MUSLIMS: THE COMMUNITYsaid to have released a reciter (Ar. qiiri') from prison to help him with
it.^18
Qii~~
Companions and Followers also engaged in a kind of informal and
unofficial popular religious education as preachers or storytellers (Ar.
quiis, sg. qii) who gave an Islamic form to the practices of pre-
Islamic poets who incited fervor before battle and used rhymed prose
(Ar. san. They used Bible stories and legends to explain the Qur'an,
gave moral exhortations in their sermons, and improved the Arabic
of non-Arab converts. 'Imran ibn al-l:Iu~ayn (d. 672) is described as
teaching stories about Mul;tammad to a circle of listeners at a pillar
in the masjid of Basra. Qu~~iis seem to have appeared first during the
civil strife (Ar. (itna) in the time of 'Uthman and 'Ali, and 'An found
it necessary to exclude them from masjids.^19 As the leaders of popular
religious opinions, they threatened the authority of the state in the
late seventh century, and both Mu'awiya and 'Abd al-Malik tried to
control them by recognizing their position in the masjid. For the same
reason, al-Walld I (705-15), with the approval of al-l:Iasan al-Basri
arid ash~Sha'bi, began to pay Qur'an reciters, although there were
others who refused to be compromised by accepting fees for their
religious activities.^20
Qii(j.t
Being the local judge (Ar. qiit}t) for Muslims was the third major
vocation of these early religious leaders. The position of qiit},t emerged
during the seventh century as a result of the reallocation of the powers
of the governor. The early Muslim amlr, as leader of the local com-
munity in all its activities, was also responsible for the administration
of justice. In this respect he resembled the Sasanian military judge
(M.P. spiih-diitavar).21 'Umar is said to have appointed Abii Miisa al-
Ash'ari as both qiit},t and governor of Basra; after 'Uthman dismissed
him he became qiit},t at Kufa, where he was also governor from 654
until 656. He was succeeded as qiit}1 at Kufa by his son Abii Burda
18 Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi, 'lqd, V, 36.
19 N. Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri (Chicago and London, 1967), II, 15;
Diez, "Masdjid," pp. 329, 351; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(I), 5; D. B. Macdonald, "Ki~~a,"
EI(I), II, 1042-43. However, 'Ubayd ibn 'Umayr (d. 687-88) is said to have been the
first qii§§ in the time of 'Umar I at Makka (Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, V, 341-42).
20 Abbott, Literary Papyri, II, 15,228.
21 Christensen, Sassanides, p. 300.