Fieldwork and Preconceptions: The Role of the Bedouin as Informants in Mediaeval Muslim Scholarly Culture (Second-Third/Eighth-Ninth Centuries)

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines the methods of urban Muslim scholars of the early Abbasid period in their endeavour to collect information from Bedouin informants. Analogies with the problems of modern anthropological fieldwork are investigated, and the impact of the preconceptions and assumptions that the scholars brought to the field is highlighted. It is shown that mediaeval Muslim scholars’ fieldwork might involve varying activities taking place in different settings, and the term ‘Bedouin informants’ masks quite a variety of individuals claiming some expertise in ‘Bedouin’ culture. The idealised image of a scholar heading for the Arabian deserts to visit genuine nomads and make lengthy inquiries among them might be less typical than is often implicitly thought to have been. On the basis of concrete cases of data-collection, three fundamental assumptions heavily influencing the scholars’ thinking regarding Bedouin culture are identified.