樱花动漫

Dear Colleagues,
We’d like to invite you to the next online Monday Majlis of the Centre for the Study of Islam, Exeter:
Monday the 6th of February, 17:00-18:30 (UK time)
Livnat Holtzman, How Sunni was the Qadiri Creed? An Alternative Reading in the Sources

Registration is required. Register please on this link:

Abstract
The Q??dir?? creed (al-i??tiq??d al-q??dir??) is a series of documents and books issued by the Abbasid caliph al-Q??dir bi-ll??h (r. 381/991-422/1031). In the years 408/1017-8 and 409/1018-9, the caliph issued two documents. In the year 420/1029, the caliph issued three books. None of these documents and books (henceforth “the Q??dir?? creed”) have survived. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Swiss scholar Adam Mez (d. 1917) located a concise text of 770 words in Ibn al-Jawz??’s (d. 597/1201) al-Muntaá?“am f?? ta??r??kh al-rusul wa-l-mul??k and identified it as the Q??dir?? creed (al-i??tiq??d al-q??dir??). This text cites the various elements of the Sunni credo, denounces the Mu??tazil?? and Shi??i doctrines, and reflects the caliph’s commitment to Sunnism. Mez’s translation of the text was published posthumously in 1922 and translated into English in 1937. Since the publication of the text, modern scholarship has regarded it as the Q??dir?? creed. Moreover, al-Q??dir’s authorship of this text was never questioned.

In the following presentation, I challenge the identification of the text as the Q??dir?? creed and examine al-Q??dir’s alleged role as the author of the creed. Al-Q??dir was indeed the eponymous author of the Q??dir?? creed, but his role as an author was not as exclusive as the previous studies considered. Moreover, I claim that the text which is available in Ibn al-Jawz??’s al-Muntaá?“am is not the Q??dir?? creed but the Q??dir??-Q????im?? creed or the IQQ (initials of al-i??tiq??d al-q??dir?? wa-l-q????im??). This text was authored by an anonymous author at the request of al-Q??dir’s son and successor, al-Q????im bi-amr All??h (r. 422/1030-467/1075). The Q??dir?? creed and the IQQ were authored for different reasons. While the Q??dir?? creed led to an escalation in conflict in the relationships between Sunnism and Shi??ism, the IQQ version was meant to reconcile between different wings within the Sunni community, namely the á?¤anbal??s and the Ash??ar??s. These two trends of Islamic traditionalism were divided on the question of how to interpret the divine attributes (á??if??t All??h). The caliph al-Q????im summoned the disputing parties to his palace to arbitrate their doctrinal differences and forced them to sign his version of the Q??dir?? creed (the IQQ) as a symbol of their reconciliation.
My findings are included in a forthcoming article which will be published by Brill as part of a volume entitled Rulers as Authors (eds. Maribel Fierro, Sonja Brentjes and Tilman Seidensticker).

Bio
Livnat Holtzman is Associate Professor in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University. She specializes in Islamic traditionalism and the á?¤ad??th. Her publications include Anthropomorphism in Islam: The Challenge of Traditionalism (700-1350) (Edinburgh University Press 2018) and articles and book chapters on the religious thought of traditionalist thinkers like Aá??mad b. á?¤anbal, Ab?? Ya??l??, Ibn al-Jawz??, and Ibn Taymiyya and his pupil Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. She is currently working on the gestures, physical mannerisms, and the body language of the Prophet Muá??ammad as reported in the á?¤ad??th and other literary genres.

In the spirit of the label ‘Majlis’ and also to make the talks even more interesting, we are experimenting with a new format presenting the topic discussed by our speaker as embedded in their own research journey. Please come and enjoy the talks and the discussions. If you’d like to be included in the CSI (Centre for the Study of Islam (Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, 樱花动漫) mailing list, please contact the CSI Manager: Sarah Wood (s.a.wood2@exeter.ac.uk).
We’ll be happy to welcome you!