Ibn al-Kalbi’s Kitab al-Asnam
E851142
Ibn al-Kalbi’s Kitab al-Asnam is an early Islamic antiquarian work that catalogues and describes the pre-Islamic Arabian idols, cults, and religious practices.
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Islamic antiquarian work
ⓘ
book ⓘ historical source on pre-Islamic Arabia ⓘ |
| aim | to document and refute pre-Islamic idolatry ⓘ |
| associatedWith | Abbasid Caliphate intellectual milieu ⓘ |
| author | Hisham ibn al-Kalbi NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| circulation | read and cited in medieval Islamic scholarship ⓘ |
| contains |
anecdotes about destruction of idols after Islam
ⓘ
etymologies of idol names ⓘ reports from earlier transmitters ⓘ |
| culturalContext | early Abbasid interest in pre-Islamic lore ⓘ |
| describes |
genealogies of tribes associated with idols
ⓘ
idols of various Arab tribes ⓘ ritual practices of pre-Islamic Arabs ⓘ shrines and sanctuaries in pre-Islamic Arabia ⓘ |
| discipline |
Arab antiquarian studies
ⓘ
Islamic historiography ⓘ |
| evaluatesFromPerspectiveOf | Islamic monotheism ⓘ |
| focusesOnRegion | Arabian Peninsula NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| genre |
historical treatise
ⓘ
religious antiquarianism ⓘ |
| historicalValue | major early Muslim source on Arab paganism ⓘ |
| influenced | later Muslim heresiographical and antiquarian writings ⓘ |
| language | Arabic ⓘ |
| mentions |
major Meccan idols
ⓘ
regional tribal cults outside Mecca ⓘ |
| modernStatus | edited and published in modern critical editions ⓘ |
| preservedIn | later Arabic manuscript tradition ⓘ |
| primaryAudience | Muslim scholars and readers ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Arab genealogical traditions
ⓘ
Islamic narratives of jahiliyya (Age of Ignorance) ⓘ |
| religiousClassification | Islamic literature on pre-Islamic practices ⓘ |
| religiousFunction | polemical against pagan practices ⓘ |
| religiousPerspective | Islamic ⓘ |
| structure | organized by idols and associated tribes ⓘ |
| subject |
Arab pagan cults
ⓘ
Arab religious practices before Islam ⓘ pre-Islamic Arabian idols ⓘ pre-Islamic Arabian religion ⓘ |
| timeOfComposition | 8th–9th century CE ⓘ |
| title | Kitab al-Asnam NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| translatedTitle | Book of Idols NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| typeOfEvidence | literary source ⓘ |
| usedAsSourceBy |
modern historians of pre-Islamic Arabia
ⓘ
scholars of early Islam ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.