Thesiss

In 218/833, the theological controversy between traditional Hadith-oriented 'Ulama (usually referred to as Sunni Hanbalis) and rationalist theologians (usually referred to as Mu'tazilis) over the createdness of the Qur'an was institutionalized by the 'Abbasid state into an organ…

This dissertation examines and recontextualizes the Mih[dotbelow]na, the inquisition of 218/833-234/848. I argue that the Mih[dotbelow]na was an expression by the caliphs of their ability to limit and control the boundaries of orthodoxy. The first chapter examines the secondary …

This study traces the journey of a ninth-century biographical dictionary, Kitab al-T[dotbelow]aabaqat al-Kabir (KTK), from near obscurity to canonical status. The study offers the most comprehensive biography of the book's author Muh[dotbelow]rammad ibn Sa'd (d. 230/845) to date…

The history of the ancient Persian province of Isfahan and the city of the same name on the Iranian Plateau, prior to the 11th -12 th centuries, have received little scholarly attention. The present dissertation offers an account of certain aspects of the history of Isfahan, dur…

Problem. Normative Islamic tradition has come to understand the Qur'an as the inimitable and uncreated word of God. And, unlike Moses' Tawrat or Jesus' Injil, which were corrupted by later generations of Jews and Christians, the message that Muhammad received is believed to have…