You Can't Make Mistakes.

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This is a paper that I gave at the 12th annual International Conference on Evil and Human Wickedness, 17-19 March 2011 in Prague. It was published in a volume of papers selected from the proceedings of that conference.

Abstract:

The Arabic term hisba is defined classically within Islamic juridical and theological writing as being the divine or prophetic directive for all Muslims to commanding the right and forbid the wrong [al-amr bi-l-ma’rūf wa-l-nāhy ‘an al-munkar]. The Qur’anic directive which is the origin of this principle is and has been interpreted variously throughout Islamic history: ‘[Believers], you are the best community singled out for people: you order what is right, forbid what is wrong, and believe in God.’ Many of the classical theories of hisba and its proper application were developed as a means for a government to control economic and commercial practices by applying an Islamic orthopraxy to market environments. This official enforcement was the duty of the muhtasib [‘market inspector’]. This is the basis for the discussion of hisba in the works of al-Mawardi in his Ahkam al-Sultaniyya [‘The Ordinances of Government’] and Ibn Taymiyya in his major work on the topic, named simply, Al-Hisbah. This paper analyzes several literary historical anecdotes and modern reports of the application of hisba.

To download the e-book/paper, click the link below.

Live Evil: Of Magic and Men, edited by Sophia Vivienne Kottmayer

Citation (Chicago/Turabian):

Martin III, John D. “Primum Non Nocere: Gray Area in Commanding the Right and Forbidding the Wrong.” In Live Evil: Of Magic and Men, edited by Sophia Vivienne Kottmayer, 79-86. Oxford, UK: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2011. https://www.interdisciplinarypress.net/online-store/ebooks/evil-monsters-horror/live-evil-of-magic-and-men [accessed February 7, 2012].

This is a paper which I submitted to Prof. Amina Elbendary’s seminar on “Protest, Rebellion and Revolt in the Pre-modern Middle-East” in the Fall semester 2010 at AUC.

Abstract:

The concept of deviance in early Islamic mystic piety developed as an aspect of the same social and intellectual processes which defined Sufism as a normative or orthodox mode. The mysticism which developed in and around Baghdad and in Khurāsān was varied in its outward forms for the first several centuries. Asceticism was common, but it was not homogeneous in its expression. The process of systematizing and normalizing Islamic mystic doctrine and practice was concurrent with a similar systematization in legal and theological contexts. In this process of systematization some previous forms were marginalized and some were subsumed into what would become the normative Ṣūfī practice. Other forms were continued and taken up by Ṣūfī movements which would eventually be regarded as heterodox. One label that stands out as representing a heterodox mode is that of the Malāmatiyya — those who followed the “path of Blame.” This paper will explore the development of that term and its usage as first a descriptive and then a derogatory term over the course of several centuries and explore how that change reflected concurrent Khurāsānian societal changes.

To view the paper click the link below. Enjoy.

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Citation (Chicago/Turabian):

Martin III, John D. “The Conceptual Development of Deviance among Islamic Mystics: The Malāmatiyya.” Unpublished. If You Don’t Know What You’re Doing, You Can’t Make Mistakes. http://johndmart.in/2011/06/15/the-conceptual-development-of-deviance-among-islamic-mystics-the-malamatiyya/ [accessed February 7, 2012].

This is a recent paper I wrote for a seminar on Islamic Political Thought with Dr. Huda Lutfi at the American University in Cairo. I will post a few others that I am writing and have written recently in the coming weeks.

It isn’t that I haven’t been writing in the last two months of blog hiatus, it is that I have been writing this sort of thing. So, rather than not posting at all, when I have tortured my ever avid fans (?) by never posting, I will further torture you by making you read my academic work. More importantly, I am working on a few conference papers and journal submissions and any feedback—on content or style—is very helpful. Thanks in advance for your kind patience.

To view the paper click one of the links below. Enjoy.

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Citation (Chicago/Turabian):

Martin III, John D. “Agency and Authority: Considering Free-Will in the Discursive Narrative on Caliphal Authority.” If You Don’t Know What You’re Doing, You Can’t Make Mistakes. http://johndmart.in/2009/12/17/agency-and-authority/ [accessed February 7, 2012].