Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy: The Making of Sunnism, from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century - Hardcover

Khan, Ahmad

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1009098373 ISBN 13: 9781009098373

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2023

Synopsis

Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, many defining features of classical Sunni Islam began to take shape. Among these was the formation of medieval Sunnism around the belief in the unimpeachable orthodoxy of four eponymous founders and their schools of law. In this original study, Ahmad Khan explores the history and cultural memory of one of these eponymous founders, Abū Ḥanīfa. Showing how Abū Ḥanīfa evolved from being the object of intense religious exclusion to a pillar of Sunni orthodoxy, Khan examines the concepts of orthodoxy and heresy, and outlines their changing meanings over the course of four centuries. He demonstrates that orthodoxy and heresy were neither fixed theological categories, nor pious fictions, but instead were impacted by everything from law and politics, to society and culture. This book illuminates the significant yet often neglected transformations in Islamic social, political and religious thought during this vibrant period.

About this title

About the Author

Ahmad Khan is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at the American University in Cairo. He previously held positions at Oxford and Hamburg universities and was the Arcapita Visiting Professor at Columbia University in New York. His publications include Reclaiming Islamic Tradition: Modern Interpretations of the Classical Heritage (2016). His research focuses on Islamic thought and history in the pre-modern and modern periods.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009098373
• ISBN 13: 9781009098373
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336