Download or read book Fazlallah Astarabadi and the Hurufis written by Shahzad Bashir and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fazlallah Astarabadi was a 14th-century Islamic religious leader who believed that the world was about to come to an end. This book is the first comprehensive study of Astarabadi's life and thought and also offer a history of his movement. It emphasizes the diversity of medieval Islam by describing an apocalyptic movement founded on the idea that the cosmos contains embedded secrets that become manifest through extraordinary human beings.
Download or read book Words of Power written by Orkhan Mir-Kasimov and published by I.B. Tauris. This book was released on 2015-06-03 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Jawidan-nama-yi kabir ('Great Book of Eternity') was the magnum opus of Fadl Allah Astarabadi (d. 796/1394) and provided the basis of the Hurufi movement. Today it is one of the most important known texts belonging to the mystical and messianic current that became particularly active in Iran and Anatolia following the Mongol rule. It illuminates the contemporary reconfiguration of religious and political authority along messianic and charismatic lines that took place in the Islamic East, which arguably contributed to the rise and consolidation of the Ottoman, Safawid and Mughal dynasties. Words of Power is the first comprehensive study of Fadl Allah's seminal work. Orkhan Mir-Kasimov summarises Fadl Allah's biography, charts the history of the Hurufi movement, contextualises the Jawidan-nama within Islamic intellectual history, and considers its lasting impact in the Muslim world.
Download or read book Sufi Bodies written by Shahzad Bashir and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Bashir weaves a rich history of Sufi Islam around the depiction of bodily actions in Sufi literature and miniature paintings produced circa 1300-1500 CE. Focusing on the Persianate societies of Iran and Central Asia, he explores medieval Sufis' conception of the human body as the primary shuttle between interior (batin) and exterior (zahir) realities with particular attention to three arenas: religious activity in the form of rituals, rules of etiquette, asceticism, and a universal hierarchy of saints; the deep imprint of Persian poetic paradigms on the articulation of love, desire, and gender; and the reputation of Sufi masters for working miracles, which empowered them in all domains of social activity. Bashir ultimately offers a new methodology for extracting historical information from religious narratives"--Cover p. [4].
Download or read book Words of Power written by Orkhan Mir-Kasimov and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam written by Armando Salvatore and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 685 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A theoretically rich, nuanced history of Islam and Islamic civilization with a unique sociological component This major new reference work offers a complete historical and theoretically informed view of Islam as both a religion and a sociocultural force. Uniquely comprehensive, it surveys and discusses the transformation of Muslim societies in different eras and various regions, providing a broad narrative of the historical development of Islamic civilization. This text explores the complex and varied history of the religion and its traditions. It provides an in-depth study of the diverse ways through which the religious dimension at the core of Islamic traditions has led to a distinctive type of civilizational process in history. The book illuminates the ways in which various historical forces have converged and crystallized in institutional forms at a variety of levels, embracing social, religious, legal, political, cultural, and civic dimensions. Together, the team of internationally renowned scholars move from the genesis of a new social order in 7th-century Arabia, right up to the rise of revolutionary Islamist currents in the 20th century and the varied ways in which Islam has grown and continues to pervade daily life in the Middle East and beyond. This book is essential reading for students and academics in a wide range of fields, including sociology, history, law, and political science. It will also appeal to general readers with an interest in the history of one of the world’s great religions.
Download or read book Jalayirids written by Patrick Wing and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-18 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the origins, history, and memory of the Jalayirid dynasty, a family that succeeded the Mongol Ilkhans in Iran and Iraq in the 14th and early 15th centuries. The story of how the Jalayirids came to power is illustrative of the political dynamics that shaped much of the Mongol and post-Mongol period in the Middle East. The Jalayirid sultans sought to preserve the social and political order of the Ilkhanate, while claiming that they were the rightful heirs to the rulership of that order. Central to the Jalayirids' claims to the legacy of the Ilkhanate was their attempt to control the Ilkhanid heartland of Azarbayjan and its major city, Tabriz. Control of Azarbayjan meant control of a network of long-distance trade between China and the Latin West, which continued to be a source of economic prosperity through the 8th/14th century. Azarbayjan also represented the center of Ilkhanid court life, whether in the migration of the mobile court-camp of the ruler, or in the complexes of palatial, religious and civic buildings constructed around the city of Tabriz by members of the Ilkhanid royal family, as well as by members of the military and administrative elite.
Download or read book Art Allegory and the Rise of Shi ism in Iran 1487 1565 written by Kia Chad Kia and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-03 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transforming our understanding of Persian art, this impressive interdisciplinary book decodes some of the world's most exquisite medieval paintings. It reveals the hidden meaning behind enigmatic figures and scenes that have puzzled modern scholars, focusing on five 'miniature' paintings. Chad Kia shows how the cryptic elements in these works of art from Timurid Persia conveyed the mystical teachings of Sufi poets like Rumi, Attar and Jami, and heralded one of the most significant events in the history of Islam: the takeover by the Safavids in 1501 and the conversion of Iran to Shiism.
Download or read book Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-11-16 with total page 721 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice brings together the latest research on Islamic occult sciences from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, namely intellectual history, manuscript studies and material culture. Its aim is not only to showcase the range of pioneering work that is currently being done in these areas, but also to provide a model for closer interaction amongst the disciplines constituting this burgeoning field of study. Furthermore, the book provides the rare opportunity to bridge the gap on an institutional level by bringing the academic and curatorial spheres into dialogue. Contributors include: Charles Burnett, Jean-Charles Coulon, Maryam Ekhtiar, Noah Gardiner, Christiane Gruber, Bink Hallum, Francesca Leoni, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Michael Noble, Rachel Parikh, Liana Saif, Maria Subtelny, Farouk Yahya, and Travis Zadeh.
Download or read book Ottoman Sunnism written by Erginbas Vefa Erginbas and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addressing the contested nature of Ottoman Sunnism from the 14th to the early 20th century, this book draws on diverse perspectives across the empire. Closely reading intellectual, social and mystical traditions within the empire, it clarifies the possibilities that existed within Ottoman Sunnism, presenting it as a complex, nuanced and evolving concept. The authors in this volume rescue Ottoman Sunnism from an increasingly bipolar definition that seeks to present the Ottomans as enshrining a clearly defined orthodoxy, suppressing its contrasting heterodoxy. Challenging established notions that have marked the existing literature, the chapters contribute significantly not only to the ongoing debate on the Ottoman age of confessionalisation but also to the study of religion in the Ottoman context.
Download or read book Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire written by Jamel Velji and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-04 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the role of apocalyptic symbolism in the formation and maintenance of a medieval Islamic empireHow can religion transform a society? This book investigates the ways in which a medieval Islamic movement harnessed Quranic visions of utopia to construct one of the most brilliant and lasting empires in Islamic history (979-1171). The Fatimids apocalyptic vision of their central place in an imminent utopia played a critical role in transfiguring the intellectual and political terrains of North Africa in the early tenth century. Yet the realities that they faced on the ground often challenged their status as the custodians of a pristine Islam at the end of time.Through a detailed examination of some of the structural features of the Fatimid revolution, as well as early works of ta'wil, or symbolic interpretation, Jamel Velji illustrates how the Fatimids conceived of their mission as one that would bring about an imminent utopia. He then examines how the Fatimids reinterpreted their place in history when the expected end never materialised. The book ends with an extensive discussion of another apocalyptic event linked to a Fatimid lineage: the Nizari Ismaili declaration of the end of time on August 8, 1164.Key featuresIntroduces selected themes, texts and theoretical problems in early Fatimid history and thought to those unfamiliar with Islam or the Shia tradition Explores the nature of apocalyptic rhetoric, what constitutes an apocalypse and how apocalyptic prophecies can be reinterpretedUses techniques from religious studies and rhetorical analysis on data from the Fatimid tradition, showing how Islam can contribute to broader discussions in the history of religionsContains extensive translations from two Fatimid texts, including: the Kitab al-Kashf (Book of unveiling), and Qadi l-Nu'mans Ta'wil al-da'a'im (Symbolic interpretation of his Pillars of Islam)
Download or read book Ibrahim i Gulshani and the Khalwati Gulshani Order written by Side Emre and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-03-06 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Power Brokers in Ottoman Egypt, Side Emre documents the biography of Ibrahim-i Gulshani and the history of the Khalwati-Gulshani order of dervishes (c. 1440-1600). Set mainly in Mamluk-Egypt, and in the century following the region’s conquest by the Ottomans, this book analyzes sociopolitical dialogues at the geographic peripheries of an empire through the actions of and official responses to the Gulshaniyya network. Emre argues that the members of this Sufi order exerted social and political leverage and contributed significantly to the political culture of the empire and Egypt. The Gulshanis are uncovered as unexpected figures among the roster of influential players, in contrast with empire-centered historiographies that depict Ottoman ruling and learned elites as the primary shapers and narrators of the fates of conquered provinces and peoples. The Gulshanis’ political and cultural legacy is situated within an analysis of perceptions of Sufism in the early modern Ottoman world.
Download or read book Orhan Pamuk Secularism and Blasphemy written by Erdag Göknar and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-02-15 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy is the first critical study of all of Pamuk’s novels, including the early untranslated work. In 2005 Orhan Pamuk was charged with "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. Eighteen months later he was awarded the Nobel Prize. After decades of criticism for wielding a depoliticized pen, Pamuk was cast as a dissident through his trial, an event that underscored his transformation from national literateur to global author. By contextualizing Pamuk’s fiction into the Turkish tradition and by defining the literary and political intersections of his work, Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy rereads Pamuk's dissidence as a factor of the form of his novels. This is not a traditional study of literature, but a book that turns to literature to ask larger questions about recent transformations in Turkish history, identity, modernity, and collective memory. As a corrective to common misreadings of Pamuk’s work in its international reception, Orhan Pamuk, Secularism and Blasphemy applies various analytical lenses to the politics of the Turkish novel, including gender studies, cultural translation, historiography, and Islam. The book argues that modern literature that confronts representations of the nation-state, or devlet, with those of Ottoman, Islamic, and Sufi contexts, or din, constitute "secular blasphemies" that redefine the politics of the Turkish novel. Concluding with a meditation on conditions of "untranslatability" in Turkish literature, this study provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of Pamuk’s novels to date.
Download or read book Mehmed Ali written by Khaled Fahmy and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kavalali Mehmed Ali Pasha (c. 1770–1849), often dubbed "the founder of modern Egypt", was one of the most important figures in the history of the Ottoman Empire. Born in what is now Greece, and seemingly headed for an everyday existence as a tobacco trader, he joined the Ottoman army at the age of thirty, and went on to become both the leader of Egypt for nearly fifty years and the founder of a dynasty that ruled for a century after his death. In this insightful and well-constructed biography, Khaled Fahmy assesses the renowned ruler’s life, and his significant contribution to Egyptian, Ottoman, and Islamic history. Examining the unprecedented economic, military, and social policies that he introduced in Egypt, as well as Mehmed Ali’s intricate relationship with his family, Fahmy provides a fresh assessment of this towering nineteenth-century personality.
Download or read book Chinggis Khan written by Michal Biran and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this novel perspective on a much-maligned figure, Michal Biran explains the monumental impact Chinggis Khan has had upon the Islamic World, both positive and negative. Often criticised as a mass-slaughterer, pillager, and arch-enemy of the faith, Biran shows that his constructive influence upon Islam was also considerable - his legacy apparent in Central Asia even today. Covering Chinggis Khan's early career, his conquests, the enduring power of his descendents, and the numerous ways he is presented in different Muslim contexts, this accessible book provides a fascinating insight into one of the most notorious men in history.
Download or read book Imam Shafi i written by Kecia Ali and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (767-820) was one of Islam's foundational legal thinkers. Shafi'i considered law vital to social and cosmic order: the key obligation of each Muslim was to obey God, and it was through knowing and following the law that human beings fulfilled this duty. Drawing on the most recent scholarship on Shafi'i's work as well as her own investigations into his life and writings, Kecia Ali explores Shafi'i's innovative ideas about the nature of revelation and the necessary if subordinate role of human reason in extrapolating legal rules from revealed texts. This study sketches his life in his intellectual and social context, including his engagement with other early figures including Malik and Muhammad al-Shaybani. It explores the development and refinement of his legal method and substantive teachings as well as their transmission by his students. It also shows how he became the posthumous "patron saint" of a legal school, who remains today a figure of popular interest and veneration as well as a powerful symbol of orthodoxy.
Download or read book Esoteric Traditions in Islamic Thought written by Leonard Lewisohn and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2024-09-12 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The notion of esoteric knowledge is one of the pillars of Islamic intellectual tradition. Though most visible in Sufism, it also dominated the first three and a half centuries of Shi‘ite thought. In this rich anthology, Leonard Lewisohn explores Islamic esotericism through the works of eleven authors who flourished in Persia, Central Asia and Asia Minor from the eleventh to the nineteenth centuries. He presents excerpts from each text in translation, accompanying these with introductions to the author’s life, works and thought. In the course of his erudite and enlightening commentary, he explores the common ground of esoteric thought and terminology, revealing a unity of perspective among Muslim thinkers.
Download or read book Mulla Sadra written by Sayeh Meisami and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timely biography on the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years Mulla Sadra (572 - 1640) is perhaps the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years. The author of over forty works, he sought to bring to life the whole heritage of Islamic thought, from philosophy to mysticism, and create a more flexible and conciliatory approach to the problems which seemed to dissociate reason from faith. In this wide-ranging profile, Sayeh Meisami reaches beyond historical narrative to assess the true impact of the man and his ideas. This thought provoking and comprehensive account is ideal for any philosopher wanting to uncover the life and thoughts of a man who represents the climax of intellectual tradition at a crucial point in the history of Islamic civilization.
