Difference and Subversion: The heresiography in the Kitab al-Zina of the Ismaili author Abu Hatim al-Razi. Critical edition and text analysis

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Verena Klemm
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies
• Term: from 2011 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 211772881

The project is devoted to the religious and politico-religious differentiation and dynamics within Islam at the turn of 4th / 10th century. The accompanying processes of tradition will be exemplified through an Ismaili heresiography. The goal is on the one hand to compile a critical edition of the heresiography contained in the Book of Ornament on Islamic-Arabic Terminology (Kitab al-Zina fi l-kalimat al-islamiyya al-arabiyya) by the Ismaili author Abu Hatim al-Razi (d. 322/933-934). The work deals with the origins, teachings and schisms among Islamic sects and extends to the author's own time. The author was an important protagonist at the time of the rise of the Ismaili movement, which worked at undermining Sunni authority and dominion in the prospect of a coming revolutionary upheaval. The manuscript is a very old copy of the work (Leipzig ms. or. 377). The edition will be accompanied by a study of material from the period that flowed into the work. Aside from its general interest to the history of religion, this material affords valuable insights into the history of the early Shia and Ismailiyya. Uncovering the author's subversive literary strategies allows the critical study to treat the work in its hidden capacity as Ismaili heresiography. During the extension of the project for which we apply, the critical edition is supposed to be expanded with four additional chapters and a German translation of the text.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants