Book contents
- Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
- Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Text
- Part I History of Orthodoxy
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Discourses of Heresy I (800–850)
- 3 Discourses of Heresy II (850–950)
- Part II Heresy and Society
- Part III Unmaking Heresy: Orthodoxy as History Writing
- Part IV The Formation of Classical Sunnism
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Introduction
from Part I - History of Orthodoxy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 April 2023
- Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
- Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic Orthodoxy
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Notes on the Text
- Part I History of Orthodoxy
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Discourses of Heresy I (800–850)
- 3 Discourses of Heresy II (850–950)
- Part II Heresy and Society
- Part III Unmaking Heresy: Orthodoxy as History Writing
- Part IV The Formation of Classical Sunnism
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter proposes a new framework for the study of the categories of heresy and orthodoxy in medieval Islam. It engages with scholarship on these categories in the discipline of Islamic Studies and Religious Studies more broadly, arguing that orthodoxy and heresy should not be viewed solely through the prism of theology, which emphasises belief (doxa) and practice (praxis). Instead, it highlights the discursive formation of conceptions of orthodoxy and heresy. Heresy and orthodoxy are defined as shifting categories of denunciation and approval, which provides insights into the formation of orthodoxy as a contested process. This approach allows for a more detailed and complex typology of proto-Sunni movements in the eighth to eleventh centuries, admitting more variation than previous scholarship has allowed for.
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- Information
- Heresy and the Formation of Medieval Islamic OrthodoxyThe Making of Sunnism, from the Eighth to the Eleventh Century, pp. 3 - 19Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023