Investigating the Causes and Contexts of the Symbiosis of Jewish Advisors and Agents with Muslim Governments in the Early Centuries of AH (1st–3rd Centuries AH / 7th–9th Centuries AD)
Department of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
10.22108/jhr.2026.148595.2928
Abstract
The presence of Jewish advisors and agents in the administrative, financial, security, and advisory structures of Muslim governments in the early centuries of AH (1st–3rd centuries AH / 7th–9th centuries AD), despite the history of tense Jewish-Muslim relations in early Islam, social oppositions, and jurisprudential-legal restrictions, raises a fundamental question regarding the causes and nature of this phenomenon. Therefore, the present research, employing a historical-analytical method and utilizing Islamic and Jewish sources such as the Gaonic period correspondence, investigates the causes of this phenomenon as a small yet impactful image of Jewish-Muslim symbiosis. In this framework, the present study applies Wasserstrom's critical reading of Goitein's concept of symbiosis to describe the pattern of Jewish agents' relations with Muslim governments, and by examining key contexts, including the characteristics of the Gaonic era, the conquest of Jerusalem, the Muslim conquests, the formation of nascent governments, functional dependence on certain sciences and techniques, and the power crisis in Muslim governments, pursues the causes of this symbiosis. The findings indicate that this symbiosis was neither an ideal relationship like Goitein's "interfaith utopia," nor did it confirm the excessive voluntarism of the ruler in Wasserstrom's "crisis of mobility" theory; rather, it was a historical mechanism based on mutual interaction and asymmetric interests, which was formed and strengthened within the context of historical conditions such as the Muslim conquests and the "power crisis" in Muslim governments.
Ranjbar, F. , sanaei, H. and aghdassi, A. (2026). Investigating the Causes and Contexts of the Symbiosis of Jewish Advisors and Agents with Muslim Governments in the Early Centuries of AH (1st–3rd Centuries AH / 7th–9th Centuries AD). Historical Researches, (), -. doi: 10.22108/jhr.2026.148595.2928
MLA
Ranjbar, F. , , sanaei, H. , and aghdassi, A. . "Investigating the Causes and Contexts of the Symbiosis of Jewish Advisors and Agents with Muslim Governments in the Early Centuries of AH (1st–3rd Centuries AH / 7th–9th Centuries AD)", Historical Researches, , , 2026, -. doi: 10.22108/jhr.2026.148595.2928
HARVARD
Ranjbar, F., sanaei, H., aghdassi, A. (2026). 'Investigating the Causes and Contexts of the Symbiosis of Jewish Advisors and Agents with Muslim Governments in the Early Centuries of AH (1st–3rd Centuries AH / 7th–9th Centuries AD)', Historical Researches, (), pp. -. doi: 10.22108/jhr.2026.148595.2928
CHICAGO
F. Ranjbar , H. sanaei and A. aghdassi, "Investigating the Causes and Contexts of the Symbiosis of Jewish Advisors and Agents with Muslim Governments in the Early Centuries of AH (1st–3rd Centuries AH / 7th–9th Centuries AD)," Historical Researches, (2026): -, doi: 10.22108/jhr.2026.148595.2928
VANCOUVER
Ranjbar, F., sanaei, H., aghdassi, A. Investigating the Causes and Contexts of the Symbiosis of Jewish Advisors and Agents with Muslim Governments in the Early Centuries of AH (1st–3rd Centuries AH / 7th–9th Centuries AD). Historical Researches, 2026; (): -. doi: 10.22108/jhr.2026.148595.2928
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