Date of Award

2010

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Dissertation

Divisions

Academy of Islamic Studies

Department

Department of Islamic History, Civilization and Education (formally known as Dept. of Islamic History & Civilization)

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

This research studies the ideological challenges that confronted the Abbasid state in its first period and the positions taken by the caliphs in parrying them and guarding Islamic thought from breaches in the established principles of Islam and the beliefs of the Muslims. The effects of these policies on preserving the dominance of the Abbasid state and the integrity of Muslim society are also clarified. This entails an exposition of the most important non-Islamic sects and movements that made their appearance on the stage of ideas and the political arena in that era and which strove to criticize Islamic dogma and challenge the intellectual and cultural points of reference and identity of the Muslim Ummah. These were exemplified in the anti-Arabic nationalist movements, the Zindiqs, the Khurramis, the Babakis and the Manichaeans. The caliphs in confronting them adopted two separate strategies. The first was an armed response, while the second was intellectual, in the form of debates, which were largely conducted with the participation of Mu’tazilite scholars. The caliphs also took an active role in preserving the integrity of Islamic thought by encouraging scholars to disseminate the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), record hadiths, and preserve them from the introduction of spurious material. The research concludes that the obligatory duty of the Ummah, particularly its rulers and scholars, is to pay heed to this historical experience and reexamine the past in order to benefit from it in present and future circumstances. That is because hostility to Islam and Muslims has persisted until today. The basis for it and its goals have remained the same, although it takes a variety of forms, depending on variations of time and place. The results of that hostility depend upon the strength or weakness of the awareness and consciousness of the Muslim Ummah. The true guarantor and primary component of the intellectual integrity of the Muslim Ummah is its adherence to Islam with regard to belief and law, thought and methodology, and values and ethics.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A.) – Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya, 2010.

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