Travelling knowledge in medieval Islam: the Ashʿarites of al-Andalus and North Africa (TRAKIMI)

Travelling knowledge in medieval Islam: the Ashʿarites of al-Andalus and North Africa (TRAKIMI) FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF. GA 624808 (2015-2017)

Jan Thiele

The EU-funded TRAKIMI (Travelling knowledge in medieval Islam: The Ashʿarites of al-Andalus and North Africa) project studied the history of the transmission of knowledge in Islamic societies during the Middle Ages. It investigated how the literature and doctrines of Ashʿarism – the most influential school of dialectical theology at the time – were disseminated to the western lands of Islam formed by the Maghreb and parts of the Iberian Peninsula.

TRAKIMI analysed primary sources such as independent works and commentaries written by scholars from the Islamic west on texts introduced from the east in order to tackle several unanswered questions. These included how scholars in the Islamic west accepted the doctrines and the rationalistic approach of Ashʿarism. TRAKIMI further looked at whether a distinct, specifically western form of Ashʿarism emerged.

Much of the literature remains solely understudied and has only survived in manuscript form. TRAKIMI contributed to uncovered such literature in manuscript repositories and by conducting archival research in North African libraries and European collections of Arabic manuscripts. By delving deep into the rich source of neglected literature produced in the Islamic west, TRAKIMI shed new light on the transmission of books and ideas in the vibrant intellectual climate of the medieval Mediterranean.

Marie Curie Fellow: Jan Thiele

Scientist in Charge: Maribel Fierro

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/624808