Established in London in 2002, the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations aims to strengthen research and teaching about the heritages of Muslim societies as they have evolved over time, and to examine the challenges these societies face in today's globalised world. It also seeks to create opportunities for interaction among academics, traditionally trained scholars, innovative thinkers and leaders, in an effort to promote dialogue and build bridges.Exploring Muslim Contexts Series Editor: Farouk TopinThis series seeks to address salient and urgent issues faced by Muslim societies as they evolve in a rapidly globalising world. It brings together the scholarship of leading specialists from various academic fields, representing a wide range of theoretical and practical perspectives. Genealogy is one of the most important and authoritative organising principles of Muslim societies. From the Prophet's day to the present, ideas about kinship and descent have shaped tribal, ethnic, sectarian and other identities. An understanding of genealogy is therefore vital to our understanding of Muslim societies, particularly with regard to the generation, preservation and manipulation of genealogical knowledge.This book addresses the subject through a range of case studies that link genealogical knowledge to the particular circumstances in which it was created, circulated and promoted.

They stress the malleability of kinship and memory, and the interests this malleability has served.Key FeaturesDraws on a vast reservoir of primary sources from across the Middle East, the Maghreb, and Sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from works of the classical Arabic heritage to oral testimonies gained from fieldworkAsks stimulating questions about how genealogical knowledge has been generated, how it has empowered political and religious elites, and how it has shaped understandings about the past - including those of modern scholarsExplores the authenticity, legitimacy and institutionalization of genealogical knowledge; the bases for sectarian, tribal, ethnic and other identities; and hierarchy and grounds for prestige and infamyMakes accessible a technical vocabulary and a manner of speaking about kinship, providing an important window into a set of ways in which Muslims have articulated their relationship to the past. Sarah Bowen Savant is an Associate Professor at the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London. Her publications include The New Muslims of Post-Conquest Iran: Tradition, Memory, and Conversion (2013).Helena de Felipe is Lecturer at the Universidad de Alcalá (Arabic and Islamic Studies). Her publications include Identidad y onomástica de los bereberes de al-Andalus (1997) and, co-edited with F. Rodríguez Mediano, El Protectorado español en Marruecos: Gestión colonial e identidades (2002).