Unity in Diversity: The Scholarly Community of the Ḥaramayn in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

This doctoral thesis illuminates the intellectual life of the Hijaz during the early modern period. The research considers the Ḥaramayn as a region, studying the intellectual trends through reconstructing the scholarly networks that existed in the Hijaz during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Furthermore, it illustrates how a diverse environment was permitted to develop and flourish, given the Hijaz’s nature as a melting pot of traditions; this broadened the space for tolerance and encouraged ʿulamāʾ to be open to various perspectives. This research shows that the status of scholarship in the Ottoman Hijaz was equivalent to the sophistication of Cairo, Damascus, and Fez. Additionally, the thesis assesses the scholarly community in the Hijaz primarily as a Ḥadīth-focused community, exploring how the emphasis on Ḥadīth affected the way in which ʿulamāʾ approached other disciplines and subjects and vice versa, where novel syntheses and developments were ushered in. In an atmosphere of tolerance, prominent scholars were inspired by the spirit of taḥqīq (verification) in Ḥadīth, Sufism and theology; this was a hallmark of scholarship. Nevertheless, verification resulted in varied implications for ʿulamāʾ across various disciplines. Moreover, the thesis presents how several ideas developed in taḥqīq scholarship during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which were subsequently picked up by various renewal and reform movements in the fields of theology, Sufism and Ḥadīth during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Aldabbagh, Maan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bennison, Amira

• Hijaz
• intellectual history
• Ḥaramayn
• Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
• Sufism and Ḥadīth

Licence

• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.89636

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/342217