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Abbasids and the Challenge of Legitimacy:
The image of Ali Ibn Abdallah Ibn Abbas
in Early Islamic Historiography
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Ahmad Reza Khezri *   , Muhammad Taqavi  , Ali Bahramiyan |
| Professor, Department of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, University of Tehran,Tehran, Iran. , akhezri@ut.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (1121 Views) |
The Abbasids cooperated with various groups, especially the Alavids on the way
to the caliphate. However, they considered the Alavids as their rivals after gaining power. For
Abbasids, familial relations with Muhammad (PBUH) were among the most important reasons to
prove their right to Caliphate. In this context, Alavids reject this claim by emphasizing their
attribution to the daughter of Muhammad (PBUH). On the other hand, Abbasids were challenged
with the issue of converting Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet, to Islam and his cooperation with the
Quraysh against the Prophet during the Battle of Badr. Therefore, they tried to compile and
convey historical narratives about their ancestors to present a favorable image of them. Ali Ibn
Abdallah Ibn Abbas was one of their ancestors and Abbasid historians tried to introduce him as a
pious person. Considering the fictional nature of historical narratives, this paper used the narrative
form criticism approaches, specifically Wouter F.M. Henkelman’s method. His method is based
on identifying similarities among different texts about specific events, the course of evolution and
its place among similar narratives. This is done to answer the question that “to what extent the
narratives related to Ali Ibn Abdallah ibn Abbas are fictional, and were narrated in line with the
policy of legitimizing the Abbasids?” It seems that the rivalry between the Abbasids, the Alavids,
and the Umayyads played a significant role in creating the narratives about Ali Ibn Abdallah ibn
Abbas, and most of the narratives about him are not historical |
Article number: 5 |
| Keywords: Abbasid Caliphate, legitimacy of Caliphate, Ali Ibn Abdallah Ibn Abbas, form criticism. |
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Full-Text [PDF 405 kb]
(64 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Islamic History/ History of the Abbasid
Received: 2024/07/1 | Revised: 2024/10/31 | Accepted: 2024/09/7 | ePublished ahead of print: 2024/09/24 | Published: 2024/10/30 | ePublished: 2024/10/30
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