This article aims at analyzing idolatry inasmuch it appears as a literary motif in legendary maġāzī literature, a large and varied corpus of narratives, spread mostly in the post-Classical period (15th–19th centuries), which recount in fictional way the early Muslim military expeditions that took place during Muḥammad’s lifetime (Ar. ġazawāt, sing. ġazwa). Within this genre, it considers primarily those ġazawāt in which direct references to idolatry appear, either as references to the general concept or as references to individual idols. Regarding the latter, it provides an overview, accompanied by textual examples, of all the idols mentioned by name in the ġazawāt, divided into those that are also attested in the historical sources, and the fictitious ones invented by the narrators for narrative purposes.
The first part of the article focuses on the opening and closing chapters of Sicilian born polymath Ibn Ẓafar’s (d. ca. 566 /1171) mirror for princes, Sulwān al-muṭāʿ, which are devoted to “trusting [God]” (tafwīḍ) and “self-denial” (zuhd) respectively, and analyzes the combination of historical narratives and animal fables contained therein. In the complex “telescoping” structure devised by Ibn Ẓafar, both types of narratives represent an essential tool for reflecting on political circumstances related to the role of a local ruler. From this perspective, the analysis targets the relationship between history and fictionality set by the author and the transition from one dimension to the other. The final part of the article considers the reception of the Sulwān al-muṭāʿ by Ayyubid and Mamluk authors and their different approaches to various types of narratives when quoting (more or less substantial) parts of Ibn Ẓafar’s work.
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