The History Of Al Abar Vol 31

This book exposes the mimetic assumption involved in early Islamic historiography, its literary practice and whatever subverts it as reflected in Ṭabarī's History. Four major events in the history of early Islam are then subject to analysis based on literary criticism and are shown to produce a new meaning.

The index to the 39-volume History of al-Tabari.

Includes: A history of British India, monthly chronicles of Asian events, accounts, travel literature, general essays, reviews of books on Asia, political analyses, poetry, and letters from readers.

The present volume of the History of al-Ṭabarī deals with the years 14 and 15 of the Islamic era, which correspond to A.D. 635-637. The nascent Islamic state had just emerged victorious from the crisis that followed the Prophet's death in 632 and had suppressed what was known as the riddah ("apostasy") rebellion in the Arabian peninsula. Under the leadership of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the second caliph, or successor to the Prophet Muhammad, the Muslims embarked on the conquests that would soon transform the whole of the Middle East and North Africa into an Arab empire. Most of the present volume describes the battle of al-Qādisiyyah, which took place on the border between the fertile Iraqi lowlands (al-sawad) and the Arabian desert and resulted in the decisive defeat of the Persian army. The Muslim victory at al-Qādisiyyah heralded the downfall of the Sasanian dynasty, which had ruled Persia and Mesopotamia since A.D., the third century; it also paved the way for the conquest of Iraq and facilitated Islamic expansion in Persia and beyond. The volume also deals with the conquest of Syria and Palestine and the Expulsion of the Byzantines from those regions. Particular attention is devoted to the traditions related to the conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the first Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount, and its transformation into an Islamic sanctuary. The volume contains colorful descriptions of the various battles, expatiations on the bravery of the Muslim warriors, and portrayals of the futile negotiations between the parties before the beginning of hostilities. It thus provides the reader with a fascinating insight into the later Muslim traditions related to those crucial events of early Islamic history.

The Ismailis represent an important Shiʿi Muslim community with rich intellectual and literary traditions. The complex history of the Ismailis dates back to the second/eighth century when they separated from other Shiʿi groups under the leadership of their own imams. Soon afterwards, the Ismailis organised a dynamic, revolutionary movement, known as the daʿwa or mission, for uprooting the Sunni regime of the Abbasids and establishing a new Shiʿi caliphate headed by the Ismaili imam. By the end of the third/ninth century, the Ismaili dāʿīs, operating secretly on behalf of the movement, were active in almost every region of the Muslim world, from Central Asia and Persia to Yemen, Egypt and the Maghrib. This book brings together a collection of the best works from Farhad Daftary, one of the foremost authorities in the field. The studies cover a range of specialised topics related to Ismaili history, historiography, institutions, theology, law and philosophy, amongst other intellectual traditions elaborated by the Ismailis. The collation of these invaluable studies into one book will be of great interest to the Ismaili community as well to anyone studying Islam in general, or Shiʿi Islam in particular.

Completed in 1999 by a distinguished group of Arabists and historians of Islam, the annotated translation of al-Ṭabarī's History is arguably the most celebrated chronicle produced in the Islamic lands on the history of the world and the early centuries of Islam. This fortieth volume, the Index, compiled by Alex V. Popovkin under the supervision of Everett K. Rowson, serves as an essential reference tool. It offers scholars and general readers convenient access to the wealth of information provided by this massive work. The Index comprises not only all names of persons and places mentioned by al-Ṭabarī, with abundant cross-referencing, but also a very broad range of subject entries, on everything from "pomegranates" to forms of "punishment." The volume includes a separate index of Quranic citations and allusions, as well as a list of errata and corrigenda to the entire translation.

In this volume, which covers the caliphates of Sulaymān, ʿUmar II, and Yazīd II, al-Ṭabarī provides vivid and detailed accounts of the events spanning the period from 97-105/715-724. We listen to the stirring speeches of Qutaybah ibn Muslim, in which he urges his followers to renounce their allegiance to Sulaymān; are present at the disastrous third and final attempt to take Constantinople; watch from behind the scenes as Rajaʾ ibn Ḥaywah skillfully engineers the accession of 'Umar II; and follow the remarkable career of Yazīd b. al-Muhallab, first as governor and conqueror, then as prisoner, and finally as rebel. Throughout this volume we observe the struggle of the Umayyad regime to maintain control over a rapidly expanding but increasingly dissatisfied subject population. Governors are appointed and dismissed with dizzying rapidity, administrative boundaries are drawn and redrawn, Arab tribesmen express dissatisfaction with the diminishing rewards of military conquest, non-Arab converts chafe at the differential treatment they receive, and religious opponents revolt in the name of "the Book and the Sunnah." Important in their own right, the events of this period provide an essential key to a proper understanding of the 'Abbasid revolution that lay just over the horizon. A discounted price is available when purchasing the entire 39-volume History of al-Ṭabarī set. Contact SUNY Press for more information.