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3 - Discourses of Heresy II (850–950)

from Part I - History of Orthodoxy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2023

Ahmad Khan
Affiliation:
American University in Cairo
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Summary

This chapter provides a comprehensive examination of how hostility towards Abu Hanifa evolved over three centuries among the proto-Sunni traditionalist network. It argues that the construction of heresy and orthodoxy depended on the circulation of discourses of heresy among textual communities. Transregional proto-Sunni traditionalists developed informal ways to regulate, discipline, and shape conceptions of orthodoxy and heresy. The chapter brings into sharp focus the key agents of proto-Sunni traditionalist orthodoxy: its texts, scholars, and figures who articulated and promulgated discourses of heresy. We can now discern a mature and virulent discourse of heresy among an influential network of proto-Sunni traditionalists seeking to malign, exclude, and marginalise Abu Hanifa and his followers from the proto-Sunni traditionalist conception of orthodoxy. In the tenth century, however, we can observe some attempts by proto-Sunni traditionalists to depart from the network’s emerging consensus and adopt a more accommodating tone towards Abu Hanifa and his followers, which marks the beginning of a broader conception of Sunni orthodoxy.

Type
Chapter
Information
Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
The Making of Sunnism, from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century
, pp. 38 - 112
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Discourses of Heresy II (850–950)
  • Ahmad Khan, American University in Cairo
  • Book: Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009093033.004
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  • Discourses of Heresy II (850–950)
  • Ahmad Khan, American University in Cairo
  • Book: Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009093033.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Discourses of Heresy II (850–950)
  • Ahmad Khan, American University in Cairo
  • Book: Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009093033.004
Available formats
×