Competitive hagiography in biographies of al-Awzā'ī and Sufyān al-Thawrī

The present paper examines how followers of 'Abd al-Rahcombining dot belowmān b. 'Amr al-Awzā'ī and Sufyān al-Thawrī tried to create boundaries between the nascent madhhabs that claimed them as eponyms. In the absence of significant differences in legal method, students turned to the two shaykhs' responses to the 'Abbāsid revolution to draw distinctions between them. The Arabic biographical sources contain stories of their responses to the revolution that reveal a dialogue between followers of the two shaykhs about the relative merits of their choices. The changing interpretations of their attitudes toward the 'Abbāsid regime and the exaggeration evident in the anecdotes examined have significant implications for our reading of medieval Arabic biographical sources.

1 citations (Crossref) [2023-10-31]