L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles

The Arabic Kufic graffitis of the early centuries of Islam, in Arabia as in the Middle East, represent an inexhaustible source of information on the origins of Muslim society. However, the dating of these texts to the ist/viith century (before the Umayyad period), remains problematic and should be b...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Frédéric Imbert
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université de Provence 2011-07-01
Series:Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/7067
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849236487485259776
author Frédéric Imbert
author_facet Frédéric Imbert
author_sort Frédéric Imbert
collection DOAJ
description The Arabic Kufic graffitis of the early centuries of Islam, in Arabia as in the Middle East, represent an inexhaustible source of information on the origins of Muslim society. However, the dating of these texts to the ist/viith century (before the Umayyad period), remains problematic and should be based on rigorous palaeographic analysis. The study of the religious content of graffitis can help to date these inscriptions because they demonstrate progressive phases of development. The oldest graffitis, dated 23/643 and 24/644, do not contain any reference to religion. The inscribers, like their contemporaries, seemed more interested in perpetuating their names on the stone, following the model of Safaitic inscriptions. The study of the first professions of faith shows that there had been archaic formulae prior to the traditional shahâda, reflecting a very materialistic tribal monotheism. As for the recurrent requests for forgiveness and mercy, they may have been a rhetorical technique. Finally, the absence of any reference to the prophet Muhammad in the oldest graffitis shows in itself the historical and religious challenge of this epigraphic study.
format Article
id doaj-art-fa87772d4e804dfcbe78749250bb97f2
institution Kabale University
issn 0997-1327
2105-2271
language English
publishDate 2011-07-01
publisher Université de Provence
record_format Article
series Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée
spelling doaj-art-fa87772d4e804dfcbe78749250bb97f22025-08-20T04:02:13ZengUniversité de ProvenceRevue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée0997-13272105-22712011-07-0112910.4000/remmm.7067L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers sièclesFrédéric ImbertThe Arabic Kufic graffitis of the early centuries of Islam, in Arabia as in the Middle East, represent an inexhaustible source of information on the origins of Muslim society. However, the dating of these texts to the ist/viith century (before the Umayyad period), remains problematic and should be based on rigorous palaeographic analysis. The study of the religious content of graffitis can help to date these inscriptions because they demonstrate progressive phases of development. The oldest graffitis, dated 23/643 and 24/644, do not contain any reference to religion. The inscribers, like their contemporaries, seemed more interested in perpetuating their names on the stone, following the model of Safaitic inscriptions. The study of the first professions of faith shows that there had been archaic formulae prior to the traditional shahâda, reflecting a very materialistic tribal monotheism. As for the recurrent requests for forgiveness and mercy, they may have been a rhetorical technique. Finally, the absence of any reference to the prophet Muhammad in the oldest graffitis shows in itself the historical and religious challenge of this epigraphic study.https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/7067formularygraffitispalaeographyfaithmonotheismProphet Muḥammad
spellingShingle Frédéric Imbert
L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles
Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Méditerranée
formulary
graffitis
palaeography
faith
monotheism
Prophet Muḥammad
title L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles
title_full L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles
title_fullStr L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles
title_full_unstemmed L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles
title_short L’Islam des pierres : l’expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siècles
title_sort l islam des pierres l expression de la foi dans les graffiti arabes des premiers siecles
topic formulary
graffitis
palaeography
faith
monotheism
Prophet Muḥammad
url https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/7067
work_keys_str_mv AT fredericimbert lislamdespierreslexpressiondelafoidanslesgraffitiarabesdespremierssiecles