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ԵՊՀ ՀՐԱՏԱԱՐԱԿՉՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ
2016
YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY
№8
ISSN 1829-4510
YEREVAN
YSU PRESS
2016
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Սոնա Գրիգորյան
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ԱՇԽԱՏԱՆՔՈՒՄ 9
Նիկոլա Պանտիչ
ԿՐՈՆԸ ԵՎ ՍԱՓՐԻՉԻ ԱՐՀԵՍՏԱՆՈՑԸ. ՊՐԱԿՏԻԿ ԿՐՈՆԸ ԻԲՆ
ԲՈՒԴԵՅՐԻ ԱՉՔԵՐՈՎ ՏԱՍՆՈՒԹԵՐՈՐԴ ԴԱՐԻ
ԴԱՄԱՍԿՈՍՈՒՄ 30
Հայկ Դարբինյան
ԱԶԿ ՆԱԽԸՆՏՐԱԿԱՆ ԾՐԱԳՐԵՐԻ ԱՆԴՐԱԴԱՐՁԸ ԹՈՒՐՔԻԱ-
ԱՐԱԲԱԿԱՆ ԱՇԽԱՐՀ ՀԱՐԱԲԵՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆՆԵՐԻՆ ԵՎ
ԻՍԼԱՄԻՆ 54
Էդիտա Ասատրյան
ԵԳԻՊՏՈՍԸ ԵՎ ԱՐԱԲ-ԻՍՐԱՅԵԼԱԿԱՆ ՀԱԿԱՄԱՐՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ
ԿԱՐԳԱՎՈՐՄԱՆ ԾՐԱԳՐԵՐԸ (1969-1970ԹԹ.) 68
Վիգոր Վուկոտիչ
ԸՆՏԱՆԻՔԸ ՈՐՊԵՍ ԱԶԳԱՅԻՆ ԵՎ ԿՐՈՆԱԿԱՆ ԻՆՔՆՈՒԹՅԱՆ
ՕՐՐԱՆ. ՀԱՐԱՎՍԼԱՎԱԿԱՆ ՆՈՍՏԱԼԳԻԱՆ ԶԱԳՐԵԲԻ
ԻՍԼԱՄԱԿԱՆ ՀԱՄԱՅՆՔԻ ՇՐՋԱՆՈՒՄ 96
5
Դունյա Ռասիչ
ԱԼ-ՍԻՐԱՖԻԻ ՃԱՆԱՊԱՐՀԸ ԴԵՊԻ ԻՄԱՍՏՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ. 10-ՐԴ
ԴԱՐԻ ԱՐԱԲԱԿԱՆ ՔԵՐԱԿԱՆՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԳՆԱՀԱՏՄԱՆ
ՉԱՓԱՆԻՇՆԵՐԻ ՈՒՍՈՒՄՆԱՍԻՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ 116
6
CONTENT
Sona Grigoryan
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM» 9
Nikola Pantić
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP: PRACTICED RELIGION
THROUGH IBN BUDAYR’S EYES IN THE EIGHTEENTH-
CENTURY DAMASCUS 30
Hayk Darbinyan
REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION
BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE ARAB WORLD AND ISLAM 54
Edita Asatryan
EGYPT AND THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
PEACE PLANS IN 1969-1970 68
Vigor Vukotić
FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS
IDENTITY - YUGONOSTALGIA AMONG THE ISLAMIC
COMMUNITY IN ZAGREB 96
Dunja Rašić
AL-SIRĀFI'S STAIRWAYS TO WISDOM: A STUDY ON THE
EVALUATION CRITERIA IN THE 10TH CENTURY ARABIC
GRAMMAR TRADITION 116
7
Mervat Gomaa Abdallah Osman
THE ARABIZATION PROCESS OF TEACHING SCIENCES
IN THE ARAB COUNTRIES IN THE SECOND HALF OF 20TH
CENTURY 140
8
Sona Grigoryan
Sona Grigoryan
Central European University, Budapest
grigoryan_sona@phd.ceu.edu
1 Abū ‘Alā’ al-Ma’arrī was born in 973 in Ma‘arrat an-Nu’mān near Aleppo in a noble
family of Banū Sulaymān whose Shāfi‘ī members held the office of qāḍī. At the age of four
the poet was struck by smallpox and almost totally lost his eyesight. He possessed an
extremely good memory, however, which later continued to fascinate every author who
wrote about him. Al-Ma‘arrī started to compose poetry at the early age of eleven. He
received a traditional education under the training of various shaykhs. It is recorded in the
sources that al-Ma‘arrī spent some time in Antioch and Tripoli to use libraries there, and
visited the Christian monastery of Dayr a-Fārūs in Latakia. To enhance his education, al-
Ma‘arrī traveled to Baghdad, probably also with the hope of establishing a career there. He
attended Dār al-‘Ilm and Dār al-Kutub in Baghdad. However, al-Ma‘arrī’s stay in Baghdad
did not last long, and he returned to his home country after only one and a half year. Al-
Ma‘arrī spent the rest of his life in his native town, Ma’arrat an-Nu’mān where he died at the
age of eighty-five. See “al-Ma‘arrī” in EI2 and Van Gelder, “Abū l-‘Alā’al-Ma‘arrī” in
Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, Vol. 1, eds. J. Meisami and P. Starkey (London, New
York: Routledge, 1998).
2This is an obsolete topic by now in the scholarship: A. Palacios was the first to put forward
the thesis that Dante was influenced by al-Ma‘arrī; A.Palacios, La Escatologia Musulmana
en la Divina Comedia (Madrid: 1919). The thesis later on has been disputed, cf. Nāshid
Sayfayn, “La Comèdie Divine,” al-Muqtaṭaf 81(1932): 201-205.
9
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
3
That al-Ma‘arrī and his reception matter for our days and that examining his output is an
important academic enterprise has been once again confirmed by the recent events in Syria.
It was reported in February of 2013 that the armed fighters of Jubhat al-Nuṣra beheaded the
statue of the eleventh century blind poet in Ma‘arat al-Nu‘man where he was born. Although
the speculations over the reason for the beheading varied, the major reason was al-Ma‘arrī’s
reputation as a heretic and a critic of Islam. Thus, centuries after his life the poet’s name was
revived, and his image as a freethinker, heretic, skeptic or religious critic came onto the
scene again. See:
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/armed-men-behead-syria-poet-statue;
http://observers.france24.com/en/20130214-jihadists-behead-statue-syrian-poet-abul-ala-al-
maari;
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35745962 (all accessed 25 July, 2016).
4 The edition I am using is the second complete edition (after a lithographic publication by
literary, Angst and ethical--thus bringing the generic features of Luzūm together with ideas,
intention and meaning. This approach will cover the gap in the scholarship which dealt
either with literary aspects of the collection or with the content without an effort to
interweave the two. The thesis suggests in general that the displayed ambivalence and
tension are not meant to be solved by the poet however if there is a way to reconcile
opposing ideas and views on God then it has to be sought in the realm of ethics.
10
Sona Grigoryan
6
The structure and rhyming principles in Luzūm are unique. As al-Ma‘arrῑ explains in the
prose introduction of Luzūm, he composed it according to three main “inconveniences”
(kulaf). 1) First among them is that there should be sections (fuṣūl) in the Luzūm
corresponding to all the 28 letters (from hamza’ to yā’) of the alphabet. 2) Each letter should
be used in all three vocalizations (i.e., su, sa, si) plus the final one in the quiescent form
(sukūn). 3) The third and very challenging restriction is that al-Ma‘arrῑ rhymed his poetry
not only through the repetition of a syllable with a consonant and vowel, but also through a
repetition of the consonant which precedes the syllable. Yet according to the rules of Arabic
prosody, rhyming is completed by the repetition of a syllable at the end of every verse. See
Lz1, pp.9-10. All these techniques of Abū ‘Alā are well explained by Lacey and Friedman.
See K. Lacey, Man and Society, 7-14; Y. Friedmann, “Literary and Cultural Aspects of the
Luzūmiyyat,” in Studia Orientalia Memoriae D.H.Beneth Dedicata (Jerusalem: The Magnes
Press, Hebrew University, 1979):349-52. It is important to note here that according to a
theory, by now a convention, the verses of Luzūm were composed in different times and
then put together according to the formal criteria mentioned above, and therefore the
chronological order in Luzūm’s composition is not fixed. ‘Umar Farrūkh has convincingly
shown this; see Farrūkh, Ḥakīm al-Ma‘arra (Beirut: Dār al-Lubnān lī’l-Ṭibā‘awa‘l-Nashr,
1986), 65-81. Another rule that al-Ma‘arrī imposed on the collection, though he does not
mention about this, is that within each chapter, poems are arranged according to the meter
arranged in the circles of Khalīl. Frolov has diligently examined all the chapters of Luzūm
according to their metric arrangements and presented the results in a detailed table: see D.
Frolov, “The Circles of Khalīl and the Structure of Luzūmiyyāt of Abū l’-‘Alā al-Ma‘arrī,”
in ed. P. Zemánek, Studies in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures (Prague: Oriental
Institute, 1996). 223-236.
7
See J.V. Mirollo, “The Mannered and the Mannerist in Late Renaissance Literature,” in
F.W. Robinsom and S.G. Nichols eds, The Meaning of Mannerism (New Hampshire:
University Press of New England Hanover, 1972), 12-13. For literary mannerism see
Curtius, European Literature and Latin Middle Ages (translated by W.R. Trask, Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2013), 282. This remains one of the most central books until
now discussing literary mannerism for many reasons, but more importantly for its claim that
mannerism is a recurring style in the history of literature. For mannerism in medieval Arabic
poetry see S. Sperl, Mannerism in Arabic Poetry: A Structural Analysis of selected texts
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989).
11
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
8
This is will be against the most dominant readings that has been offered by both Western
and Arab authors: according to this reading al-Ma‘arrī uses contradictions aiming at
concealing or dissimulating religiously dangerous ideas in order to avoid persecution thus
applying technique of taqīyah: see See A. von Kremer, Über die philosophischen Gedichte
des Abulʿalâ Maʿarry : eine culturgeschichtliche Studie (Wien: Tempsky, 1889), 13-14; R.
A. Nicholson, “The Meditations of Ma‘arrῑ,” Studies in Islamic Poetry (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1921), 146-147; Ṭ Ḥusayn, Tajdῑd DhikrāAbῑ ‘Alā (Cairo: Dār
al-Ma‘āif, 1963), 243-245; U. Farūkh, Ḥakīm, 81; H. Laoust, “La vie et la philosophie
d'Abou'l-'Ala' al-Ma'arri,” Bulletin d'études orientales (1944), 143; R.K. Lacey, Man and
Society in the Luzūmiyāt of al-Ma‘arrῑ (Harvard University, 1984), 48-50.
12
Sona Grigoryan
9
Those who are claimed by polemicists to deny God are never identified either as
individuals or as a group; the notion is there without any specific reference. In the same
manner the notion appears in al-Ma‘arrī’s verses. See S. Stroumsa, “The Religion of
Freethinkers in Medieval Islam,” in Atheismus in Mittelalter und in der Renaissance, eds. F.
Niewöhner and O. Pluta (Harrassowitz Verlag: Wiesbaden, 1999), 46; J. van Ess, Der Eine
und das Andere, Vol. 2 (Berlin, New York: Der Gruyter, 2011), 1298, passim.
10
See von Kremer, Uber die philosophische Gedichte‚12.
11
Ibid., 18.
13
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
all the good: “Sein Gott ist der oberste Schutzherr der Gerechtigkeit und
alles Guten.”12
Nicholson gives more of a complex picture. On the one hand, al-
Ma‘arrī, as a staunch monotheist, believes in a Creator and identifies
Him with Allah.13 He quotes the following verse as a proof:
12
Ibid., 27.
13
Nicholson, “The Meditations of Ma‘arrῑ,” 158.
14
Nicholson translates the “ḥukm” as “philosophy” though in my opinion “perception”
would be more appropriate translation.
15
Ibid., 159.
16
Ibid., 160. This is close to how Ṭ. Ḥussayn sees al-Ma‘arrī’s understanding of God,
monotheistic but incompatible with Muslim God; see Ḥussayn, Tajdīd, 354-355.
14
Sona Grigoryan
17
Ibid., 160-161.
18
Farrūkh, Ḥakīm, 100-103.
19
Laoust, La Vie, 146-147.
15
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
If God wills nothing but good, then of evil one of two things must
be true. Either God must know of it or not. If He knows of it, then one
of two things must be true. Either He wills it or not. If He wills it then
He is practically the doer of it, just as one might say “The governor cut
off the robber’s hand,” even though he did not do it with his own hands.
But if God did not will it, then He has suffered what such a governor
should not suffer upon earth. If there be done in his province what he
dislikes, he reproves the doer and commands that the practice stop. This
is a knot which the metaphysicians have tried hard to solve, and found
insoluble. 20
This “knot” indeed triggered the tensest disputes and was at the
heart of debates since the beginning of Muslim theological speculations.
Different theories of theodicy were formulated in reaction to these
questions. Mu‘tazilites and ‘Asharites took serious issue with the notion
of theodicy.
For the Mu‘tazilah God’s justice was of cardinal importance. This
school categorically denied any relationship between God and evil. God
did not create evil and then command people not to follow it, the same
20
D. S. Margoliouth, “Abū’l ‘Alā‘s Correspondence on Vegetarianism,” Journal of Royal
Asiatic Studies, (1902):318.
16
Sona Grigoryan
way God did not create unbelief and then command people to believe.
God is justified for whatever He does, and Divine justice cannot be
arbitrary. By insisting on God’s justice, Mu‘tazilites held that He grants
people with something of His power through which people gain
capacity to perform certain deeds or their opposite. It is left to human
reason to apprehend good and evil-- a necessary consequence for their
belief in divine justice. The Mu‘tazilī school thus exposes advocacy of
free will. Man is therefore responsible for all his acts despite them being
dictated by God. Divine justice meant not only that God does only good
to humans but also that He is obliged to make the most salutary for His
creatures. 21 The absolutization of divine justice held that God is
incapable for injustice, a conclusion that questions God’s omnipotence, a
prime article in ‘Asharite theology. ‘Asharites held that God’s unlimited
omnipotence does not exclude injustice, arbitrariness and
unpredictability. God is capable to create everything and all He creates
is bounty, moreover God’s will is absolute free and thus God may create
good and evil at the same time if He wills. 22 Everything is a result of
divine decree. ‘Asharites insisted that God alone can create acts, thus
rejecting the notion of free will. They instead adopted the notion of
kasb--acquisition or appropriation. This means while God created all the
actions, man undertakes particular actions by the capability created and
given to them by God. What man has then is mere a capability to
appropriate and acquire an act.
Al-Ma‘arrī would have been familiar not only with aforementioned
disputes among theologians but also with aggressive and intrusive
language towards God with deep dissatisfaction and antagonism that
21
See E. Ormsby, Theodicy in Islamic Thought: the Dispute over al-Ghazalī’s “Best of all
Possible Worlds” (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1984), 21.
22
See Fakhry, Islamic Philosophy (Oxford: Oneworld, 2000),16-20; Al-Azmeh, Arabic
Thought and Islamic Societies (London: Croom, Helm, 1986), 82.
17
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
existed before the time of the poet. A staunch critic of religion Ibn al-
Rāwandī (d.911) had already showed his attitude towards the “stupid
and petty, vindictive and cruel God” that appears in the Scripture.23
Let us now put together some of his sharply conflicting verses
related to God in order to see if one could fit al-Ma‘arrī’ in any
organized scheme. It is an unjust God whose creatures are absolutely
deprived of any free will and act, and thus all the blame of the injustice
goes to the Creator:
If someone commits deadly sins compulsory
then to punish him for what he does is unjust.
God, while creating metals, knew that
white sword would be made from them, with which
men who hold horses, curbed with iron and shod, would shed
blood.
23
Ibid., 50
24
See also Lacey, Man and Society, 137.
18
Sona Grigoryan
But God often appears in Luzūm as just, true and omnipotent. Here
are verses where al-Ma‘arrī’ talks about God with a tongue of a pious
believer:
25
This verse is not found in the edition but it is in the Leiden manuscript, p.107; Lacey, Man
and Society, 138.
26
Ibid., 141
27
Nicholson suggested that some verses in Luzūm hint at the notion of kasb, that is to say al-
Ma‘arrī approved that all the acts are created by God but men are given capacity to
appropriate them, such as the following:”I perceived that men are naturally unjust to another,
but there is no doubt of the justice of Him who created injustice” (ra’aytu sabāyā n-nāsi fī-
hā taẓālumun wa-lā rayba fī ‘adli l-ladhī khalaqa ẓ-ẓulmā, Lz2.280.6). This means that if
God is creating injustice does not mean He is unjust. But Nicholson rightly concludes that
had al-Ma‘arrī really wanted to ascribe himself to the theory of kasb, he would have done it
strongly and explicitly and not just give scarce hints. See Nicholson, Meditations, 163.
19
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
This God is wise and omnipotent who resurrects the dead (Lz2. 247.
10; Lz2.334.4; Lz2.334.8; Lz2.92.6; Lz1.185.14). To highlight few verses
only:
20
Sona Grigoryan
However, in this case again al-Ma‘arrī does not push anything so far
so that he makes a conclusion either for free will (qadarīyah)or
predestination (jabrīya):
21
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
Seeing God as not the only eternal might position al-Ma‘arrī among
the materialists, or eternalists-dahrīyūn, as they were called, who
22
Sona Grigoryan
believed in the eternity of time and matter. 28 This also makes al-Ma‘arrī
comparable with Abū Bakr ar-Rāzī (d. 925)- a physician, philosopher
and a freethinker according to whom, God, although eternal, does not
have an absolute power on other eternal beings though He is
“benevolent, omnipotent, compassionate and caring. 29 However,
ascribing al-Ma‘arrī to any of these teachings is a dubious task, to say the
least, since as we have seen, his God is not always benevolent and
compassionate. Moreover, his God is often the only eternal principle,
and the rest are subject to His decree:
28
See Lacey, Man and Society, 275-277. For a more complex picture of who these people
were see P. Crone, “dahrīs”, in EI3.
29
See Stroumsa, ‘The Religion of the Freethinker,”52-53; idem, Freethinkers of Islam, 121-
130.
23
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
30
For a discussion about al-Ma‘arrī’s views on cosmology see: K. Lacey, “An 11th century
Muslim’s Syncretic Perspective of Cosmology: Abū ‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī’s philosophical
poetical Reflections in luzūm mā lā yalzam on Make-up and Dynamics of the Universe,”
The Muslim World 85, No.1-2 (1995):122-146. Lacey, in the light of his explanations to
contradictions in Luzūm, concludes in a straightforward manner that al-Ma‘arrī’s God is-co-
eternal together with time, space, and matter. See also, Lacey, Man and Society, 269-272.
Nicholson pointed out that in al-Ma‘arrī’s cosmogony there are similarities with that of Abū
Bakr ar-Rāzī who claimed the Creator, space, time, matter, and Universal Soul to be the five
eternals, and this shows al-Razī’s Neo-Platonic affiliations with some modifications as
Fakhry puts it. See M. Fakhry, Islamic Philosophy, 31-32. See also P. Adamson “Abū Bakr
ar-Rāzī,” in Islamische Philosophie: Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, ed. U. Rudolph
(Basel: Schwabe Verlag, 2012), 202-207. Ṭ. Ḥussayn attempted to explain notions of
eternity and cosmology in Luzūm through philosophical means: he states that his research on
metaphysics of al-Ma‘arrī leads to the conclusion that the poet saw matter, time, and space
eternal. Al-Ma‘arrī’s understanding of divine concept, Ḥussayn claims, is Aristotelian in
many ways: al-Ma‘arrī for example describes God as silent and unmoved (Do you not see
that the stars move in their spheres by the power of the unmoved Lord? (a-mā tarā sh-shuba
fī aflākihā ntaqalat bi-qudratin min malīkin ghayri muntaqilī, Lz2.219.14). To explain how
the unmoved mover could create a moving universe, Ḥussayn refers to Aristotelian
distinction of two types of motion-- material and the one defined as potential passing into
the actual. The latter is what pertains to God: pure actuality is tantamount to pure motion,
and thus God, being in essence a pure motion, is the cause of the motion in the world. See
Ḥussayn, Tajdīd, 254-258. Laoust is also inclined towards an Aristotelian presentation of al-
Ma‘arrī’s God though he goes even further to claim Bāṭin (especially Carmathian)
influence in al-Ma‘arrī’s thought generally and in his views of God particularly; see Laoust,
La Vie et Philosophie, 147, 156. These are over-readings: Luzūm by no means can be put in
such a coherent philosophical frame. Lacey rightly thinks too that Ḥussayn over-interprets
parts of Luzūm, and argues also against Laoust’s claim on the proximity of al-Ma‘arrī’s and
Carmathian thought: see Lacey, Man and Society, note 26, p.284 and note 42, p.188.
24
Sona Grigoryan
from each other” (the symbol of this method is a=b (page 15)--a≠b (page
379).31 This claim might have been relevant to Luzūm if we were to deal
with a philosophical or a theological work. If contradictions are there to
hide and conceal the poets true belief, that is to say his unbelief, and if
his “heterodox” ideas are the only ones to be taken valid, as for example
Lacey insists on, then there remains no space for poetic ambivalence, for
any tension in mind and angst and for any kind of poetic agency at all.
Unlike the Maimonides’s Guide which Strauss refers to, Luzūm is not
about a teaching or a truth. The poetic quality endows the text with a
certain freedom and privilege to be inconsistent, contradictory and
incoherent (and playful if you wish). Instead of concealing, this
allocation of the contradictory verses creates two parallel discourses for
readers: the reader might easily extract whatever part that is suitable for
him/her-- “orthodox” or “heretic,” in fact a readership practice that has
been applied to Luzūm from the middle ages to nowadays. If someone
wanted to prove that al-Ma‘arrī was an unbeliever or at least
“unorthodox,” (for different reasons) he relied on the anti-religious
verses in Luzūm (e.g. al-JawzĪ in the 13th c. and T. Ḥussayn in the 20th
c.).32 If another reader wanted to prove al-Ma‘arrī’s piety and faith or
that al-Ma‘arrī was a great poet, then the “orthodox” or “neutral” verses
were selected (e.g. Ibn Adīm (13th c.) and ‘Aisha ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān (20th
c.)).33 Contradictions served in the end not for hiding the truth since
31
See L. Strauss, “The Literary Character of the Guide for the Perplexed,” in Persecution
and the Art of Writing (Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 1980): 70.
32
Ibn al-Jawzῑ, “ Al-Muntaẓam fῑ Akhbār al muuk wa-l-Umam, [The Well-Organised [Book]
Concerning the History of Kings and Peoples)]” in Ta‘rīf -Qudamā’ bi-Abī l-‘Alā [The
Ancients' Explication of Abī l-‘Alā], ed. Ṭāha Ḥusayn (Cairo: al-Dār al-Qawmīyah, 1944),
18-26.
33
Ibn al-Adīm, “Kitāb al-Inṣāf wa’t-Taḥarrī fī Daf‘i’l- Ẓulm wa’t-Tajarrī ‘an Abī’l-‘Alā al-
Ma‘arrī [The Book of Just Treatment and Inquiry for the Defense of Abū ’l-‘Alā al-Ma‘arrī
from Injustice],” in Ta‘rīf, 483-578; Aisha ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān, “Ma‘ Ab l-‘Al ’ [With Ab l-
‘Al ’”] (Beyrut: Dār al-kitāb al-‘arabĪ, 1972 ).
25
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
there is no one and only truth in Luzūm, but for providing a choice to
the reader what to read and what to verify. The poetic liberty freed the
poet both from the confines of theologians who, as Ibn Rushd noticed,
formulated their theses “not because they were arrived at by way of
reason, but rather to sustain matters whose truth they
presupposed…and sought to demonstrate what was consistent with
them and refute that which was not,”34 and from that of philosophers
whose logical reasoning remained limited for explaining matters of faith.
Because there is no task to arrive at one determined conjecture there is
the liberty to contradict, and there is a place for a genuine and insoluble
ambivalence. Al-Ma‘arrī, overwhelmed by thorough skepticism, does
not provide answers to any of the questions that himself is deeply
concerned with.
If we give credibility to only one part of Luzūm, let us say to the
one expressing unbelief, it will be very hard and problematic to ignore
indeed a large portion of the text with mostly meditative verses
expressing piety, fear from and reliance on God such as those:
Your Lord, He is with no peer,
deluded is the one who denies and disbelieves.
Have faith in Him, and the soul will ascend,
even with the last breath,
so that you might ask for forgiveness from Him,
when you dig the grave, you then relinquish.
34
Cited in Al-Azmeh, Arabic Thought, 83.
26
Sona Grigoryan
35God is only one source of uncertainty and only one aspect of the overarching ambivalence,
others being such important notions as reason and prophecy which also undergo uncertainty
and ambiguity in Luzūm. For prophecy see Lz1.52.12-15 and Lz1. 134.8 in comparison; for
reason see Lz1. 288.6-7 and Lz1.197.10.
27
GOD IN AL-MA‘ARRĪ’S LUZŪM
28
Sona Grigoryan
The article will discuss one of the most complex texts in the history of
medieval Arabic poetry--namely Luzūm mā lā yalzam (Necessity of what is
Unnecessary)-- penned by Abū l-‘Alā’al-Ma‘arrī (d.1058), with a focus on
the notion of God, the way it appears in Luzūm, and the notion of theodicy.
The discussion will illustrate the ambivalence of the poet towards the
notion of God bringing together contradicting verses and ideas. The article
aims at avoiding a simplistic reading of Luzūm through putting it in such a
coherent framework that deprives it from its poetic faculty at all and leaves
no room for ambivalence.
Nikola Pantić
MA of Arts in History with the Specialization in Religious Studies,
Central European University
Pantic_Nikola@phd.ceu.edu
Introduction
Much of the older historiography focused on the Ottoman Empire
(for instance, Jennings, 1986; Wittek, 1938; Gibb&Bowen, 1950)
approached the study of religious practices within its borders with the
Orientalist notions of Islamic orthodoxy. This approach to the study of
the Ottoman Empire was further encouraged by the non-critical analysis
of source narratives which sometimes tended to depict the imperial
subjects’ religious practice in terms of normative Sunni doctrine.
Previously, the scholars of the Middle East displayed a tendency to
assume that religion within the Empire may be studied only through the
normative written texts conveying the sets of rules and practices
prescribed by the religious authorities of the Muslim community – the
texts which establish allowable sets of practices pertaining to one’s
religion. This simplified attitude may facilitate the creation of a
schematic historiographical narrative of the overall development of
Middle Eastern religious practices, but it contains many flaws. Reality
seems to have been much different and far more complex, as more
recent scholarship shows. In a manner similar to the histories of the
30
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
early Islamic Empires, as well as in many other regions of the world, the
developments within Islamic Sunnism under the Ottoman government
were paralleled by emergences within the corpus of religious practices
and beliefs which were not always conforming to the normative written
tradition, and which changed through the passage of time, flourished
and became more nuanced. Sufism, a term used to combine the various
Islamic mystical doctrines and traditions, spread and developed from the
twelfth century onwards. It blossomed under the Ottomans (as well as
under the Mamluks, and even in earlier periods). The Ottoman sultans
were quite open for such traditions, and that the population of the
Empire seemed eager to accept it (Kafadar, 1995: 52). This went on to
such an extent that the Empire’s rulers used mystical tropes to depict the
sultan’s charisma and authority – the appropriation of the Sunni
doctrine and the incorporation of shariʿa into the official codes of law is
more rightly described as a means to justify jihads against rival
neighbouring states and local rebels than as a proof of Ottoman
“orthodoxy.” A curious development in the Safavid Empire led to the
gradual adoption of Šiʿism during the same period, much for the same
reasons. (Dressler, 2005: 171; Faroqhi, 1999:9). The Ottomans, in fact,
supported the development of these mystical orders so much that in the
second half of the seventeenth century it became truly hard to
distinguish between a member of a Sufi order and the rest of the
population. It might, indeed, be suggested that in the early modern
Ottoman Empire there were not many individuals who did not belong
to a Sufi order (Karababa&Ger, 2010; Grehan, 2007: 21-55).
32
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
especially with regards to marriage and inheritance, did not always have
absolute authority (Meriwether, 1999: 3-6). Bruce Masters further points
out that the use of religion as a political ideology made the rule over the
Arab lands easier for a sultan, proceeding to show that religion in
everyday context did not seem to have such a meaningful role (Masters,
2013: 10, 81-82). Masters rightly states that it is, perhaps, the
preeminent role of the ʿulamā in the process of creating historical
sources that led previous researchers to think otherwise. However,
Bruce Masters, as indeed, many other authors seem to have relied on
using the same “orthodox/heterodox” bipolarity and even the newest
works, such as James Grehan’s Twilight of the Saints, do little but to
invert this dichotomy, arguing for a mainstream “agrarian” (that is –
mystical) against the normative religious tradition (Grehan, 2014). I
believe that the solution lies elsewhere, as the sources show that the
orthodox/heterodox categories are continuously interacting, exchanging
and overlapping, being, as such, available to the population to, as
Masters maintains, give “structure and meaning to those who inhabited
Arab provinces in the Ottoman centuries and [inform] their culture”
(Masters, 2013: 105).
priest, a Šiʿī farmer from Ğabal ʿĀmil and his son, a Samaritan from
Nablus, a clerk from Homs, a Damascene soldier, and a janissary warrior.
All of these chroniclers speak from different vantage points – some as
soldiers, others as clerks who meticulously wrote down everything that
transpired in courts of their cities, and some as priests or craftsmen
(Sajdi, 2013: 77-114). The study of their texts is very important if a
researcher desires to obtain a clearer understanding of this age and
region, seen from different points of view. In addition to the voice of the
scholarly elite, this variety of points of view is invaluable for piecing out
the history of the eighteenth-century Levant.
In a sense, the barber represents a Middle Eastern counterpart of
the Italian miller, Menocchio (see Ginzburg, 1980). It is highly
doubtable that the barber led a life which was common for the
population of the eighteenth-century Damascus. Both he and the
Friulian miller seem to represent exceptions within their societies, but
the reasons for their exceptionality are different. Not every miller, or
every inhabitant of Italy, had an urge to read, purchase, distribute, or
make known the heretic texts and engage in fervent discussions about
religion. In a similar manner, not every barber, or indeed – every
Damascene inhabitant, had the opportunity to gain contact with some of
the city’s most prominent figures and acquire the leverage which Ibn
Budayr possessed. On the other hand, while Menocchio was engaged in
reading heretic vernacular works, seemingly not able to stop himself
from proclaiming his feelings and attitudes publicly, the barber appears
as (or at least fashions himself to appear as) more conservative about his
religious attitudes. This ever-present claim to traditionalism
differentiates the barber from Menocchio the miller, although as I will
show, the barber mostly uses his religious tradition as a literary tool
aimed at fashioning him as an ideal Ottoman-Damascene subject – ideal,
34
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
36
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
37
Nikola Pantić
2.1. Me, the Sayyid, the Blessed: Ibn Budayr’s Self-Image in Daily
Events
This claim to divine grace seems to be a product of Ibn Budayr’s
contacts. Ibn Budayr’s clientele is reflected through one of his most
efficient tools – the tarjama, an obituary containing several sentences
describing the deceased. Ibn Budayr wrote tarjamas almost exclusively
for the individuals he communicated with, at least briefly, embarking on
the opportunity to brag about his contacts and justify his own mystical
experiences, for as I will show, the barber served numerous individuals
popular in the Damascene society as saints and miracle workers, many of
which also held high positions of authority in the eighteenth-century
provincial capital.
Out of reasons unknown, Ibn Budayr developed a relationship with
a professional Damascene barber known as Ibn Ḥashīsh, of which he
seems exceptionally proud. It would seem that this relationship brought
necessary connections to Ibn Budayr. Ibn Ḥashīsh himself had a
powerful clientele which included Shaykh Murād Efendi al-
Naqshibandī, Shaykh Muḥammad al-ʿAjlūnī, and “the axis (quṭb) of his
time,” the famous Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ġanī al-Nābulsī (Ibn Budayr: 6A-6B.
For more information about al-Nābulsī see Sirriyeh, 2005; Toussulis,
2011: 231; Masters, 2009: 415). For the Levantine society (as well as in
other regions under the Ottoman rule), these individuals were
important as carriers of divine benevolent force – baraka, saintly
charisma that would carry over to the ones communicating with them.
Touching was an important medium - Ibn Ḥashīsh provided services for
these prominent figures, ensuring for himself a source of baraka. The
obituary of Ibn Budayr’s master barber, Ibn Ḥashīsh, seems a good
illustration. The barber writes:
38
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
And a pious man, Hajji Aḥmad Ibn Ḥashīsh the barber, died on
Tuesday, the twenty third of the blessed month Ramaḍān, 1155
[November 20th, 1742]. He was a pious, temperate man who saw many
things and traveled to many lands… He did good in his profession.
Never did he place his hand on the sick, ailing, or those suffering from
the pain in the eyes without healing them… He coiffed the poor and
students [for free]… I received blessings from him, may God have mercy
upon his soul. Amen (Ibn Budayr: 6A-6B).
Ibn Budayr first establishes that his deceased mentor was a pious
man. As the tarjama progresses, the audience becomes introduced to the
impressive healing techniques of the old barber. In addition to cutting
and trimming hair and beards, the barbers of the eighteenth-century
Middle East also circumcised and provided healing services. Ibn Budayr,
however, weaves his narrative as if he wishes to imply that the healing
skills of his late mentor had a distinct miraculous quality. Touching a
saint meant receiving these divine blessings, and a man as pious as Ibn
Ḥashīsh (as portrayed by Ibn Budayr) could then utilize this blessing to
gain benefits for his own healing techniques (for more about baraka see
Sajdi, 2013: 62-63; Ali Khan&Ram, 2003: 125, 147, 275). Additionally,
Ibn Budayr obtains a portion of divine grace for himself through his
relationship with his master, albeit indirectly.
Other, more direct sources of baraka soon became available for the
barber. Providing service to the famous Shaykh al-Ṭabbākh, Ibn Budayr
takes pride in his opportunity to speak with the holy man, joke with
him, trim his hair and beard, and “make use of his blessings” (Ibn
Budayr: 27B). Similar narrative can be observed in the tarjama of
Shaykh Jabrī – the barber is proud to proclaim that he barbered the
deceased several times, “claiming some of the shaykh’s blessings and
[mystical] secrets” (Ibn Budayr: 56B). Within both accounts, the barber
39
Nikola Pantić
directs praises to God several times for being granted such a glorious
opportunity.
Ibn Budayr must have striven to achieve an elevation of his social
status with such narratives. Spending time in company of these two, as
well as many other Sufis and saints, enabled him to claim significant
authority, for he had direct access to the saints’ divine blessings. The
influence of prominent figures on the barber’s life seems to have been
very powerful. Ibn Budayr’s relationship with Shaykh Aḥmad al-Sābiq
led to the barber’s initiation in the Sufi Qādiriyya order (Ibn Budayr:
15B), and his relationship with one of the important scholars of the al-
ʿAjlūnī family probably made him opt for the Shafiʿī madhab of Islamic
jurisprudence (Ibn Budayr: 76A). Ibn Budayr’s friendship with one of
the popular local storytellers, (al-ḥakawī) whom the barber describes as
his friend, teacher, and father, might have provided Ibn Budayr with
some of the other literary forms he introduces to his chronicle (Ibn
Budayr, 10B).
The influence of Ibn Budayr’s clientele might also become apparent
from the fact that he refers to himself and his offspring as sayyids. Upon
losing his fourteen-year old son, al-Sayyid Muḥammad al-Mahdī, to the
plague of 1744, Ibn Budayr wrote a lengthy tarjama. The barber praises
the boy’s religious fervor and respect for the Qur’ān. Justifying the
decision to give his son a title which was during his time reserved for
the descendants of the Prophet (see Canbakal, 2007: 77-83), Ibn Budayr
claims he got an “inspiration from God” to do so during a dream (Ibn
Budayr: 24B-25A). Such direct contacts with the divine in dreams or
dream-like states represented an achievement toward which many Sufis
aspired, and the barber’s claims strove to enable him to enter their
territory. Further praise to God is given in this instance, re-ascertaining
40
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
the barber’s piety during his attempt to, no doubt, comfort himself
because of his loss.
Justifying, therefore, the sayyidization of his family through reports
of receiving a mystical dream, Ibn Budayr strives to gain place among
the spiritual figures of the eighteenth-century Damascus. He also
expands on his own image, fashioning himself as a receiver of divine
instructions for himself and his family. Ibn Budayr thus combines his
mystical experience with stylistic expressions reflecting his acute
awareness of the normative Sunni doctrine, the symbols of which are
carefully embroidered in the narrative of Daily Events.
Inclusion of religious tropes and notions, if only on the rhetorical
level, had the potential to attract respect from the rest of Ibn Budayr’s
society. Daily Events reflect, furthermore, the current trends of
Damascus in the middle of the eighteenth century (as the barber
perceived them), illuminating a specific kind of piety which Ibn
Budayr’s Damascenes praised – the one comprised of living saints, divine
grace, and dreams of divine inspiration which dazzled the population.
41
Nikola Pantić
42
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
Ibn Budayr is, at times, a stern critic of his society. Writing about
undesirable individuals, the barber does not hesitate to employ religious
tropes to add to their overall image. For instance, after the execution of
the Damascene treasurer Fatḥī al-Falāqinsī which the Damascene
governor ordered in July 1746, Ibn Budayr wrote about the man’s vile
nature which led to corruption and evil deeds. On the list of misdeeds,
wine-drinking suddenly appeared (Ibn Budayr: 32A-32B). Superstition
might enter the barber’s narrative to complete the description. A good
illustration is the tarjama of one Musṭafā Agha Ibn al-Qabbānī, who died
in 1746. It would appear that this man had a tendency to hoard supplies
within the premises of his estates, even in times when the prices were
disastrous for the majority of the Damascene population. In addition, it
seems that he wished to sell his goods to the population under steep
prices. Ibn Budayr reports:
… and they [the people] informed me about him. When they dug a
grave for him and wished to place him [in it], they saw a giant snake
inside, so they filled the grave [with earth] and dug another one, where
they also saw [a snake] and thus they dug several graves… This
[appearance of the snake] followed his vileness… (Ibn Budayr: 28B)
43
Nikola Pantić
Budayr: 3B) - for the barber, every such instance is a “lesson for those
who pay heed” (Ibn Budayr: 37B).
44
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
free time with pleasures like coffee and tobacco, enjoying in socializing
and gossiping in these establishments. Even Ibn Budayr, who strives to
maintain a well-mannered pious attitude gives himself away with his
decisions that the news of newly-opened coffeehouses is significant
enough to enter his chronicle, or when providing a location of a
coffeehouse in order to situate an event geographically (Ibn Budayr:
77B, 80B). The official attitude of religious authorities, however,
remained clear – spending leisure time in coffeehouses was connected to
all manners of immoral entertainment including bad behavior, vulgarity,
and illicit sex.
In 1744, Shaykh Ḥassan Ibn Yūsuf al-Rifāʿī committed suicide by
jumping off a minaret in the district of al-Qubaybāt. Ibn Budayr writes:
I asked what the reason for this was and I was told that the brother
of [Shaykh Ḥassan’s] wife brought a prostitute to his house. He found
out about it… and [his brother in law] scolded him and wanted to beat
him, he was a fool. [The shaykh] went to the notables of his
neighbourhood and informed them about this matter, but they criticized
him and talked him off, cause all of them are down to their ears [deeply
engaged in similar matters]. [The shaykh] then went to the Al-Daqqāq
Mosque, where he finished his morning prayer with the imam. He then
conducted the death prayer in his own name and climbed up the
minaret, where he shouted: “Oh, Community of Islam, it is either death
or pimping here under this government today,” and he threw himself off
[the minaret], may the Exalted God grant him mercy and forgiveness.
(Ibn Budayr: 21B)
46
RELIGION AND THE BARBERSHOP...
4. Conclusion
The Daily Events of Ibn Budayr show the utility of religious tropes
as means of self-representation and negotiating one’s position in society,
at least on a rethorical level. Furthermore, the barber succeeded,
through his text, to display his acute awareness both of written religious
tradition expressed through shari’a and fiqh, as well as the teachings
promulgated by the many prominent saintly figures of his day. The
barber combines both to the effect of carving for himself a niche where
he will assume a position of a social critic who follows the footsteps of
his many teachers – his clientele.
This point seems highly important, as it is clear that the barber uses
his claims to traditionalism as a screen to shield his persona from any
potential unwanted behavior, proceeding after paying respect to the
norm, to write freely and inform us about myriads of different customs
which constantly filter into the cultural mainstream. In many respects,
Ibn Budayr follows the same pattern as numerous Ottoman institutional
scholars, who do not fail to demonstrate the whole depth of their
practiced customs after the initial references to the written standard. To
my mind, thus, it seems reasonable to approach all these categories of
practices at once as overlapping parts of one whole unit of investigation,
instead of applying the classic and somewhat redundant
orthodox/heterodox binary which reduces the realism of the scholarly
narrative.
Describing the events of his chronicle, Ibn Budayr conveys a
depiction of the Damascenes who value their religion as a meaningful
tool of social engagement, but not as a predominant obligation. Religion
47
Nikola Pantić
48
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10. Karababa E., & Güliz G. (Eds.). (2010). Early Modern Ottoman
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22. Semerdjian, E. (2008). “Off the Straight Path”: Illicit Sex, Law
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Nikola Pantić
Pantic_Nikola@phd.ceu.edu
Keywords: religion, daily life, microhistory, urban studies, Sufism, Islam, religious
dialectic
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РЕЛИГИЯ И ЦИРЮЛЬНЯ
ПРАКТИКУЕМАЯ РЕЛИГИЯ ГЛАЗАМИ ИБН БУДАЙРА В
ДАМАСКЕ ВОСЕМНАДЦАТОГО ВЕКЕ
Резюме
Nikola Pantić
Pantic_Nikola@phd.ceu.edu
53
Hayk Darbinyan
Hayk Darbinyan
MA student of Department of Turkish Studies,
Yerevan State University
haykdarbinyan93@gmail.com
1
For more detail on the fields and goals of the Foundation, see the relevant section of the
official web page of the Foundation, http://arsiv.setav.org/en/about.aspx [available on
24.02.2016]։
2
On January 16, 1998 the Turkish Constitutional Court banned the activities of the
"Prosperity" party (Refahpartisi). This resulted in the emergence of the "National View"
movement, which included strong supporters of innovation, and they gathered around the
Virtue Party (Faziletpartisi). June 22, 2001 onwards the activities of the Virtue Party were
also terminated. The group of innovators, on the initiative of Abdullah Gul, started a new
political force, the Justice and Development party. Recep Tayyip Erdogan also was involved
in the establishment of the AKP, who was serving a sentence in a Turkish prison not long
ago prior to the establishment of the party. To learn more about the history of the Justice and
Development party, see Ruben Safrastyan, Ruben Melkonyan, Arthur Dumanyan, Vahram
Ter-Matevosyan, Hakob Chakryan, Anush Hovhannisyan, History of Turkish Republic,
2014:308-313, 319-353, 366-367, Yalçın Akdoğan, AK Parti ve muhafazakâr demokrasi,
2004
54
REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
3
http://arsiv.setav.org/public/HaberDetay.aspx?Dil=tr&hid=50663&q=araplar-ve-modern-
turkiye-algilari-degistirme-zamani [available on 24.02.2016]
4
Ruben Safrastyan, Ruben Melkonyan, Arthur Dumanyan, Vahram Ter-Matevosyan, Hakob
Chakryan, Anush Hovhannisyan, History of Turkish Republic, 2014:366.
5
Detailed data about Turkey's Muslim population and more comprehensive statistics, see Ali
Çarkoğlu, Binnaz Toprak, Değişen Türkiye’de din, toplum ve siyaset, 2006.
55
Hayk Darbinyan
6
Since May 2002, Turkey has been facing political tensions. The domestic situation required
concrete solutions. This became possible after snap parliamentary elections. The decision to
hold snap election in Turkey was made on July 31, 2002, Turkish Grand National Assembly
session. The Majlis decided to hold elections on 3 rd November, 2002.The official reason for
holding early presidential elections was the deterioration of President Bulent Ecevit's health
condition. Political parties expressed their concern regarding the President’s health, and
voiced their anxiety about the President’s age, and due to his age, his health wouldn’t fully
improve. Henceforth, Ecevit would not be able to carry out his duties properly. During the
GNAT session held on July 31, 449 deputies among the 514 voted in favor of the decision of
holding snap elections. For more details about 2002 November elections, see Erol Tuncer,
Coşkun Kasapbaş, Bülent Tuncer, 3 Kasım 2002 milletvekili genel seçimleri: sayısal ve
siyasal değerlendirme, 2003.
56
REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
Turkey did not fulfill the expectations that exist in the relations with those
countries.”7 The Middle East chapter of the abovementioned program reads:
“The bloodshed in the Middle East caused sadness and concern both to the
international community, and to the Turkish society linked to that area in
terms of culture and history. The AKP strongly believes that the only way to
stop the religious and national discriminations, blood and tears shed
regardless the ethnicity, is the rapid establishment of durable peace.”8 The
paragraph is directly followed by the relations with the Islamic countries:
“Our party highly values the relations between Turkey and Islamic
countries. No efforts will be saved to develop bilateral cooperation with
those countries from one hand, and to turn the “Islamic Cooperation”
organization 9 into a dynamic structure with its own initiative, holding a
higher place in international arena.”
Elections 2007։ The results of 2002 November elections and the
subsequent period inspired a unique confidence to the Justice and
Development party. Parallel to its actions the party made clear its
approaches and position to various issues. In spite of the complicated
domestic situation10,which served a ground for snap elections on July 22 of
7
2002 AKP election program, p. 133-134.
8
2002 AKP election program, p.134.
9
The organization was founded on August 21, 1969, in Rabat, capital of Morocco. After the
38th summit of Foreign Ministers of the member states of the organization, held in Astana
2011, a decision was made about renaming the organization. It is now called “The
Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” Arabic: منظمةالمؤتمراإلسالمي. Currently there are 57
member states comprising the union of Islamic states, and Bosnia Herzegovina, Central
African Republic, Thailand, Russia and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus [It is noteworthy, that the Turkish unrecognized republic initially joined the
organization as a "Muslim minority", then "Cyprus Turkish State"]have a status of observer.
To see more about the organization, see Noor Ahmad Baba, Organization of Islamic
Conference: Theory and Practice of Pan-Islamic Cooperation, 1994,
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/islam-isbirligi-teskilati.tr.mfa [available on 26.02.2016]
10
One of the reasons of political tensions in Turkey in 2007 was the ceremony of 10 th
Turkish President’s term in office on May 16, 2007. Prior to this, various political forces
were worried because AKP had an intention to nominate the AKP leader Recep Tayyip
Erdogan as a presidential candidate after the completion of Sezer’s term in office. To
57
Hayk Darbinyan
the same year, the AKP took part in the elections with high self-assurance
and recorded 46,58% votes.11Prior to elections, the party came up with an
extended and detailed election program that covered almost all sectors of
Turkish domestic and foreign policy. It is worth to mention, that the 2007
election program was the only one to address the religion with a separate
sub-title. The content is predominantly propaganda and aims to capture the
social groups mostly cherishing the religious values. Moreover, the chapter
clearly states that the ruling party strongly emphasizes the importance of
religion as well as the Turkish Ministry coordinating and managing the
religious issues.12"Justice and Development Party attaches great importance
to religious services for the provision of moral and spiritual values, national
solidarity and unity. During our tenure we have provided any possible
assistance to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, with a view to conduct proper
religious services."13In contrast to the 2002 election platform which was less
focused on the Turkish foreign policy, whereas the 2007 election program
extensively speaks about the goals of Turkey across the platforms overseas.
prevent this, in the beginning of 2007, several rallies were held in a number of major cities
of Turkey, under “Be the owner of the state” slogan. As a result of such developments, on
April 24, 2007, AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan nominated Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul, elected deputy from Kayseri, as a candidate on behalf of AKP. AKP was unable to
provide sufficient quota in Mejlis, because of boycotting the GNAT sessions of the
Republican People’s (the session had to be attended by 367 deputies). In order to solve the
issue, AKP decided to hold snap elections. All the political forcesvoted in favor of this
decision. As a result of the elections, GNAT parliamentary mandates were distributed in a
new principle. “The nationalist Movement Party” was established, which made it possible to
provide the necessary quota for presidential elections. Abdullah Gul undertook the
Presidential duties on August 28, 2007. For further details about 2007 elections, see Ali
Çarkoğlu, A new electoral victory for the ‘pro-Islamists’ or the ‘new centre-right’? The
justice and development party phenomenon in the July 2007 parliamentary elections in
Turkey //South European Society & Politics, 2007, Т. 12, № 4:501-519.
11
For more detailed statistics of 2007 parliamentary elections in Turkey, see the official
website of Higher Electoral Commission.
http://www.ysk.gov.tr/ysk/Haberler/22temmuz2007.html[available on 24.02.2016]
12
To learn more about the history of Turkey's religious affairs ministry, see İştar Tarhanlı,
Müslüman toplum "laik" devlet: Türkiye'de Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, 1993.
13
2007 AKP election program, p. 121
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REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
The ruling party sets 4 major principles regarding its purposes to be achieved
in the Middle East.
1. Principle of Trust: Concept and system of comprehensive security
for everyone living in the region.
2. Political Principle: Formation of political systems that will promote
the peaceful resolution of the crisis.
3. Economic Principle: Fair distribution of resources upon common
economic interest.
4. Cultural Principle: Side by side, without clashes, protection and
development of values and structures providing the existence of
various ethnic and religious identities.14
The AKP 2007 election platform emphasized Iraq15.This time also, the
chapter mostly contained propaganda and aims to introduce Turkey
an ally that was largely concerned about its neighbors’ destiny.
Elections 2011: By the initiative of the AKP, on October 27, 2007,
Turkey held a referendum on constitutional reforms. The 68, 95% voters
were for the proposed package of changes. 16 The modified constitution
invigorated several draft laws proposed by AKP. 17 As a result of those
reforms, on June 12, 2011 parliamentary elections took place in Turkey,
which were the first ones to be held as snap elections. 49,83% votes18 of
AKP set an electoral recordsince the party's establishment. This was a
thriving era for AKP, which resulted in the manifestation of unlimited
14
Ibid. p 242
15
Ibid. p 243
16
To learn more about series of elections held under the rule of the Justice and Development
party, see http://www.takvim.com.tr/secim-sonuclari[available on 26.02.2016]
17
The new version of Constitution incorporated a number of changes for various laws. One
of the most important change defined that parliamentary elections were to be held every four
year, the President was to be elected by popular vote (based on this revision, on August 10,
2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected a President of Turkey by popular vote). To learn
more about constitutional reforms, see Bülent Yavuz, 2007 Anayasa Değişikliğinin
Doğurduğu Tereddütler ve ÇözümYolları, 2008.
18
http://www.takvim.com.tr/secim-sonuclari [available on 26.02.2016]
59
Hayk Darbinyan
power by the senior officials and even in the emergence of their imperial
sentiment, which was characteristic of the Ottoman Empire sultans and
veziers. In this reality AKPs thought they had a super power in Turkey, no
force or factor could impede their advancement. It would be fair to mention,
that such standpoints were not far from reality. Indeed, there were no
sufficient political authority and the public support enjoyed by any other
force, or at least pretended to counterbalance the ruling party application
competition. The sentiments of this period served a ground for several
developments following the 2011 elections. They would come to show
imperialistic tendencies of Turkish authorities and regular manifestations of
political Islam. Such sentiments were somehow revealed also in 2011
electoral program: “Neither in Balkans, nor in Middle East has Turkey role
of not a foreign or artificial player. It is the important part of this
region.”19With such formulations AKP was trying to make clear that the
party's vision of the Middle East region and Turkey is no less important to
Turkey's relations with these countries. Those relations are no less
important than Turkey's relations with the West. In the most successful
section, the party expresses its expectations in the context of its relations
with the Middle East. “Our goal is to ensure that Turkish citizens can
leisurely stroll in the Middle East, establish trade relations, implement joint
projects with partners. Similarly, we will continue to take steps to make sure
the peoples of the Middle East consider Turkey as trade, diplomacy, an
important center of education and culture.”20In the mention period, Turkey
expressed a serious bid assuming the role of defender of the rights of
Muslims all over the world. These ambitious goals are also reflected in the
party's election program: “We openly declare that Islamophobia is a human
sin. In the recent years in international arena we have determinedly fought
19
2011 AKP election program, p. 280.
20
Ibid, p. 281.
60
REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
21
Ibid, p. 275.
22
Turkish society attaches much importance to religions classes. The necessity of religious
has been debated continuously throughout the course of state’s history. The 24th article of
the Basic Law of Turkey Article established the mandatory teaching and learning the
religion in state institutions. To learn more about religious classes inTurkey, see Mehmet
Bahçekapılı, Yeni Eğitim Sisteminde Seçmeli Din Dersleri: İmkânlar, Fırsatlar, Aktörler,
Sorunlar ve Çözüm Önerileri”, 2013.
23
To learn more about “Donation Foundation”, see
http://hayratvakfi.org/index.php/2015/01/31/hayrat-vakfi-hakkinda/ [available on
29.02.2016]
24
The issue of Imam Habits, i.e. religious schools is also largely discussed in Turkish
domestic political life. The ruling Justice and Development party openly supported those
institutions. It is worth to mention, that 11th President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is
61
Hayk Darbinyan
also a graduate of one of these religious schools. To learn more about Imam Habits, see
http://www.imamhatipokullari.org/tarihce.html [available on 29.02.2016]
25
According to the Turkish historiography, the history of 16 Turkic states covers the state
established by Lame (Lank) Temur, and it end with Ottoman empire. Full list of 16 Turkic
states and further details can be found here: http://www.tccb.gov.tr/cumhurbaskanligi/resmi-
simgeler/fors/ [available on 29.02.2016]
26
One of the scandals closely related to Turkey's justice system is considered to be
“Interrogation on December 17” or “Corruption Scandal”. On December 17, 2013, more
than 50 people were arrested in Turkey, which was followed by mass dismissals of police
officials involved in the investigation of these cases. This is considered a step made on
behalf of the Turkish government in response to the actions of the law enforcement bodies.
During the large-scale actions in Istanbul, the sons of the following people were arrested:
Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan, Ministry of Interior Muammer Guler, Erdogan
Bayraktar, as well as Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zarraban of Iranian origin, Executive
Director of state "Halkbank" Süleyman Aslan, and others. They are accused of construction
works implemented against bribe, and other financial transactions. In the scope of the case,
it was reported that the police had wiretapped the phones of the Turkish President and Prime
Minister. 25 among the arrested ones were taken to custody, and the rest were released. The
arrests were carried out by members of the Gulen movement. To learn more about Gulen
movement, see David Tittensor, The House of Service: The Gulen Movement and Islams
Third Way, 2014, Hakan Yavuz. Toward an Islamic Enlightenment: The Gülen Movement,
2013.
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REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
elections in Turkey held the following year. Yet again, they made an
impressive victory.27
Elections 2015: On August 27, 2014 in the Grand National Assembly
of the Justice and Development party, Ahmed Davutoglu was elected the
leader of this political party. The next day, on August 28, he was appointed
the Turkish Prime-minister, and took the responsibility to establish the 62nd
government of Turkey. In stipe of the fact, that both the government and
the Justice and Development party were under the disposal of the President
Erdogan came to explain that by managing those two positions, would de
facto assume that the responsibility of any step made by the Turkish
government laid on Erdogan. This also contained a psychological element:
After a decade-long period the party was to be led and directed to
parliamentary elections not by Tayyip Erdogan, but Davutoglu.
As a result of June 7, 2015 parliamentary elections, none of the
political forces was able to register such amount of votes28, which would
enable to form the Turkish government alone without any other political
force. Given the situation in the country, the political parties either had to
agree to form a coalition government, or early elections had to be held in
Turkey. Justice and Development party did not put up with the idea of
sharing the power with anyone, and on November 1st, 2015snap elections
were held in the country. As a result of November elections, AKP succeeded
in receiving a respective vote to be able to form a government in the
country.29
27
As a result of 2014 elections of local governments in Turkey, the Justice and Development
party received 43, 39% vote of confidence.
28
As a result of June 7, 2015 parliamentary elections in Turkey, 4 political parties were
represented in Mejlis of the country. The votes were distributed as follows: The Justice and
Development party 40,87%, the Republican People's party 24,95%, the National Movement
party 16, 29%, the People’s Democratic party 13,12%.
29
As a result of November 1, 2015 parliamentary elections, the same 4 political parties
gained the right to participate in the activities of Turkish Grand National Assembly. The
votes of the abovementioned parties were distributes as follows: the ruling Justice and
63
Hayk Darbinyan
Development party 49,50%, the Republican People's party 25,32%, the National Movement
party 11,90%, the People’s Democratic party 10,76%.
30
The 2015 AKP election program includes only 2 sentences regarding the Syrian crisis:
“The four-year crisis in Syria and the increasingly deepening humanitarian catastrophe in
terms of threats to regional security and stability are one of the priorities on our agenda.
Guided by humanity and integrity, the leadership of Justice and Development party will
continue to support immigrant families, and provide assistance to our Syrian brothers to in
their formidable days.” [AKP election program published prior to June 7, 2015 elections, p.
330].
31
http://behlulozkan.com/akp-siyasal-islami-da-cokertti-birgun-gazetesine-roportaj
[available on 06.08.2016]
64
REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
65
Hayk Darbinyan
66
REMARKS BY AKP ELECTORAL PROGRAM ON RELATION …
67
Էդիտա Ասատրյան
Էդիտա Ասատրյան
ԵՊՀ Արաբագիտության ամբիոնի հայցորդ
edit-asatryan@mail.ru
69
Էդիտա Ասատրյան
5Statement by Secretary of State Rogers, 9 December 1969, Vol. 1-2: 1947-1974 տե՛ս
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/mfadocuments/yearbook1/pages/9%20stateme
nt%20by%20secretary%20of%20state%20rogers-%209%20decemb.aspx [մատչելի է
22.09.2016]
6The Rogers Plan Was an American Peace Plan for the Middle East տե՛ս
70
ԵԳԻՊՏՈՍԸ ԵՎ ԱՐԱԲ-ԻՍՐԱՅԵԼԱԿԱՆ ՀԱԿԱՄԱՐՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ …
71
Էդիտա Ասատրյան
74
ԵԳԻՊՏՈՍԸ ԵՎ ԱՐԱԲ-ԻՍՐԱՅԵԼԱԿԱՆ ՀԱԿԱՄԱՐՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ …
76
ԵԳԻՊՏՈՍԸ ԵՎ ԱՐԱԲ-ԻՍՐԱՅԵԼԱԿԱՆ ՀԱԿԱՄԱՐՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ …
Keywords: Arab-Israeli conflict, Yigal Allon’s plan, Jordan’s King Hussein’s plan,
U.S. Secretary of State William Rogers’ plan, several peace plans of Arab-Israeli
conflict, Palestinian organizations, “War of Attrition”.
77
Էդիտա Ասատրյան
78
ԱԲՈՒ ԶԱԻԴ ԱԼԻ ՄՈՒՍԱ
6 համայնքը
83
«ՀԱՄԱՍ» ՇԱՐԺՈՒՄԸ․ ՍՏԵՂԾՈՒՄՆ ՈՒ ԳԱՂԱՓԱՐԱԽՈՍՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ
84
ԱԲՈՒ ԶԱԻԴ ԱԼԻ ՄՈՒՍԱ
86
ԱԲՈՒ ԶԱԻԴ ԱԼԻ ՄՈՒՍԱ
88
ԱԲՈՒ ԶԱԻԴ ԱԼԻ ՄՈՒՍԱ
90
ԱԲՈՒ ԶԱԻԴ ԱԼԻ ՄՈՒՍԱ
-1987 ، حماس منذ انطالقتها حتى معركة حجارة من التسجيل، شبكة فلسطين للحوار .1
.2012
، دراسة في الفكر السياسي لحركة المقاومة اإلسالمية حماس عمان،جواد الحمد وآخرون .2
.1999 ،مركز دراسات الشرق األوسط
دار الشروق للنشر والتوزيع: رام هللا،1 ط، حماس من الداخل،مهيب سليمان احمد النواتي .3
.2009
دار الشروق،1 ط، السلطة, االنتفاضة،حماس, درب األشواك،عماد عبد الحميد الفالوجي .4
.2005 , رام هللا، ،للنشر والتوزيع
"التكوينات السياسية والفدائية المعاصرة، صفحات من تاريخ الكفاح الفلسطيني،علي بدوان .5
.2008 ، صفحات للدراسات والنشر: سوريا1 ط،"النشأة والمصائر
، دار التنوير للنشر والتوزيع، رام هللا،1 ط، حماس من الرفض إلى السلطة،نعيم األشهب .6
.2007
93
«ՀԱՄԱՍ» ՇԱՐԺՈՒՄԸ․ ՍՏԵՂԾՈՒՄՆ ՈՒ ԳԱՂԱՓԱՐԱԽՈՍՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ
، حماس، المعارضة في الفكر السياسي لحركة المقاومة اإلسالمية، وائل عبد الحميد المبحوح.7
.2010 ، جامعة األزهر بغزة، رسالة ماجستير
الدار العربي للعلوم: القاهرة، الشيخ أحمد ياسين شاهد على عصر االنتفاضة، أحمد منصور.8
.2004 ،ودار ابن حزم
.1988 ، ميثاق حركة حماس.9
94
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95
Vigor Vukotić
Vigor Vukotić
MA student of Department of Ethnology and Social Anthropology
University of Zagreb
vigor.vukotic@gmail.com
1. Introduction
I was inspired to do this research based on a similar one I did In
Bitola, FYROM. Results of that one were astonishingly one-sided: all
interlocutors expressed their regret for the former state, frustration with
the current economic situation and longing for the socialist era. In that
survey, I did not have an opportunity do to a selection of interlocutors
based on their denomination or nationality. I limited my survey in
Zagreb on the smaller community. As I have done other surveys
involving members of the Islamic community in the past, I was very
well informed about their opinions on different subjects, I decided to
examine how the Zagreb Muslims look at Yugoslavia from today’s
perspective.
Initial source of data for Muslim history, the book "Muslims in
Zagreb" (Muslimani u Zagrebu) by the author Zlatko Hasanbegović,
covers time span up to the year 1945, and mainly focuses on the time of
the NDH - Independent state of Croatia. For the period after 1945,there
are a few written sources, especially for the city of Zagreb. Therefore,
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
the other aim of this paper was to try to fill a gap in the history of
Muslims in Zagreb.
The main method used was an interview, which took form of an
extensive semi-structured interview, in which interlocutors were
encouraged to do a sort of a monologue about the subject.
Regarding the history of the Muslims before 1945, I used the above-
mentioned book "Muslims in Zagreb." Besides showing detailed
description based on the research of historic documents, this book stays
stuck in its own period of time and doesn't really catch the true part the
Muslims played in NDH from today’s perspective.
I used papers by Nataša Bajić- Simeunović (2012) and Ivana Spasić
(2012) to create a theoretical foundation for the fieldwork and to form
methodology. With the same goal, I used the book "Titoslagija", written
by Mitija Velikonja, in which he brings the detailed definition of the
term Yugonostalgia, the definition I used while writing this paper.
Additions to the definition of the term Yugonostalgia are from the
articles by Monika Plamberger (2008) and Zala Volčić (2007).
3. Research
Research was carried out on a sample of four interlocutors who live
in Zagreb, with whom I had made extensive semi-structured interviews,
and all of them agreed to be published under their full name. People I
spoke to are either active believers, or were raised in some religious
surroundings or come from families that were once religious. This
combination, together with the fact that all the interlocutors live their
whole life, or the most of it, in Zagreb, is forming an interesting picture,
and their stories about how they, individually or as a part of the family,
got closer of further from the religion, are showing the different
influence of political processes in Yugoslavia. The period before the
adoption of the Yugoslavian constitution of 1974, is very poorly
documented and my interlocutors have had scarce information about it.
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
Indications about the period after the end of the Second World War
until the adoption of the constitution can be found in the concluding
chapter of the book Muslims in Zagreb by Zlatko Hasanbegović.:
"The whole social struggle of the first generation of Zagreb Muslims
was at stake. Societies and institutions, with an exception of religious
leadership have been disbanded, and Zagreb mufti being sentenced to
death, repression towards prominent members of Muslim community,
and finally, closing of the mosque in Zagreb, have all marked the end of
the first era of Muslim presence in Zagreb. (Hasanbegović, 2007:451)
Unfortunately, as I've predicted, reduced availability of the
potentially interesting interlocutors played a negative selection role.
Also, despite numerous attempts, I was not able to get into contact with
the office of Islamic community in Tomašićeva Street in Zagreb, a place
that played a key role in a Muslims life in Yugoslavia, until the new
mosque in Zagreb was built.
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
6. Definition of Yugonostalgia
In this paper, I'm referring to the definition of Yugonostalgia given
by a few authors. Mitija Velikonja in his book "Titostalgija" defines
Yugonostalgia as:
"a series of interesting social phenomena and cultural curiosities
across former Yugoslavia. The professional public and ordinary people
both refer to these as “Yugonostalgia,” or nostalgia for the late country.
Its manifestations are extremely diverse, varying with the region, time,
group of people or intentions. It involves pleasant memories of various
“things Yugoslav,” rather than things specific to individual nations of
former Yugoslavia. These include Yugoslav pop-culture (ranging from
starogradske songs and Dalmatian belcanto to rock’n’roll, punk and new
wave), Yugoslav film, television series, comedy programs, the
entertainment scene, victories of national sport teams, informal
(friendly, love) relationships and formal ones (forged while participating
in work brigades, serving in the military, visiting twin towns or schools,
taking part in country-wide contests), travel and vacationing from the
Vardar River in Macedonia to Mount Triglav in Slovenia, employment
opportunities across the former country, various phenomena of
everyday life, cult industrial and food products etc." (Velikonja, 2008:13)
His book is focused on one certain aspect of Yugonostalgia, and that
is nostalgia for an image and legacy of Josip Broz Tito. The attitude
towards him is also analyzed in this research.
Further on, Monika Plamberg also analyzes Yugonostalgia:
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Vigor Vukotić
7. Interview analysis
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Vigor Vukotić
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
7.3. Education
Availability of education, and the lack of discrimination, were one
of the key factors in shaping the Yugoslav, supranational identity.
Again, the irony that the religious education was silently tolerated is
best described by the following:
"There was no discrimination. At least I didn't feel it, nor anyone
close to me. I told you that there was discrimination only in the public
and political sector. Nowhere else was discrimination, based on
nationality and religion, . Education was completely free and guaranteed
for everyone, and there was no discrimination while enrolling in any
level of education. That was the politics of Yugoslavia. And that was the
paradox - you had the situation where you couldn't express your
nationality, and state has narrowed your religious identity, but at the
same time, you gave education to more people than ever before. During
the period of Yugoslavia Muslims got more education that they ever had
before." (Faris Nanić)
"Generally speaking, in education there were no set-backs, you
could get in all of the schools, regardless of your religious identification.
Nobody was left out because of his name of religion he or she can't
enroll on some university." (Azra Abadžić - Navaey)
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Vigor Vukotić
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
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Vigor Vukotić
Professor Mustajbegović says that she is not in the contact with the
Islamic community nor its members, but points out that in Yugoslavia
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
there was an identity above nationality and above religion, and, when
asked if she though if something like that is missing today, adds:
"Old people cocoon themselves, for some people its ok to live in
some sort of their miniature intellectual and emotional sphere, God
forbid to go out of it, you look at the world through your little pinhole. "
(Jadranka Mustajbegović)
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Vigor Vukotić
9. Conclusion
Interlocutors are unanimous stating that the phenomenon of
Yugonostalgia among the members of the Islamic community in Zagreb
- does not exist. Still, they agree that some of its aspects, especially
economic ones, are very much present, because of, in words of Azra
Abadžić-Navaey, a very bad economic situation in Croatia, in
comparison to the "golden" seventies and eighties.
Remembering Yugoslavia is mostly fragmented and it mostly
depends on the subtopic. As most problematic, interlocutors state lack of
religious freedoms, and a silent tolerance towards religion, as long as its
in small, publicly inactive communities. Here interlocutor Nanić states
that Muslims were in a sort of privileged position:
"It was much easier to be Muslim in Zagreb than in Sarajevo at the
time. For a very simple reason. Muslims were a majority in Bosnia and
Hercegovina, and therefore, they posed a threat to the socialist regime, if
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Bibliography
1. Epp, A. M. and Price L. L. (2008). Family identity: A Framework
of Identity Interplay in Consumption Practices. Journal of
Consumer Research, 35/1, 55-70.
2. Hasanbegović, Z. (2007). Muslimani u Zagrebu 1878.-1945.
Zagreb: Medžlis Islamske zajednice u Zagrebu, Institut društvenih
znanosti Ivo Pilar.
3. Plamberger, M. (2008). Nostalgia matters: Nostalgia for
Yugoslavia as potential vision for a better future. Sociologija, L/4,
355-369.
4. Rabrenović, G. (1997). The Dissolution of Yugoslavia: Ethnicity,
Nationalism and Exclusionary Communities. Dialectical
Anthropology, 22/1, 95-101.
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Vigor Vukotić
List of interlocutors
Azra Abadžić- Navaey, date of birth: 1976. , residence: Zagreb,
university professor, location and date of the interview: Zagreb,
15.12.2015.
Faris Nanić, date of birth: 1964. , residence: Zagreb, director of the
Vijadukt department in Bosnia and Herzegovina, location and date
of the interview: 15.12. 2015.
Jadranka Mustajbegović, date of birth: 1951. , residence: Zagreb,
university professor, location and date of the interview: Zagreb
28.12.2015.
Zenun Skenderi, date of birth: 1955. , residence: Zagreb, university
professor, location and date of the interview: Zagreb, 24.12.2015.
112
FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
113
Vigor Vukotić
The main goal of this research is to explore the general attitude among
the members of the Islamic community of Zagreb toward the life in
Yugoslavia and compare it to life in the Republic of Croatia in a few fields
of research - national designation, religious liberties, education
opportunities and opinion about the Yugoslavian leader Josip Broz Tito. I
was aiming to see how interlocutors are looking at Yugoslavia from current
perspective. Besides this, this research can be used as a sort of "gap filling"
of the history of Muslims in Zagreb. Focus group was a smaller sample of
interlocutors from the Islamic community, with the emphasis on that they
have lived both in Croatia and in Yugoslavia. Main method used is semi-
structured interview.
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FAMILY AS A CRADLE FOR NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY...
115
DUNJA RAŠIĆ
Dunja Rašić
Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies,
Freie Universität Berlin
rasic@bgsmcs.fu-berlin.de
We profit from language upon speaking it, but its beauty is not our
own creation. On the authority of the forty-fifth āyah of sūrah Al-Nūr,
Al-Sirāfī identifies Classical Arabic language as the ultimate blessing of
the Almighty to mankind: ‘’Allah has created from water every living
creature: of them there are some that creep upon their bellies, some that
walk on two legs, and yet some that walk on four; Allah creates what He
pleases; surely Allah has power over everything’’2. Horses, mules and
donkeys are exempted both from joys of life and the access to the
unlimited knowledge potential which can be obtained through studies
of Arabic grammar (Al-Sirāfī, 2008:70). In the eyes of Al-Sirāfī,
knowledge ultimately gives birth to wisdom and the familiarity with
rules and regulations of Classical Arabic language can under no
circumstances be considered as an exemption. The knowledge of
3 For the further refferences on the percepcion of Classical Arabic language in the hadīth
trafition see: (Ms. Ẓāhirīya, Majmū’ no. 87, 5; Bayhaqī, Shu’ab 2/257; Mutaqī 3/no. 9037,
29355.
4 Al-Sirāfī. ‘Akbar al-naḥwiyīn al-basriyīn, 82.
5 Ibid., 10.
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DUNJA RAŠIĆ
identifies the desire to make possible for people to benefit from the
wisdom of their imāms and the Holy Qur’an as the main duty of a
professional grammarian (Al-Sirāfī, 1955:12). According to Al-Sirāfī,
every aspiration towards the ultimate wisdom reflected in the surahs of
the Qur’an cannot be fulfilled without the prior knowledge of a
language in which the Holy book was revealed (Al-Sirāfī, 2008:7, 444).
Through his treatise Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh, Al-Sirāfī establishes a
definition of Arabic language as the language of the Qur’an first and
foremost; thus irreversibly binding the message transmitted through the
Qur’anic revelation to the language it was revealed in 6 . In addition,
Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh divides Classical Arabic language into three
distinct categories: (1) everyday spoken language, (2) language of the
Qur’an and (3) the language of poetry. In the ideal case, a professional
grammarian will be able to illustrate his theories through the language
of the Qur’an, everyday spoken language of Arabs and the poetic verses
as well. However, in the case when a certain linguistic feature cannot be
asserted through any of the three categories from above, it is without a
fail to be deemed as artificial - and thus as incorrect as well (Al-Sirāfī,
2008:11). Al-Sirāfī’s notions of language and grammar will have a
profound influence on his methodology approach; thus ultimately
6 By the mid-10th century A.D, ʿulamā has already established the knowledge of Classical
Arabic language as the collective obligation (farḍ kifāya) of the Muslim community and
the personal obligation (farḍ ‘ayn) of any scholar wishing to specialize in the legal
sciences (Yasir, 2003:44; Al-Tufi, 1997:248). By the time Al-Sirāfī began his work on
Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh, it was generally perceived that ‘’Qur’ān has four aspects: exegesis,
which is known to the scholars; Arabic language, which is known by the Arabs; allowed
and forbidden things, which people cannot afford to ignore; and interpretation, which is
only known to God Almighty.’’ (Muqātil, 1979:26–7). In addition, Prophet Muhammad
and Ghalib al-Qaṭṭān of the hadīth collections will establish the familiarity of an
individual with the rules and regulations of Classical Arabic and Arab genealogies as sine
qua non for the proper understanding of scriptures (Ms. Ẓāhirīya, Majmū’ no. 40, 307;
and Bayhaqī, Shu’ab 2/275).
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AL-SIRĀFI'S STAIRWAYS TO WISDOM…
7See: Al-Sirāfī. Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh I, 366. Al-Sirāfī’s ultimate stand on this matter was
most probably influenced by his teacher and mentor Ibn Sarrāj, who assumed that by the
beginning of 10th century, the knowledge of Classical Arabic has already became pale
and frail. Preservice of this wisdom was furthermore defined by Ibn Sarrāj as one of the
main tasks of a professional grammarian (Ibn Sarrāj, 1996:56).
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DUNJA RAŠIĆ
8Unlike Al-Sirāfī, the early Arab grammarians didn’t hesitate to correct the language of
the Qur’an if its authority stood in opposition to the everyday spoken language, for ‘’the
mushaf itself contains errors, but the Arabs will correct them’’! (A-Farrā’, 1988:183).
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AL-SIRĀFI'S STAIRWAYS TO WISDOM…
fails to establish the clear-cut distinction between the ethnic Arabs and
other native speakers of Classical Arabic language:
‘’The opinions on this matter differ. And while some say that Arabs
are descendants of ‘Ismā’īl and that all others who do not share this
lineage cannot rightfully call themselves Arabs; at the same time Jews
and some others do not hesitate to revere ‘Ismā’īl in their prayers and
memories.’’(Al-Sirāfī, 2008:6).
The quoted paragraph faithfully reflects Al-Sirāfī’s uncertainty
regarding the wide-spread assumption that all Arabs ultimately descend
from the prophet (nabī) ‘Ismā’īl, son of ‘Ibrāhīm by his second wife
Hājar (Goldziher, 1967: 98). As such, Al-Sirāfī’s stand on this matter
seems to be the closest to the one of expressed by the Prophet
Muhammad within the early ḥadīth tradition: ‘’O people, God is one,
father is one and Arabic is neither your father nor mother but a
language, so whoever speaks Arabic is Arab’’9. Through the course of
analyses of Al-Sirāfī’s Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh and ‘Akbar al-naḥwiyīn al-
basriyīn it can be concluded that the main research focus of Al-Sirāfī’s
studies on spoken language pivots on the grammatical patterns and
properties of the everyday speech of the inhabitants of Hijāz and the
sedentary Arabs in general.
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AL-SIRĀFI'S STAIRWAYS TO WISDOM…
10Al-Sirāfī was furthermore known to have expressed his awe and wonder in the light of
the fact that Sibawayh was successful in providing his readers with the known examples
of grammatically correct speech of sedentary Arabs; which is, as such, worth of serious
analytical effort and the role of a scientific authority in the Arabic grammar studies (Al-
Sirāfī, 2008: 161, 386).
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DUNJA RAŠIĆ
grammarian will assume the role of a scribe; thus providing his readers
with the faithful and elaborated record of all peculiarities of the Bedouin
dialects that he has encountered through the course of his research.
According to Al-Sirāfī, the proposed methodological approach is to be
applied without an exception – and even when it comes to dealing with
the influx of foreign linguistic elements in the Classical Arabic language.
Through the scope of his research on ‘Akbar al-naḥwiyīn al-
basriyīn, Al-Sirāfī asserts that the influence of foreign linguistic
elements can be traced ever since the life and times of ‘Abū Al-‘Aswad
al-Du’alī in the mid-7th century A.D. (Al-Sirāfī, 1955:13). In this aspect,
the scientific opus of Al-Sirāfī might have been affected by echoes of the
legendary encounter between the Caliph Ali and Al-Du’ali, through the
course of which Caliph identified the occurrence of solecism in Classical
Arabic language as the direct consequence of the linguistic contacts
between Arabs and Muslims of non-Arabic origin (Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih,
1928: 18; Ibn Jinnī, 1952: 12, 31). In order to fully back his claims, Al-
Sirāfī asserts that it was solely due to the established foreign elements in
Classical Arabic language that Sibawayh decided to describe his famous
Al-Kitāb as a book dedicated to ‘’the wisdom of Arabic language’’ rather’’
than simply as a ‘’book of wisdom’’13.
‘’In the speech of Arabs I have noticed certain nouns, which have
caught my attention due to their specific formulae, which we don’t
encounter in the language of Arabs otherwise. [Such is] the word
‘’kanahbal’’, whose formula is ‘’fana’allu’’ and ‘’hundal’ ’’, whose formula
is ‘’fun’alil’’. As it was pointed out by Sibawayh, he was unable to detect
any word which is similar or equal to the ‘ibl; which must have arrived
in [everyday] speech of Arabs [from elsewhere] (…). However, up to my
best knowledge, words like ‘Ibrāhim, ‘Ismāīl, ‘Isḥāk (…), pharaoh and
other similar nouns also do not originate from our language – despite
they have long ago ceased being a mere foreign element within it.’’ (Al-
Sirāfī, 2008:5-6).
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DUNJA RAŠIĆ
their very nature, poetry and rhymed prose rarely hesitate to sacrifice
the clarity of meaning and the laws of grammar for the sake of
questionable beauty standards of metric systems and lively rhythm (Al-
Sirāfī, 2008:189). In addition, Al-Sirāfī accuses poets for (1) changing the
structure of words and sentences by randomly adding additional vowels
whenever they deem it fit - for Al-Sirafi doesn’t look favourable on
poetic freedom which, for the sake of achieving better rhythm and
metric structure, changes ‘’dirham’’ into ‘’darahīm’’, ‘’ṣajf’’ into ‘’ṣajārīf’’,
‘’masjid’’ into ‘’masājīd’’ etc; (2) Slurred speech and odd sentence
construction (3) Incorrect or improper use of adjectives; (4) Improper
use of waṣla, ʾalif maqṣūra and determining particle and (5) for the
improper conjugation of weak webs15. Based on the tendency of poetry
to sacrifice the grammatical rules and regulations of Classical Arabic
language, Al-Sirāfī concludes that no refinement and elegance of poetic
expression can be compared to the superb beauty of Qur’an - as the
purest and the most exalted example of the renowned beauty of Classical
Arabic language.
According to Al-Sirāfī, ugliness and the corruption of speech are
represented in language irregularities and solecisms; which may appear
in the form of grammatical omissions or as the oddity of the expression
itself. Ultimately, the corruption of speech may arise as the union of
solecisms and meaninglessness of expression, as it is the case in a
sentence: ‘’I will drink sea water yesterday.’’ (Al-Sirāfī, 2008: 187). By its
nature, the proper use of grammar ultimately serves to ensure the clarity
of meaning of a sentence. In addition, Al-Sirāfī singles out case system
15The criteria of the accuracy of a speech didn’t represent an important criteria for the
evaluation of the poetic verses in the early Arabic grammar studies. In the case of a
poetry, it was generally perceived that accepted that invention (takhyīl) is acceptable
(Hoyland, 2006: 17). For the sake of the further references, see Al-Sirāfī’s refutation of
the language of poetry at: Al-Sirāfī. Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh I, 188-205.
129
DUNJA RAŠIĆ
16On the authority of Al-Māzinī, Al-Sirafi doesn’t refrain from criticizing even the
spoken language of Sibawayh himself, who apparently used to make mistakes in daily
conversations by using improper case endings (Al-Sirāfī, 2008:21).
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AL-SIRĀFI'S STAIRWAYS TO WISDOM…
written and/or oral expression (Al-Sirāfī, 2008: 23-24, 46). In the certain
cases however, even a grammatically correct speech can be deemed as
ugly and corrupt. In order to illustrate his assertion, Al-Sirāfī chose to
rely on the analysis of the sentence: ‘’Zaydun ḍarabtu’’. Regardless of the
fact that the sentence used in the mentioned example is grammatically
correct, Al-Sirāfī deems the quoted expression as odd due to the fact that
Zayd is intended to represent the subject of a sentence. According to Al-
Sirāfī, the sentence from the quoted example can be understood - but
due to the oddity of the expression itself it will, as such, without a fail
irritate the ear of an educated listener; regardless of the fact that it is
otherwise grammatically correct (Al-Sirāfī, 2008:379). In addition, Sharḥ
Kitāb Sibawayh asserts that the ugliness of speech may arise from its
obscene or improper content and/or strange sentence construction as
well. In the eyes of Al-Sirāfī, every sentence that requires further
clarifications cannot rightfully lay any pretensions to perfection. Once
the perfect sentence has been uttered, a listener will be familiar not just
with the meaning of the sentence, its actors and actions they undertook
– but also with the potential hints and hidden meanings which the
author of a sentence was trying to convey (Al-Sirāfī, 2008: 409). Al-
Sirāfī defines the meaning of a sentence as the union of physical
perception and personal knowledge in the form of wisdom or
conviction.
In his Sharḥ Kitāb Sibawayh, Al-Sirāfī identifies two doctrines
which govern the human heart: doctrine of physical perception and
doctrine in the form of knowledge. Within the human heart, as the
main cognitive centre of an individual human being, rational knowledge
and physical perception unite to shape speech: thus giving birth to a
spoken language. As such, Al-Sirāfī’s theory of nature of knowledge and
physical perception was first and foremost established upon analysis of
sūrahs Ṣād and Al-Maʻārij: ’’Indeed they see it [as] distant, but we see it
131
DUNJA RAŠIĆ
Conclusion
In the eyes of Al-Sirāfī, Beauty without a fail goes hand in hand
with perfection. Through the course of his striving towards the ultimate
perfection of written and spoken language alike, the scientific opus of
Al-Sirāfī sets up the two main criteria: grammatical accuracy and the
clarity of speech. And when it comes to the qualities of Classical Arabic,
as the most exalted of all languages, those aiming for perfection must
take into account that the perfect speech must be eloquent,
understandable, with pleasant articulation and clear pronunciation of
case endings18. Nevertheless, it is not within the power of a beauty of an
19 Regardless of the fact that the grammatically incorrect speech can occasionally be
understood, it will without a fail lacks perfection in the eyes of Al-Sirāfī (Al-Sirāfī, 2008:
23).
20 According to Ibn Nadīm, Halīl ibn Aḥmad apparently followed the same research
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AL-SIRĀFI'S STAIRWAYS TO WISDOM…
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135
DUNJA RAŠIĆ
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DUNJA RAŠIĆ
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156
ՆԱԽԴԻՐՆԵՐԻ ԽՆԴԻՐԸ ԱՐԱԲԱԿԱՆ ԼԵԶՎԱԲԱՆԱԿԱՆ ԱՎԱՆԴՈՒՅԹՈՒՄ
160
ՆԱԽԴԻՐՆԵՐԻ ԽՆԴԻՐԸ ԱՐԱԲԱԿԱՆ ԼԵԶՎԱԲԱՆԱԿԱՆ ԱՎԱՆԴՈՒՅԹՈՒՄ
161
Խադիջե Ահմադ Մեհրաբի
163
Խմբագրական խորհուրդ՝