Latest Academic Publication: Why a manual on learning etiquette matters so much, and what’s next?
Screenshot of the article at https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/view/12442
How could research comparing two manuals on learning etiquette be relevant to our day-to-day concerns in the “real” world?! Why would I write about this on a public blog? Why not just keep such news confined to the academic circles that would be interested in reading the article themselves? I could pose such questions about almost all academic work that does not lead to very tangible inventions, treatments, or other enhancements for the life of the body (i.e. the physical body, its needs and comforts). But then what would be left for the life of the mind? The life that makes humans more than just creatures of instinct, and opens us up to explore the prospects of what transcends and gives meaning to the world of our senses.
If I did not yet win you over to this side of “the force,” then let me reason with you on more directly relevant terms. Previous academic studies have shown that the distance and separation we often assume between civilizations (e.g. Eastern and Western, Christian and Islamic) are actually not so distant and separate after all. Key advancements in ideas, inventions, and the like, that appear in one part of the world may have influences (acknowledged or not) traceable to a very different cultural context. In the world of differences between schools of thought or religious communities (e.g. between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims), there is also a tendency of each side to focus on its own ideas, narratives, and books, without considering how the intellectual production on “the other side” sheds light on its own history, tradition, and narrative. Studies in specialized fields closely examine and compare the intellectual productions associated with different communities to uncover the threads of evidence that support, refute, refine, or otherwise synthesize these related theories. This includes studies from a wide range of fields: For instance, some may focus on the history of science, some on the history of religion, and others on the history of ethics and learning (which crosses several areas of intellectual history, and deals with content relevant to philosophy).
The recently published study that pushed me to write this blog post did just that. The most direct contribution it made was to draw attention to two different learning etiquette manuals, associated with seemingly different communities and traditions, and to show how the differences between the two go beyond what meets the eye. This was not merely to show the evident similarity and potential borrowing between the two, as previous studies have shown. Rather, this was mainly to focus on the function of these similarities and differences, of these inclusions and omissions ––the role that they play in forming the individual being trained, specifically.
In this way, the study makes a contribution not only on the textually “empirical” side, and not only in supporting/complementing previous theorizations, but also in distinctly theorizing for the function of such divergences. At the level of theorization, academics familiar with my other work would rightly read this article as a new case study gesturing toward my discussion of subject-formation (by the way, an enhanced book version is “in the pipeline,” so to speak). Besides these overarching findings, there are “micro-contributions” throughout the article, which would be difficult to summarize in such a brief piece.
The so-called “age of confessional ambiguity” mentioned in the title of the article points to the arguable function of the treatise Ādāb al-Mutaʿalimīn in relation to Taʿlīm al-Mutaʿallim, as the article’s analysis shows. But a discussion of the broader narratives implied by that phrase has been intentionally postponed for future studies, which this article is bound to contribute to. Also forthcoming is an earlier compilation of learning etiquette in the history of Islamic ethics, mined from sources not labelled in the etiquette (ādāb/adab) genre.
Reflecting on this publication’s findings, the article takes a more descriptive/analytical approach, rather than prescribe a set of ethical norms and behaviors. But it is surely not meant to tolerate, let alone condone, centuries-old citation practices (or the lack thereof). Many of our modern sensibilities or laws have their own histories but are geared toward safeguarding the same rights/responsibilities humans have long appreciated intuitively (even if they did not express them in the same codified way). Differences in historical practices and communities, as with present ones, have contexts to be understood within.
We have our differences, perhaps for good reasons, but we also have a choice to make about which differences to create anew and which to (de)emphasize or resolve. We must look ourselves in the mirror and ask: Why am I highlighting this or not bringing attention to that? What function does this serve? Does this advance knowledge and, at least, gradually, even if only indirectly, bring about advancement? Does this make me a better person? Am I using this difference to justify evil? Am I leaving the world a bit better off than when I came into it? What legacy do I bequeath for posterity, for history and, indeed, eternity?
The article is available open-access through the Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies (JAIS).
“Learning Etiquette History in an Age of Confessional Ambiguity: Two Islamic Learning Treatises?”. 2025. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 25 (1): 89-107. https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.12442.
Intro to this Blog
I have been considering the pros and cons of focusing this blog on a particular theme or intended readership. With all the merits of specialization, I submit that my academic specialization has me niched enough for the rest of my time on Earth, and that I will be looking forward to this blog as a more diversified avenue of expression. It will still be me, just not always the PhD dissertation mode of me. For that, I beg your pardon, you will have to wait for the occasional academic study I announce here, or read parts of my dissertation (hint to fellow academics, in particular). So you can expect this blog to shed light on the more far-reaching implications of my work as an academic, tailored to a diverse and broad readership, weighing in on current events while also contextualizing and drawing lessons from history. Without further ado, welcome to Ali Moughania’s blog!
