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

DÉVÉNYI, Kinga: Information Exchange Before the Internet: On law aqsama alá lláh la-abarrahu in Goldziher's Correspondence

KINGA DÉVÉNYI "Lieber Berchem! Dass unter JJÓ'

i CLU^

íí KOT' éEpxnv die Pilger zu verstehen sind, dafür kannst du kaum bessere Stelle anführen als die Hadit-Erzählung aus AlAzraki, Chroniken der Stadt Mekka 16,3 zu corrigiren - llüi) 17,3 jfill J^Lill [ ] Herzliche Grüsse von Deinem Freund. " In both his replies, his main concern is the meaning of the words ash'ath and aghbar. i.e. that the pilgrims should be understood by them. II. Goldziher's own research As is evidenced by Goldziher's notes, bequeathed - together with his correspondence - by his widow in 1925 to the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Goldziher had been collecting material on the topic of oaths (Eid und Schwur) for a substantial period in his life, at least ten years, from about the end of the 1890-s until at least 1908.

2

4 One batch of notes in the envelope on this topic bears the heading "/aw aqsama "aid lldh

". These notes show that Goldziher had meticulously collected data from the written sources which are relevant to this hadith about compelling oath."

2 We can also learn from one of his articles

2

6 that his last conversation with H. Derenbourg in April 1901 was on this subject. It is also evident from this article of his that he considered the different forms of oaths a question of prime importance in gaining a better knowledge of pre-Islamic Arab beliefs.

3

7 His interest in this topic went as far as to intend to publish what he thought was a unique Cairo manuscript entitled Kitdb al-aymdn by a certain Abu Ishäq Ibrahim ibn cAbdalläh al-NajtramT

2

8 from the qth/ioth century. It is one of the three manuscripts which Goldziher did not publish."'

1 Goldziher only knew of the existence of one MS of 2

4 Goldziher MS. dossier No. 65 at the LHAS. The date 1908 is evidenced by a Hungarian newspaper cutting relevant to this topic. The majority of notes are, however, undated. 2

2 It appears that the majority of the references were used in his articles dealing with this subject. Some remarks, however, were not elaborated upon. 2

6 Goldziher (1909). 2

7 Cf. Goldziher (1909), 221. 2

8 See Goldziher (1909), 224. 2

9 The other two are his history of Arabic literature in Hungarian and an edition of Ibn alSikkit's Kitäb tahdhib al-alfäz. See Somogyi (1935), 150-151. 30