The Portrayal of the Pre-Islamic Arabs as Murderers of Their Own Infants
This article critically reassesses the accounts of the supposed custom of infanticide, particularly female infanticide (in Arabic, wa’d al-banāt), among pre-Islamic Arabs, arguing that this notion emerged during the Umayyad era as an imagined aspect of the so-called pre-Islamic jāhiliyya ("age...
| Subtitles: | Social Identity across Time: Interdisciplinary Applications |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2026
|
| In: |
Approaching religion
Year: 2026, Volume: 16, Issue: 1, Pages: 42-55 |
| Further subjects: | B
The Qur'an
B Tamim B Early Islam B Infanticide B late antique Arabia |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
MARC
| LEADER | 00000naa a22000002c 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | 1963530454 | ||
| 003 | DE-627 | ||
| 005 | 20260305121400.0 | ||
| 007 | cr uuu---uuuuu | ||
| 008 | 260305s2026 xx |||||o 00| ||eng c | ||
| 035 | |a (DE-627)1963530454 | ||
| 035 | |a (DE-599)KXP1963530454 | ||
| 040 | |a DE-627 |b ger |c DE-627 |e rda | ||
| 041 | |a eng | ||
| 084 | |a 0 |2 ssgn | ||
| 100 | 1 | |e VerfasserIn |0 (DE-588)1067254293 |0 (DE-627)818954949 |0 (DE-576)426511921 |4 aut |a Lindstedt, Ilkka |d 1986- | |
| 109 | |a Lindstedt, Ilkka 1986- | ||
| 245 | 1 | 4 | |a The Portrayal of the Pre-Islamic Arabs as Murderers of Their Own Infants |
| 246 | 1 | |i Special Issue |a Social Identity across Time: Interdisciplinary Applications | |
| 264 | 1 | |c 2026 | |
| 336 | |a Text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a Computermedien |b c |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a Online-Ressource |b cr |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 520 | |a This article critically reassesses the accounts of the supposed custom of infanticide, particularly female infanticide (in Arabic, wa’d al-banāt), among pre-Islamic Arabs, arguing that this notion emerged during the Umayyad era as an imagined aspect of the so-called pre-Islamic jāhiliyya ("age of ignorance"). Both noble aspects, such as valour and esteemed poetry, and debased ones, such as polytheism and immorality, were ascribed to pre-Islamic Arabs, thus encapsulating a troublesome heritage. Additionally, this article explores some aspects of the Islamic-era political dynamics, particularly the polemics between various Arabian tribes. The case of the tribe of Tamīm—who are said to have been the main perpetrators of infanticide—is examined, highlighting how inter-tribal polemics influenced the birth and popularization of tales depicting the Tamīm as engaged in the brutal practice of daughter-killing. In my interpretation, the Tamīm became the butt of these polemical attacks because they fought on the losing side during the second Muslim fitna, "civil war" (680-92 CE). I argue that the sustained recollection and retelling of the jāhiliyya narratives served not only to forge a new Muslim identity and self-assertion of moral reformation but also to facilitate intra-Arab distinctions in Islamic times. Social Identity Theory (SIT) serves as the interpretive framework of the article | ||
| 650 | 4 | |a Tamim | |
| 650 | 4 | |a The Qur'an | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Early Islam | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Infanticide | |
| 650 | 4 | |a late antique Arabia | |
| 773 | 0 | 8 | |i Enthalten in |t Approaching religion |d Åbo : [Verlag nicht ermittelbar], 2011 |g 16(2026), 1, Seite 42-55 |h Online-Ressource |w (DE-627)718726731 |w (DE-600)2667782-9 |w (DE-576)367402394 |x 1799-3121 |7 nnas |
| 773 | 1 | 8 | |g volume:16 |g year:2026 |g number:1 |g pages:42-55 |
| 856 | 4 | 0 | |u https://journal.fi/ar/article/view/148924 |x Verlag |z kostenfrei |3 Volltext |7 0 |
| 951 | |a AR | ||
| ELC | |a 1 | ||
| LOK | |0 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 | ||
| LOK | |0 001 4929175542 | ||
| LOK | |0 003 DE-627 | ||
| LOK | |0 004 1963530454 | ||
| LOK | |0 005 20260305121002 | ||
| LOK | |0 008 260305||||||||||||||||ger||||||| | ||
| LOK | |0 040 |a DE-Tue135 |c DE-627 |d DE-Tue135 | ||
| LOK | |0 092 |o n | ||
| LOK | |0 852 |a DE-Tue135 | ||
| LOK | |0 852 1 |9 00 | ||
| LOK | |0 935 |a ixzs |a ixzo | ||
| LOK | |0 939 |a 05-03-26 |b l01 | ||
| OAS | |a 1 | ||
| ORI | |a TA-MARC-ixtheoa001.raw | ||
| REL | |a 1 | ||
| SUB | |a REL | ||
