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Zusatztext "This book is a good read and provides the reader with a balanced and accurate account of the caliph al-Ma'mum" Informationen zum Autor Michael Cooperson is Associate Professor of Arabic at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Classical Arabic Biography: The Heirs of the Prophet in the Age of al-Ma'mun. Klappentext This accessible biography treats Al-Ma'mum (786-833) as the product of his age, which was a formative period in the development of Islamic law and theology. It presents him in his many facets: rebel, rationalist, scientist, poet, politician, warrior, inquisitor, and self-proclaimed defender of the faith. Drawing on contemporary sources, some friendly and others hostile, it offers a comprehensive portrait of a fascinating figure in Islamic history. Zusammenfassung An insight into the life and times of al-Ma’mum, the Abbasid caliph best known for sponsoring the translation of Greek philosophy into Arabic. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgements1 INTRODUCTION Al-Ma’mun Attacks the Pyramid The Scholar-Caliph The World Inherited by Islam Muslims: A Divided Minority The Coming of the Abbasids The Problem of the Sources 2 EDUCATION Parents, Step-parents and Foster Parents Topography and Domestic Space Elementary Education Grammar Poetry History and Hadith Learning to Think The Legacy of Iran The Question of the Law An Inscrutable Personality?3 THE FIRST SUCCESSION CRISIS The Succession to al-Rashid Al-Ma’mun Left in the Lurch A New Force in Khurasan The Civil War The Siege of Baghdad The Death of al-Amin and the Crisis of Legitimacy 4 THE SECOND SUCCESSION CRISIS Al-Rida’s Claim to the Imamate The End of the World? An Appeal to Iranian Muslims? The Proto-Sunni Response A Reversal of Policy? Al-Ma’mun’s Return to Baghdad Al-Ma’mun’s Later pro-Alid Policies Later Shiite Responses The Pilgrimage to Mashhad5 SCIENCE AND RATIONALISM The Ancient Scientific Legacy The Translation Movement Measuring the Earth Greek Medicine in Baghdad The Book of Ingenious Devices Breakthroughs in Mathematics The Map of the World Hostility to the Literalists 6 DEFENDER OF THE FAITH Recentralization and the New Military The Byzantine Campaigns The Dome of the Rock Provoking the Literalists The Inquisition The Scholars Resist The Death of al-Ma’mun The Inquisition After al-Ma’mun The Historical Significance of the Inquisition Epilogue Bibliography Index...
