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Medinan Scholars on the Move: Professional Mobility at the Umayyad Court

a refined analysis of scholars’ interaction with the ruling elites during the Umayyad period. By following two Medinan scholars, Mehmetcan Akpinar investigates the personal and professional motivations behind the scholars’ movements and their services to the authorities of their time. He compares their respective ascensions and the various stages which led to their prominent and influential positions at the Damascene court. In the differences that distinguish the careers of these two scholars, one is made to observe the interests of the Umayyad court and the subtle ways it fulfilled its particular needs. Through the combination of a wide range of sources and the detailed exploration of their correlations, the reader gains a new outlook on this complex period and the understudied relationships between the rulers and the scholars of that time.

Akpinar, Mehmetcan. “Medinan Scholars on the Move: Professional Mobility at the Umayyad Court.” In: El Merheb, Mohamad and Berriah, Mehdi. Professional Mobility in Islamic Societies (7000-1750). Leiden/Boston, 2021, 15-39.