Everything from the Bible to Fifty Shades of Grey has been publicly torched since the turn of the millenium — and many book burnings have taken place right here in the United States, where it remains perfectly legal. Book burning has a long and dark history.Book burning refers to the ritual destruction by fire of books or other written materials. The truth is that the book burning in Bombay and Berlin followed a pattern well established in communities in our 48 states. Here are some of the worst, but a warning to all bibliophiles: reading this might hurt a little. The process itself became a symbolic tradition, through which the rulers expressed their authority and attempted to consolidate their legitimacy, as Safran explains. However, al-Manṣūr followed two very powerful caliphs, whose reputation as patrons of religion and knowledge was essential in building their legitimacy. When Abū 'Āmir Muḥammad, better known as al-Ḥājib al-Manṣūr (also Almanzor in European sources), came to power, he did not have popular support, since his authority was seen as an exploitation of the young age of Caliph Hishām II, who was only 12 at the time. Although some attribute this to Ibn Ḥazm's commitment to the Ẓāhirī doctrine, recent studies have shown that Ibn Ḥazm’s criticism of the Mālikī school of law, and his political positions, especially being a partisan of the Umayyad dynasty, posed a threat to the authority of the the 'Abbadid ruler, who ordered the burning of his books. It is equally critical to realize that book burning in Islamic history did not follow a single pattern, but was predicated on different reasons, often serving political ends. The Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti is said to have buried alive 460 Confucian scholars to control the writing of history in his time. Everything from the Bible to Fifty Shades of Grey has been publicly torched since the turn of the millenium — and many book burnings have taken place right here in the United States, where it remains perfectly legal. The history of book burning A new study of the destruction of knowledge explores how societies depend on fragile archives. Usually carried out in a public context, the burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question.The burning of books under the Nazi regime on May 10, 1933, is perhaps the most famous book burning in history. The interplay of political conditions and intellectual considerations in the burning of books as a public event provided a powerful opportunity to affirm certain political commitments and alliances. Striking the same path as Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Tashfin, his son followed the same practice. . For fear of errors, scholars would destroy these copies during their lifetimes, or recommend destroying them after their death, as was common among many Hadith scholars. Reinterpreting History – The Modern Version of Book Burning? The Umayyad Caliph saw an opportunity to exploit the concern of the scholars in his capital over Ibn Masarra’s teachings, and used it to project himself as the defender of Sunni Islam. The destruction of books and the deliberate burning of books occurred at certain junctures of Muslim history, not simply due to wars and disasters, but at the hands of rulers and with the blessing of scholars, or vice-versa. It is hard to reconcile book burning in Arabo-Islamic history, with the many manifestations of appreciation of the written word in Islamic culture—the fascination with acquiring and collecting books, the art of calligraphy, and the famed personal libraries of scholars and rulers. This is evident in al-Andalus, where this phenomenon manifested itself six times throughout its history, during the Umayyad, Amirid, Abbadid, Almoravid, and Almohad reigns. In his letter to Valencian authorities after he became a prince, the Almoravid Prince "instructs that if the Valencian authorities should find any books that promote heretical 'innovations', noting especially the books of al-Ghazālī, they should be burned," according to Safran. Do you think I should tear it apart and burn it?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ So I burned it.’". Yet, his fame, which lasted decades after his death, competed with the scholars of Córdoba, most of whom followed the Maliki school of law. Another prominent incident was that of 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān, who burned all copies of the Quran except one, to avoid division and disagreement in the nascent community. Memorization and oral traditions were held in high esteem, and this tendency continued even after the development of forms of writing and book production. In 212 B.C., he burned all the books in his kingdom, retaining only a single copy of each for the Royal Library — and those were destroyed before his death. A History Of Book-Burning WORDS Posted: September 17, 2020 1:01 pm The Reformation was “one of the worst periods in the history of knowledge”, Ovenden writes; hundreds of thousands of books were destroyed as the monasteries and religious orders that held them were dissolved. Seeing as how innovations such as the “screw-shaped water … Sixty identified printed books, pamphlets and broadsheets and 3 newsbooks were ordered to be burned during this turbulent period, spanning the English Civil War and Oliver Cromwell's rule. During the Jahiliyyah period and the beginnings of Islam, Arab culture relied on oral tradition to transmit knowledge, rather than the written word. Sources: Janina M. Safran, “The politics of book burning in Al-Andalus”; Political and Administrative Documents in Andalusia and North Africa: Study and Texts. 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