REL 314/HIST 336: Islamic Historiography: An Introduction Spring 2018

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1 Lahore University of Management Sciences REL 314/HIST 336: Islamic Historiography: An Introduction Spring 2018 Instructor Baqar Hassan Syed Office Room 138 (near A-11 in the Academic Block) Office Hours TBA Extension 2321 COURSE BASICS Credit Hours 4 Lecture(s) Recitation/Lab (per week) Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week 2 Duration One Hour Fifty Minutes -- Duration Duration -- COURSE DISTRIBUTION Core Elective Open for Student Category Close for Student Category No Free elective Juniors and Seniors Freshmen and Sophomores COURSE DESCRIPTION This course introduces students to some of the key genres, authors and texts of Islamic historiography before 1400 C.E., with an emphasis on intellectual, political and religious history.

2 We will discuss the historical value of a variety of textual histories and reflect on how these texts inform later writing and uses of history. Apart from introducing students to scholarly debates surrounding hadith and a variety of other genres, some important historical texts will be studied in translation. The range of genres covered include prophetic biography, biographical dictionaries, chronicle, conquest literature and philosophical history. Our central concern will be to explore genealogical links between these forms of historical writing as we study how they take different forms over time. With this animating concern, we will pay equal attention to the contexts of historical writing in order to understand how new creative forms emerge. However, this course does not limit itself to intellectual concerns regarding how Islamic historiography developed. Instead we expect to relate such understanding to issues of authenticity, narrative, authorial intent and agency, available evidence, the invisibility of latent past subjects, silences and conflicts in historical production, and the political and ideological uses of historical memory. This will hopefully allow students to explore and develop their interest in the Islamic past in meaningful ways. COURSE PREREQUISITE(S) SS 101 At least two HSS courses 200 level or higher COURSE OBJECTIVES To familiarize students with the importance of context, genre and genealogy in appreciating historical texts To enable students to use their knowledge of historiography to explain, reconstruct and interrogate the past LEARNING OUTCOMES Students who take HIST 336 should Show familiarity with the different genres of Islamic historiography, their interrelations, scholarly debates around questions of authenticity, narrative, authorial creativity, and the ways in which textual precedents inform future writing and uses of history

3 Demonstrate the ability to read historical texts critically with attention to genre, context and authorial concerns GRADING BREAKUP AND POLICY Class Participation 10% Presentations (One on an assigned reading, another on research; 5+5) 10% Quizzes (One announced quiz, several pop quizzes; 5+15) 20% Analytical Essays (Two in-class essays; 10+10) 20% Paper 40% EXAMINATION DETAIL Yes/No: No Midterm Exam Combine Separate: Duration: Preferred Date: Exam Specifications: Yes/No: No Final Exam Combine Separate: Duration: Exam Specifications: COURSE OVERVIEW 1 Introduction Course outline, objectives, expectations How to read Presentations, notes, drafts and essays OneNote, Zotero, Autohotkey, proper format, transliterations and editing Patricia Crone, How the Field has Changed in my Lifetime, in Islam, the Ancient Near East and Varieties of Godlessness

4 2 The Development of Hadith Genres 3 Methods and History of Hadith Criticism 4 The Authenticity Question 5 Sira and Maghazi Literature 6 Reading Early Sources Jonathan Brown, Hadith: Muhammad s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, pp , Brown, Hadith, pp (1) Brown, Hadith, pp (2) ibid., pp (3) ibid., pp Brown, Hadith, pp (1) Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins, pp (2) Brown, Hadith, pp Tarif Khalidi, The Master Narrative: Muhammad in the Sira in Images of Muhammad : Narratives of the Prophet in Islam Across the Centuries Ibn Ishaq, Sira, selections Shahab Ahmed, Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in Early Islam, pp Announced Quiz *First essay topic assigned 7 Sources of Islamic Historiography 8 Genres of Islamic Historiography 9 The First Civil War 10 Succession to the Prophet (1) Continued from previous session (2) Ahmed, Before Orthodoxy, pp Stephen Humphreys, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry, pp (1) Humphreys, Islamic History, pp. ix-24 (2) Jacques, Arabic Islamic Prosopography: The Tabaqat Genre Chase Robinson, Islamic Historiography, pp (1) Robinson, Islamic Historiography, pp (2) Dwight Reynolds ed., Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition, pp Jonathan Berkey, The Formation of Islam, pp Tayeb El-Hibri, Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-rashid and the Narrative of the Abbasid Caliphate, pp al-ṭabarī, The History of al-ṭabarī, selections Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate, pp. 1-27

5 First Analytical Essay [in-class] 11 Conquest Literature 12 Conquest Literature 13 al-ṭabarī s World History 14 al-ṭabarī s World History 15 al-mas ūdī s Encyclopedic History 16 al-mas ūdī s Encyclopedic History 17 Ibn Miskawayh s Cyclical (1) Berkey, The Formation of Islam, pp (2) ibid., pp (3) ibid., pp *each first session from this week on will begin by looking at the lives and works of these authors before moving to a specific text al-balādhurī, The Origins of the Islamic State, selections [Contents and Introduction] Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought, pp Humphreys, Islamic History, pp *each second session from this week on will be devoted to a close reading of excerpts from the text al-balādhurī, The Origins of the Islamic State, selections [sections on the conquest of Syria and/or Sindh may be discussed as presentations] al-ṭabarī, The History of al-ṭabarī, selections [Contents and Introduction] Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought, pp Boaz Shoshan, Poetics of Islamic Historiography: Deconstructing Ṭabarī s History, pp. xvii-xxxiv al-ṭabarī, The History of al-ṭabarī, selections from Vols. XX and XXXI El-Hibri, Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography, pp al-mas ūdī, Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, selections [Contents and Introduction] Khalidi, The Histories of Mas udi, pp. viii-54 Al-Mas ūdī, Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, selections Ibn Miskawayh, The Experiences of Nations, selections [Contents and Introduction] Kraemer, Humanism in the Renaissance of Islam, pp. 1-30, Khalidi, Arabic Historical Thought, pp Ibn Miskawayh s Cyclical Ibn Miskawayh, The Experiences of Nations Experiences, selections

6 19 Ibn al-athīr s 20 Ibn al-athīr s 21 Abu Shāma s Sequel 22 Abu Shāma s Sequel 23 Ibn Khaldūn s Muqaddimah 24 Ibn Khaldūn s Muqaddimah 25 Kūfī s Chachnāma 26 Kūfī s Chachnāma 27 Research Presentations 28 Research Presentations and Conclusion Ibn al-athīr, Kamil fil Ta rīkh, selections [Contents and Introduction] D.S. Richards, The Annals of the Saljuq Turks, pp Ibn al-athīr, Kamil fil Ta rīkh, selections *Second essay topic assigned Ibn al-athīr, Kamil fil Ta rīkh, selections Abu Shāma, Kitab al-rawḍatayn, selections [Contents and Introduction] Abu Shāma, Dhayl al-rawḍatayn, selections [Contents and Introduction] Konrad Hirschler, Authors as Actors, pp. 1-14, Abu Shāma, Dhayl al-rawḍatayn, selections Hirschler, Authors as Actors, pp , Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, selections [Contents and Introduction] Stephen Frederic Dale, The Orange Trees of Marrakesh, pp. 1-32, Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, selections Dale, The Orange Trees of Marrakesh, pp Kūfī, Chachnāma, selections [Contents and Introduction] Yohanan Friedmann, The Origins and Significance of the Chach Nāma Asif, A Book of Conquest, pp Kūfī, Chachnāma, selections Second Analytical Essay [in-class] Oral Presentations and Discussion Oral Presentations and Discussion Potential paper topics - A critical analysis of a historical text, whole or part - The succession and its contemporary representations - The civil war and its contemporary representations - Gender in Islamic sources and their modern representations - A comparison of the Chachnama to a relatable historical text - A thorough literature review of scholarship on a single major text or author