The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization: Qudama b. Ja'far and his Kitab al-kharaj wa-sina'at al-kitaba.
Author | Judd, Steven |
Position | Book Review |
The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization: Qudama b. Ja'far and his Kitab al-kharaj wa-sina'at al-kitaba. By PAUL L. HECK. Leiden: BRILL, 2002. Pp. 283, $124.
In this work, Paul Heck offers an important contribution to our understanding of the emergence of the scribal class during the 'Abbasid era and provides valuable insights into the dynamics of scribal manuals as a genre. He uses Qudama b. Ja'far as a vehicle to trace the evolution of the scribal class, paying specific attention to the maturation of scribal views about the role of the state and its administrative offices in shaping Islamic law and society. Heck's analysis of Quadama's writings on language, geography, fiscal jurisprudence and political thought creates an image of Islamic society in which the state and its bureaucracy are central actors. By carefully contextualizing Qudama's work in relation to other scribal writings, Heck emphasizes that Qudama's conception of the state and its role in creating knowledge is a stage in the longer development of theories of the state in Islamic society.
The work's four substantive chapters could each stand alone as studies of particular aspects of Islamic administrative thought. Taken together, they make a powerful argument both for Qudama's importance in the scribal literature and for the increasing assertiveness of the state bureaucracy.
Chapter 2 (the first substantive chapter) treats Qudama's view of language and its relationship to administration. Heck follows Qudama in dividing his discussion into four subcategories, which he labels grammatical, bureaucratic, linguistic, and historical. Like other writers in the genre, Qudama sees scribes as defenders of Arabic grammar and lexicography and insists that scribes establish uniform procedures to ensure the integrity of state documents. He moves beyond offering templates for official letters and admonitions about moral conduct to describe a mature, impersonal bureaucracy. Qudama sees the bureau rather than the individual scribe as his protagonist, consequently paying less attention to the etiquette and mores of the scribes themselves. Heck skillfully compares Qudama's work to earlier and later scribal writings to argue that Qudama reflects the transformation of Islamic governance from a system of tribal and personal loyalties to an impersonal bureaucracy of procedures and specific functions.
Chapter 3 describes how Qudama subordinates geography to this bureaucratic model. Heck...
To continue reading
Request your trialCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.