Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1995

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

History

Major Professor

Thomas Burman

Abstract

In this study the practice of asceticism, or zuhd, is examined. Previous efforts concentrated on the theoretical tracts composed by medieval Muslims in order to discover how asceticism was practicied in the Islamic world. This study questions the basic assumptions made by Middle East historians in their writings about zuhd. This study focused on Islamic Spain, al-Andalus, during the late ninth, tenth, and early eleventh centuries, and relied extensively on the biographical collections composed by Ibn al-Faradi and Ibn Bashkowal. By separating biographies which identified individuals as ascetics from those with no mention of asceticism and analyzing their travel patterns, education, disciplines, location, and community involvement it is possible to view ascetics as a distinct body existing within the 'ulama. I found that ascetics composed approximately ten percent of those individuals deemed important enough to warrant biographies by the two biographers. It was also apparent that these ascetics existed within the larger body of learned people in Spain and were indistinguishable from their co-religionists in their travel, education, and disciplines. From this it was possible to conclude that ascetics in al-Andalus were not the distinct and physically separate body of religious zealots written about by scholars before this work. It may also be concluded that asceticism in al-Andalus was an internal practice characterized by the elimination of moral doubt, rather than extenal asceticism, characterized by the denial of physical pleasure and isolation. Ultimately the importance of this study lies in increasing the knowledge available about the 'ulama, the most important literary body in medieval Islam.

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