Political Ethic of Islam in its Formative Period

A rare and unedited document dating from an early period of Islamic thought gives witness to the narrow ties binding together piety and politics, religious teaching and social practices.

The particularly harsh criticism of political authority may be read as an expression of fundamental scepticism, even radical political opposition legitimized by Islamic tradition.

The unique manuscript titled Teachings of the Masters and their Moral Conduct by Abū Bakr Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥajjāj al-Marrūdhī (d. 275/888), a pupil of Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, presents a collection of about 400 hundred sayings and accounts delivering pious admonition. They mainly address the corruption of political, or governmental, authorities and warn against dealing with them.

Analyses includes the entire document which contains the text itself, as well as numerous notes related to public readings, thus giving witness of the circulation and reception of the text during several centuries.

The study treats

• the transition from oral to written tradition
• factionalism and group identity of scholarly milieus not defined by juridical schools
• the interpretation of these peculiar teachings in non-political and non-partisan circles until the 13^th century
• the disappearance of the text, paradoxically produced by specific methods of transmission meant to preserve the text

The character of the document, which invites a misleading modern “salafī” reading, is thus located in an “ultra-orthodox” context of piety and righteousness,

Responsible: Stefan Leder