Violent Order: Religious Warfare, Chivalry, and the 'Ayyar Phenomenon in the Medieval Islamic World

The article analyzes specific elements of the Arab societies’ political life which distinguish it from political relations in the Western nation-states. Admitting the existence of a large number of such kind of elements, the authors focus only on three of them which are related to the sources of power and its distribution. Emphasizing that these elements are deeply rooted into the Arab-Muslim political tradition, so that they have tended to be present throughout the whole Islamic period of the region, the authors find out that each of them has its own medieval countertype. Thus, the article addresses the dichotomy of the supreme power of caliphs and sultans, formed in the IX – XI centuries and manifested today both in Jihadist organizations (i.e. ISIS, Al-Qaeda) and in the political strategies of moderate Islamist movements, such as Tunisian party Al-Nahda. The second example is the urban militias, which are correlated with the medieval phenomenon of «young hero» or «chivalry» communities – fityan. The fityan communities have seven specific traits, which not only are characteristic of the militias, but also demonstrate fundamental difference between the militias and urban criminal groups. Major attention is paid to Libyan militias, which are studied on the materials of field research conducted by one of the authors. Finally, the third element discussed is the particular role of the army and other security forces in the Arab political systems.The authors provide three possible interpretations of all the revealed coincidences. According to the first one, they are presented as aberrations of the researcher’s scientific consciousness, which make them look for historical equivalents to contemporary issues. Second interpretation belongs to the tradition of «the new medievalism». According to it, the described phenomenon is in fact the revival of some medieval practices, caused by the end of the Modernity era. The last interpretation views the analyzed elements as distinctive civilization traits of the Arab world.

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Section: фитйан -милицииunclassified

Deja vu: Medieval Motifs in Modern Arab Political Life

Naumkin

Kuznetsov

2019

Vestnik MGIMO-universiteta

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“…In the towns of the Levant, Iraq, and Persia, local militia (‘ ayyarun , ahdath ), created originally from the ninth century onwards to protect the city’s neighborhoods against abuses by state officials, developed over time into organized gangs of ruffians and vagabonds, although the details of this development are disputed. A recent study has noted, for example, that the ‘ ayyarun , especially in the early centuries of their existence, relied on a strong religious sense of virtue and corporate identity and that their negative portrayal in the chronicles is largely because of the antipathy toward them of religious writers and their prevalent attitude of political quietism (Tor 2007). Here, again there is a danger of buying too quickly into the chroniclers’ misnomer of such types of social deviants as ‘criminals’, ‘heretics’, etc., when in reality they may have been perceived as legitimate rebels, ‘social bandits’, or even champions of the commoners by many, excepting of course the ruling elites.…”

Section: Types Of Criminals In Islamic Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime and Punishment in Islamic History (Early to Middle Period): A Framework for Analysis

Lange

2010

Religion Compass

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This article reviews a number of received opinions about the history of crime and punishment in pre-modern Islamic societies in the Nile-to-Oxus region: that the definition of crime continuously overlapped notions of the sacred, given the thin or even indistinct line dividing religion and government; that the contribution of Muslim jurists ( fuqaha') to criminal law was minimal because of their lack of interest in defining the individual's rights and duties vis-à-vis the state; that in the absence of court records, the study of the pre-Ottoman history of crime and punishment is limited to the (sparse) historiographical evidence, in addition to the (largely irrelevant) Muslim fiqh. In order to nuance and, where appropriate, challenge these perceptions, this article calls for more contextualized and cross-disciplinary approaches to Islamic criminal law of the pre-Ottoman period, and proposes a new typological, actor-centred model of interpretation.

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“…22 Deborah Tor's study of the 'ayy ar, militant bands who were characterized by pious vigilantism, builds on Bonner's work, extending the discussion to later periods. 23 She argues that while bands of militant ascetics were attracted to the Byzantine frontier in the 2nd ⁄ 8th century, the growing threat of heretical Muslim groups attracted more groups to the Eastern frontiers of Islam in the 3rd ⁄ 9th century. Such groups increasingly became known as 'ayy ar, and had an influence on the later development of both Sufism and the Muslim chivalric tradition (futuwwah ⁄ jav anmard ı).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…47 Sviri has also tried to connect the Mal amatiyya with the existence of the chivalric tradition (futuwwa, jav anmard ı) that appeared in Iran during this time. 48 Nishapur was not the only area in which mystical trends were developing. Mysticism appeared quite early on in south Iraq as well, particularly in Basra.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Rise of Early Sufism: A Survey of Recent Scholarship on its Social Dimensions

Ramli

2010

History Compass

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By the late mediaeval period, Sufism (sometimes defined as Islamic mysticism) was a clear presence in every Muslim town or village, and Sufis were present in many different levels of Muslim society. However, if we were to look back to the earliest centuries of Islamic history, it becomes increasingly harder to find evidence of individuals going by the description of ‘Sufi’. Individuals with the name appear around the late eighth century C.E., but we only start to see the rise of a particular group using that name in the mid‐nineth century. But how and why did Sufism rise in this period, and what were the reasons behind its growing importance for Muslim society? By looking at the contributions of scholars in recent decades, this article will try to trace the development of Sufism from its early origins, up to its consolidation as a visible social institution during the 12th century.

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Violent Order: Religious Warfare, Chivalry, and the 'Ayyar Phenomenon in the Medieval Islamic World

Cited by 78 publications

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Deja vu: Medieval Motifs in Modern Arab Political Life

Deja vu: Medieval Motifs in Modern Arab Political Life

Crime and Punishment in Islamic History (Early to Middle Period): A Framework for Analysis

The Rise of Early Sufism: A Survey of Recent Scholarship on its Social Dimensions

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