Society and Religion from Jahiliyya to Islam

In this second collection of his articles, Professor Kister has continued his investigation into the social and religious history of Arabia. The papers are based essentially on a study of the traditions preserved in the early Arabic sources, many unpublished. As the author demonstrates, these sources represent an invaluable mine of information on the history and religious life of pre-Islamic Arabia and on the transformations that affected customs, law and beliefs after the coming of Islam. Particular articles also deal with such questions as the relations and confrontation between nascent Islam and Judaism and Christianity, the contacts between tribal society and sedentary population, and the emergence of new popular customs and beliefs. Dans ce second receuil d'articles, le professeur Kister, poursuit ses recherches sur l'histoire sociale et religieuse de l'Arabie. Les essais sont essentiellement basés sur une etude des traditions conservées par les premieres sources arabes, dont beaucoup n'ont jamais été publiées. Ainsi que l'auteur le démontre, ces sources représentent une mine d'information inestimable sur la vie religieuse et l'histoire de l'Arabie pré-islamique et sur les changements qui affectèrent coutumes,lois et croyances après l'avenement de l'Islam. Certains articles , traitent plus particulierement, de sujets, tels les rapports et les affrontements entre la force naissante de l'Islam et le Judaïsme et Christianisme pré-existants; ou encore des contacts entre société tribale et population sédentaire, ainsi que de l'emergence de nouvelles coutumes et croyances poulaires.

M.J. Kister

Contents: Labbayka, allahumma, labbayka...: on a monotheistic aspect of a Jahiliyya practice (with additional notes); Mecca and the tribes of Arabia; Notes on Caskel's Jamharat an nasab; A work of Ibnal-Kalbi on the Arab peninsula; 'On the wife of the goldsmith of Fadak and her progeny': a study in Jahili genealogical traditions; On an early fragment of the Qur'an; 'O God tighten thy grip on Mudar..': some socio - economic and religious aspects of an early hadith; The massacre of the Band Qurayza: a re-examination of a tradition; ...illa bi-haqqihi...: a study of an early hadith; 'Pare your nails': a study of an early tradition; Sha' ban is my month': a study of an early tradition; 'Call yourselves by graceful names' (with additional notes); On 'concessions' and conduct: a study in early hadith; The interpretation of dreams: an unknown manuscript of Ibn Qutayba's 'Ibarat al-ru'ya; An yadin (Qur'an IX, 29): an attempt at interpretation; Index.