The Afterlife of a Medieval Persian Text: The Qalandar-nama of Abdullah Ansari
Timur Khan explores the Qalandar-nama, a medieval Persian text attributed to Abdullah Ansari, and the challenges of tracing its manuscripts and authorship.
Previously Unknown Medieval Chronicle Discovered
A newly discovered chronicle from the early eighth century is giving medieval historians a rare new window onto the political shocks and religious debates that reshaped the eastern Mediterranean in the decades before and after the rise of Islam
New Medieval Books: A Medieval Case for Islam’s Superiority
At the end of the eighth century, the Abbasid caliph sent a letter to the Byzantine emperor. This book presents a new edition and translation of that remarkable text—one of the earliest surviving defences of Islam—offering a rare insight into how its author explained Islamic belief and set out what he believed Christianity had misunderstood.
Brewing Controversy: How Coffee Sparked Fierce Debate in the 16th-Century
A bitter new drink swept through the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the early 1500s – and ignited one of the fiercest religious debates of the late-medieval Islamic world.
Sinan: The Old Man of the Mountain
Meet Rashid al-Din Sinan, the Nizari Ismaili leader remembered as the “Old Man of the Mountain,” who built fortresses, trained the Assassins, and shaped one of the most feared movements of the medieval Middle East.
Assassins and the Strategy of the Underdog
The Assassins of medieval Persia were a small, unpopular sect, but they developed a strategy that allowed them to punch far above their weight. By seizing castles, cultivating converts, and carrying out targeted killings, they created a network of power that defied even the Seljuk Turks
New Medieval Books: History of the Arab Invasions: The Conquest of the Lands
Futuh al-Buldan is one of the most important primary sources for the early history of Islam. Written around the year 867, it chronicles the era of the Prophet Muhammad, and Muslim expansion into Syria, Egypt and Iraq.
New Medieval Books: Muhammad’s Military Expeditions
Between 622 and 632, the early Muslim community became involved in a series of military conflicts with rival Arabian groups and the Byzantine Empire. This book examines the military history of these encounters, “emphasizing them as a series of tribal incursions rather than religious missions.”
Five Senses: Christian Lange on the diversity of Islam
Christian Lange examines the role of the five senses in Islam – through studying smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch he reveals the richness of a world religion.
Who was Allah before Islam?, with Ahmad Al-Jallad
A conversation with Ahmad Al-Jallad about the languages and inscriptions of pre-Islamic Arabia, our main contemporary source for life, death, and worship before the time of the Prophet Muhammad. We talk about field surveys in search of inscriptions and what they tell us about Allah and other Arabian deities in the early centuries of the first millennium.
Muslims in the Kingdom of Jerusalem with Ann Zimo
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Ann Zimo about the interactions between Muslims and Christians within the legal, political, and even spy networks of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
New Medieval Books: The Emergence of Arabic Poetry
Offering a fresh look at the origins and development of Arabic poetry, this book argues that pre-Islamic poetry reflected regional identities and that later Islamic scholars favoured a specific style to define a unified Arab culture.
New Medieval Books: In Plain Sight
After the First Crusade, many Muslim communities in the Eastern Mediterranean found themselves under the rule of the Crusader States. This book delves into the lives of these Muslims, exploring how they adapted and endured under their new rulers.
Medieval Religious Order Might Be the Next European State
A new state might be coming to Europe, and it has a medieval connection. The Albanian government is planning to allow a religious order dating back to the 13th century to have its own microstate.
The Rise and Expansion of Islam in Somalia
Mohamed Haji Mukhtar of Savannah State University takes visitors on a journey into a lesser-known chapter in the spread of Islam — its diffusion through the nomadic Somali-speaking clans of the Horn of Africa.
New Medieval Books: Caliphate and Imamate
Translations of seven texts written between the eleventh and thirteenth century by Islamic writers that deal with politics and theology. They examine questions about who has political authority and why, whether they be Caliphs or Imams.
New Medieval Books: Shi’ite Rulers, Sunni Rivals, and Christians in Between
This book examines how inter-religious relations worked in the Fatimid Caliphate during the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. It would be a period that saw great swings back and forth when it came to religious tolerance.
Who is ‘Islamic History’ about?, with Christian Sahner
A conversation with Christian Sahner about the notion of Islamic history as a field of study. What does it prioritize, who does it tend to see most, and what about everyone else? No field-name is perfect; they all have advantages and disadvantages, and we need to be clear-eyed about them.
Pre-Islamic Arabia, with Valentina Grasso
A conversation with Valentina Grasso on Arabia before Islam. This used to be known primarily from preserved Arabic poetry, but the picture is now filling in from inscriptions and contemporary texts. There were competing kingdoms, tribal coalitions, and foreign empires with a stake in trade routes. There were pagans, Jews, and Christians, as well as generic or “cautious” monotheists. The cultural background of the Quran has never been known in such richness and complexity.
Was a woman the first editor of the Qur’an?
Did one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad have a crucial role in editing and codifying the Qur’an? A study about Hafsa bint ‘Umar offers some different perspectives on the early days of Islam.
Ibn Khaldun, medieval medicine and Islam – four articles
Here are four recent articles focusing on Ibn Khaldun, the fourteenth-century century social scientist and historian. Written by Mohammadreza Shahidipak, they focus on his views on medicine and the role of Islam in this science.
A Messianic Uprising in Kufa: al-Mukhtar’s Revolt in 685-687
Al-Mukhtar’s two-year rebellion was an episode of a greater historical event known as the Second Civil War or Second Fitna (680-692).
The Scourges of the Desert: The Triumph and Fall of the Qaramita of Bahrayn
In the second part of this look at the Qaramita, it is revealed how they challenged both the Abbasids and Fatimids before ultimately disappearing in the eleventh century.
The Warlord Missionary: Abu Sa‘id al-Jannabi and the Rise of the Qaramita of Bahrayn
Fierce desert tribesmen, united by a sectarian missionary, emerged in Eastern Arabia in the 9th century. Under the leadership of this warlord missionary, they established a powerful predatory polity in Bahrayn that would terrorize the neighboring regions for 150 years.