É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.

LARSSON, Göran: Ignaz Goldziher on the Shuübiyya Movement

IGNAZ GOLDZIHER ON THE SHLCÜBIYYA M

OVEMENT Until today the shu'übiyya has mainly been studied as belonging to the past history of Islam: it has not been recognised as a part of the great living Islamic traditions articulated by the world-wide Muslim community. One important exception is the important study by S. A. Hanna and G. H. Gardner, which focuses on 'modern ways' of articulating and using the ideas (symbols, arguments etc.) that were linked to the shu' übiyya traditions in the colonial period and at the fall of the Ottoman empire.'

1 They show convincingly that the shu'übiyya could be used at different times and localities for different purposes, without losing touch with the basic tenets expressed by the medieval shu'übiyya movement. In conclusion, therefore, 1 believe that Hanna and Gardner's approach is fruitful in many ways, since it shows that the ideas and tensions articulated by the shu'übiyya are still vibrant and that they still await solution in the modem world of the 21st century. However, the problems addressed by non-Arabs today should not automatically be viewed as an articulation of 'classical' shu'übiyya tenets and ideas, even though they touch upon the same ideas and problems that were raised during the medieval period. With this precaution in mind, future researchers on the shu'übiyya should consider whether the ideas discussed above have any importance and validity in the Muslim community of today. If they do, it will also be necessary to analyse the message from a contextual and hermeneutic point of view, and not just with the aid of comparative philology. Nonetheless, in his study on the shu'übiyya, Ignaz Goldziher showed more than a hundred years ago that he was very much ahead of his own time with respect to his selection of both subjects and methods. 1

1 S. A. Hanna and G. H. Gardner, 'AI- Shu'übiyya Up-Dated: A Study of the 20th Century Revival of an Eighth Century Concept', The Middle East Journal 20 (1966), 335-351. 157