<p>This study examines how religious authority was distributed in early Islam. It argues the case that, as in Shi'ism, it was concentrated in the head of state, rather than dispersed among learned laymen as in Sunnism. Originally the caliph was both head of state and ultimate source of religious law; the Sunni pattern represents the outcome of a conflict between the caliph and early scholars who, as spokesmen of the community, assumed religious leadership for themselves. Many Islamicists have assumed the Shi'ite concept of the imamate to be a deviant development. In contrast, this book argues that it is an archaism preserving the concept of religious authority with which all Muslims began.</p>

God's Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam (University of Cambridge Oriental Publications, Series Number 37)

History

Crone, Patricia

Hinds, Martin

Middle East

Cambridge University Press

<p>Collection of all of Martin Hinds' (1941-1988) full-length articles which appeared in journals as well as one of his articles for the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd Edition. Most of the articles have to do with the early period of Islamic history, while two others deal with the early &#703;Abb&#257;sid caliphate. The volume is especially important in light of the fact that all of the articles were revised by the editors based on Hinds' own corrected copies: 1. K&#363;fan Political Alignments and Their Background in the Mid-Seventh Century A.D 2. The Murder of the Caliph 'Uthm&#257;n 3. The &#7778;iff&#299;n Arbitration Agreement 4 . The Banners and Battle Cries of the Arabs at &#7778;iff&#299;n (A.D. 657) 5. Sayf ibn 'Umar's Sources on Arabia 6. A Letter from the Governor of Egypt Concerning Egyptian-Nubian Relations in 141/758 7. Magh&#257;z&#299; and S&#299;ra in Early Islamic Scholarship 8. The First Arab Conquests in F&#257;rs 9. Mi&#7717;na "Hinds' articles are essential reading for any specialist in early Islamic history" (Michael Bates)</p>

Studies in Early Islamic History (Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam, 4)

Gerlach Pr

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