L'Aventure Ibadite dans le Sud Tunisien: Effervescence d'une région méconnue (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle)

Contenu

Titre

L'Aventure Ibadite dans le Sud Tunisien: Effervescence d'une région méconnue (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle)

Créateur

Ghazal, Amal N. Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Date

2013

Dans

Der Islam Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Résumé

Virginie Prevost, L'Aventure Ibadite dans le Sud Tunisien: Effervescence d'une région méconnue (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle). Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 2008. 480 pp. ISBN: 978-951-41-1019-1. (Amal Ghazal)

L'Aventure Ibadite dans le Sud Tunisien is a welcome addition to two bodies of literature, one pertains to Ibadi studies and another to North African history in the classical Islamic period. The book, a lengthy one, is divided into an introduction, two parts and a conclusion, in addition to an appendix and a bibliography. The book's major aim is to trace the evolution of southern Tunisia as one coherent region through the development of its Ibadism and Ibadi communities from the Muslim conquest to the end of the Almohad rule and the rise of the Hafsid dynasty. Particular attention is given to the revolt of Banu Ganiya as an event that had a detrimental effect on the presence of Ibadi communities in southern Tunisia.

Prevost rightly states that the scholarship on Tunisia has neglected the southern region at the expense of the big cities of Kairouan and Mahdiyya. Rectifying this imbalance by shedding light on the history of Ibadism in southern Tunisia serves her purpose very well and provides us with a better knowledge of southern Tunisia and the early history of Ibadism in North Africa. Another imbalance addressed by Prevost pertains to sources; while Sunni sources have been widely used to study the history of that region, Ibadi ones have been largely overlooked. She not only incorporates Ibadi sources - relying primarily on Kitab al-Siyar of Abu al-Abbas Ahmad al-Shammakhi - she also compares and contrasts them with the Sunni ones. This aspect, in particular, allows Prevost to provide new insights into the history of the region and to propose, in some instances, some revisionist approaches.

Part one of the book, comprising 12 chapters, presents the history of Ibadism in southern Tunisia - from its early beginnings in the 8th century until the destruction of the Almohad rule in the 13th century. One noteworthy feature of this section is Prevost's persistent attempt to provide a cohesive political narrative of southern Tunisian history under different dynastic rules. She succeeded by anchoring her narrative within Ibadi history in the region and by navigating Ibadi sources. Thanks to the inclusion of Ibadi sources, she puts forward three new theses in part I. The first one pertains to the Bagaya revolt of Ibadis against the Fatimid ruler al-Muizz in 968-69 and its impact on southern Tunisia and on the history of Ibadism. According to Prevost, a definitive period of Kitman among North African Ibadis was initiated following that battle. The second thesis related to the massacre of Qalat Bani Dargin in 1048-49, where Ibadis were massacred by Zirid troops, precipitating the disintegration of Ibadis as a political community seeking to revive the Rustumid rule, and forcing them to eventually organize themselves around the Halqa of Azzaba. The latter consequently acquired a political role in addition to its traditional intellectual role. The third thesis, perhaps the most significant, challenges the prevalent view that the Banu Hilal migration only brought devastation and destruction to North Africa. Ibadi sources reveal that southern Tunisia, unlike other areas in North Africa, seem to have prospered and remained relatively safe. This lasted for about a century, until the arrival of Bani Ganiya and Qaraqush whom Prevost described as "the true Banu Hilal" of southern Tunisia (p. 254).

The last three chapters of part I read like ad hoc chapters: one gives a sketch of the descriptions of southern Tunisia provided in Kitab al-Istibsar (author unknown), in Kitab al-Mu'jib fiTalkhis Akhbar al-Maghrib by al-Marrakushi and in Mu'jam al-Buldan by Yaqut; another chapter is entitled "The Evolution of Ibadism;" and the last one deals with the Jewish and Christian minorities in southern Tunisia. It is not clear why the last three chapters could not be incorporated in the general analysis provided in the earlier chapters, or grouped together within a certain conceptual framework that could have served as the nexus of a general conclusion to part I.

The second part, a shorter one comprising five chapters, deals with Ibadi commercial activities in southern Tunisia and the regional connections through trade. Prevost provides yet another example of how the integration of Ibadi sources in historical analysis can reveal new insights. One of these is the continuous relevance and importance of the trade route Tadimakka-Kawkaw-branching from Ouargla - throughout the 10th to the 12th centuries. Ibadi sources, unlike their Sunni counterparts, revealed that that route was still frequented and considered vital to the trans-Saharan slave and gold trades. Despite their divisions into sub-sects, mainly Nukkaris and Wahbis, Ibadis exhibited a solidarity that played a key role in their survival and in the development of vibrant trade networks that reached different corners in the African continent, including the Sudan and south of the Sahara. In fact, Ibadis are credited for the introduction of Islam in those regions, thanks to the sophisticated trade routes.

While Prevost devotes the last chapter in part II to the role of Ibadis in the conversion to Islam in the Sudan, she offers nothing new. In addition, she makes no claim to the contrary although she has found it necessary to summarize the available details on the topic in order to further highlight the historical significance of Ibadis in southern Tunisia and of their commercial activities. This chapter, and a few others, underlines the conceptual and organizational shortcomings of this book.

One wonders if it is necessary to divide the analysis of Ibadi history in southern Tunisia into two separate parts, one focused on history and the other on commerce. Perhaps a different approach - one that places commerce at the heart of the formation and development of Ibadi communities in southern Tunisia - would have offered a better architecture for the book and a central thesis around which Prevost's new insights could be clustered. This would have also prevented some repetition and shortened the length of the monograph.

Nevertheless, despite the book's conceptual weakness and organizational flaws, it is a solid contribution to Ibadi history in North Africa and a unique reference to the history of southern Tunisia. It has certainly filled a gap in the history of North Africa and of Ibadism. Finally, the most significant contribution lies in Prevost's apt use of Ibadi sources in a manner that underscores their importance in terms of writing a more comprehensive and more balanced history of Muslim societies.

Sujet

Recension Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Langue

eng

analyse de

Prevost, Virginie Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

volume

90

numéro

1

pages

187-189

Ghazal, Amal N., “L'Aventure Ibadite dans le Sud Tunisien: Effervescence d'une région méconnue (VIIIe-XIIIe siècle)”, 2013, bibliographie, consulté le 18 septembre 2024, https://ibadica.org/s/bibliographie/item/2402