Astrology and History in Early Islam

The first study to highlight the links between astrology and history in early Islam A new study of the construction of historical knowledge in early Islam, highlighting the neglected links between astrology and history Presents and analyses the entirely overlooked corpus of astrological histories Sheds new light on the 'gap of narrative sources' lamented by generations of scholars and reveals a major epistemic shift, a change in the regime of historicity at the turn of the ninth and tenth centuries Highlights the forgotten legacies of astrologer-historians and their lasting impact on Islamic historiography Astrology and History in Early Islam: Aligning Heaven and Earth focuses on the construction of historical knowledge during the first centuries of Islam (7th–10th centuries CE) and sheds light on the much-neglected genre of astrological histories. It contends that astrologers played a significant, albeit totally overlooked, role in the making of Islamic historiography. The volume documents a unique moment in historical writing and reveals enduring legacies of this exceptional corpus of texts and historical horoscopes. The flourishing and eventual vanishing of astrological histories reveal broader historiographical trends, most notably a shift of cultural brokers serving as arbitrators of (historical) knowledge and a change of regime of historicity. Astrology and History in Early Islam: Aligning Heaven and Earth also reveals the forgotten legacies of a moment in early Islamic historiography, when history was being written according to celestial omens and planetary conjunctions.