Cooperation and contestation in medieval Baghdad (656/1258--786/1384): Relationships between Shi'i and Sunni scholars in the mad i nat al-salam

During the period of Mongol occupation, Baghdad, a long established center of learning in the Islamic world, emerged as a site of intense intellectual debate and dialogue between Shī`ī and Sunnī scholars. Shī`ī and Sunnī scholars participated extensively in the transmission of knowledge across sectarian lines, as both students and teachers. This study examines relationships between Shī`ī and Sunnī ‘ulamā’ in Baghdad and its neighboring towns during the seventh/thirteenth and eighth/fourteenth centuries in light of their roles as social actors within a broader context and public sphere characterized by political upheaval and instability. The domination of Baghdad by a non-Muslim power and the corresponding loss of the Sunnī political authority created new possibilities for Shī`ī patronage and influence. As Shī`ī scholars during the period gained greater access to patronage through the support of Mongol benefactors, as well as authored works that would prove foundational for later intellectual developments, Sunnī scholars were compelled to respond directly to these works. The presence of Shī`ī-Sunnī disputations highlights the contested nature of religious authority and the dynamic relationships of power between these scholars during the Mongol period. Furthermore, the systematic refutation of Shī`ī authors by Sunnī scholars is also indicative of the accessibility and availability of Shī`ī works within the wider context for the transmission of knowledge. Furthermore, social and discursive interactions between Shī`ī and Sunnī scholars are indicative of a social context in which a diversity of opinions flourished and disputations over an extended range of legal and theological issues were debated internally and across sectarian lines. Hence, this pattern of Shī`ī-Sunnī interaction stands in contrast to the dominant paradigm among modern scholars of medieval Islamic social history that emphasizes the degree to which Shī`ī scholars were subjugated to the coercive power of exclusionary Sunnī norms. Lastly, Shī`ī-Sunnī discursive engagements or oppositional discourse functioned as an important means for establishing the boundaries for group membership and the construction of religious identity.