Some notes concerning the qurrā’ issue

Abstract

It has been noticed that some scholars in their attempt to discover something new in their researches, deplorably distort the clear facts of history. An example of this is their dealing with the qurrā’ issue in the early Islamic history. M.A. Shaban, followed by G.H.A. Juynboll, assumes that the term qurrā’ “should be understood no more than another derivation from the root qry and meaning the same as ahl al-qurà (those of the villages)”. His reference to Al-Balāḏūrī (Futūḥ, 88) to confirm his assumption cannot, however, be traced. Basing himself on this assumption, he tries to interpret accordingly the events of the rebellion against ‘Uṯmān, as an issue between the qurrā’ and the unfortunate caliph, and explain accordingly their role played in these and the following events until they became either Šī‘a or Ḫawāriǧ. Here Shaban is supported by Martin Hinds, who also tries to ascribe the causes of discontent in the later days of ‘Uṯmān to self-interest among these qurrā’. The purpose of this article is not to discuss the issues at stake between ‘Uṯmān and his opponents, but to shed more light on the qurrā’ and their actual role in those events.