The Islamic obligation to emigrate [Ressource électronique] : al-Wansharisi's Asna a l-matajir reconsidered / Jocelyn N. Hendrickson ; adviser Devin J. Stewart

Ph. D. Religion : Emory University : 2009

Bibliogr. p. 470-484

This dissertation re-examines a fatwa (formal response to a legal question) issued in 1491 C.E. by A<mad al-Wansharisi (d. Fez, 914/1508) confirming the obligation of Iberian Muslims to emigrate from their conquered homelands, which had become non-Muslim territory (dar al-arb) as a result of the Christian 'Reconquista,' and to settle in Muslim territory (dar al-Islam). Al-Wansharisi's primary fatwa, "Asna almatajir," and a shorter text, "the Marbella fatwa," are among the most prominent premodern fatwas on Muslims living under non-Muslim rule, and have attracted considerable scholarly attention. While previous scholars have placed al-Wansharisi's rulings in exclusive conversation with other fatwas related to the status of Muslims under Christian rule in Iberia or Sicily, this dissertation argues that Asna al-matajir in particular must be understood in its North African context. Chapter one reviews and critiques the existing literature and establishes that the primary audiences for these fatwas consisted of 1) the North African jurist who posed the questions, and 2) the professional legal readership of the Micyar, the compendium of Maliki fatwas compiled by al-Wansharisi. Asna al-matajir likely was not intended to encourage Iberian Muslim emigration. Chapter two argues that the Christian occupation of parts of Morocco, and the fifteenth-century juristic discourse to which it gave rise, represent the most immediate historical and intellectual contexts in which al-Wansharisi's fatwas on emigration must be understood. The relevant fatwas contained in al-Zayyati's (d. 1055/1645) Al-Jawahir al-mukhtara, including one by al-Wansharisi, are analyzed and compared. Chapter three critiques the conception that al-Wansharisi's fatwas were especially strict or unimaginative. An examination of the jurist's use of past precedent demonstrates his agility in adapting previous rulings to his present context, and reveals aspects of these rulings to be more lenient than those of his predecessors and contemporaries. Chapter four confirms the success of al-Wansharisi's rulings in becoming authoritative precedents by analyzing fatwas for and against emigration from colonial Algeria and Mauritania. Specific reasons are advanced for Asna al-matajir's impact on later Maliki thought on this issue. The appendices include translations and editions of important fatwas discussed in this dissertation, including Asna al-matajir and the Marbella fatwa.