Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

112 Ahmed El Shamsy
altogether. However, the fact that grave visits had become such an
integral part of popular religion and were based on such entrenched
beliefs meant that the practice continues to the present day. 12
Ordinary believers also played a role in the social definition of the
boundaries of orthodoxy through their perception and treatment of
marginal elements of society, such as certain controversial Sufi groups
who were frequently viewed with suspicion or even condemned by the
‘ulama’ and, in some cases, also by other Sufis. Being oriented towards
the goal of direct experience of the divine, Sufism could allow for a high
degree of subjectivity and idiosyncrasy in the definition of individual
‘‘orthodoxy’’. Overcome by his experience, the Sufi could even utter
apparent blasphemies in his inability to express his experience in
ordinary language. By and large, Islamic societies acknowledged the
validity of these experiences and expanded the realm of the socially
acceptable to accommodate such anomalies. This created an inclusive
social space in which even the marginalised and the antisocial were
tolerated in an act of suspended judgment. Even if the behaviour of people
such as the Qalandars, wandering dervishes with hedonistic tendencies,
appeared scandalous, they were usually given the benefit of the doubt. 13
the government and orthodoxy
The scholarly discourses generated the content of theological orthodoxy:
only the ‘ulama’ were recognised as possessing the competence to
make authoritative statements about matters of religion. Attempts by
rulers to overrule the consensus of the majority of scholars and to impose
a minority theological position by force – such as Ma’mun’s infamous
Inquisition (mih _
na) – were generally unsuccessful when confronted by
determined opposition from the scholarly establishment. However,
executive power played a crucial role in promoting and enforcing favoured
theological ideas, and in suppressing rival doctrines.
A crucial vehicle for this influence was the government’s right to
appoint judges and other public officials who could wield considerable
power. Beyond the basic requirement that appointees be recognised
scholars and meet the minimum qualifications for office, rulers could
select officials based on their school and doctrinal affiliations, and personal
beliefs and characteristics, as well as social connections. For
instance, the ninth-century governor of Egypt, Ah _
mad ibn Ṫulun, chose
to appoint a Shafi‘ı scholar – a representative of a minority school – as
the first teacher in the central mosque of his newly built capital city,
even granting him the unprecedented support of an annual stipend.
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