Ibn 'Asakir of Damascus: Champion of Sunni Islam in the Time of the Crusades

(Hardback)

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Ibn Asakir (11051176) was one of the most renowned experts on Hadith and Islamic history in medieval Damascus, and author of a multi-volume history of that city. His was a tumultuous time: centuries of Shii rule had not long ended, rival warlords sought control of Damascus, and Crusaders had invaded, capturing Jerusalem in 1099. Seeking the unification of Syria and Egypt, and the revival of Sunnism in both, Ibn Asakir placed himself in the service of Sultan Nur al-Din Zengi, advocating and designing propaganda against Shiis and the Crusaders. Through this and his writings that would influence Sunni scholars who followed him, he helped to lay the foundations for the eventual Sunni domination of the Levant, which lasts until this day.

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Hyperbole notwithstanding, to understand the Levants sense of self and perception of history, one should look no further than Ibn Asakir, whose intellectual efforts rehabilitated the past to canonise a blessed Sunni and Crusader-free Bilad al-Sham. Suleiman Mourad garners his intimate knowledge of the scholar, his numerous and voluminous works, and the contemporary intellectual and political context to expose the significance and extent of the phenomenon of Ibn Asakir through to the end of twentieth century in the Syrian Republic.

Author Bio

Suleiman A. Mourad is Professor of Religion at Smith College in Massachusetts. He specialises in Islamic history and religious thought, and how the challenges of modernity have led to major changes in Muslims perception of and attitude towards their own history and classical thought. His most recent book is The Mosaic of Islam: A Conversation with Perry Anderson.