period. This article delves into the Sufis' engagement with the Epistles within the wider scope of how the contentious works of the Brethren were received among Ottoman mystics and jurists in Cairo.