Justice, Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination

302 Pages·2008·2.91 MB·English

by  Christian Lange

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Justice, Punishment, and the Medieval Muslim Imagination
How was the use of violence against Muslims explained and justified in medieval
Islam?Whatroledidstatepunishmentplayindelineatingtheprivatefromthepublic
sphere?Whatstrategiesweredeployedtocopewiththesufferingcausedbypunish-
ment?ThesequestionsareexploredinChristianLange’sin-depthstudyofthephe-
nomenonofpunishment,bothdivineandhuman,ineleventh-tothirteenth-century
Islamic society. The book examines the relationship between state and society in
meting outjustice, Muslim attitudes to hell andthe punishments that were in store
in the afterlife, and the legal dimensions of punishment – how different types of
retribution were justified, circumscribed, or rejected altogether by Muslim jurists.
The crossdisciplinary approach embraced in this study, which is based on a wide
variety of Persian and Arabic sources, sheds light on the interplay between theory
andpracticeinIslamiccriminallaw,andbetweenexecutivepowerandthereligious
imaginationofmedievalMuslimsocietyatlarge.
CHRISTIAN LANGE is Lecturer in Islamic Studies in the School of Divinity at the
UniversityofEdinburgh.
CambridgeStudiesinIslamicCivilization
EditorialBoard
DavidMorgan(generaleditor)
VirginiaAksan,MichaelBrett,MichaelCook,PeterJackson,
TarifKhalidi,ChaseRobinson
Publishedtitlesintheseriesarelistedatthebackofthebook
Justice, Punishment, and the Medieval
Muslim Imagination
CHRISTIAN LANGE
UniversityofEdinburgh
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521887823
© Christian Lange 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-41414-5 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-88782-3 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgments pagevi
Listofabbreviations viii
Introduction 1
PART I THE POLITICS OF PUNISHMENT 23
1 Spheresandinstitutionsofpunishment 25
2 Typesofpunishment 61
PART II THE ESCHATOLOGY OF PUNISHMENT 99
3 Thestructureofhell 101
4 Hell’screaturesandtheirpunishments 139
PART III LEGAL DIMENSIONS OF PUNISHMENT 177
5 Circumscribingh.addinSunn(cid:2)ılaw 179
6 Discretionarypunishment(taqz(cid:2)ır)andthepublicsphere 215
Conclusion 244
Bibliography 249
Indexofnames 280
Indexofsubjects 285
v
Acknowledgments
MyfirstwordsofgratitudegotothequadrumvirateofPh.D.advisorswho
haveseenthisstudythroughitsvariousphases,allofthemDoktorva¨terinthe
truesense(s)oftheword.WilliamA.GrahamfromHarvardDivinitySchool
hasaccompaniedmygraduatecareerfrombeginningtoendandhasalways
beenasourceofencouragementandinspiration.BaberJohansengraciously
welcomedmeatL’E´ coledesHautesE´ tudesenSciencesSocialesinParisand
then continued to guide my work at Harvard University with unfaltering
patienceandkindness.RoyMottahedehsparkedmyinterestinanumberof
key issues relating to Salju(cid:2)q social history. Wheeler Thackston has offered
academic advice, musical distraction, and caring friendship throughout the
years,forallofwhichIamdeeplygrateful.
AnArabicproverbinMayd(cid:2)an(cid:2)ı’s(d.518/1124)famouscollectionhasitthat
‘‘travelingisapunishmentfromhell’’–inmycase,it’sbeenablessing.Iam
greatlyindebtedtoWolfhartHeinrichsandtheNearEasternLanguagesand
Civilizations Department at Harvard University for a two-year traveling
grant which has afforded me the privilege to write the initial version of this
studyinanumberofinspiringlocations:attheGermanOrientalInstitutein
Beirut,theDekhodaInstituteinTehran,andtheInstituteofShar(cid:2)ıqaSciences
inMuscat.IamalsothankfultoHeinzGaubeandqAbdal-Rah.m(cid:2)anal-S(cid:2)alim(cid:2)ı
forfacilitatingmystayinMuscat.
Different parts of this study were presented at a number of seminars
and conferences: at the German Oriental Institute Beirut (April 9, 2005),
the Berlin Free University (May 19, 2005), the American Academy of
Religion (Philadelphia, November 20, 2005), the University of Colorado at
Boulder(December1,2005),theAmericanOrientalSociety(Seattle,March
18,2006),theConsejoSuperiordeInvestigacionesCientı´ficas(Madrid,June
16,2006),HarvardLawSchool’sIslamicLegalStudiesProgram(Cambridge,
September 8, 2006), and the Middle East Studies Association (Boston,
November27,2006). Iwishtothank theorganizersofthe panels aswellas
all those present during the discussions for their valuable comments. I also
would like to thank Kevin Reinhart and Cambridge’s two anonymous
reviewers for reading the manuscript and greatly enhancing the factual
vi
Acknowledgments vii
accuracyandlogicalcoherenceofthisstudy.Asalways,allremainingerrors
andomissionsareexclusivelymyownshortcomings.
Perhaps the greatest reward in studying punishment has been the oppor-
tunity to share thoughts and concerns with a number of friends and fellow
graduate students at Harvard and beyond. Sarah Savant, Travis Zadeh,
Ahmed El-Shamsy, and Jasmin Adam have read different parts of this
study and given valuable feedback. Blain Auer, Yaron Klein, Kobi Gal,
YoavLiebermann,andIlanWapinskihaveofferedawealthofgoodadvice
andconstructivecriticism.Theirfriendshiphasbeenthefoundationonwhich
this study has been built. The book is dedicated to my parents – fu¨r Euer
VertrauenundEureGeduld.
Abbreviations
BSOAS BulletinoftheSchoolofOrientalandAfricanStudies
CHI5 TheCambridgeHistoryofIran,Vol.V,TheSaljuqandMongol
Periods.EditedbyJ.A.Boyle.Cambridge:Cambridge
UniversityPress,[1968]
EI1 TheEncyclopaediaofIslam.5vols.EditedbyT.Houtsmaetal.
Leiden:Brill,1913–34
EI2 TheEncyclopaediaofIslam:NewEdition.12vols.Editedby
H.A.R.Gibbetal.Leiden:Brill,1954–2004
EQ TheEncyclopaediaoftheQurpa(cid:2)n.5vols.EditedbyJaneDammen
McAuliffeetal.Leiden:Brill,2001–6
GAL CarlBrockelmann.GeschichtederarabischenLiteratur.First
published1898.Leiden:Brill,1943–9
IJMES InternationalJournalofMiddleEastStudies
ILS IslamicLawandSociety
IOS IsraelOrientalStudies
JAOS JournaloftheAmericanOrientalSociety
JRAS JournaloftheRoyalAsiaticSociety
LN qAl(cid:2)ıAkbarDihkhud(cid:2)a.Lughatna(cid:2)ma.Firstpublished1946–.
6vols.Tehran:Mupassasa-yiDikhud(cid:2)a,1363–/[1985–]
MA qAbbu(cid:2)dal-Sh(cid:2)alj(cid:2)ı.Mawsu(cid:2)qatal-qadha(cid:2)b.7vols.Beirut:al-D(cid:2)ar
al-qArabiyyali-l-Mawsu(cid:2)q(cid:2)at,1980
SI StudiaIslamica
ZDMG Zeitschriftderdeutschenmorgenla¨ndischenGesellschaft
viii