This paper provides an edited and annotated edition of a 17th century letter by the Egyptian scholar Muḥammad b. Abī l-Surūr al-Bakriyy al-Ṣiddīqiyy concerning the rebelling troops that came from Yemen to Mecca. The letter chronicles this rebellion, which resulted in the killing of the emir of Mecca, Muḥammad b. ʿAbdullāh. The first section of the paper provides a biography of al-Ṣiddīqiyy, his family background, and its influence on his scholarly method, as well as the social and cultural environment in which he was raised. The second section describes the manuscript, its contents and its ascription to its author, its exegetic methodology, language, and style, as well as the method used to verify the manuscript. The third section consists of a commentary on the manuscript, with explanatory notes on the meanings of words and expressions and the identification of persons and places referred to in the text. The current manuscript adds an important dimension to the large corpus of Arabic scholarly literature in Islamic studies, most notably in the geographical and historical context and detail it provides. In terms of content, the letter in this manuscript documents an important historic event, namely the invasion of the holy site of Mecca by troops arriving from Yemen in 1041 AH / 1631 CE, which resulted in the killing the emir of Mecca; the subsequent arrival of Egyptian forces to the Hejaz region, and their triumphant return to Egypt some six months later.

Authors:
Saleem Abu Jaber, Achva Academic College, Israel

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Saleem Abu Jaber is head of the department of Arabic language and literature at Achva Academic College.
He holds a bachelor’s degree a PhD from Tel Aviv University.
He is a senior lecturer and researcher in Arabic language and Islamic culture.

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https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Saleem-Abu-Jaber-2 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SUHC4lQAAAAJ&hl=en https://orcid.org/my-orcid

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