WRITINGS AS A FORM OF OPPOSITION: MATHĀLIB LITERATURE IN THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES AH

Abstract

The evolution of early Islamic literature cannot be explained merely byscientific reasons. Indeed, each work is a product of the social,political, scientific, and economic frame of its time. During the firstcentury of the ʿAbbāsid rule, Muslim society experienced various socialmovements, such as Shuʿūbiyyah; meanwhile, Shīʿī communitiesbegan to develop their identity. Both movements opted to writerelevant works in a similar manner to take aim at their opponents;accordingly, they compiled the points that condemned their opponentsor their assumptions in separate works. The general name for thisliterature is mathālib (defect, fault, slandering). It developed into twosubgenres, namely, mathālib al-ʿArab and mathālib al-ṣaḥābah. Theobjective of this paper is to present the existence of this genre, whichhas yet to be subject to a self-contained study, to identify the authorsof these works in the first three centuries AH, and to interpret theavailable data about this genre with regard to ḥadīth history