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The prolonged decline of the Umayyads is among the most intriguing episodes in Muslim history, and has generated a lasting impact on subsequent Muslim socio-political and religious thinking. The early sources for the Umayyad period comprise various conflicting reports, and problems of reconstruction become more complex since most sources were composed during Abbāsid times, meaning they were generally hostile towards the Umayyads. The time frame of the study covers the last eight years of the Umayyad empire; more precisely the period from the death of Hishām b. Abd al-Malik (d. 125/743) to the end of the Umayyad era 132/750. Meticulous and careful examination of the pre-modern sources, combined with modern research approaches has helped in identifying the objectives of various early historiographers in their descriptions of Umayyad decline. The study focuses primarily on analysing the pre-modern sources (specifically al-Ya'qubi, al-Tabari, al-Mas'udi, Ibn Athir and Ibn Khaldun) and applies a thematic approach to the source materials, through which the various strands that defined and illustrated that decline can be followed. This makes it possible to evaluate how extensively each of three themes (the role of religious movements, the mawāli, and al-'asabiya) was dealt with in the early historiographies and to what extent they differ from one another. The development of religious ideas and how they contributed to the fall of the Umayyads and the rise of oppositional forces is also central in this regard and three religious movements (the 'Abbasids, Khawarij, and Qadariya) are explored. On the basis of the information gleaned from comparing the writings of the early historiographers, the study has also adopted a comparative study of modern historiography and approaches in assessing the Umayyad fall. Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony is used to explain and interpret aspects of the formation and development of the Umayyad period; it can also be used to assess the viability of the ideology, organisation and strategy of the early oppositional movements as a counter-hegemonic ideological force.

This research offers a systematic analysis of the physical features of residential Vernacular Architecture (VA) of Nafusa Mountain Region (NMR) in Libya, linking them to the governance system of heritage conservation in Libya and to the Responsible Institutions (RIs). Libya has experienced different historic stages, such as the Amazigh, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and Italian colonization. It is distinguished by a historic continuity, which has enriched its historic and architectural features. This study investigates and documents the main physical unique features of residential VA in NMR and related factors that influence Conservation Processes (CPs) within the current governance system delivered by the RIs. By clarifying the elements that make residential VA unique and by understanding current issues undermining its effective conservation, this study offers valuable and original insights for informing future conservation policies and for putting in place measures aimed at restoring, preserving, and maintaining this unique architectural and historical heritage. This research also produces new knowledge about VA of the NMR in Libya, a topic on which no studies have been available so far. By filling the gap in current knowledge, this study raises awareness about the value of the VA in the NMR and contributes to support the conservation of such a unique heritage. The research methodology for this study uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Mixed Methods). The researcher has selected and justified three examples of Vernacular Dwellings (VDs) in NMR and collected the data through observation, analysis of dwellings maps, photos, interviews and a questionnaire. Visual survey has been conducted by visiting relevant sites and systematically collecting visual evidence, such as photographic and technical survey including structures and technological spatial details. Spatial analysis methods have been adopted to uncover the rationale of the VA development and construction. Semi-structured interviews with relevant parties have been administered at senior, middle, and junior management level of the RIs and complemented with the review of archival documents and relevant government reports. Findings from the research outline the main challenges to VA in NMR that include a lack of appreciation and understanding of heritage among owners, scarcity of local materials and traditional building skills, lack of government support as well as insufficient documentation. All the findings were triangulated prior to the development of the initial recommendations and further decision-makers and expert validation was obtained to establish the final recommendations. Conclusions and recommendations on how to preserve residential VA in NMR context will assist policy makers in Libya, when setting strategic national plans for VA conservation, and will provide a useful point of reference for academics and researchers.

This is a contribution to a reassessment of colonial archaeology in Libya, based on the academic and political/ ideological portraits of the archaeologists serving in the Tripolitanian and (from 1936) Libyan Soprintendenza. Italian colonial archaeologists were, often deliberately, instruments of political strategy. They searched for traces of Rome in the nationalistic context of the Libyan War, and sought to reconstruct an idealised vision of the Roman cities during the Fascist Ventennio. The essential continuity between nationalist archaeology of the Liberal period (1910–1922), characterised by the central idea of the civilising force of Rome as a tool of colonial expansion, and the Fascist archaeology of 1922–1943, in which the integration of archaeology with political aims touched on the extreme, sometimes with grotesque results, will be stressed and a chronological overview presented. Negative judgment should be nuanced by placing the colonial archaeology in its historical context, analysing its structure, remembering that its methodological backwardness was shared by metropolitan archaeology, noting the high quality of the restoration work and finally by comparing Italian fieldwork with that of other European excavations in North African or Near Eastern protectorates and colonies. It is not a case of presenting a revisionist interpretation, but of approaching the subject without prejudice.

This article explores late nineteenth-century identity formation and caste boundaries among the Khōjā of colonial Zanzibar. The central concern regarding children born to a non-Khōjā parent was what status, particularly regarding rights of inheritance, the multiracial children born of these relationships had within the caste structure. The case of Nasur Jesa v. Hurbayee suggests that the attitude toward these children was inconsistent; sometimes they were embraced, and at other times they were shunned by the Khōjā community. The Khōjā caste schism in the late nineteenth century and the arrival of Aga Khan III in 1899 further complicated the practice of exogamy. The Sunni and Ithnā ʿAsharī Khōjā further opened their communities through exogamy and continued the practice of plural marriage. At the same time, a command from Aga Khan III to the Āgākhānī Khōjā led to the reinstatement of traditional caste endogamy and a prohibition of interracial marriage. Therefore, both the demographic realities of Zanzibar and the politics of caste affected how the Khōjā interacted with multiracial members of their community and whether they included or excluded them within the caste structure.

The first full examination of the factors for and against abolition in Tunisia and how it was able to occur in an environment hostile to such change

Cette thèse renvoie à la fondation politico-théologique du mouvement kharijite aux premiers siècles de l’islam. L’école ibadite est l’un des mouvements kharijites qui représentent l’opposition politique à l’islam classique au premier siècle. Cette étude ne présente pas uniquement la pensée théologique et les racines historiques de l’école ibadite. Elle s’est employée à observer l’instant crucial de l’histoire où le texte sacré a commencé à imprégner la vie quotidienne, menant ensuite aux multiples visages de l’islam, ce que l’on nomme aujourd’hui l’islam pratique, l’islam politique, l’islam théologique, l’islam juridique, etc. Cette thèse a essaye�� de faire analyser des questions théologiques qui sont dépendantes de deux contextes distincts : 1. Un contexte philosophique qui concerne toute question philosophique empruntée à la culture préislamique, telle la théorie de l’atome. D’autres encore, davantage métaphysiques, comme la théorie de l’essence divine et ses attributs ; la théorie de l’acte humain, etc. Ces problématiques sont apparues chronologiquement au cours du 2e/VIIIe siècle. 2. Un contexte épistémologique lié au cadre sociopolitique dans lequel évolue la communauté musulmane. Sa compréhension permet d’appréhender les hiérarchies religieuses de l’être humain, autrement dit l’application des hiérarchies de la divinité à l’être humain (croyant parfois et mécréant quelquefois, pieux ou hypocrite, etc.). Cette thèse a essayé autant que possible de suivre les étapes historiques et théologiques parcourues par l’école ibadite du 1er/7e au 7e/13e siècle. Cette école est considérée comme une extension historique et politique des mouvements kharijites en général, et ce sont ces derniers qui incarnent l’opposition politique en islam, qui ont ensuite soulevé les questions théologiques liées aux termes coraniques. Studying the history of the Ibadhi school and its creed represents a crucial element in academic studies. The present study is not just one of the few academic dissertations that worked to analyze the history and theology of Ibadism thought, but also belongs to an important field about the political Islamic foundation in the early centuries. That is the Khawariji (outsiders) thought which is an important part of the opposition in the political Islam, as well as Shiite ideology in general. This dissertation attempted somewhat to cover all the historical periods of Ibadhi theological school. This school is a political, historical, and theological extension of Kawarij who founded the political Islam in the 1st century and were active in establishing the conceptual principles for theological Islam through provoking the issues about the reality of the believer, hypocrite, disobeyer, etc. 1. This dissertation studied the development of concepts, their theological connotations, and their link to the social political situation in which they were generated and developed. Then, it analyzed the theological issues related to such concepts. 2. This study observed the change of Ibadhism from being a political movement to the foundation of a theological school that could establish an independent state in Oman. 3. An attempt to document the thematic development of theological issues in Ibadhism from the 1st century to the 7th century, and study their theological concepts and connotations, and their link to the social political situation of theology in Ibadhism. 4. This study conducted thematic and time comparison with the Ash’ari and Muatazela schools though considering the development of the related theological concepts and connotations from the 1st to the 7th century. 5. This study is restricted to the most prominent theological issues which actually lead to the foundation of theology, such as the issues of atom, divine entity, action of humans, vision, creation of the Quran. These are the issues that are major in theology and distinguish theological schools.