Notes on Christian communities in the Maghrebi biographical dictionary of Abū l-ʽArab (10th century)

Abstract

The consideration of Muslim about Christians between the 9^th and 10^th centuries in the Maghreb and, in particular, in the Ifrīqiya region, can be analyzed through Arabic biographical dictionaries, particularly in the Ṭabaqāt ʽulamāʼ Ifrīqiya of Abū l-ʽArab (d. 333/945), author of the oldest work, within the mālikí school, of this textual genre about the ulemas of this territory. The fragments presented in this contribution show an opposition to the christian community and, at the same time, the existence of common moral values, a framework in which the figure of Jesus, as seen in these examples, plays a prominent role. The work aims to be a contribution to the studies of the phases of consolidation of Islam in the Ifrīqiya region in a double aspect: distinction of Islam from other communities, on the one hand, and continuity with the monotheistic tradition, on the other. I also intend to offer these texts in Spanish in order to make them available to a wider public.