War and Law in the First Islamic Polity: 

Arabness, Emigration, and the Dhimma of God and His Messenger

  

 

 

This dissertation considers the role of three institutions in the formation of the 7^th-century Islamic polity. The first, hijra, begins as a policy of requiring new members of the community to settle in Medina, following the emigration of most of Muḥammad’s Meccan followers. The second, aʿrābiyya, begins with the application of the label aʿrāb to identify the “Arabness” of tribes that retained a semi-independent status, including those who expressed their commitment to Islam but did not perform hijra. The third has deep roots in Arabian antiquity: the mechanism of establishing subjecthood through the extension of a protection covenant, dhimma, whether to Muslims or peoples who maintained their religion.

Considered for the first time as a cohesive framework, the centrality of the three institutions is brought to the fore in the “Terms of Capitulation” tradition, a comprehensive summa of rules and regulations for the conduct of warfare. Comprising a body of more than 200 variants attributed, variously, to the Prophet Muḥammad and his first two successors, the tradition is the most widely circulated hadith thus far identified by scholars. The study comprises three parts, devoted to (I) an analysis of the textual variants and transmission history of the tradition, (II) a study of the semantic dimensions and evolution of the pre-Islamic terminology, and (III) a synthesis and critical evaluation of the historical-exegetical materials that describe the implementation of legal doctrine. The findings obtained bring a new clarity to the formative structures that shaped Islamic society and governance, the relationship between tribes and state, and the remarkable distinctness of early constructs such as “Arabness” from their classical equivalents.

 

BRAIS would like to thank everyone who submitted a manuscript for this year's Prize and all those who provided references for applicants. We would also like to offer our profound thanks to the many reviewers across the world who gave of their time so generously, and to our Prize Committee who had the very difficult task of selecting our winner. Particular thanks also to Prize Chair, Dr Saeko Yazaki, and Prize Coordinator, Adam Ramadhan, for their essential work in overseeing the Prize in all its complexity. 

Very many congratulations to our winner, Dr Goyal, for his exceptional submission and we look forward to receiving more quality submissions for the 2025 Prize: FURTHER INFORMATION HERE.