The margins of medieval Arabic manuscripts contain a wealth of historical information, revealing how scholars shared knowledge, authenticated books and participated in intellectual life across the Islamic world. A new study shows how these often-overlooked records can help reconstruct the lives of people who might otherwise have been forgotten.
Published in the Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, the study examines a distinctive feature of medieval Islamic manuscript culture known as samāʿāt, or certificates of audition. These handwritten records, often found in the margins or at the end of manuscripts, documented occasions when texts were read aloud before groups of scholars, students and other listeners.
Researchers Saleh Muhammad Zeki Mahmood Al-Leheabi and Ahmed Ameen of the University of Sharjah examined 47 manuscripts containing 132 such certificates. Their findings demonstrate how these records can provide evidence about medieval education, scholarly networks and the movement of books between cities.
“The findings show that audition records can fill gaps in existing historical sources and reveal individuals whose names are not documented elsewhere,” said Dr. Al-Leheabi, Associate Professor of Islamic History and Civilization and the study’s lead author.
How Medieval Islamic Scholars Authenticated Books
Gotha MS orient. A 627 (Iʿtilāl al-Qulūb). A typical samāʿ note records the title of the work, the teacher’s name, and the names of those who attended the oral reading of the manuscript. It also documents the date and location of the session and indicates whether authorization for transmission was granted. Credit: Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilizatio
In the medieval Islamic world, the transmission of knowledge often involved reading texts aloud in the presence of teachers and students. These gatherings could take place in mosques, madrasas, private residences and other locations.
A certificate of audition recorded details of these sessions, including the names of the teacher and listeners, the date and location, and the portion of the manuscript that had been read. Such documentation helped establish the circumstances under which a text had been transmitted and verified.
The researchers identify several forms of samāʿāt. Some certified that an individual had heard an entire book, while others recorded attendance for only part of a work. Additional annotations documented the comparison of manuscript copies against authoritative versions, helping identify errors and establish textual accuracy.
These practices became increasingly formalised during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, although the researchers identify evidence of similar methods dating back to the early tenth century.
“The widespread presence of audition records in manuscripts highlights their importance as historical sources and their fundamental role in manuscript production and the transmission of knowledge,” added Dr. Al-Leheabi. “Manuscripts should not be viewed merely as texts to be edited but as repositories of unique historical information that can enrich our understanding of the past.”
A Woman Attending a Scholarly Gathering in 1182
The final page of Süleymaniye Library manuscript MS 254, Türkiye. For modern codicologists and historians, samāʿāt can be even more valuable than ownership notes, as they document who studied a text, when and under whom it was studied, whether the reading was completed in full, and whether authorization for its transmission was granted. Credit: Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization
One particularly revealing example comes from a manuscript of al-Shamāʾil al-Muḥammadiyya, a work describing the characteristics and qualities of the Prophet Muhammad, originally composed by the ninth-century scholar al-Tirmidhī.
The manuscript, now preserved in the Süleymaniye Library in Turkey, contains a certificate documenting a reading held on 10 July 1182 at the Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ in Fustat, Egypt.
The record identifies the principal transmitter, Abū Nizār Rabīʿa ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥaḍramī, along with several participants. Among them was a woman named Umm Ibrāhīm Rābiʿa bint Muḥammad. Her appearance in the certificate provides evidence of women’s participation in scholarly gatherings, alongside religious scholars, family members and other attendees.
The manuscript also contains evidence of subsequent readings in Damascus and Jerusalem, demonstrating how a single text could circulate through different intellectual communities over successive generations.
The researchers argue that such records are especially valuable because medieval biographical dictionaries generally concentrated on prominent scholars, leaving many other participants in intellectual life undocumented.
Merchants and Scholars in Medieval Baghdad
Another manuscript examined in the study offers a glimpse into scholarly activities in Baghdad during the late eleventh century. The manuscript, Iʿtilāl al-Qulūb by the tenth-century author al-Khurāʾiṭī, is now held at the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha in Germany. It preserves 13 certificates of audition, including one dated 10 September 1094.
The records identify teachers, readers, witnesses and scribes. Several individuals bear the designation al-Bazzāz, associated with the cloth trade, suggesting connections between commercial and scholarly communities.
One certificate even specifies that a participant, Abū Saʿd Aḥmad al-Bazzāz, heard only 15 folios of the text, rather than the entire reading. Such details demonstrate the precision with which attendance and participation could be recorded. They also reveal how scholarly gatherings brought together individuals from different occupational backgrounds.
The study highlights the broader social importance of these records, noting that women, merchants and craftspeople appear alongside established scholars.
Reconstructing Medieval Scholarly Networks
Beyond identifying individual participants, the researchers argue that certificates of audition can help historians reconstruct networks of intellectual exchange across the medieval Islamic world.
The manuscripts examined contain connections to major centres of learning, including Baghdad, Fustat, Damascus, Aleppo and Isfahan. By recording names, dates and places, the certificates provide evidence of how scholars and books moved between different communities.
An especially early example comes from a manuscript associated with the Baghdad scholar Abū Bakr al-Anbārī, dated to 919. Although its authorisation record does not follow the later standard format of a samāʿ, the researchers interpret it as evidence that similar practices of documenting scholarly transmission existed before the eleventh century.
Together, these examples illustrate the development of a system in which oral instruction, written documentation and manuscript verification reinforced one another.
“Audition records provide valuable evidence of how knowledge was transmitted, who participated in scholarly gatherings, and how books circulated across the Islamic world,” said Dr. Al-Leheabi. “A close examination of audition records can reveal individuals absent from other historical sources and help fill important gaps in our understanding of Islamic history.”
Preserving the Information Hidden in Manuscripts
Despite their historical importance, many certificates of audition remain difficult to study. Large numbers of Arabic manuscripts have yet to be fully catalogued or digitised, while others are dispersed among libraries and private collections.
The certificates themselves can also present challenges. Faded handwriting, corrections, overwritten passages and incomplete records may make their interpretation difficult. Identifying individuals often requires comparisons with chronicles, biographical dictionaries and other historical sources.
The researchers recommend developing standardised digital catalogues that would allow information from certificates of audition to be collected, classified and compared across manuscript collections. Such databases could help historians identify previously unknown individuals, reconstruct teacher-student relationships and trace the circulation of books over time.
“Their references to people, places, and dates offer insights into scholarly and cultural life across different periods,” Dr. Al-Leheabi explained. “Organizing these records into structured databases and catalogues would make their information more accessible to researchers.”
For historians of the medieval Islamic world, the findings underline the importance of examining manuscripts as historical objects rather than simply as surviving copies of written works. The notes left by readers, teachers and scribes can preserve details of everyday scholarly activities that are otherwise absent from the historical record.
The study, “Certificates of Audition (Samāʿāt) in Islamic Manuscripts: Documentary Practices, Transmission Networks, and Historiographical Value,” by Saleh Muhammad Zeki Mahmood Al-Leheabi and Ahmed Ameen, was published in the Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization. Click here to read it.
The margins of medieval Arabic manuscripts contain a wealth of historical information, revealing how scholars shared knowledge, authenticated books and participated in intellectual life across the Islamic world. A new study shows how these often-overlooked records can help reconstruct the lives of people who might otherwise have been forgotten.
Published in the Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, the study examines a distinctive feature of medieval Islamic manuscript culture known as samāʿāt, or certificates of audition. These handwritten records, often found in the margins or at the end of manuscripts, documented occasions when texts were read aloud before groups of scholars, students and other listeners.
Researchers Saleh Muhammad Zeki Mahmood Al-Leheabi and Ahmed Ameen of the University of Sharjah examined 47 manuscripts containing 132 such certificates. Their findings demonstrate how these records can provide evidence about medieval education, scholarly networks and the movement of books between cities.
“The findings show that audition records can fill gaps in existing historical sources and reveal individuals whose names are not documented elsewhere,” said Dr. Al-Leheabi, Associate Professor of Islamic History and Civilization and the study’s lead author.
How Medieval Islamic Scholars Authenticated Books
In the medieval Islamic world, the transmission of knowledge often involved reading texts aloud in the presence of teachers and students. These gatherings could take place in mosques, madrasas, private residences and other locations.
A certificate of audition recorded details of these sessions, including the names of the teacher and listeners, the date and location, and the portion of the manuscript that had been read. Such documentation helped establish the circumstances under which a text had been transmitted and verified.
The researchers identify several forms of samāʿāt. Some certified that an individual had heard an entire book, while others recorded attendance for only part of a work. Additional annotations documented the comparison of manuscript copies against authoritative versions, helping identify errors and establish textual accuracy.
These practices became increasingly formalised during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, although the researchers identify evidence of similar methods dating back to the early tenth century.
“The widespread presence of audition records in manuscripts highlights their importance as historical sources and their fundamental role in manuscript production and the transmission of knowledge,” added Dr. Al-Leheabi. “Manuscripts should not be viewed merely as texts to be edited but as repositories of unique historical information that can enrich our understanding of the past.”
A Woman Attending a Scholarly Gathering in 1182
One particularly revealing example comes from a manuscript of al-Shamāʾil al-Muḥammadiyya, a work describing the characteristics and qualities of the Prophet Muhammad, originally composed by the ninth-century scholar al-Tirmidhī.
The manuscript, now preserved in the Süleymaniye Library in Turkey, contains a certificate documenting a reading held on 10 July 1182 at the Mosque of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ in Fustat, Egypt.
The record identifies the principal transmitter, Abū Nizār Rabīʿa ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥaḍramī, along with several participants. Among them was a woman named Umm Ibrāhīm Rābiʿa bint Muḥammad. Her appearance in the certificate provides evidence of women’s participation in scholarly gatherings, alongside religious scholars, family members and other attendees.
The manuscript also contains evidence of subsequent readings in Damascus and Jerusalem, demonstrating how a single text could circulate through different intellectual communities over successive generations.
The researchers argue that such records are especially valuable because medieval biographical dictionaries generally concentrated on prominent scholars, leaving many other participants in intellectual life undocumented.
Merchants and Scholars in Medieval Baghdad
Another manuscript examined in the study offers a glimpse into scholarly activities in Baghdad during the late eleventh century. The manuscript, Iʿtilāl al-Qulūb by the tenth-century author al-Khurāʾiṭī, is now held at the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha in Germany. It preserves 13 certificates of audition, including one dated 10 September 1094.
The records identify teachers, readers, witnesses and scribes. Several individuals bear the designation al-Bazzāz, associated with the cloth trade, suggesting connections between commercial and scholarly communities.
One certificate even specifies that a participant, Abū Saʿd Aḥmad al-Bazzāz, heard only 15 folios of the text, rather than the entire reading. Such details demonstrate the precision with which attendance and participation could be recorded. They also reveal how scholarly gatherings brought together individuals from different occupational backgrounds.
The study highlights the broader social importance of these records, noting that women, merchants and craftspeople appear alongside established scholars.
Reconstructing Medieval Scholarly Networks
Beyond identifying individual participants, the researchers argue that certificates of audition can help historians reconstruct networks of intellectual exchange across the medieval Islamic world.
The manuscripts examined contain connections to major centres of learning, including Baghdad, Fustat, Damascus, Aleppo and Isfahan. By recording names, dates and places, the certificates provide evidence of how scholars and books moved between different communities.
An especially early example comes from a manuscript associated with the Baghdad scholar Abū Bakr al-Anbārī, dated to 919. Although its authorisation record does not follow the later standard format of a samāʿ, the researchers interpret it as evidence that similar practices of documenting scholarly transmission existed before the eleventh century.
Together, these examples illustrate the development of a system in which oral instruction, written documentation and manuscript verification reinforced one another.
“Audition records provide valuable evidence of how knowledge was transmitted, who participated in scholarly gatherings, and how books circulated across the Islamic world,” said Dr. Al-Leheabi. “A close examination of audition records can reveal individuals absent from other historical sources and help fill important gaps in our understanding of Islamic history.”
Preserving the Information Hidden in Manuscripts
Despite their historical importance, many certificates of audition remain difficult to study. Large numbers of Arabic manuscripts have yet to be fully catalogued or digitised, while others are dispersed among libraries and private collections.
The certificates themselves can also present challenges. Faded handwriting, corrections, overwritten passages and incomplete records may make their interpretation difficult. Identifying individuals often requires comparisons with chronicles, biographical dictionaries and other historical sources.
The researchers recommend developing standardised digital catalogues that would allow information from certificates of audition to be collected, classified and compared across manuscript collections. Such databases could help historians identify previously unknown individuals, reconstruct teacher-student relationships and trace the circulation of books over time.
“Their references to people, places, and dates offer insights into scholarly and cultural life across different periods,” Dr. Al-Leheabi explained. “Organizing these records into structured databases and catalogues would make their information more accessible to researchers.”
For historians of the medieval Islamic world, the findings underline the importance of examining manuscripts as historical objects rather than simply as surviving copies of written works. The notes left by readers, teachers and scribes can preserve details of everyday scholarly activities that are otherwise absent from the historical record.
The study, “Certificates of Audition (Samāʿāt) in Islamic Manuscripts: Documentary Practices, Transmission Networks, and Historiographical Value,” by Saleh Muhammad Zeki Mahmood Al-Leheabi and Ahmed Ameen, was published in the Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization. Click here to read it.
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