This book draws on 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 fieldwork

Table of Contents

• List of Figures and Tables
• Introduction - Sarah Bowen Savant and Helena de Felipe
• Part One: The Generation of Genealogical Knowledge
• 1. Keeping the Prophet's Family Alive: Profile of a Genealogical Discipline - Kazuo Morimoto
• 2. Motives and Techniques of Genealogical Forgery in Pre-modern Muslim Societies - Zoltán Szombathy
• 3. The Genealogy of Power and the Power of Genealogy in Morocco: History, Imaginary and Politics - Zakaria Rhani
• Part Two: Empowering Political and Religious Elites
• 4. Berber Leadership and Genealogical Legitimacy: The Almoravid Case - Helena de Felipe
• 5. Ways of Connecting with the Past: Genealogies in Nasrid Granada - Maribel Fierro
• 6. Embarrassing Cousins: Genealogical Conundrums in the Central Sahara - Judith Scheele
• Part Three: Genealogy as a Source for Writing History
• 7. Was Marwan ibn al-Hakam the First “Real” Muslim? - Fred M. Donner
• 8. Genealogy and Ethnogenesis in al-Mas'udi's Muruj al-dhahab - Sarah Bowen Savant
• 9. Genealogical Prestige and Marriage Strategy among the Ahl al-Bayt: The Case of the al-Sadr Family in Recent Times - Raffaele Mauriello
• About the Contributors