6 - Living Virtues of the Land

Summary

Chapter Six charts the roles of the Companions of Muhammad and the subsequent generation (sahaba and tābiʿūn) in local histories. Heirship to the Prophet includes the actual or ostensible biological descent from Muhammad that sayyids, sharifs, ʿAlids, and other descendants enjoy, as well as the close association to Muhammad of the sahaba, tābiʿūn, and other early members of the Muslim community. By including notables, learned men, Imams, saints and ascetics, sages and philosophers, and to a lesser extent writers and scribes, physicians and poets, and astronomers to the category of those who enjoy heirship to Muhammad, local histories expand the notion of heirship from biological connections to ones based on association and community. Persian local histories claim connections with divine authority that tie the city or region to prophetic authority, which can occur in the form of these special individuals living, teaching, or dying and being buried in the region. Through their corporeal remains, the traditions they transmitted, and their temporary or permanent residence in the region, individuals who form a link to the Prophet are held by authors as integral aspects of the region in ways that deliberately staked out the region’s religious legitimacy and political authority.