Some early Islamic sermons

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to look at some of the early sermons of Islam from the point of view of their ethical and historical content, and the light they throw on the various personalities who delivered them. The sermons are taken from Ibn Qutaiba’s ‘Uytin al-’Akhbar (‘Sources of Information’). Obviously no more than a very small fraction of the sermons delivered is represented in ‘Uyun al-’Akhbar, but the selection given affords an interesting cross-section of the differing forms of content and different historical personalities.