The Arabic Historical Tradition & the Early Islamic Conquests: Folklore, Tribal Lore, Holy War

207 Pages·2015·1.42 MB·English

by  Boaz Shoshan

The Arabic Historical Tradition and
the Early Islamic Conquests
The early Arab conquests pose a considerable challenge to modern- day histori-
ans. The earliest historical written tradition emerges only after the second half of
the eighth century – over one hundred years removed from the events it contends
to describe and undoubtedly influenced by the motives and interpretations of its
authors. Indeed, when speaking or writing about the past, fact was not the only,
nor even the prime, concern of Muslims of old.
The Arabic Historical Tradition and the Early Islamic Conquests presents a
thorough examination of Arabic narratives on the early Islamic conquests. It
uncovers the influence of contemporary ideology, examining recurring fictive
motifs and evaluating the reasons behind their use. Folklore and tribal traditions
are evident throughout the narratives, which aimed to promote individual, tribal
and regional fame through describing military prowess in the battles for the
spread of Islam. Common tropes are encountered across the materials, which all
serve a central theme: the moral superiority of the Muslims, which destined them
to victory in God’s plan.
Offering a key to the state of mind and agenda of early Muslim writers, this
critical reading of Arabic texts will be of great interest to students and scholars
of early Arabic History and Literature, as well as serve as a general resource for
Middle Eastern History.
Boaz Shoshan is Professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev where he has
also served as Chair of the General History department. His research focuses on
the historiography of early Islam and the history of the Mamluk period.
Routledge studies in classical Islam
Series Editor: Andrew Rippin
University of Victoria, Canada
The nature of the historical period in which the emergence of Islamic civilization
occurred has produced vigorous scholarly debate. While the general impact of
the newly formed Arab empire on pre- existing cultures is evident to historians,
establishing the varied trajectories of the transition from pre- Islamic times to the
period in which the establishment of an Islamic social, political, administrative
and cultural order is a matter of significant discussion. Routledge studies in clas-
sical Islam is dedicated to the best scholarship on that period, revealing the dif-
ficulties and the complexities in establishing the history of the time. Focusing on
the Arab and Persian worlds up to the tenth century, the series includes original
textual sources in translation, modern scholarly works not previously available
in English, and newly commissioned works dedicated to examining the period
critically in light of the evidence that is available to historians today. Every work
in this series focuses on the question of “how do we know” when it comes to
establishing the history of this controversial period, producing a persuasive body
of insightful scholarship as conducted in the academic community today.
1 The Biography of Muhammed
Nature and authenticity
Gregor Schoeler
Translated by Uwe Vagelpohl, edited by James E. Montgomery
2 The Life of Muhammad
Al- Waqidi’s Kitab al-M aghazi
Edited by Rizwi Faizer
3 Muhammad and the Supernatural
Medieval Arab views
Rebecca R. Williams
4 The Arabic Historical Tradition and the Early Islamic Conquests
Folklore, tribal lore, Holy War
Boaz Shoshan
The Arabic Historical
Tradition and the Early
Islamic Conquests
Folklore, tribal lore, Holy War
Boaz Shoshan
First published 2016
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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© 2016 Boaz Shoshan
The right of Boaz Shoshan to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Shoshan, Boaz.
Arabic historical tradition and the early Islamic conquests / Boaz Shoshan.
pages cm. – (Routledge studies in classical islam ; 4)
1. Islam–Historiography. 2. Islamic Empire–Historiography. I. Title.
BP49.S555 2016
297.09'021–dc23 2015011646
ISBN: 978-1-138-91894-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-68814-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
In memory of Patricia Crone
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface viii
Introduction 1
1 Tribal lore on the conquests 29
2 Tropes of Islamic superiority 53
3 Yarmūk – another view 83
4 ʿUmar in Jerusalem 110
5 When Muslims meet infidels 134
6 The conquest of Egypt: Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥ akam and beyond 154
Epilogue 170
Bibliography 179
Index 191
Preface
Like my previous books, the present one is the result of many years of teaching
undergraduate classes at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. I owe many stu-
dents, in fact too many to name, a great deal for forcing me to sharpen and revise
my thoughts on the subject and look again and again at texts we read together.
The idea for writing this book was shaped while spending a fruitful spring in
2009 as a visiting scholar at the Oriental Institute of the University of Oxford.
Further research and thinking was done while spending equally productive short-
term stays at Stanford University and the Center for Studies in Religion and
Society at the University of Victoria. I thank these three academic institutions
for allowing me access to their libraries and to other aspects of their facilities.
Portions of early drafts of the book were presented at SOAS London, The
Middle East Center of the University of Chicago, the University of Victoria and
Goettingen University. On all these occasions, I benefited from comments made
by participants. Professors Michael Cook, Robert Hoyland and Michael Lecker
read parts of early drafts and made useful suggestions. Dr. Gershon D. Lewental
and Dr. Scott Savran kindly provided me with copies of their unpublished Ph.D.
dissertations, from which I learned a great deal. Professors Yohanan Friedmann
and Ella Landau-T asseron drew my attention to certain bibliographical items that
had escaped me. I also thank the two anonymous readers for their suggestions,
Professor Andrew Rippin for including this book in the Routledge series, Holly
Jones at Routledge and Kate Short, my copy-e ditor.
This book is dedicated to the memory of Professor Patricia Crone. It is
impossible to overemphasize her outstanding contribution to the field of early
Islamic history. Since the 1970s, she has been one of the leading scholars in this
field. A couple of years ago, when preparing a draft of this book, I wrote to
Patricia about the possibility of reading it critically. Patricia declined, explaining
to me that, due to her health problems, she needed the time for proceeding with
her own work. Of course, I perfectly understood that. I should add that, in the
exchange we had then, I could see not only an excellent scholar – that was hardly
news – but a most impressive human being. So it is with warm feelings to both
Patricia the scholar and the person that this book is dedicated.
Introduction
Methodological premises and argument
About to describe the capture of Fiḥl in the Jordan Valley1 in 13/634–35,2 Abū
Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭ abarī, arguably the most important historian in
the ʿAbbāsid period,3 has a problem to share with his readers.
[We] will relate the matter of Fiḥl, though the report that relates it contains
the differences of opinion that I have mentioned regarding the conquests of
the army of Syria. In fact, among the disagreeable aspects [of this study]
is the occurrence of such a difference as the one I have noted about the date
of this battle, [a difference that arose] because of the nearness [in time] of
some of those [battles] to others.4
Here, al-Ṭ abarī alludes to difficulties he had raised earlier: while Ibn Isḥāq, the
author of Sīrat rasūl Allāh, and one of his authorities, places the battle at Fiḥl in
his account of the year 13, Sayf b. ʿUmar, al-Ṭ abarī’s primary source for the
early conquests, does so in his report about the following year. For al-Ṭ abarī,
then, the problem is one of chronology rather than content. That Sayf provides
an account considerably different from Ibn Isḥāq’s passes him by unnoticed.5
With all due respect, modern historians may look at the records differently.
Like early Islamic history in general, the early Arab conquests of the 630s and
640s should pose for them a considerable challenge and require a skeptical view
as regards the possibility of writing their history, certainly more skeptical than
al-Ṭ abarī and his followers. There are compelling reasons for such skepticism
that by now are well known, if not always accepted. The earliest historical
written tradition, although claimed to rely on still earlier, both oral and written,
materials, emerges after the mid-e ighth century and is more than one hundred
years removed from the events it contends to inscribe. Even those scholars
assuming an early emergence of a written historical tradition usually do not date
it earlier than the beginning of the second hijrī century, that is, the 720s.6 Grant-
ing that it originally circulated, at least for some generations, orally,7 we are in
the dark as to what happened to this tradition when transformed from fluid
memorialization to fixed, written texts. An assumption that both specific reports
and the overall tendency were affected in the process cannot be completely