Download or read book Sufi Castigator written by Lloyd Ridgeon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-09-27 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sufi Castigator investigates the writings of Ahmad Kasravi, one of the foremost intellectuals in Iran. It studies his work within the context of Sufism in modern Iran and mystical Persian literature and includes translations of Kasravi’s writings. Kasravi provides a fascinating topic for those with interests in Sufism and Iranian studies as he attempted to produce a form of Iranian identity that he believed was compatible with the modern age and Iranian nationalism. His stress on reason and the de-mystification of religion caused him to repudiate Sufism and much of the Sufi literary heritage as backwards and believed it a reason for the weakness of modern Iran. Kasravi’s historical observations were weak, and his writings indicate that he was working towards pre-determined conclusions. However, his works are of significance because they contributed to a major discussion in the 1930s to 1940s about the ideal image and identity that Iranians should adopt. Despite the academic weaknesses of Kasravi’s works he had a profound effect on the next generation of thinkers. Sufi Castigator is stimulating and meticulously researched book and includes two lengthy translations of Kasravi’s works, Sufism and What does Hafez Say? and will appeal to scholars of middle eastern studies.
Download or read book The Cultural Politics of Art in Iran written by Katrin Nahidi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-08-31 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modernist Iranian art represents a highly diverse field of cultural production deeply involved in discussing questions of modernity and modernization as practiced in Iran. This book investigates how artistic production and art criticism reflected upon the discourse about gharbzadegi (westoxification), the most substantial critique of Iran's adaptation of Western modernity, and ultimately proved to be a laboratory for the negotiation of an anti-colonial concept of an Iranian artistic modernity, which artists and critics envisioned as a significant other to Western colonial modernity. In this book, Katrin Nahidi revisits Iranian modernist art, aiming to explore a political and contextualized interpretation of modernism. Based on extensive fieldwork, interviews, and archival research, Nahidi provides a history of modernist art production since the 1950s and reveals the complex political agency underlying art historiographical processes. Offering a key contribution to postcolonial art history, Nahidi shows how Iranian artistic modernity was used to flesh out anti-colonial concepts and ideas around Iranian national identity.
Download or read book Sufism and Society written by John Curry and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the relationship between Sufism and society in the later medieval and early modern Islamic world. Thematically organized, it includes case studies drawn from the Middle Eastern, Turkic, Persian and South Asian regions. It looks to reconceptualize the study of Sufism during an under-researched period of its history.
Download or read book Morals and Mysticism in Persian Sufism written by Lloyd Ridgeon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-06-10 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sufism is often understood to be the mystical dimension of Islam, and many works have focused on the nature of "mystical experiences" and the relationship between man and God. Yet Sufism was a human response to a wide range of contexts and circumstances; the fact that Sufis lived in society and interacted with the community necessitating guidance on how to behave. This book examines the development of Persian Sufism, showing it to be a practical philosophy of the everyday rather than just a metaphysical phenomena. The author explores the ethic of futuwwat (or jawanmardi), an Iranian code of honour that emphasised loyalty, humility, generosity and bravery. Although inevitably some Sufis spiritualised this code of honour and applied it to their own relationship with God, the ethic continued to permeate Sufi behaviour on a more mundane level, typified by the strong links between Sufis and certain trades. Drawing on field research in Iran, as well as detailed analysis of both Arabic and Persian texts and new materials that have been published in Iran in recent years, this is the first book in English to provide a history of Persian Sufi-futuwwat, As such, this book is an important contribution to the study of Persian Sufism, and to the fields of Islam, history and religion.
Download or read book Popular Sufism in Eastern Europe written by H T Norris and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-01-24 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a detailed description of the various Sufi orders and movements which entered into the Balkans, the Crimean peninsula and other parts of Eastern Europe following the Ottoman conquests. Many of the Sufis came from Christian societies, principally from an Eastern Orthodox background, but others, such as the Bosnians, from churches that were accused or suspected of heterodoxy of belief and of antinomianism. These beliefs, together with pre-Christian beliefs, influenced by Manicheanism, Dualism and pantheism, left their mark on Sufi Islam. The book concentrates on the Bosnians, Bulgarians, Albanians and Tatars. Their Sufism reflects their national aspirations, and their writings fuse their mysticism, national faith and folklore in a Sufism which is quite distinct from that in other regions of the Muslim world.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Sufism written by John Renard and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most broadly accepted explanation of Sufism is the etymological derivation of the term from the Arabic for “wool,” ṣūf, associating practitioners with a preference for poor, rough clothing. This explanation clearly identifies Sufism with ascetical practice and the importance of manifesting spiritual poverty through material poverty. In fact, some of the earliest “Western” descriptions of individuals now widely associated with the larger phenomenon of Sufism identified them with the Arabic term faqīr, mendicant, or its most common Persian equivalent, darwīsh. Sufism, as presented here embraces a host of features including the ritual, institutional, psychological, hermeneutical, artistic, literary, ethical, and epistemological. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Sufism contains a chronology, an introduction, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, major historical figures and movements, practices, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Sufism.
Download or read book Sufis in Western Society written by Markus Dressler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-06-02 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the development of Sufi movements that have migrated from their place of origin to become global religious networks.
Download or read book The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities written by Amanullah De Sondy and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rigid notions of masculinity are causing crisis in the global Islamic community. These are articulated from the Qur'an, its commentary, historical precedents and societal, religious and familial obligations. Some Muslims who don't agree with narrow constructs of manliness feel forced to consider themselves secular and therefore outside the religious community. In order to evaluate whether there really is only one valid, ideal Islamic masculinity, The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities explores key figures of the Qur'an and Indian-Pakistani Islamic history, and exposes the precariousness of tight constraints on Islamic manhood. By examining Qur'anic arguments and the strict social responsibilities advocated along with narrow Islamic masculinities, Amanullah De Sondy shows that God and women (to whom Muslim men relate but are different from) often act as foils for the construction of masculinity. He argues the constrainers of masculinity have used God and women to think with and to dominate through and that rigid gender roles are the product of a misguided enterprise: the highly personal relationship between humans and God does not lend itself to the organization of society, because that relationship cannot be typified and replicated. Discussions and debates surrounding Islamic masculinities are quickly finding their place in the study of Islam and Muslims, and The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities makes a vital contribution to this emerging field.
Download or read book Routledge Handbook on Sufism written by Lloyd Ridgeon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-08-09 with total page 779 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a chronological history of the Sufi tradition, divided in to three sections, early, middle and modern periods. The book comprises 35 independent chapters with easily identifiable themes and/or geographical threads, all written by recognised experts in the field. The volume outlines the origins and early developments of Sufism by assessing the formative thinkers and practitioners and investigating specific pietistic themes. The middle period contains an examination of the emergence of the Sufi Orders and illustrates the diversity of the tradition. This middle period also analyses the fate of Sufism during the time of the Gunpowder Empires. Finally, the end period includes representative surveys of Sufism in several countries, both in the West and in traditional "Islamic" regions. This comprehensive and up-to-date collection of studies provides a guide to the Sufi tradition. The Handbook is a valuable resource for students and researchers with an interest in religion, Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.
Download or read book Ahmad Q bel and Contemporary Islamic Thought written by Lloyd Ridgeon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-04-06 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ahmad Qābel (1954–2012) was one of the key figures in the 'New Religious Thinking' trend of reformist thought, whose radical views were some of the most daring of his generation, seeking to rationalize and modernize Islamic law. In this comprehensively researched and accessibly written book, Lloyd Ridgeon offers an original examination of Qābel's writings, including his seminal work Shari'at-e 'Aqlāni (Rational Shariah). Throughout his career, Qābel crossed many political and religious redlines, resulting in several prison terms and hastening his premature death while under hospital arrest. Chapters covering topics from jurisprudence and politics to gender relations and society unravel Qābel's worldview, introducing and illuminating his work for all readers. With extended translations from Qābel's compositions, including two whole chapters from Shari'at-e 'Aqlāni, Ridgeon offers the necessary context to understand the resounding significance of Qābel's ideas and arguments.
Download or read book Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity written by Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-01-29 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity offers a comparative study of the works of the Sufi-poet Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273) and the practical teachings of the German Dominican, Meister Eckhart (c1260-1327/8). Rumi has remained an influential figure in Islamic mystical discourse since the thirteenth century, while also extending his impact to the Western spiritual arena. However, his ideas have frequently been interpreted within the framework of other mystical, philosophical, or religious systems. Through its novel approach, this book aims to reformulate Rumi’s practical mysticism by employing four methodological principles: a) mysticism is a coherent structure with mutual interconnection between its parts; b) the imposition of alien structures to interpret any particular mysticism damages its inward coherency; c) practical mysticism consists of two main parts, namely practices and stages; and d) the proper use of comparative methodology enables a deeper understanding of each juxtaposed system. Eckhart’s speculative mysticism, which differs from and enjoys similarities with the love-based mysticism of Rumi, provides a "mirror" that highlights the special features of Rumi’s practical mysticism. Such comparison also allows a deeper comprehension of Eckhart’s practical thought. Offering a critical examination of practical mysticism, this book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Islamic studies, comparative mysticism, and the intellectual history of Islam.
Download or read book Friedrich Rosen written by Amir Theilhaber and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2020-09-07 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The German lacuna in Edward Said’s 'Orientalism' has produced varied studies of German cultural and academic Orientalisms. So far the domains of German politics and scholarship have not been conflated to probe the central power/knowledge nexus of Said’s argument. Seeking to fill this gap, the diplomatic career and scholarly-literary productions of the centrally placed Friedrich Rosen serve as a focal point to investigate how politics influenced knowledge generated about the “Orient” and charts the roles knowledge played in political decision-making regarding extra-European regions. This is pursued through analyses of Germans in British imperialist contexts, cultures of lowly diplomatic encounters in Middle Eastern cities, Persian poetry in translation, prestigious Orientalist congresses in northern climes, leveraging knowledge in high-stakes diplomatic encounters, and the making of Germany’s Islam policy up to the Great War. Politics drew on bodies of knowledge and could promote or hinder scholarship. Yet, scholars never systemically followed empire in its tracks but sought their own paths to cognition. On their own terms or influenced by “Oriental” savants they aligned with politics or challenged claims to conquest and rule.
Download or read book Ibn Al Arabi s Fusus Al Hikam written by Binyamin Abrahamov and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-24 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ibn al-Arabi’s Fusus al-Hikam is a translation of one of the most important works written on Islamic Mysticism. Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi (1165-1240) is deemed the greatest mystic of Islam and his mystical philosophy has attracted the attention of both Muslims and non-Muslims from his time to the present day. Believing that the world is the self- manifestation of God, he claimed that all religions are equal and that the perfect human being is he who knows all the religious phenomena in the world. Fusus al-hikam examines the singular characteristics of twenty seven prophets of Islam and constitutes the best summary of Ibn al-Arabi's thought. The translation of these twenty seven chapters is preceded by an introduction that explains the main ideas of Ibn al-Arabi and is accompanied by explanatory notes to the text. Providing an easily accessible translation of one of the greatest mystics of Islam, Ibn al Arabi’ Fusus al-Hikam is essential reading for students, scholars and researchers of Islamic Philosophy, Mysticism and Islamic Mysticism in particular.
Download or read book Mulla Sadra and Eschatology written by Eiyad S. Al-Kutubi and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book explains Sadrā’s theory of the nature of afterlife. It presents Sadrā’s philosophical premises concerning the nature of human beings and their physical and psychological developments through which Sadrā shows how the afterlife is intimately connected to the nature of the human being and how it is a natural stage of the evolution of each individual in which a corporeal body has no role. Presenting Mullā Sadrā in a new light, the aim of this book is to investigate Sadrā’s metaphysical principles of the Return (al-ma‘ād) that have been either partially presented or misunderstood in most of the existing secondary literature. Focusing on Sadrā’s philosophical works, specifically the Asfār and his commentary on the Quran, this study demonstrates how Sadrā is a philosopher able to carry the premises of the previous philosophical theories to radically different conclusions. Mullā Sadrā and Eschatology demonstrates the manner in which Sadrā explains the Return as presented in the Quran and Hadith, but also shows how he presents the Return as a natural stage of the evolution of human beings in which a corporeal body has no role. Thus, Sadrā offers a plausible philosophical explanation to the problem of bodily resurrection that had occupied Muslim philosophers for centuries. Explaining Mullā Sadrā ‘s distinctive method of "doing" philosophy, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic Philosophy, Religion and Islamic Studies more broadly.
Download or read book Spiritual Purification in Islam written by Gavin Picken and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-03-21 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Purification of the soul is a principle that is central to understanding Islamic spirituality but despite this, relatively little has been written explicitly in the Islamic tradition regarding this discrete method of spiritual purification. This book examines the work of a scholar of this discipline, al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī, who lived and worked during the classical Islamic period under the Abbāsids. Although al-Muhāsibī was well known for his skills in many disciplines, including the Qur’ān, Prophetic narration and scholastic theology, it is his mastery in the field of Islamic spirituality and moral psychology for which he is best remembered. Assessing the extent to which the political, social and economic factors played a part in his life and work, Gavin Picken provides a comprehensive overview of his work and its great significance in the development of Islamic spirituality. Reconstructing his life in chronological order and providing the most comprehensive appraisal of his works to date, it explores a facet of al-Muhāsibī’s teaching which as yet has not been studied, namely his understanding, concept and methodology regarding the purification of the soul within the Islamic paradigm. As such, it will be of great interest not only to researchers and students of Sufism but also to scholars of comparative spirituality and mysticism.
Download or read book The Naqshbandiyya written by Itzchak Weismann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-06-25 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Naqshbandiyya order has attracted increasing scholarly attention over the last two decades, yet so far there has been no attempt to present a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the rich organization and ideational Naqshbandiyyah tradition This book is therefore by now a highly desirable contribution that will fill this gap in the literature of this important Sufi order Spanning almost a millennium in time and most of the Muslim world in space, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the important Naqshbandiyyah Sufi order
Download or read book Secularization of Islam in Post Revolutionary Iran written by Mahmoud Pargoo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-05-30 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining the trajectory of the secularization of Islam in Iran, this book explains how efforts to Islamize society led, self-destructively, to its secularization. The research engages a range of debates across different fields, emphasizing the political and epistemological instability of the basic categories such as Islam, Sharia, and secularism. The volume is an interdisciplinary study of both the history of Islamic revival and Khomeini’s very specific merger of Islamic law and mysticism. It traces back the process of secularization to the early encounter of Iranian intellectuals with Europeans and adoption of their fundamental framework in an Islamic guise. The process continued until the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979, when Khomeini tried to substantively de-secularize Iranian social imaginaries. His attempts were not followed up by his followers, who vigorously reinstated the previous trend, after his death, resulting in a polity that is mostly secular but with Islamic ornaments. Bringing together area studies (Iran), religious studies (Islam), and political theory (secularism), this interdisciplinary volume places findings in a broader narrative that is both specific to Iran and broad enough to engage a global readership.
