Medieval Islamic Historiography: Remembering Rebellion.

AuthorJudd, Steven C.
PositionBook review

Medieval Islamic Historiography: Remembering Rebellion. By HEATHER N. KEANEY. Routledge Research in Medieval Studies. New York: ROUTLEDGE, 2013. Pp. xx + 187, maps. $125.

In this short but ambitious book Heather Keaney examines the historical treatment of the caliph 'Uthman over five centuries and in several genres of sources. Through her careful comparison of various scholars' treatment of the controversial caliph, Keaney exposes the different agendas pursued by court historians and the ulama, as well as the underlying sectarian tension between Sunni and Shi'i scholars. Her chronological approach allows her to contextualize each of the many works she examines, illustrating both the development of Arabic historiography over time and the sometimes subtly changing agendas of historians writing from different perspectives.

Keaney divides the work into an introduction and four chronological chapters. In the introduction she distributes 'Uthman's life over four "chapters." She begins with his sir a, by which she means primarily the descriptions of 'Uthman as a Companion, then moves to the shuru, his caliphate, and finally accounts of the siege that precipitated his murder. Keaney then describes four "debates" that she will trace through the sources over time. The first of these is the tension between history and hagiography, which underlies the generic difference between chronicles and universal histories on the one hand and the fada'il literature on the other. She then turns to the obvious Sunni vs. Shi'i debate, which is most evident in the shura narratives. Next is the question of religious vs. political authority, a focus of the caliphate "chapter." Lastly she addresses the debate about whether the unity of the umma is more important than justice, which pervades interpretations of the siege and murder. In general, and not surprisingly, Keaney finds that fada'il works focus more attention on 'Uthinan's sira, while chronicles give more details about his caliphate. However, as the chapters that follow demonstrate, the distinctions between the genres are more nuanced and the debates are more complicated.

Each of the remaining four chapters begins with a brief description of the historical context in which the sources were written, followed by a short explanation of the works to be discussed. Keaney then turns to each source's treatment of the "chapters" of 'Uthman's life, highlighting the debates she identified in the introduction. In chapter...

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