I am pleased to share the slides of the presentation I gave at AMI conference (2026) entitled: “Literary Analysis of Polemical Anecdotes: A Neglected Source for the Study of the Early Ghulāt”.

Using the profile of the infamous Kufan narrator Mufaḍḍal b. ʿUmar al-Juʿfī (d. after 183/799) as a case-study, it is demonstrated that literary analysis of what I call ‘polemical anecdotes’, including those likely formulated and promulgated within ghulāt circles, can reveal a lot about the historical beliefs of the early ghulāt including their attitudes towards antinomianism and their perception of the true status of the Imams.

Link: https://www.academia.edu/169986738/Literary_Analysis_of_Polemical_Anecdotes_A_Neglected_Source_for_the_Study_of_the_Early_Ghul%C4%81t