The Creation of Islamic Space

April 4, 2006

In the mornings I am back to reading the Futûh al-Buldân, or the Conquest of Nations. It is a 9th century history that, as its title indicates, outlines the expansion of Islam, beginning in Arabia during Muhammad's lifetime and then spreading to the ends of the earth.. what is today Morocco and Pakistan.

Surprising to me so far has been the way so much more than a straight linear history gets told. In fact, al-Baladhuri is often intent on portraying not only the initial conquest, but also the subsequent history of the place. Right now I am only in Arabia, so I will see if this pattern holds as the story spreads out exponentially.

One might wonder why this kind of historical survey was so popular. Books of Maghâzi, or Invasions, form a major genre of early Islamic writing. Plenty of historical writing was devoted to Muhammad and his life.. and that is easier to understand. But why the evident fascination with the early military conquests?

People like to hear heroic stories about themselves and ancestors.. so that is one possible motive. Although al-Baladhuri does give plenty of attention to names and dates, it is not exactly an epic. There is nothing for the fireside in these assorted stories. No effort to create what we might call characters.

I suggest that these books serve as creators of Islamic space. Islamic time begins with the hijrah, or Muhammad's flight to Medina from Mecca. It is notable that the Futûh al-Buldân begins at just that place in time. As the text comes to encompass new cities and regions, it is as if they are included once and for all in this new alignment of space. Not only does time begin anew from the hijrah, but a new space is defined.

My conclusion is strengthened by the introduction to many monumental local histories that Arab historians compiled concerning various cities and regions. Both the Khitat by Maqrizi and the Ta'rikh Baghdâd begin by recounting the circumstances surrounding their conquest by the Arabs. Everyone knows that history goes back further than that conquest, but for all practical purposes it marks the beginning of "real" history.

The theoretical foundation for such a study I have already worked out in my dissertation. Texts are not simply mines of information or interesting puzzles for critics, but are agents in a culture.. and one way to view these books concerning the conquest is that they are providing a cultural anchor to individual places in Islamic space.

[Selections from the Futûh al-Buldân will hopefully be an early addition to the "Translations" bar on the Old Roads homepage. I am especially interested in getting a workable version online for the sections treating Muhammad's early conquest of Arabian settlements such as Khaybar, which was an example referred to repeatedly in later debates.]