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The Epistle of the Eloquent Clarification Concerning the Refutation of Ibn Qutayba by Al-QÄá¸Ä« al-NuÊ¿mÄn b. Muḥammad (d. 363/974)
Critical Edition with an Introduction
Series: - Islamic History and Civilization, Volume: 90
Editor:
This is an edition of an early Shiite/Fatimid Arabic epistle that includes a controversy pertaining to several issues on Islamic law. Al-Qadi al-Nu'man (d. 363/974), the most famoust jurist of the early Fatimid period refutes the illustious Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/889). In his book Adab al-Katib, Ibn Qutayba claimed that it was enough for civil servants (kuttab) to memorize a few legal formulas in order to be able to effectively do their work without the need of long dissertations on law from jurists. In the introduction to his epistle, al-Nu'man claims that without these dissertations the civil servants would not be able to apply the law correctly. Following this, al-Nu'man launches lengthy dissertations on each one of the succinct formulas listed by Ibn Qutayba. The main argument of al-Nu'man is that the only lawgivers in Islam are the prophet Muhammad and the Imams descendents of Ali (until the seventh Imam).
Avraham Hakim, Ph.D. (2003), University of Tel-Aviv, is lecturer on Islam and professor of Arabic at the School for Overseas Students, Tel-Aviv University. He has published extensively on the early Muslim caliphate, especially on 'Umar b. al-Khattab.
"The edition [...] is very useful for the scholar of IsmÄÊ¿Ä«lÄ« fiqh and for the knowledge of the author's thought and personality."
Rosanna Budelli in Islamochristiana 38 (2012).
Rosanna Budelli in Islamochristiana 38 (2012).
Introduction
1. The manuscripts
1a. MS 1255 â The ZÄhid Ê¿AlÄ« collection
1b. The Fyzee Manuscript
2. The epistle
3. The motivation for the epistleâs composition
4. The date of the epistleâs composition
5. Partial translation into English and analysis of the epistleâs introduction
5.1 fol. 2a: The tutor and the Fatimid caliph's sons
5.2 Fols 2a â 2b: Al-QÄá¸Ä« al-NuÊ¿mÄn's intervention
5.3 Fols. 2b â 3b Ibn Qutayba's legal formulas
5.4 Fols. 3b â 4b Al-QÄá¸Ä« al-NuÊ¿mÄn's arguments against his opponent
5.5 Fols. 4b â 7a: The importance of the Jurists' dissertations
5.6 Fols. 7a â 8b: The refutation of contemporary MÄlikite scholars
6. Conclusion: The total refutation of Ibn Qutayba and his Adab al-KÄtib
7. Editing the text
Abbreviations and Bibliography for the introduction
1. The manuscripts
1a. MS 1255 â The ZÄhid Ê¿AlÄ« collection
1b. The Fyzee Manuscript
2. The epistle
3. The motivation for the epistleâs composition
4. The date of the epistleâs composition
5. Partial translation into English and analysis of the epistleâs introduction
5.1 fol. 2a: The tutor and the Fatimid caliph's sons
5.2 Fols 2a â 2b: Al-QÄá¸Ä« al-NuÊ¿mÄn's intervention
5.3 Fols. 2b â 3b Ibn Qutayba's legal formulas
5.4 Fols. 3b â 4b Al-QÄá¸Ä« al-NuÊ¿mÄn's arguments against his opponent
5.5 Fols. 4b â 7a: The importance of the Jurists' dissertations
5.6 Fols. 7a â 8b: The refutation of contemporary MÄlikite scholars
6. Conclusion: The total refutation of Ibn Qutayba and his Adab al-KÄtib
7. Editing the text
Abbreviations and Bibliography for the introduction
All those interested in the history of early Ismailism (Fatimid), early Shiite law, Shiite-Sunnite controversy, the shiite concept of the imamte.