CSI Monday Majlis : DEBATING VEGANISM IN THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC WORLD: A DEBATE BETWEEN AL-MAʿARRĪ AND THE SHIITE MISSIONARY AL-MUʾAYYAD FĪ L-DĪN AL-SHĪRĀZĪ

KEVIN BLANKINSHIP
DEBATING VEGANISM IN THE MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC WORLD:
A DEBATE BETWEEN AL-MAʿARRĪ AND THE SHIITE MISSIONARY AL-MUʾAYYAD FĪ L-DĪN AL-SHĪRĀZĪ
Monday Majlis Online on the 11th of November, 17: 00-18:30 (UK time)
Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlcu2oqj8sHtyy9qRR8dUpt2cjNRP95_kk

 
Bio: Kevin Blankinship is Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at Brigham Young University. His research touches on many topics in classical Arabic literature: plagiarism, criminal slang, why poems end badly, insulting the Devil, and more, revealing a broader commitment to belles-lettres and to relishing the strange and unusual. He is currently writing a book about the staunch vegan satirist and witty man of letters al-MaÊ¿arrÄ«, in the context of Islamic animal ethics. Prof. Blankinship's work has been supported by the Fulbright-Hays Program, the American Institute for Maghrib Studies, the Danish Independent Research Fund (DFF), the University of Southern Denmark, and the University of Utah. He is a published poet, and his essays have appeared in popular press venues like The Atlantic, The Times Literary Supplement, and more.  https://kblankinship.com/contact/

Abstract: The medieval Muslim vegan, satirist, moralist, and witty man of letters AbÅ« l-Ê¿Alāʾ al-MaÊ¿arrÄ« (d. 449/1057) is best known as the author of The Epistle of Forgiveness, a Dantean journey through heaven and hell featuring discussions of poetry, grammar, heresy, and more. What is less known but just as important is al-MaÊ¿arrÄ«'s obsession with animals, whether as literary symbols, moral exemplars, or creatures deserving of mercy in their own right. In this talk, I introduce al-MaÊ¿arrÄ«'s life and work, survey his writings on animals, and then discuss one such work in particular: a series of letters exchanged with Shiite missionary al-Muʾayyad fÄ« l-DÄ«n al-ShÄ«rāzÄ« (d. 471/1078), a skilled poet in his own right. The two men debate a poem by al-MaÊ¿arrÄ« urging people to stop using animal products. I put this dispute next to other letters by al-MaÊ¿arrÄ« where he laments animal cruelty; I also look at a debate between al-Muʾayyad al-ShÄ«rāzÄ« with his followers on how to handle al-MaÊ¿arrÄ«’s veganism, which for them is an insult to Islam. All of this seems to confirm al-MaÊ¿arrÄ«’s lifestyle, but it also shows how others reacted to him and reveals the stakes of defending veganism in the medieval Islamic world.

In the spirit of the label ‘Majlis’ and also to make the talks even more interesting, our speakers present the topic discussed as embedded in their own journey. You can watch the previous Majlises here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8YRkUahFj_81oJzCSDLTx4kVQQgeHLc-, but we don’t record the Q&A in order to keep the discussion free. Please come and enjoy the talks and the discussions : ) If you’d like to be included in the CSI (Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter) mailing list, please write to me (I.T.Kristo-Nagy@ex.ac.uk).
We’ll be happy to welcome you!
István T Kristó-Nagy https://arabislamicstudies.exeter.ac.uk/staff/kristo-nagy/