Michael cooperson classical arabic biography of christopher

This outstanding study discusses the origins, development, and function of
pre-modern Arabic biography through an examination of the biographies
of four figures of the late second and early third Islamic centuries whose
life stories have been contested in interesting ways: the Abbasid caliph alMa
'mun (r.

198-218 AH/813-833 AC). [Chapter 2]; the Shi'ite imam · Ali
al-Rid a ( d. 203 AH/818 AC) [Chapter 3, and an appendix on the circumstances
of his death]; the renowned scholar of Hadith, Ahmad ibn Hanbal
(d.

Michael cooperson classical arabic biography of christopher

241 AH/855 AC).[Chapter 4]; and the ascetic Bishr al-Hafi (d.227 AHi
842 A C). [Chapter 5]. These figures were chosen because they lived during
the same period and their careers intertwined and overlapped, thus bringing
to the fore the contests over religious authority between the societal
groups they represented.

Although the caliph al-Ma'mun is famous for
having appointed 'Ali al-Rida, his heir apparent, a move which has puzz