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Maribel Fierro

CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Spanish National Research Council), Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo. Grupo de Investigación Historia cultural de Mediterráneo, Faculty Member

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Director of the project "Knowledge, heresy and political culture of the Islamic West (8th-15th centuries)= KOHEPOCU", Advanced Research Grant – European Research Council. 2009-2014
Address: Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS)

C/ Albasanz,26-28
28037 MADRID-ESPAÑA

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Universitat Pompeu Fabra y EUTM-UPC

Camilo Gómez-Rivas

University of California, Santa Cruz

University of Southern California

Abigail K Balbale

New York University

Andrew Devereux

University of California, San Diego

Toby Yuen-Gen Liang

Academia Sinica

Cornell University

University of Cambridge

Kevin Blankinship

Brigham Young University

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Books by Maribel Fierro

Kitab al-Hawadit wa-l-bida'. El libro de las novedades y las innovaciones.

La heterodoxia en al-Andalus durante el Periodo Omeya

Kitab al-bida' (Tratado contra las innovaciones)

Papers by Maribel Fierro

M. Fierro, “The other edge: the Maghrib in the Mashriq” in Sabine Schmidtke (ed.), Studying the Near and Middle East at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1935-2018, Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2018, pp. 354-8.

This is a presentation of the project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Magh... more This is a presentation of the project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghrib in the Islamic East, 2017-2020, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Research FFI2016-78878-R and directed by M. Fierro and M. Penelas. The aim is to study how, when and why knowledge produced in the Islamic West --a context that tends to be considered local although that was not always the internal self-perception-- spread in a wider context, that of the Islamic community, and which changes and innovations were associated with that process.

"Heraclius in al-Andalus", Michelle Hamilton and David Wacks (eds.), The Study of al-Andalus: The Scholarship and Legacy of James T. Monroe, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2018 FIERRO-Heraclius in al-Andalus.pdf

Collaboration on the part of the vanquished with the victors including exalting and magnifying th... more Collaboration on the part of the vanquished with the victors including exalting and magnifying them, as well as dedication to memorializing past history to serve present needs was a path taken by a number scholars in different periods and regions, among them by the Andalusi scholar Ibn Hubaysh (504/1111-584/1188). When Almería was conquered by Alfonso VII of León, Ibn Hubaysh told the Christian king that he knew his genealogy back to Heraclius, the Emperor of Constantinople. He was granted his freedom as reward. Once he was back in Muslim territory, Ibn Hubaysh wrote a Kitab al-maghazi on the orders of the second Mu'minid Caliph, thus serving the ruler’s policy of self-legitimization through jihad against the Christians. In my paper, the role of Heraclius both in the Muslim and Christian imaginaire will be dealt with, as well as the information regarding the presence in al-Andalus of the famous letter sent by the Prophet to Heraclius asking him to convert to Islam. The aim is to recreate the historical and political context in which such information started to circulate in the Islamic West and the motives behind it.

Why Ibn Ḥazm became a Ẓāhirī: Charisma, Law and the Court: published in Hamsa. Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies 4 (2017-March 2018), pp. 1-21 http://www.hamsa.cidehus.uevora.pt/

Abstract: The great Cordoban polygraph Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) chose as the legal school to follow... more Abstract: The great Cordoban polygraph Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) chose as the legal school to follow the literalist or Ẓāhirī, instead of the Mālikī legal school that was the predominant in al-Andalus and that had been supported by the Cordoban Umayyads. On the basis of the information provided by his personal biography and his political trajectory as well as of the analysis of some of his doctrinal conclusions, I conclude that his election is explained by his vision of how he wanted society to be. It was a vision determined by his formation in the Umayyad-ʽĀmirid court context and culture, and by his rejection that jurists would have exclusive control of the legal sphere.

Maribel Fierro, “Violence against women in Andalusi historical sources (third/ninth-seventh/thirteenth centuries)”, in Robert Gleave and Istvan Kristo-Nagy (eds.), Violence in Islamic Thought from the Qur’an to the Mongols, Edinburgh University Press, 2015, pp. 155-174.

Maribel Fierro, “Idra'u l-hudud bi-l-shubuhat: when lawful violence meets doubt”, Hawwa, 5/2-3, 2007, 208-38

This article explores the origin and diffusion of the legal saying, which stated that God's sanct... more This article explores the origin and diffusion of the legal saying, which stated that God's sanctions were not to be applied in cases where there was room for doubt (idrahù l-˙udùd bi-l-shubuhàt), and how it was transformed into a Prophetic saying that was employed mainly by Óanafis and Màlikìs, and rejected by the Óanbalìs and the¸àhirì Ibn Óazm. Behind these developments there is the tension between two equally compelling needs in the early Islamic period: on the one hand, the desire to avoid as much as possible imposition of the severe ˙add penalties; on the other hand, the fact that such avoidance usually played in favour of the rich and the powerful.

(2011) “El tratado sobre el Profeta del cadí ,Iyad y el contexto almohade”, en Legendaria Medievalia en honor de Concepción Castillo Castillo, Córdoba, 19-34.

(2016) “El Mahdi Ibn Tumart: más allá de la biografía oficial”, in Miguel Angel Manzano and Rachid El Hour (ed.), Política, sociedad e dentidades en el Occidente islámico (siglos XI-XIV), Salamanca, pp.73-98.

Ibn Tumart. Legend and history. Official biography.

Writing and reading in early Ifriqiya

FIERRO-Qué hacer con al-Andalus.pdf

This paper offers some reflections on the trajectory followed in the attempts for integrating the... more This paper offers some reflections on the trajectory followed in the attempts for integrating the history of al-Andalus in Spanish national history. Three themes are highlighted: conquest, territory and genealogies, indicating the possibilities that they have opened and those that they have closed. Finally, two cases are dealt with as they seem to offer good opportunities to avoid some of current dead-ends.

Al-Andalus, Problems and Perspectives

INTENSIVE SUMMER COURSE: AL-ANDALUS, PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES Specialists from different Spanish... more

Un Credo de Ibn Ḥanbal en AL-Andalus (Época Omeya)

en Mohamed Reda Boudchar y Ahmed Saidi (coords), Homenaje al Dr. Jaafar Ben El haj Soulami. Sembl... more

El Kitāb al-Anwār y la circulación de libros en al-Andalus

in Sharq al-Andalus, 20 (2011-2013), pp. 97-108

Violence against Women in Andalusi Historical Sources (Third/Ninth-Seventh/Thirteenth Centuries)

in Robert Gleave and István T. Kristó-Nagy (eds.), Violence in Islamic Thought from the Qur'ān to... more

Proto-Malikis, Malikis and reformed Malikis

in R. Peters, F. E. Vogel (eds.), The Islamic School of Law: Evolution, Devolution, and Progress,... more

Notes on reason, language and conversion in the thirteenth century in the iberian peninsula

in Nicole Koulayn and Mansour Satah (dirs.), Synoptikos. Mélanges offerts à Dominique Urvoy, Univ... more

Idra’ū l-Ḥudūd bi-l-Shubuhāt: when lawful violence meets doubt

Hawwa 5 (2007), pp. 208-238

Hostages and the Dangers of Cultural Contact: Two Cases from Umayyad Cordoba

in R. Abdellatif, Y. Benhima, D. König, E. Ruchaud (dirs.), Acteurs des transferts culturels en M... more

Kitab al-Hawadit wa-l-bida'. El libro de las novedades y las innovaciones.

La heterodoxia en al-Andalus durante el Periodo Omeya

Kitab al-bida' (Tratado contra las innovaciones)

M. Fierro, “The other edge: the Maghrib in the Mashriq” in Sabine Schmidtke (ed.), Studying the Near and Middle East at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 1935-2018, Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2018, pp. 354-8.

This is a presentation of the project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Magh... more This is a presentation of the project Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghrib in the Islamic East, 2017-2020, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Research FFI2016-78878-R and directed by M. Fierro and M. Penelas. The aim is to study how, when and why knowledge produced in the Islamic West --a context that tends to be considered local although that was not always the internal self-perception-- spread in a wider context, that of the Islamic community, and which changes and innovations were associated with that process.

"Heraclius in al-Andalus", Michelle Hamilton and David Wacks (eds.), The Study of al-Andalus: The Scholarship and Legacy of James T. Monroe, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2018 FIERRO-Heraclius in al-Andalus.pdf

Collaboration on the part of the vanquished with the victors including exalting and magnifying th... more Collaboration on the part of the vanquished with the victors including exalting and magnifying them, as well as dedication to memorializing past history to serve present needs was a path taken by a number scholars in different periods and regions, among them by the Andalusi scholar Ibn Hubaysh (504/1111-584/1188). When Almería was conquered by Alfonso VII of León, Ibn Hubaysh told the Christian king that he knew his genealogy back to Heraclius, the Emperor of Constantinople. He was granted his freedom as reward. Once he was back in Muslim territory, Ibn Hubaysh wrote a Kitab al-maghazi on the orders of the second Mu'minid Caliph, thus serving the ruler’s policy of self-legitimization through jihad against the Christians. In my paper, the role of Heraclius both in the Muslim and Christian imaginaire will be dealt with, as well as the information regarding the presence in al-Andalus of the famous letter sent by the Prophet to Heraclius asking him to convert to Islam. The aim is to recreate the historical and political context in which such information started to circulate in the Islamic West and the motives behind it.

Why Ibn Ḥazm became a Ẓāhirī: Charisma, Law and the Court: published in Hamsa. Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies 4 (2017-March 2018), pp. 1-21 http://www.hamsa.cidehus.uevora.pt/

Abstract: The great Cordoban polygraph Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) chose as the legal school to follow... more Abstract: The great Cordoban polygraph Ibn Hazm (d. 456/1064) chose as the legal school to follow the literalist or Ẓāhirī, instead of the Mālikī legal school that was the predominant in al-Andalus and that had been supported by the Cordoban Umayyads. On the basis of the information provided by his personal biography and his political trajectory as well as of the analysis of some of his doctrinal conclusions, I conclude that his election is explained by his vision of how he wanted society to be. It was a vision determined by his formation in the Umayyad-ʽĀmirid court context and culture, and by his rejection that jurists would have exclusive control of the legal sphere.

Maribel Fierro, “Violence against women in Andalusi historical sources (third/ninth-seventh/thirteenth centuries)”, in Robert Gleave and Istvan Kristo-Nagy (eds.), Violence in Islamic Thought from the Qur’an to the Mongols, Edinburgh University Press, 2015, pp. 155-174.

Maribel Fierro, “Idra'u l-hudud bi-l-shubuhat: when lawful violence meets doubt”, Hawwa, 5/2-3, 2007, 208-38

This article explores the origin and diffusion of the legal saying, which stated that God's sanct... more This article explores the origin and diffusion of the legal saying, which stated that God's sanctions were not to be applied in cases where there was room for doubt (idrahù l-˙udùd bi-l-shubuhàt), and how it was transformed into a Prophetic saying that was employed mainly by Óanafis and Màlikìs, and rejected by the Óanbalìs and the¸àhirì Ibn Óazm. Behind these developments there is the tension between two equally compelling needs in the early Islamic period: on the one hand, the desire to avoid as much as possible imposition of the severe ˙add penalties; on the other hand, the fact that such avoidance usually played in favour of the rich and the powerful.

(2011) “El tratado sobre el Profeta del cadí ,Iyad y el contexto almohade”, en Legendaria Medievalia en honor de Concepción Castillo Castillo, Córdoba, 19-34.

(2016) “El Mahdi Ibn Tumart: más allá de la biografía oficial”, in Miguel Angel Manzano and Rachid El Hour (ed.), Política, sociedad e dentidades en el Occidente islámico (siglos XI-XIV), Salamanca, pp.73-98.

Ibn Tumart. Legend and history. Official biography.

Writing and reading in early Ifriqiya

FIERRO-Qué hacer con al-Andalus.pdf

This paper offers some reflections on the trajectory followed in the attempts for integrating the... more This paper offers some reflections on the trajectory followed in the attempts for integrating the history of al-Andalus in Spanish national history. Three themes are highlighted: conquest, territory and genealogies, indicating the possibilities that they have opened and those that they have closed. Finally, two cases are dealt with as they seem to offer good opportunities to avoid some of current dead-ends.

Al-Andalus, Problems and Perspectives

INTENSIVE SUMMER COURSE: AL-ANDALUS, PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES Specialists from different Spanish... more

Un Credo de Ibn Ḥanbal en AL-Andalus (Época Omeya)

en Mohamed Reda Boudchar y Ahmed Saidi (coords), Homenaje al Dr. Jaafar Ben El haj Soulami. Sembl... more

El Kitāb al-Anwār y la circulación de libros en al-Andalus

in Sharq al-Andalus, 20 (2011-2013), pp. 97-108

Violence against Women in Andalusi Historical Sources (Third/Ninth-Seventh/Thirteenth Centuries)

in Robert Gleave and István T. Kristó-Nagy (eds.), Violence in Islamic Thought from the Qur'ān to... more

Proto-Malikis, Malikis and reformed Malikis

in R. Peters, F. E. Vogel (eds.), The Islamic School of Law: Evolution, Devolution, and Progress,... more

Notes on reason, language and conversion in the thirteenth century in the iberian peninsula

in Nicole Koulayn and Mansour Satah (dirs.), Synoptikos. Mélanges offerts à Dominique Urvoy, Univ... more

Idra’ū l-Ḥudūd bi-l-Shubuhāt: when lawful violence meets doubt

Hawwa 5 (2007), pp. 208-238

Hostages and the Dangers of Cultural Contact: Two Cases from Umayyad Cordoba

in R. Abdellatif, Y. Benhima, D. König, E. Ruchaud (dirs.), Acteurs des transferts culturels en M... more

Christian Success and Muslim Fear in Andalusī Writings during the Almoravid and Almohad Periods

in Uri Rubin and David J. Wasserstein (eds.), Israel Oriental Studies XVII. Dhimmis and Others: J... more

On al-Fāṭimī and al-Fāṭimiyyūn

in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 20 (1996), pp. 130-161

Plants,Mary the Copt, Abraham, Donkeys and knowledge: Again on Bāṭinism During the Umayyad Caliphate in al-Andalus

in Hinrich Biestefeldt und Verena Klemm (hgs.), Differenz und Dynamik im Islam. Festschrift für H... more

majlis 6.02.2018-1 FINAL.pdf

The Majlis revisited: inter- and intra-religious and cross-cultural disputations in the Islamica... more The Majlis revisited: inter- and intra-religious and cross-cultural disputations in the Islamicate world
Patricia Crone Memorial Conference
Organized by Camilla Adang (Tel Aviv University), Sonja Brentjes (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science), Maribel Fierro (Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo-CSIC) and Sabine Schmidtke (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)