IFAO

Dans la période suivant les conquêtes, qui correspond à la conversion de nombreux Iraniens à l’islam, les termes « Perse » et « Persan » prirent un sens nouveau pour les Iraniens tout comme pour les non Iraniens. Cet article suggère que ces changements dans la pratique lexicale sont le signe d’une recomposition des identités sociales iraniennes, à l’issue de laquelle des conceptions nouvelles émergèrent à propos de la Perse et des Persans. Dans ce contexte, les traditionnalistes entreprirent d’expliquer l’association entre Perse, Persans et islam à travers le réexamen du passé des Persans. Les traditions concernant l’histoire pré-islamique et des débuts de la période islamique fournirent de nouveaux modèles susceptibles de convenir aux convertis, tout en contribuant à dissocier les musulmans persans de leur passé sassanide.

Mots-clés : Perse, Persans, Iran, conversions, historiographie.

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In the period following the conquests and coinciding with the conversion of many Iranians to Islam, the terms “Persia” and “Persians” came under new consideration by both Iranians and non-Iranians. This article proposes that changes in conventions of lexical practice point to a re-imagining of Iranian social identities through which new ideas about Persia and Persians emerged. In this process, traditionists undertook to explain the association of Persia and Persians with Islam through reconsideration of the Persians’ past. Traditions about the pre- and early Islamic past both provided satisfying new profiles for converts, and helped to produce Persian Muslims’ estrangement from their Sasanian pre-Islamic past.

Les transformations qu’entraîna la domination islamique en Sicile, mal connues, sont souvent mises en relation avec l’installation de groupes ethniques dans le cadre insulaire. Toutefois, les sources attestant l’existence de ces derniers sont rares et, pour la plupart, postérieures à la période islamique. En outre, leur interprétation a jusqu’ici fait la part belle à un mélange de conceptions propres au xixe siècle européen et de khaldūnisme (M. Amari). Cette enquête propose donc une nouvelle analyse de ce ce thème dans les chroniques en arabe. Peu loquaces, elles opposent surtout Rūm et musulmans ; toutefois, lors de tensions ponctuelles, émergent d’autres oppositions binaires (Arabes/Berbères, Africains/Siciliens). Si l’on s’interroge sur leur fonction, il apparaît qu’elles renvoient à des groupes politiques autant qu’ethniques et qu’elles sont utilisées pour expliquer la perte de la Sicile par les musulmans plutôt qu’elles ne documentent une éventuelle réalité historique.

Mots-clés : groupes ethniques, Sicile islamique, historiographie sicilienne, xixe siècle, islamisation, chroniques arabes médiévales.

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The transformations caused by the Islamic conquest of Sicily are little known, but they are often linked by historians with the arrival of new ethnic groups to the island. Nonetheless, the few sources which record the existence of such groups were generally written after the Islamic period. Moreover, their interpretation has heretofore been informed by a mixture of nineteenth century concepts and khaldunism (M. Amari). This inquiry proposes a new analysis of the presence of ethnic groups in Sicily as described in the Arabic chronicles, which are often silent on the issue and predominantly distinguish between Rūm and the Muslims. However, during occasional crises, other binary oppositions (Arabs/Berbers, Africans/Sicilians) emerge. If we question the function of these ethnic denominations, it appears that they designate political as much as ethnic groups, and that they are used to explain the loss of Muslim control of Sicily rather than to document historical reality.

Cet article analyse comment les Arabes, les Berbères et les populations autochtones de la péninsule Ibérique ont utilisé le savoir généalogique afin de refléter ou d’améliorer leurs positions de pouvoir, processus dans lequel tensions et conflits religieux et ethniques jouaient un rôle non négligeable. L’article examine les questions suivantes : 1. orgueil et préjugés arabes ; 2. revendications ethniques des Berbères et des autochtones ; 3. les mawālī ; 4. les muwalladūn ; 5. l’intégration des convertis dans l’univers lettré et la nisba al-Anṣārī : une manière de transformer les non Arabes en Arabes au ive/xe siècle ; 6. souverains et « prophètes » autochtones et Berbères ; 7. dénigrement des Arabes et de leur prophète.

Mots-clés : généalogie, ethnicité, al-Andalus, mawālī, muwalladūn, conversions, prophétie.

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This paper provides an analysis of the ways in which Arabs, Berbers and the native population of the Iberian Peninsula used genealogical lore in order to reflect or advance positions of power, a process in which ethnic and religious conflicts and tensions had a share. The seven parts in which the paper is divided concentrate in the following issues: 1. Arab pride and prejudice; 2. Ethnic claims of Berbers and natives; 3. The mawālī; 4. The muwalladūn; 5. The integration of converts in the world of scholarship and the nisba al-Anṣārī: a way of turning non-arabs into arabs in the fourth/tenth century; 6. Natives and Berbers as rulers and “prophets”; 7. Disparaging the Arabs and their Prophet.

Cet article est consacré à la catégorisation sociale des convertis à l’islam dans les sources andalouses concernant les époques émirale et califale (viiie-ixe siècles). Après avoir traité de la conversion comme acte légal, nous abordons sa fonction dans l’historiographie andalouse (chrétienne et islamique) en tant que récit mettant en scène une rupture de la continuité du corps social et un franchissement de la frontière religieuse. Enfin, nous nous interrogeons sur l’identification du groupe des muwallad-s, catégorie sociale de transition qui joue un rôle notable dans l’explication de l’avènement du califat.

This article deals with the converts to Islam in al-Andalus during the Umayyad Emirate and Caliphate (eighth-ninth c.) and their social categorization in the light of local sources. Conversion is first approached as a legal act, before evaluating its role in both Christian and Islamic historiography as a rupture in social continuity and a trespassing of religious frontiers. The identification of the so-called transitional category of the muwallad-s—a key for explaining the new caliphate proclamation—is then questioned.

This study examines a number of historical texts that deal with legendary stories from Medieval India. The author would like to explore from a new perspective the historical accuracy of these legends in that they might indeed hold important historical facts, otherwise neglected by scholars due to the very nature of them being labelled as myths. The author will illustrate his theory by using a number of historical texts that deal with the legend of the Indian king Shakarawati Farmand and how he came to embrace Islam.

This study attempts not only explore the influence that Sufism had on Islamic art, but how we set about identifying and measuring this influence. In the author’s attempt to identify and prove this influence several steps were necessary. Firstly, it is important to examine and discuss previous studies with regard to the subject matter. Interestingly, two contrary issues are noted; one overplays the role that Sufism had on the development of Islamic art, whereas the other completely denies that this influence exists. Secondly, having asserted the effect of Sufism on Islamic art, the research path subsequently diverges into two basic themes. First and foremost it is important to locate the types of objects that would be of value within the context of Sufism, from buildings to tools. On a second, more difficult level it is important to examine the very essence existing between the philosophy of Sufi teachings and its relationship to the properties and philosophy of Islamic art. By applying this method of research to certain branches of Islamic art such as architecture, painting, applied arts, calligraphy as well as inscriptions, our study can pin point potential areas that would require further research and discussion. The aim of this paper is to highlight the relationship that does exist between Sufism and Islamic art.

Amir Kit al-Ragaby is considered to be one of the great Mamluks in Egypt and Syria during the late Mamluk Period, in particular during the court of Sultan al-Ghoury. Despite this fact, Amir Kit and his significance remains unmentioned by biographers. The author has endeavoured to collect biographical details of his life from many different sources, with particular detail to his Endowment document that provides a partial description of his house. An attempt will be made within this paper to reconstruct the house using contemporary comparative material.

The fort of Ḏāt al-Ḥāǧ is one of a number of Ottoman forts situated in the Syrian Darb al- Ḥāǧ that until now has not been carefully studied. The Ottoman Sultan Sulaymān al-Qanūnī gave the order for its erection in 967 H., completing work in 971 H. By 1266 H. the Sultan Abd al-Magid I had ordered its restoration and by 1328 H. The fort’s use was finally superseded by the construction of the al-Ḥiǧāz railway in 1318 H. The Ḏāt al- Ḥāǧ fort had served in a civil and military capacity for the Syrian al- Ḥāǧ caravans and travellers for nearly 295 years.

The author has made a comprehensive study of the fort which includes; field studies and survey of the site, photography of the exterior and interior of the structure as well as detailed descriptions of its rooms. Both the foundation plaque (971 H.) and later restoration plaque (1266 H.) have also been located and studied. This paper introduces for the first time a scientific study of one of a series of forts that operated along the Syrian Darb al- Ḥāǧ.

Although situated within close proximity of each other on the Darb al- Ḥāǧ al- Miṣrī “Egyptian” in the Sinai, Abyār al-ʿAlā’ī and Wādī al Qurrayṣ should rightly be considered as two different places. Guarding the region of the “Dark” Abyār al-ʿAlā’ī was the work of the al-ʿAyḏ tribes, in which the Tarabīn tribe was defiantly involved. Previously unknown buildings were discovered in the Abyār al-ʿAlā’ī region, along with a dam situated in Wādī al-ʿAqaba. Many wells have been noted in the area and others were found by means of drilling, excavation and probing. Important among these discoveries is the remains of a qalʿa that should be considered a new addition to the known forts along the Darb al-Ḥāǧ al-Miṣrī in particular and for Sinai forts in general. Found also was the al-sulṭān Kitbuġa al-Manṣūrī mosque, comprising of the dome, water pools with their associated water-refineries and canals. A station associated with the reign of al sulṭān al-mamlūkī Kitbuġa al-Manṣurī was uncovered that included a number of wells as well as a rare inscription from a mosque. Many important historical inscriptions were discovered that will help us interpret the civil development of this region, in particular the al-manzel or “small station” and the al-manhel or “grand station” of the Darb al-Ḥāǧ al-Miṣrī.