عنوان

Closest in Friendship? Al-Jāhiz' Profile of Christians in Abbasid Society in "The Refutation of Christians" ("Al-Radd 'alā al-Nasārā")

شماره

TL48252

زبان متن نوشتاري يا گفتاري و مانند آن

انگلیسی

عنوان اصلي

Closest in Friendship? Al-Jāhiz' Profile of Christians in Abbasid Society in "The Refutation of Christians" ("Al-Radd 'alā al-Nasārā")

نام عام مواد

[Thesis]

نام نخستين پديدآور

Nathan P. Gibson

نام ساير پديدآوران

Griffith, Sidney H.

نام ناشر، پخش کننده و غيره

The Catholic University of America

تاریخ نشرو بخش و غیره

2015

نام خاص و کميت اثر

262

متن يادداشت

Committee members: Talia, Shawqi N.; Valkenberg, Wilhelmus

متن يادداشت

Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-79020-7

جزئيات پايان نامه و نوع درجه آن

Ph.D.

نظم درجات

Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures

کسي که مدرک را اعطا کرده

The Catholic University of America

امتياز متن

2015

متن يادداشت

Abbasid society in ninth-century Iraq faced the challenge of reconciling the role of its many non-Muslim citizens with Islamic norms and governance, as seen in "The Refutation of Christians" by al-Jahiz (d. 868/869 [255 A.H.]). Al-Jahiz moved in circles only one step removed from those of the Christian and Jewish intellectuals he came to criticize in the work, and he likely composed it just prior to Caliph al-Mutawakkil's watershed reforms in non-Muslim policy. Thus, the "Refutation" is a primary source for understanding shifting Muslim sensibilities toward Christians' societal role in a religiously diverse realm, but its polemic approach makes it problematic to analyze historically. This dissertation seeks to make "The Refutation of Christians" more accessible as a historical source by performing a contextual analysis of its argumentation. Al-Jahiz' rhetorical strategy is to explain away factors behind popular Muslim preferences for Christians over Jews, and then to advance positive reasons for considering Christians more harmful than Jews. Argumentation analysis using the pragma-dialectical approach highlights salient social points at issue between Christians and Muslims of the time. First, al-Jahiz' dispute is not directly with Christians, but with Muslims who show them too much respect and liberality. Second, he must reframe certain facts about Christians that are too generally accepted to contradict, including memories of Arabs' pre-Islamic and early Islamic contacts with Christians, and Christian intellectuals' crucial role in perpetuating Greek scientific works. He turns these favorable perceptions into liabilities, arguing that Christians' intellectualism diverts weak Muslims from the faith and their social position violates Christian-Muslim agreements. Finally, in contrast to the jurists' approach, he argues for enforcing the original intention of these agreements rather than trying to demonstrate specific historical stipulations. Al-Jahiz' ideology aligns with al-Mutawakkil's Qur'anically charged edicts, in that Christians, far from being "closest in friendship" (5:82), are those with whom believers must not make any alliance (5:51). As such, the "Refutation" reveals the battle lines between more lenient, popular Muslim attitudes and a stricter position promoted by al-Jahiz and enforced by al-Mutawakkil.

موضوع مستند نشده

Middle Eastern literature; Religious history; Middle Eastern history; Arabs; Academic discourse; Jews; Ideology; Argumentation; Attitudes; Greek language

اصطلاح موضوعی

Language, literature and linguistics;Philosophy, religion and theology;Social sciences;Abbasid;Argumentation;Christians;Dhimmi;Jahiz;Muslims;Mutawakkil `Alá Allah, Caliph

مستند نام اشخاص تاييد نشده

Temple, Walter S.

مستند نام اشخاص تاييد نشده

Griffith, Sidney H.

تقسيم فرعي

Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures

مستند نام تنالگان تاييد نشده

The Catholic University of America

شماره بازیابی

1691345901; 3705692

نام الکترونيکي

فرمت انتشار

p

نوع ماده

[Thesis]

کد کاربرگه

276903

سطح دسترسي

a

تكميل شده

Y