Meaning and uses of the term jāh in biographies of andalusi ʻulamāʼ

Abstract

This is a study of the meaning and uses of the term jāh in the biographies of certain Andalusi ʻulamāʼ. Classical Arab lexicography describes jāh as “rank, station, or dignity, with, or in the estimation of, the sulṭān”, but texts extracted from biographical literature show that jāh is also linked to the possession of wealth, noble genealogical descent (though this is not always a necessary requisite), and above all, the existence of a system of distribution and circulation of favours, both material and symbolic, between possessors of jāh and persons close to them. A significant tradition is identified, through which the term jāh gradually acquires a religious character, since it was considered by some to be subject to the payment of zakāt. Examples of the “misuse” of jāh by Andalusi ʻulamāʼ are also provided. In conclusion, it is proposed on the basis of numerous examples that the concept of jāh belonged to a secular semantic field, and that its use in the biographies of ʻulamāʼ reveals the growing involvement of such scholars in the sphere of political and economic power.