Medina in the Ayyubid period and the Shi'a influence upon it

Abstract

The underlying concern of this thesis is to shed light on the history of Medina during the Ayyubid period, discussing and analysing the Shi'a emergence in the city in that time, and the transfer to them of power, the judiciary and the key religious positions. It also discusses their influence over the various facets of life there. The study comprises an introduction, six central chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter includes a general introduction, beginning with a historical background of pre-Islamic Medina, and then proceeds to present an overview of the importance of the subject and the reasons for choosing it. It then moves on to an exposition of the key issues which the study will discuss, and the methodology which it follows. The second chapter provides a concise account of the significance of Medina in the Islamic sources (the Qur'an and the hadith), discussing the role of the city and its inhabitants in their support for and propagation of Islam. It also gives a short account of the history of Medina following the death of the Prophet up until the Umayyad period, and briefly discusses the key historical events during that period. The third chapter examines the state of the Islamic World prior to and during the Ayyubid period, and discusses the key historical events that occurred in Medina at that time and their connection with what was happening in the Islamic World. The fourth chapter studies and analyses the emergence of the Shi'a in Medina during the Ayyflbid period, and examines certain accounts of this. It also tracks the history of the Shia in Medina prior to the Ayyübid period by providing critical examples of some of the accounts on the subject. The reasons behind the emergence of the Twelver Shia doctrine in Medina during the Ayyübid period will also be studied and analysed, and the chapter will explain how the Shi'a came to assume the key political and religious offices in the city. Their relations with other Shi'a sects will also be examined, and the way in which their control of Medina came to an end will be discussed. The fifth chapter discusses political life in Medina during the Ayyubid period and the influence of the Shia upon it, studies and analyses the political relations between the emirs of Medina and each of the neighbouring tribes, the emirs of Mecca, the sultans of the Ayyubid state and those of the Banü Rasül in Yemen, and explains the influence of the Shi'a on these relations and the role which they played in the political life in the city. The sixth chapter discusses social life in Medina during the Ayyubid period and the influence of the Shia upon it, by studying the composition of civil society and its groupings, the distinguishing features apparent in each grouping, and the elements of social life and its economic conditions, as well as the constructive interplay between them, in order to present an accurate picture of the city's social life. The seventh chapter discusses the state of learning in the city during the Ayyübid period and the Shia influence upon it, by examining some of the accounts mentioned by certain historians and travellers. It will also include a refutation of these negative accounts by presenting a thorough, extensive description of the state of learning in Medina, through studying the teaching lectures which were current in the Prophet's Mosque and the madrasas of that time, the kuttabs, the syllabuses, the teaching methods, the most notable 'ulama' and their key works, the role of the Sunni 'ulama' in the flourishing of learned activity and, lastly, the Shi'a influence upon it. The eighth chapter summarises and discusses the study's most important findings and draws conclusions from them, before making suggestions for future research