Podcast episode

September 18, 2026

Episode 220: Islām and Esotericism in the Eighth Century: The Umayyad Era and the Question of Islām as ‘Religion’

In this episode we try to do two main things.

First of all, we identify some of the reasons why the Umayyad period (lasting from the years 41–132 of the hijrī calendar, or the second half of the seventh century and first half of the eighth CE) is important for the history of Islamic esotericism; coming episodes will explore these elements of the esoteric in detail.

Secondly, we open up some space in the ‘history of religions’ conceptual terrain, trying to see what scholars mean when they point to the reign of the Umayyad khalif ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān as the time when the Believers’ movement first became ‘Islām’ in the full sense, and what all the discussion of sunnī and shī’ī ‘sects’ really means for this formative period.

Works Cited in this Episode:

Episode 154 with Paul Pasquesi.

Episode 165 with Joel Kalvesmaki on ‘Origenism’ and Evagrianism in the sixth century.

Primary (roughly in order of discussion):

The root S-L-M / ملس in the Qur’ān: https://www.islamiqate.com/4504/how-often-does-the-word-islam-appear-in-the-quran.

Coins of ‘Abd al-Malik: go to https://hcr.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/, click on ‘search’, click on ‘reign’, click on ‘Abd al-Malik in the drop-down list, and hit `Search’.

Q 4:171: https://quran.com/an-nisa?startingVerse=171.

Al-Ṭabari on ‘Umar in Jerusalem: 2404–2409, citing the Leiden edition (Annales quos scripsit Abu Djafar Mohammed ibn Djarir at-Tabari. Brill, Leiden, 1836–1909).

Ibn Khaldūn on `Umar in Jerusalem: Tarikh Ibn Khaldun, 2/225.

Secondary:

Jonathan A. C. Brown. The Canonization of al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Brill, Leiden, 2007.

Patricia Crone. Ninth-Century Muslim Anarchists. Past and Present, (167):3–28, May 2000.

Fred M. Donner. Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA/London, 2010, quoting p. 211.

Heinz Halm. Die islamische Gnosis: Die extreme Schia und die ‘Alawiten. Artemis Verlag, Zürich/München, 1982, quoting p. 8: ‘So ist es denn nicht verwunderlich, daß es gerade der Irak war, wo der junge Islam mit gnostischen Lehren in Berühung kam und sich mit ihnen auseinandersetzen mußte.’

Robert Hoyland. In God’s Path. The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York, NY, 2015, quoting p. 139.

Recommended Reading:

On the Rise of Islām as a ‘Religion’ in the Reign of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān:

Patricia Crone and Michael A. Cook. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. The University Press, Cambridge, 1977, 8, 29, et passim.

Fred M. Donner. Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA/London, 2010, esp. Section 5, pp. 194 ad fin.

Robert Hoyland. In God’s Path. The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire. Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York, NY, 2015, esp. 195–201.

John Wansbrough. The Sectarian Milieu: Content and Composition of Islamic Salvation History, volume 34 of London Oriental Series. The University Press, Oxford, 1978 [severely technical and bracingly sceptical of preconceived notions, this book strips away as many assumptions as possible from the question of how Islām became a religion with recognisable sects. Not for the faint-hearted; highly rewarding to the keen and sceptical reader (but you need to be sceptical of Wansbrough as well as of the sources)].

Themes

Esotericism for Safety, Gnosticism, Ḥasan of Baṣra, Islam, Islamic Esotericism, Late Antiquity, Manichæism, Shi‘ī Esotericism, Taṣawwuf, Zoroastrianism