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2 results

Opposing the Imam
  • The Legacy of the Nawasib in Islamic Literature
  • Nebil Husayn
  • Published online:
    29 April 2021
    Print publication:
    29 April 2021
  • Islam's fourth caliph, Ali, can be considered one of the most revered figures in Islamic history. His nearly universal portrayal in Muslim literature as a pious authority obscures centuries of contestation and the eventual rehabilitation of his character. In this book, Nebil Husayn examines the enduring legacy of the nawasib, early Muslims who disliked Ali and his descendants. The nawasib participated in politics and scholarly discussions on religion at least until the ninth century. However, their virtual disappearance in Muslim societies has led many to ignore their existence and the subtle ways in which their views subsequently affected Islamic historiography and theology. By surveying medieval Muslim literature across multiple genres and traditions including the Sunni, Mu'tazili, and Ibadi, Husayn reconstructs the claims and arguments of the nawasib and illuminates the methods that Sunni scholars employed to gradually rehabilitate the image of Ali from a villainous character to a righteous one.

  • 3 - The Muʿtazilī: al-Jāḥiẓ

  • Nebil Husayn, University of Miami
  • Book:
    Opposing the Imam
    Published online:
    29 April 2021
    Print publication:
    29 April 2021, pp 65-88

  • Summary

    Chapter 3 examines the views of al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/869), a Muʿtazilī belletrist who lived in a period in which anti-ʿAlid sentiment still ran high in various parts of the Muslim world. His Risālat al-ʿUthmāniyya examines the views of one of the factions introduced in the previous chapter and constitutes a seminal text for understanding this anti-ʿAlid current in early Islam. Al-Jāḥiẓ’s treatise triggered a number of rebuttals from authors who condemned him as an anti-ʿAlid.