Download or read book Man versus Society in Medieval Islam written by Franz Rosenthal and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2014-10-09 with total page 1180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Man versus Society in Medieval Islam, Franz Rosenthal (1914-2003) investigates the tensions and conflicts that existed between individuals and society as the focus of his study of Muslim social history. The book brings together works spanning fifty years: the monographs The Muslim Concept of Freedom, The Herb. Hashish versus Medieval Muslim Society (Brill, 1971), Gambling in Islam (Brill, 1975), and Sweeter than Hope. Complaint and Hope in Medieval Islam (Brill,1983), along with all the articles on unsanctioned practices, sexuality, and institutional learning. Reprinted here together for the first time, they constitute the most extensive collection of source material on all these themes from all genres of Arabic writing, judiciously translated and analyzed. No other study to date presents the panorama of medieval Muslim societies in their manifold aspects in as detailed, comprehensive, and illuminating a manner.

Download or read book From New Haven to Nineveh and Beyond written by Benjamin Foster and published by Lockwood Press. This book was released on 2023-09-01 with total page 1075 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the course of three centuries, Yale has been actively and seriously engaged in Near Eastern learning, in both senses of the term-training students in the knowledge and skills needed to understand the languages and civilizations of the region, and supporting generations of scholars renowned for their erudition and pathbreaking research. This book traces the history of these endeavors through extensive use of unpublished archival materials, including letters, diaries, and records of institutional decisions. Developments at Yale are set against the wider background of changing American attitudes toward the Near East, as well as evolving ideas about the role of the academy and its curriculum in educating undergraduate and graduate students. In the case of the Near East, this also involves considering how several of its disciplines made the transition from biblically motivated enterprises to secular fields of study. Yale has notable firsts to her credit: the first American professional program in Arabic and Sanskrit; the first American learned society and periodical devoted to Oriental subjects; the first American research institutes in Jerusalem and Baghdad; the first American university to have endowed funds to establish and curate one of the world's largest collections of cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals. Yet at the same time, especially over the past half-century, Yale has found it challenging to deal administratively with a small humanities department whose standards and philosophy of teaching and learning seemed increasingly at odds with trends in the university as a whole. This book places these tensions in the context of Yale's responses to post-World War 2 interest in the modern Middle East, the rise of government-supported "area studies," and the consequences of American military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Numerous illustrations, many of them previously unpublished and drawn from a wide range of source material, round out the portrait of three centuries of Near Eastern learning at Yale.

Download or read book Proceedings American Philosophical Society vol 149 no 3 2005 written by and published by American Philosophical Society. This book was released on with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Private Sins Public Crimes written by Martin Mittelmeier and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2024-11-12 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking scholarly study of crime and punishment in Qajar Iran Drawing on a rich array of primary sources in multiple languages, Farzin Vejdani argues that the ambiguity in defining the boundaries between private and public in Qajar Iran often corresponded with the jurisdictional friction between government authorities and religious scholars regarding who had the authority to police and punish public crimes. This ambiguity had implications for the spaces in which illicit acts were carried out: “private” parties in domestic residences where music, alcohol, and prostitution were present were often tolerated by local police officials but raised the ire of religious authorities and their followers, who raided these residences, ironically in violation of strong Islamic norms of privacy. Crimes that were manifest but remained unpunished triggered a crisis of legitimacy that often coincided with upstart Islamic religious scholars challenging the state’s authority. Even when the government had every intention of punishing a crime, convicted criminals sought shelter in sanctuaries—including shrines, mosques, royal stables, and telegraph offices—which were even more inviolable than private residences. This inviolability, grounded in both Islamic prohibitions of violence on sacred grounds and Iranian imperial traditions of redress, allowed criminals to negotiate a lesser sentence, safe passage for voluntary exile, or forgiveness.

Download or read book Female Power and Religious Change in the Medieval Near East written by Uriel Simonsohn and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-02-21 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Female Power and Religious Change in the Medieval Near East engages with two levels of scholarly discussion that are all too often dealt with separately in modern scholarship: the Islamization of the Near East and the place of women in pre-modern Near Eastern societies. It outlines how these two lines of inquiry can and should be read in an integrative manner. Major historical themes such as conversion to Islam, Islamization, religious violence, and the regulation of Muslim/non-Muslim ties are addressed and reframed by attending to the relatively hidden, yet highly meaningful, role that women played throughout this period. This book is about the history of Islam from the perspective of female social agents. It argues that irrespective of their religious affiliation, women possessed crucial means for affecting or hindering religious changes, not only in the form of religious conversion, but also in the adoption of practices and the delineation of communal boundaries. Its focus on the role and significance of female power in moments of religious change within family households offers a historical angle that has hitherto been relatively absent from modern scholarship. Rather than locating signs of female autonomy or authority in the political, intellectual, religious, or economic spheres, Female Power and Religious Change in the Medieval Near East is concerned with the capacity of women to affect religious communal affiliations thanks to their kinship ties.

Download or read book The Rise of the Arabic Book written by Beatrice Gruendler and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The little-known story of the sophisticated and vibrant Arabic book culture that flourished during the Middle Ages. During the thirteenth century, Europe’s largest library owned fewer than 2,000 volumes. Libraries in the Arab world at the time had exponentially larger collections. Five libraries in Baghdad alone held between 200,000 and 1,000,000 books each, including multiple copies of standard works so that their many patrons could enjoy simultaneous access. How did the Arabic codex become so popular during the Middle Ages, even as the well-established form languished in Europe? Beatrice Gruendler’s The Rise of the Arabic Book answers this question through in-depth stories of bookmakers and book collectors, stationers and librarians, scholars and poets of the ninth century. The history of the book has been written with an outsize focus on Europe. The role books played in shaping the great literary cultures of the world beyond the West has been less known—until now. An internationally renowned expert in classical Arabic literature, Gruendler corrects this oversight and takes us into the rich literary milieu of early Arabic letters.

Download or read book Conversion to Islam written by Ayman S. Ibrahim and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why did non-Muslims convert to Islam during Muhammad's life and under his immediate successors? How did Muslim historians portray these conversions? Why did their portrayals differ significantly? To what extent were their portrayals influenced by their time of writing, religious inclinations, and political affiliations? These are the fundamental questions that drive this study. Relying on numerous works, including primary sources from over a hundred classical Muslim historians, Conversion to Islam is the first scholarly study to detect, trace, and analyze conversion themes in early Muslim historiography, emphasizing how classical Muslims remembered conversion, and how they valued and evaluated aspects of it. Ayman S. Ibrahim examines numerous early Muslim sources and wrestles with critical observations regarding the sources' reliability and unearths the hidden link between historical narratives and historians' religious sympathies and political agendas. This study leads readers through a complex body of literature, provides insights regarding historical context, and creates a vivid picture of conversion to Islam as early Muslim historians sought to depict it.

Download or read book The Concept of Economy in Judaism Christianity and Islam written by Christoph Böttigheimer and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-12-05 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume of Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses offers a fascinating insight into the history, the main ideas and current developments in economic thought from the perspective of the three major monotheistic faiths Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The reader encounters topics such as price control in rabbinic Judaism, Christian monks elaborating the foundations of modern accounting, and the latest innovations in Islamic banking. Each article has been written by a renowned expert on the subject and offers a historical overview over the development of the concept, the theological and philosophical principles in the Holy Scriptures of each faith, an outline of the practical application of the concept in the present, its significance for the future, and many more.

Download or read book The Heavens and the Earth Graeco Roman Ancient Chinese and Mediaeval Islamic Images of the World written by Vittorio Cotesta and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-08-16 with total page 653 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vittorio Cotesta’s The Heavens and the Earth traces the origin of the images of the world typical of the Graeco-Roman, Ancient Chinese and Medieval Islamic civilisations. Each of them had its own peculiar way of understanding the universe, life, death, society, power, humanity and its destiny. The comparative analysis carried out here suggests that they all shared a common human aspiration despite their differences: human being is unique; differences are details which enrich its image. Today, the traditions derived from these civilisations are often in competition and conflict. Reference to a common vision of humanity as a shared universal entity should lead, instead, to a quest for understanding and dialogue.

Download or read book The Renaissance of Islam written by Adam Mez and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-01-11 with total page 733 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tenth century was a formative period for Islamic culture and Adam Mez's Renaissance of Islam offers a detailed survey of the Muslim world during that period. No other single work covers the subject as comprehensively. Mez drew upon a vast range of sources to produce a detailed account of all aspects of Islamic culture and society - finance, religion, geography, industry and trade, law, morals, navigation, etc. The result is a lucid and engaging work that even today remains a key resource for researchers and students alike. The original edition is now very rare. This new edition, introduced by Julia Bray, one of the leading scholars of the period, makes the work available once again and includes a bibliography and index specially prepared for this edition.

Download or read book Islamic Sensory History written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-07-25 with total page 617 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Islamic Sensory History, Volume 2: 600–1500 presents a selection of texts translated into English from Arabic and Persian. These selected texts all offer illustrative engagements with issues related to the sensorium in different times, places, and social milieus throughout the early and medieval history of Islamic societies. Each chapter is prefaced by an introductory essay by the translator, with specific attention to the role of the senses in the translated text’s language, genre, and social context. Contributors Eyad Abuali, Tanvir Ahmed, Hanif Amin Beidokhti, Shahzad Bashir, Maroussia Bednarkiewicz, David Bennett, Hinrich Biesterfeldt, Julie Bonnéric, Adam Bursi, Fatih Han, Rotraud Hansberger, Jan Hogendijk, Domenico Ingenito, Anya King, Hannelies Koloska, Christian Lange, Danilo Marino, Richard McGregor, Pernilla Myrne, Nawal Nasrallah, Zhinia Noorian, Austin O’Malley, Franz Rosenthal (†), Everett K. Rowson, Abdelhamid I. Sabra (†), George Sawa, Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Jocelyn Sharlet, Cornelis van Lit, Geert Jan van Gelder, James Weaver, Ines Weinrich, Brannon Wheeler, Alan Williams, Cyrus Ali Zargar.

Download or read book Sufism written by Alexander Knysh and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pathbreaking history of Sufism, from the earliest centuries of Islam to the present After centuries as the most important ascetic-mystical strand of Islam, Sufism saw a sharp decline in the twentieth century, only to experience a stunning revival in recent decades. In this comprehensive new history of Sufism from the earliest centuries of Islam to today, Alexander Knysh, a leading expert on the subject, reveals the tradition in all its richness. Knysh explores how Sufism has been viewed by both insiders and outsiders since its inception. He examines the key aspects of Sufism, from definitions and discourses to leadership, institutions, and practices. He devotes special attention to Sufi approaches to the Qur’an, drawing parallels with similar uses of scripture in Judaism and Christianity. He traces how Sufism grew from a set of simple moral-ethical precepts into a sophisticated tradition with professional Sufi masters (shaykhs) who became powerful players in Muslim public life but whose authority was challenged by those advocating the equality of all Muslims before God. Knysh also examines the roots of the ongoing conflict between the Sufis and their fundamentalist critics, the Salafis—a major fact of Muslim life today. Based on a wealth of primary and secondary sources, Sufism is an indispensable account of a vital aspect of Islam.

Download or read book Maq mat al Na r f Man q b Im m al A r written by Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Zamlakānī and published by V&R Unipress. This book was released on 2022-11-14 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique Mamlūk manuscript tells the story of a Damascene jurist. Ibn al-Zamlakānī's story revolves around a dramatic episode in the life of his master, the great judge Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī, who is the central figure (hero) of the tale. The composer justly names his document maqāmah. In rhyming prose, it narrates several episodes. Transmitted by a narrator (or at least his voice), who distances himself from the event, it is a story about an escape from hardship of a hero who is supported by good characters and face some evil enemies. Yet, it is not a biography, but a dramatic plot that transmits a moral lesson. The maqāmah illuminates the relations between the Mamlūk ruling military aristocracy and the religious establishment, as well as the competition that divided the Damascene urban elite.

Download or read book Muslim Reformers and the Bolsheviks written by Naira. E Sahakyan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-03-31 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how the Muslim scholars of Daghestan, an important Muslim region within Russia, experienced the 1917 Russian Revolution and how they attempted to gain religious and political authority in the new post-imperial environment. Covering the period between the February Revolution and the first massive repressions of the scholars of Islam, it provides new insights into the complexities of the relations between Muslim reformers and Bolsheviks. It challenges the prevailing view in Western scholarship that the relationship was antagonistic, revealing that relations were pragmatic rather than ideological. It argues that there was cooperation on issues of modern education and language policy, and alliances against assumed common threats, such as the British, Wahhābis and local Ṣūfīs, along with disagreements related to the Bolsheviks’ atheism and their concept of class struggle. Overall, it demonstrates that the Islamic reformist discourse in Daghestan, although influenced by the wider Islamic debate at the turn of the twentieth century, was an integral part of Soviet modernity.

Download or read book Awhad al D n Kirm n and the Controversy of the Sufi Gaze written by Lloyd Ridgeon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī (d. 1238) was one of the greatest and most colourful Persian Sufis of the medieval period; he was celebrated in his own lifetime by a large number of like-minded followers and other Sufi masters. And yet his form of Sufism was the subject of much discussion within the Islamic world, as it elicited responses ranging from praise and commendation to reproach and contempt for his Sufi practices within a generation of his death. This book assesses the few comments written about Kirmānī by his contemporaries, and also provides a translation from his Persian hagiography, which was written in the generation after his death. The controversy centres on Kirmānī’s penchant for gazing at, and dancing with, beautiful young boys. This anonymous hagiography presents a series of anecdotes that portray Kirmānī’s “virtues”. The book provides an investigation into Kirmānī the individual, but the story has significance that extends much further. The controversy of his form of Sufism occurred at a crucial time in the evolution of Sufi piety and theology. The research herein situates Kirmānī within this critical period, and assesses the various perspectives taken by his contemporaries and near contemporaries. Such views reveal much about the dynamics and developments of Sufism during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when the Sufi orders (ṭurūq, s. ṭarīqa) began to emerge, and which gave individual Sufis a much more structured and ordered method of engaging in piety, and of presenting the Sufi tradition to society at large. As the first attempt in a Western language to appreciate the significant contribution that Kirmānī made to the medieval Persian Sufi tradition, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Sufi Studies, as well as those interested in Middle Eastern History.

Download or read book Religious Liberty and Education written by Jason Bedrick and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last few years, Orthodox Jewish private schools, also known as yeshivas, have been under fire by a group of activists known as Young Advocates for Fair Education, run by several yeshiva graduates, who have criticized them for providing an inadequate secular education. At the heart of the yeshiva controversy lies two important interests in education: the right of the parent to choose an appropriate education, which may include values-laden religious education, and the right of each child to receive an appropriate education, as guaranteed by the state. These interests raise further questions. If preference is given to the former, how much freedom should be given to a parent in choosing an appropriate education? If the latter, how does the state define what constitutes an appropriate education or measure the extent to which an appropriate education has been achieved? And when can—or must—the state override the wishes of parents? The purpose of this book is to explore these difficult questions.

Download or read book Muhammad s Military Expeditions written by Ayman S. Ibrahim and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2024 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Arabic Muslim literature on Muhammad's maghazi is bountiful. Since this book focuses on Muhammad's maghazi, a survey of this literature is important not only to establish the centrality of the topic in Islamic thought but also to relay the uniqueness and contribution of this book. To that end, in this chapter, I will first explore that which classical Muslim narrators wrote on Muhammad's maghazi and the ways they used the accounts to reflect Allah's support for Muhammad and the believers. In the second section, I will examine discussions by modern and contemporary Muslims, relaying how they interpret the accounts of the maghazi. In particular, I will discuss their articulation of the motivations and results of Muhammad's military campaigns. The first two sections of this chapter will thus establish the centrality of the maghazi, as a literary genre, as well as its importance among Muslims, past and present. In the third section, I take the discussion to non-Muslim scholarship. I explore briefly early views on Muhammad and his career by non-Muslims, before I focus on works and arguments of key Western scholars from the nineteenth century until our present day"--