Scholarly Prescribed Texts in the Islamic Maghreb during the Medieval Period as Reflected in Fihrist al-Raṣṣā

Abstract

Books of barāmaj and fahāris constitute a genre of historical writing that became widespread in the Maghreb and al-Andalus. Scholars devoted considerable attention to this genre owing to the biographical notices it preserved of scholars and shaykhs, as well as the prescribed texts and books that were taught at the time. In such works, authors recorded their teachers, the books they had studied, and the scholarly authorizations they had received, thereby demonstrating their competence in teaching and in issuing fatwas. Fihrist al-Raṣṣāʿ is regarded as one of the most renowned catalogs of the medieval Maghreb, as it includes the names of al-Raṣṣāʿ’s teachers and the books he studied. This study highlights its scholarly content and the prescribed texts that were prevalent during that period.