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Thus far, very little is known of the social origin and position of scribes and calligraphers in the premodern Islamic world. The difficulty in finding data on the biographies and activities of the professional practitioners of calligraphy in historiographical works is probably one of the main causes of this regrettable situation. Taking as a starting point the results of some previous groundbreaking research, the present article gathers scattered information retrieved from different sources about two calligraphers from the Horn of Africa that lived and worked in the Middle East during the Mamlūk period. In the analysis of these two cases, it is hoped that some light will be shed on the presence of calligraphic masters from the Horn in the Arab world from which may be gained, on a more general level, a better picture of the personalities of calligraphers in the Islamic world.

Sadly, in 2020 Italy was one of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus (by 26 February 2021 2020: 2,868,435 infected; 96,974 dead). All religious communities in Italy had to respond quickly and clearly to a common and invisible threat, while providing guidance and support to their local congregations and complying with government provisions in order to curb the spread of the virus. From 9 March to 2 May 2020, Italy's approximately 2.9 million Muslims, like all other residents, had to abide by the country's strict stay-at-home orders, refraining from going out except for emergencies and to buy food. In the present article, I will make use of selected texts published on the official websites of the Unione delle Comunità e Organizzazioni Islamiche in Italia (UCOII – Union of Islamic congregations and organizations in Italy – اتحاد الهيئات والجاليات الإسلامية في إيطاليا ) and of the As sociazione Islamica Italiana degli Imam e delle Guide Religiose (Italian Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides; الجمعية الإسلامية الإيطالية للأئمة والمرشدين ) to deter mine and discuss: 1) which practices of the Italian Islamic community were most affected by the epidemic, and 2) how Italian Muslims carried out various symbolic and social initiatives to demonstrate their active participation in the common fight against the spread of the virus.

Sadly, in 2020 Italy was one of the countries hardest hit by coronavirus (by 26 February 2021 2020: 2,868,435 infected; 96,974 dead). All religious communities in Italy had to respond quickly and clearly to a common and invisible threat, while providing guidance and support to their local congregations and complying with government provisions in order to curb the spread of the virus. From 9 March to 2 May 2020, Italy's approximately 2.9 million Muslims, like all other residents, had to abide by the country's strict stay-at-home orders, refraining from going out except for emergencies and to buy food. In the present article, I will make use of selected texts published on the official websites of the Unione delle Comunità e Organizzazioni Islamiche in Italia (UCOII – Union of Islamic congregations and organizations in Italy – اتحاد الهيئات والجاليات الإسلامية في إيطاليا ) and of the As sociazione Islamica Italiana degli Imam e delle Guide Religiose (Italian Islamic Association of Imams and Religious Guides; الجمعية الإسلامية الإيطالية للأئمة والمرشدين ) to deter mine and discuss: 1) which practices of the Italian Islamic community were most affected by the epidemic, and 2) how Italian Muslims carried out various symbolic and social initiatives to demonstrate their active participation in the common fight against the spread of the virus.

Conference Report

The paper focuses on the text of šayḫ Hāšim's Fatḥ al-raḥmānī, a famous work of the Arabic literature of Harär, analyzing its so far known manuscript tradition.

Review

Review Article

Review

The article aims at giving some information about Ethiopian Muslim scholars of the past century, so to enhance our general knowledge of Ethiopian Islam, and, moreover, to contribute to a better prosopographical understanding of the Muslim presence in Ethiopia. In this endeavour, it explores the data scattered in Ethiopian Islamic periodical press, which flourished in that country after the fall of the Derg regime in 1991. In particular, the monthly magazine Bilal, which contains in almost every issue a biographical note devoted to some learned man of the recent past, is used to collect material on the scholars. Biographical articles in Amharic and Arabic which appeared in the magazine are summarized and commented upon.

The article deals with the contribution of two contemporary Muslim Ethiopian scholars (šayḫ ʿAbd al-Bāṣiṭ b. Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Mināsī and šayḫ Muḥammad Amīn b. ʿAbdallāh al-Iṯyubī al-Hararī al-Muḥammadī) to the study of Arabic grammar. The position of this subject in the curricula of traditional Islamic education in Ethiopia is shortly described from both a diachronic and a synchronic perspective. The biography of the two learned men is analyzed with a special emphasis on the different phases of their training and on the literary outcomes of their activity. Finally, the main handbooks used in the Islamic educational centres in Ethiopia are listed to give the reader a clear idea of the frame in which the aspiring šayḫ-s and their masters study and teach.

The article aims at giving some information about Ethiopian Muslim scholars of the past century, so to enhance our general knowledge of Ethiopian Islam, and, moreover, to contribute to a better prosopographical understanding of the Muslim presence in Ethiopia. In this endeavour, it explores the data scattered in Ethiopian Islamic periodical press, which flourished in that country after the fall of the Derg regime in 1991. In particular, the monthly magazine Bilal, which contains in almost every issue a biographical note devoted to some learned man of the recent past, is used to collect material on the scholars. Biographical articles in Amharic and Arabic which appeared in the magazine are summarized and commented upon.

Review

Review

Obituary

Crossing disciplinary and regional boundaries, this book takes a comparative perspective on standardisation tendencies in Arabic-based writing systems across three continents. 12 distinct manuscript traditions are presented in situations where different cultures, languages and scripts interact, yielding a wide range of case studies. A wealth of new data gives insight into the factors underlying uniformity and variation in manuscript cultures.