Historical Insights into “Mutuality of Being”: Marshall Sahlins’s Kinship Theory in Early and Classical Islam
This article delves into social group structures, examining them through the prism of kinship ties. At the core of our exploration is Marshall Sahlins’s definition of kinship as “mutuality of being,” which will be elaborated towards the article’s conclusion. We home in on the first four centuries of...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2024
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| In: |
Medieval encounters
Year: 2024, Volume: 30, Issue: 2/3, Pages: 263-279 |
| Further subjects: | B
Islamic patronate (walāʾ)
B Kinship B Client B mawlā / mawālī B Ulama |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article delves into social group structures, examining them through the prism of kinship ties. At the core of our exploration is Marshall Sahlins’s definition of kinship as “mutuality of being,” which will be elaborated towards the article’s conclusion. We home in on the first four centuries of Islam (approximately 600–1000 CE), a pivotal era marked by shifts in social affiliations and loyalties. Initially, “mutuality of being” was deeply influenced by patron-client relationships, known as the Islamic patronate (walāʾ). Yet, by the era’s end, “mutuality of being” evolved to resonate more with affiliations to one of the three major Islamic currents or their subsets: Kharijite, Shiite, or Sunnite Islam. Our objective is to dissect the societal transformations during this period, from a Muslim society anchored in Arab tribal loyalty to one gravitating towards the aforementioned religious currents. We then connect these observations to Sahlins’s kinship theory. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0674 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Medieval encounters
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700674-12340187 |