Dalīl al-sāʾirīn of Imām-zāde Ḥasan al-Būsnawī and faḍā`il Literature

Textual Authority and Holy Space

Abstract

In classical Islamic culture faḍāʾil literature represents one of the most popular prose genres, attracting numerous contributors from diverse and competing intellectual and sectarian persuasions from the early 8th century well into the period of the "Gunpowder Empires" (Marshall Hodgson). The richness of this genre is expressed in the impressive range of themes it addresses, as well as in its complex relationship to the "canonical" hadith tradition. Notwithstanding this variety, the faḍāʾil literature enjoyed an extraordinary diachronic resil­ience. This paper will describe the main characteristics of the genre and will present an outline of its development, along with an overview of the relevant scholarly literature. It will also explore the growth of key themes, placing them in a typological framework; particular attention will be paid to the faḍāʾil of cities and regions. Finally, this paper will present the Dalīl al-sāʾirīn ʾilā ziyārat Ḥabīb Rabb al-ʿālamīn of Imām-zāde Ḥasan in the context of the Otto­man reworking of this genre, calling attention to the discourse of space, which created new relationships of belonging and possessing. This paper will not concern itself with the authenticity of the hadith-reports used in the work, but will focus on their deployment in the textual representation of Medina, along with their potential reception.