Brill's Islamic History and Civilization
Series · 69
books · 1600-2015
Books in series
#1
Ideas, Images, and Methods of Portrayal
Insights Into Classical Arabic Literature and Islam
2005
This volume deals with the genesis of selected classical Arabic texts as the products of different milieus, and the implications which these texts had for Islamic societies in medieval times.
It explores the concepts and images which Muslim scholars from the 8th to the 14th century presented in their writings and, in particular, ponders the ways in which these authors used specific methods of portrayal—either overtly or more subtly—to advance their ideas.
The fresh theoretical and methodological approaches applied in this book facilitate the understanding of how medieval Muslim writers expressed their views and, more importantly, why they expressed them in the way they did. This helps disclose, for example, how the images of historically or religiously significant figures in Arabic-Islamic culture have been developed and shaped in the process of their "literarization."
Readership : All those interested in Classical Arabic literature and the intellectual history of Islam, including such areas as religion, history, philosophy, ethics, and education; as well as those interested in the development of religion, culture, literatures, and societies in the Arabic Middle East in general.
#3
Taste of Modernity
Sufism, Salafiyya & Arabism in Late Ottoman Damascus
2001
Modernization in the Muslim world was determined by the two interrelated processes of indigenous state formation and European economic penetration. These drove governments to enlist the orthodox and the masses in support of the consolidation of their central authority, and religious reformers to seek, partly through Western devices, checks on their autocracy.
Concentrating on late-Ottoman Damascus, a focal point in the modernization of Islam in the Arab world, this study analyses the conceptual and social evolution among the three consecutive reform trends of the the Khālidī branch of the Naqshbandiyya order, the Akbarī interpretation of Ibn 'Arabī's theosophy, and the Salafī adaptation of Ibn Taymiyya's teaching.
Through these reform trends, the study traces the emergence of modern Islam from its pre-modern Sufi reformist tradition. It also examines the relationship of Islamic modernization to the rise of Arab nationalism.
#4
Patronate And Patronage in Early And Classical Islam
2005
This book deals with patronate and patronage ("wal?'") of early and classical Islam. Though "Webster's Third" has the term "mawla," the concept remains very difficult to come to grips with. Fourteen contributions by renowned scholars analyze the social and cultural phenomenon of "wal?'" from various angles. As a whole, the book conveys what we presently know about patronate and patronage during the first four centuries of Islam. Inasmuch as the contributors have used different methods - from a close rereading of primary sources to the application of social theory and quantitative analysis - the book additionally offers an overview of methodologies current in the field of Islamic Studies.
#5
Islamic Art in the 19th Century
Tradition, Innovation, And Eclecticism
2005
This collection of essays provides a timely reassessment of nineteenth-century Islamic art and architecture. The essays demonstrate that the arts of that era were vibrant and diverse, making ingenious use of native traditions and materials or adopting imported conventions and new technologies. However, traditionalists, revivalists and modernists all referred in one way or another to an Islamic heritage, whether to reinvent, revive or reject it.
Beginning with an historical introduction and an assessment of changing attitudes towards the visual arts the following essays provide case studies of architecture and art in Ottoman Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa, Iran, Central Asia, India and the Caribbean. They examine such issues as patronage, sources of artistic inspiration and responses to European art.
The essays have a relevance and importance for our understanding of the societies and attitudes of that time, and have a direct bearing on the more general debate concerning cultural identity and the integration of modern ideas in the Muslim world. The book is richly illustrated with very many illustrations in black-and-white and in full colour.
#7
The Fatimid Armenians
Cultural and Political Interaction in the Near East
1997
This first study of its kind cuts across and brings together the political and cultural histories of the medieval Near East. The peculiar episode of the Fatimid Armenians (1074-1163) and other phenomena earlier on are given their proper background and context; the 'Armenian Period' in the last century of the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt is shown to be a major phase in the perpetual alliance between Armenian sectarians and Muslims.
The reconstruction of this to date unstudied subject also reveals new relevant data. Through its methodology, this book proposes fresh criteria and perspectives for the evaluation of patterns of cultural and political interaction in Near Eastern history.
#8
The Islamic Scholarly Tradition
Studies in History, Law, and Thought in Honor of Professor Michael Allan Cook
2011
The volume contains highly original articles on Islamic history, law, and thought, each either proposing new hypotheses or readjusting existing ones. The contributions range from studies in the formulation of the pre-Islamic Arabian calendar to notes on the "blood-money group" in Islamic law, and to transformations in Arabic logic in the post-Avicennan period. Prepared by former students of Michael A. Cook, to whom this volume is dedicated, these studies not only shed new light on the development of the Islamic scholarly tradition from various perspectives, but together they also represent the honoree's vast, profound, and continuing impact on the field.
This collection of highly empirical articles is intended for scholars and students specializing in various subfields within Islamic Studies.
#9
Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship
Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage
1994
Medieval Jerusalem and Islamic Worship treats of the holy sites of the Muslims in Jerusalem and the ceremonies and pilgrimage to these places during the early Muslim period. It is based primarily on primary Arabic sources, some of which have been used for the first time. Emphasis is given to the works of " Literature in Praise of Jerusalem ", an important and unique source for the history and topography of the city.
Many of the topics in this book have never been dealt with before, e.g. the detailed description of the first known guide for the Muslim pilgrim to Jerusalem, that dates from the 11th century, and the supplementary discussion of the 16th-century guide. Both guides are still in manuscript and have never been published.
#10
Muslims, Jews, and Pagans
Studies on Early Islamic Medina
1995
Muslims, Jews and Pagans examines in much detail the available source material on the 'Aliya area south of Medina on the eve of Islam and at the time of the Prophet Muhammad. It provides part of the necessary background for the study of the Prophet's history by utilizing in addition to the Prophet's biographies, various texts about the history, geography and inhabitants of this area.
The topics include the landscape, especially the fortifications, the delayed conversion to Islam of part of the Aws tribe, the Quba' village and the incident of Masjid al-Dirar in 9 A H. The three appendices deal with historical apologetics, pointing to the social context in which the Prophet's biography emerged during the first Islamic century.
#11
The Fortress of the Raven
Karak in the Middle Islamic Period, 1100-1650
2008
Textual and archaeological sources are employed to reconstruct the history of Karak in Jordan, 1100-1650 CE. The book establishes the ways in which the construction of a major castle at Karak affected the town and the surrounding rural hinterland.
#12
Islamische Gelehrtenkultur in Nordindien
Entwicklungsgeschichte Und Tendenzen Am Beispiel Von Lucknow
1997
This insightful volume treats the world of the learned classes in the region of Awadh, in Muslim North India, with its famous capital Lucknow, from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. It focusses on those circles which carried, promoted, and reflected acculturation and interference in traditional as well as colonial settings. Part I examines the qasbahs where the seeds are laid for the efflorescence of scholarship, connecting South Asia with the Middle East and Europe. Part II deals with the accommodation of Islamic religious culture in the newly-established territorial states in the 18th century. The last section studies the Learned Council of Islamic Scholars (Nadwat al- Ulam ) in Lucknow, its historical growth and internal set-up as well as its interaction with colonialists and traditionalists. The study is based on rich biographical and chronological accounts, narrative material, archival data, curricula and European reports."
#15
The European Image of God and Man
A Contribution to the Debate on Human Rights
2009
The present volumes unites papers which explore the European image of God and man as the unquestioned basis of the concept which determines what western society defines as human rights and puts it in an intercultural context by comparative essays on Chinese, Islamic and Buddhist thinking. The volume covers issues which range from classical antiquity until contemporary philosophy and science.
#17
Commerce, Culture, and Community in a Red Sea Port in the Thirteenth Century
The Arabic Documents from Quseir. Islamic History and Civilization. Stud
2004
This book is the first comprehensive study of the Arabic documents uncovered in Quseir, Upper Egypt, during the 1980s. The hundreds of paper fragments shed light on activities and operations of a family shipping business on the Red Sea shore in the thirteenth century.Part One is an introductory essay on historical and cultural context of these documents. The three chapters deal with, respectively, the Sheikhs house, where the documents were found, the Red Sea commerce as reflected in the trade activities around the house, and aspects of popular culture as revealed through the texts. Part Two comprises a critical edition of eighty-four Arabic texts, the majority of which have never been published before, with translation and commentary.
#18
The Companions of the Prophet
A Study of Geographical Distribution and Political Alignment
2003
This book deals with the settlement of te Companions outside Medina, and their involvement in the battle of siffīn, the battle that tore the early Muslim community apart. Based on five major biographical dictionaries written by the traditionists ( ahl al-ḥadīth ) of the 9th - 12th centuries, two lists are that of the Companions who settled in Iraq, Syria and Egypt, and that of those who were involved in the battle. Comparing the background of these two groups of Companions, the volume analyzes dividing line between the two camps. The use of a quantitative approach, and the use of the traditionists' works as the main source in the historical study of classical Islam is an important contribution to the book.
#19
Society and Culture in the Early Modern Middle East
Studies on Iran in the Safavid Period Studies
2003
The volume comprises a collection of 20 of the 43 papers presented at the Third International Round Table on Safavid Persia, held at the University of Edinburgh in August, 1998 and edited by the Round Table's organiser. The Third Round Table, the largest of the series to date, continued the emphasis of its predecessors on understanding and appreciating the legacy of the Safavid period by means of exchanges between both established and 'newer' scholars drawn from a variety of fields to facilitate an exchange of ideas, information, and methodologies across a broad range of academic disciplines between scholars from diverse disciplines and research backgrounds with a common interest in the history and culture of this period of Iran's history.
#20
The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization
Qudāma B. Ja'far and His Kitāb Al Kharāj Wa-Sinā'at Al-Kitāba
2002
This study examines the role of the state in the construction of knowledge in Islamic civilization in its early classical period (third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries). Different voices representing different social groups - savants, littérateurs, religious scholars, state officials - all brought their particular conception of knowledge to bear on the formation of the various branches of knowledge known to Islamic civilization. Reading the works of various branches of knowledge alongside the administrative encyclopedia of Qudāma b. Ja'far (d. 337/948), a state official in the employ of the Abbasid dynasty, has served to highlight the particular point of view of the state in the intellectual and cultural dialogue of the day. At the same time, this approach has shown Islamic civilization to be as much a dialogue of values between the different social groups of the day as a series of events or collection of ideas.
#24
Accusations of Unbelief in Islam A Diachronic Perspective on Takfīr
2015
Table of contents
Contents
List of contributors
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
I. Takfīr Through Islamic History
1\. The Early Period (First/Seventh-Fourth/Tenth Centuries)
Self-defining through Faith: The walāya and barāʾa Dynamics among the Early Ibāḍis
Ersilia Francesca
Were the Umayyad-Era Qadarites Kāfirs?
Steven Judd
Denouncing the Damned Zindīq! Struggle and Interaction between Monotheism and Dualism
István T. Kristó-Nagy
Kufr et takfīr dans l’ismaélisme fatimide: Le Kitāb Tanbīh al-hādī de Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī
Daniel De Smet
2\. The Classical and Post-Classical Period (Fifth/Eleventh-Eleventh/Eighteenth Centuries)
The Vocabulary of "Unbelief" in Three Biographical Dictionaries and Two Historical Chronicles of the 7th/13th and 8th/14th Centuries
Sonja Brentjes
Takfīr in Egypt and Syria during the Mamluk Period
Amalia Levanoni
Takfīr and Messianism: The Ḥurūfī Case
Orkhan Mir-Kasimov
The Qāḍīzādeli Movement and the Revival of takfīr in the Ottoman Age
Simeon Evstatiev
The takfīr of the Philosophers (and Sufis) in Safavid Iran
Sajjad Rizvi
3\. The Modern Period
The Cost of Condemnation: Heresy and takfīr in a South Indian Community
Brian J. Didier
The Sum of its Parts: The State as Apostate in Contemporary Saudi Militant Islamism
Justyna Nedza
“The Kāfir Religion of the West”: Takfīr of Democracy and Democrats by Radical Islamists
Joas Wagemakers
On the takfīr of Arab Women Rights Advocates in Recent Times
Roswitha Badry
Apostasy in the West: A Swedish Case Study
Göran Larsson
II. Discussing Takfīr:Different Perspectives
Essential Islam: The Minimum that a Muslim is Required to Acknowledge
Hossein Modarressi
Abandoning Prayer and the Declaration of Unbelief in Imāmī Jurisprudence
Robert Gleave
Society and Propriety: The Cultural Construction of Defamation and Blasphemy as Crimes in Islamic Law
Intisar A. Rabb
Literary Works as Evidence of Unbelief
Zoltan Szombathy
“Religions, Opinions and Beliefs Are Nothing but Roads and Paths … While the Goal Is One”: Between Unity and Diversity in Islamic Mysticism
Michael Ebstein
#33
Islamic Cultures, Islamic Contexts
Essays in Honor of Professor Patricia Crone
2014
This collected volume brings together a range of articles in honor of Professor Patricia Crone.
#34
Books and Written Culture of the Islamic World
Studies Presented to Claude Gilliot on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday (Islamic History and Civilization, 113)
2014
In celebration of the many contributions of Claude Gilliot to Islamic studies, an international group of twenty-one friends and colleagues join together to explore books and written culture in the Muslim world. Divided into three sections - authors, genres and traditions - the essays explore themes that have been of central interest and concern to Gilliot himself including the Qurʾān, tafsīr, ḥadīth, poetry, and mysticism. Gilliot's detailed and extensive work on many authors and texts, literary genres, and specific case-studies on many Muslim traditions renders this volume an apt tribute to him as well as offering Islamic studies' scholars valuable research insights on these subjects. The authors of these English, French and German essays are all renowned scholars from Europe and North America, each of whom have benefitted substantially from Gilliot's work and collegiality.
With contributions Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Mehdi Azaiez, Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau, Abdallah Cheikh-Moussa, Jean-Louis Déclais, Denis Gril, Manfred Kropp, Pierre Larcher, Michael Lecker, Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Harald Motzki, Tilman Nagel, Angelika Neuwirth, Emilio Platti, Jan van Reeth, Andrew Rippin, Uri Rubin, Walid Saleh, Roberto Tottoli, Reinhard Weipert, Francesco Zappa
#35
From Bawi to Marw
Documents from the Medieval Muslim World; Proceedings of the 4th Conference of the International Society for Arabic Papyrology, ... 2009
2014
This volume collects papers given at the Vienna conference (2009) of the International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP), including editions of previously unpublished Coptic and Arabic documents, and historical and linguistic studies based on documentary evidence from Early Islamic Egypt.
#37
An Arabic Musical and Socio-Cultural Glossary of Kitab al-Aghani (Islamic History and Civilization
Studies and Texts, 110)
2014
George Dimitri Sawa's Arabic Musical and Socio-Cultural Glossary of Kitāb al-Aghānī is the first comprehensive lexicographical study of Umayyad and early Abbāsid-era music theory and practices. It defines melodic and rhythmic modes, musical forms, instruments, technical terms and metaphors used in evaluating compositions and performances, and the emotional effects of ṭarab. It explains the processes of composition and learning, performance practice, musical change and aesthetics, and addresses the behavior of court musicians to help understand societal views of music. Medieval dictionaries, reference works on Arabic literature, theoretical treatises as well as full quotations from the Aghānī are used. This glossary will be of interest to scholars and students of the music and socio-cultural history of the early Islamic era.
#38
Material Evidence and Narrative Sources
Interdisciplinary Studies of the History of the Muslim Middle East
2014
This book is a collected volume that crosses traditional boundaries between methodologies. Each of its sixteen articles is based on imaginative combinations of data provided by excavations, artifacts, monuments, urban topography, rural layouts, historical narratives and/or archival records. The volume as a whole demonstrates the effectiveness of interdisciplinary research applied to historical, cultural and archaeological problems. Its five sections - Economics and Trade, Governmental Authority, Material Culture, Changing Landscapes, and Monuments – bring forth original studies of the medieval, Ottoman and modern Middle East, amongst others, of voiceless and silenced social groups.
“This is a volume that has accumulated researchers’ papers rich both, in providing information concerning contemporary documentation and archaeological findings, questioning the objective validity of reported statements as sources as well as in putting to doubt already established perceptive paths while suggesting new interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to historical inquiry.”
Stavros Nikolaidis in Journal of Oriental and African Studies 24 (2015) 461-466.
Contributors are: Nitzan Amitai-Preiss, Jere L. Bacharach, Simonetta Calderini, Delia Cortese, Katia Cytryn-Silverman, Miriam Frenkel, Haim Goldfus, Hani Hamza, Stefan Heidemann, Miriam Kühn, Ayala Lester, Nimrod Luz, Yoram Meital, Daphna Sharef-Davidovich, Oren Shmueli, Yasser Tabbaa, Daniella Talmon-Heller, and Bethany Walker.
#40
Early Ibad?i Theology
Six "Kalam" Texts by Abd Allah B. Yazid Al-Fazari
2014
"Early Ibad?i Theology" offers the critical edition of six Arabic texts by the Ibad?i scholar Abd Allah b. Yazid al-Fazari (8th c.) recently discovered in Algeria that constitute the earliest extant body of "kalam" theology in Islam
#41
Unity in Diversity
Mysticism, Messianism and the Construction of Religious Authority in Islam (Islamic History and Civilization, 105)
2013
What are the mechanisms of change and adaptation in Islam, regarded as a living organism, and how do they work? How did these mechanisms preserve the integrity of Muslim civilization through the innumerable hazards, divisions and devastations of time? From the perspective of history and intellectual history, this book focuses on a significant, though still largely under studied, aspect of this immense issue, namely, the role of mystical and messianic ferment in the construction and re-construction of religious authority in Islam. Sixteen scholars address this topic with a variety of approaches, providing a fresh outlook on the trends underlying the evolution of Muslim societies and, in particular, the emergence and consolidation of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires.
Contributors Abbas Amanat, Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Paul Ballanfat, Shahzad Bashir, Ilker Evrim Binbaş, Daniel De Smet, Devin DeWeese, Armin Eschraghi, Omid Ghaemmaghami, Ahmet T. Karamustafa, Todd Lawson, Pierre Lory, Matthew Melvin-Koushki, Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, A. Azfar Moin, William F. Tucker.
#42
Al-?Ira
Eine Arabische Kulturmetropole Im Spatantiken Kontext
2013
In al-?ira. Eine arabische Kulturmetropole im spatantiken Kontext, Isabel Toral-Niehoff draws a vivid portrait of this multicultural Late Antique Arab city located in the frontier zone between Byzantium and Iran and emphasizes its significance for Arab culture and early Islam. - In al-?ira. Eine arabische Kulturmetropole im spatantiken Kontext zeichnet Isabel Toral-Niehoff ein lebendiges Portrat dieser spatantiken multikulturellen arabischen Stadt im Grenzraum zwischen Byzanz und Iran und unterstreicht deren Bedeutung fur den Fruhislam und die arabische Kulturgeschichte."
#43
Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus
Ibn Masarra, Ibn al-Arabi and the Ismaili Tradition
2013
Muslim Spain gave rise to two unusual figures in the mystical tradition of Ibn Masarra (269/883-319/931) and Ibn al-ʿArabī (560/1165-638/1240). Representing, respectively, the beginning and the pinnacle of Islamic mysticism in al-Andalus, Ibn Masarra and Ibn al-ʿArabī embody in their writings a type of mystical discourse which is quite different from the Sufi discourse that evolved in the Islamic east during the 9th-12th centuries.
In Mysticism and Philosophy in al-Andalus, Michael Ebstein points to the Ismāʿīlī tradition as one possible source which helped shape the distinct intellectual world from which both Ibn Masarra and Ibn al-ʿArabī derived. By analyzing their writings and the works of various Ismāʿīlī authors, Michael Ebstein unearths the many links that connect the thought of Ibn Masarra and Ibn al-ʿArabī to the Ismāʿīlī tradition.
#44
Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court
Formal and Informal Politics in the Caliphate of Al-Muqtadir
2013
The reign of al-Muqtadir (295-320/908-32) is a crucial epoch in Abbasid history. Four scholars question the picture of decline attached to this period, exploring the formal and informal power relationships that shaped politics at the court of this caliph.
#47
The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period
2012
The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology provides an account of the preaching of a revitalized vision of jihad in Crusader-era Syria by Sunni scholars, including Ibn Askir, as a major propaganda tool of the Counter-Crusade and Sunni revival.
#50
Herbal Medicine in Yemen
Traditional Knowledge and Practice, and Their Value for Today's World
2012
Traditional medical lore along with its practitioners druggists and healers survives in Yemen today. Owing to the country's rich biodiversity, the main body of the medicines is plant-based. This book features fourteen scholars from Europe, North America and the Middle East (three of them from Yemen) who represent both humanities and natural sciences. They address the topic of herbal medicines and their multifaceted applications within traditional Yemeni society across boundaries of disciplines, such as Islamic studies, history, social anthropology, pharmacy and agriculture. The approaches are based on textual analysis, empirical research and laboratory experiment. Both historical and contemporary issues are covered. Contributors include: Mohammed Al-Duais, Jacques Fleurentin, Amin Al-Hakimi, Ingrid Hehmeyer, Gottfried Jetschke, Efraim Lev, Ulrike Lindequist, Miranda Morris, Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, Fr d ric Pelat, Mikhail Rodionov, Petra Schmidl, Daniel Martin Varisco and Anhar Ya ni.
#52
Sufism, Black and White
A Critical Edition of Kitāb al-Bayāḍ wa-l-Sawād by Abū l-Ḥasan al-Sīrjānī
2012
This critical Arabic text edition of K. al-Bayāḍ wa-l-sawād min khaṣāʾiṣ ḥikam al-ʿibād fī naʿt al-murīd wa-l-murād ("The Black and White in the Words of Wisdom by Bondsmen Describing the Seeker and the Mystic Quest"), a substantial handbook of early Sufism by Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan al-Sīrjānī (d. ca. 470/1077), is based on three manuscripts and is introduced by a detailed analytical study of the author and his work. The work is written in the tone of a guiding Sufi master and collects the mystical tradition of early Sufis in the form of anecdotes and concise aphorisms to instill guiding wisdom into the hearts of aspiring Sufi adepts. K. al-Bayāḍ wa-l-sawād forms an integral part of Sufi literature and is an essential source for the intellectual history of Islam until the middle of the 5th/11th century.
#54
Early Mamluk Syrian Historiography
Al-Yunini's Dhayl Mir'at Al-Zaman (1) (Islamic History and Civilization. Studies and Texts, V. 21)
1998
This laudable work offers a study, translation and partial edition of one of the most important early Mamluk sources and its author. In addition to the work's contribution to Mamluk history, it also makes a significant contribution towards the ultimate goal of having the key texts of early Mamluk historiography accessible to scholars.
In this first volume the life and work of al-Yūnīnī (d. 1326), the textual history of his Chronicle, its historiographic significance and textual filiation with other independent sources are presented and discussed.
#56
Commerce, Culture, and Community in a Red Sea Port in the Thirteenth Century
The Arabic Documents from Quseir
2004
This book is the first comprehensive study of the Arabic documents uncovered in Quseir, Upper Egypt, during the 1980s. The hundreds of paper fragments shed light on activities and operations of a family shipping business on the Red Sea shore in the thirteenth century.
Part One is an introductory essay on historical and cultural context of these documents. The three chapters deal with, respectively, the "Sheikh's house," where the documents were found, the Red Sea commerce as reflected in the trade activities around the house, and aspects of popular culture as revealed through the texts. Part Two comprises a critical edition of eighty-four Arabic texts, the majority of which have never been published before, with translation and commentary.
#57
Letters of a Sufi Scholar
The Correspondence of `Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulus? (1641-1731) (Islamic History and Civilization, 74)
2009
For the first time, this book presents the original Arabic texts of ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi’s letters, along with selected translations and fresh insights into the culture of correspondence, postal history, and main theological debates in the early modern period of Islam.
#58
Intimate Invocations
Al-Ghazzī's Biography of 'Abd Al-Ghanī Al-Nābulusī (1641-1731) (Islamic History and Civilization)
2011
Despite the growing interest in the intellectual history of early modern Arabs and Ottomans, many key figures of the period remain unknown. In this unique biographical account, edited and published here for the first time, Muḥammad Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ghazzī (1760-1799), the chief Shafi'i jurisconcult of Damascus, introduces us to one of the leading figures of early modernity, 'Abd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1641-1731). Being al-Nābulusī's great grandson, al-Ghazzī had direct access to the family's collective memory through his parents and grandparents, as well as to his great grandfather's scattered memoirs. Written about fifty years after al-Nābulusī's death, al-Ghazzī's biography, al-Wird al-Unsī, remains the authoritative account of the great master's distinguished career, covering many aspects of his life and work in breadth, depth, and sophistication unmatched by any of the competing biographies.
#60
Analysing Muslim Traditions
Studies in Legal, Exegetical and Maghazi Hadith
2009
The studies collected in this volume show that by careful analysis of the texts and the chains of transmission, the history of Muslim traditions can be reconstructed with a high degree of probability and their historicity assessed afresh.
#61
The Transmission and Dynamics of the Textual Sources of Islam
Essays in Honour of Harald Motzki
2011
This volume provides new insights into the transmission of the textual sources of Islam and combines this with the dynamics of these scriptures by paying close attention to how believers interpret and apply them.
#64
Food and Foodways of Medieval Cairenes
2011
This is a pioneering study which analyzes the food cultures of medieval Cairenes on the basis of a large corpus of historical texts in Arabic. Individual chapters discuss what, why, and how the inhabitants of medieval Cairo ate what they did, and in which ways food shaped their everyday lives. Given the complex nature of food and foodways as areas of research, the book covers such diverse subjects as the genesis of the culinary culture of Egypts capital and various practices related to food and eating. This monograph also considers several relevant social, political and economic circumstances in medieval Cairo, studying food culture in its broader context.
#65
The Dragon in Medieval East Christian and Islamic Art
With a Foreword by Robert Hillenbrand
2011
This book is a pioneering work on a key iconographic motif, that of the dragon. It examines the perception of this complex, multifaceted motif within the overall intellectual and visual universe of the medieval Irano-Turkish world. Using a broadly comparative approach, the author explores the ever-shifting semantics of the dragon motif as it emerges in neighbouring Muslim and non-Muslim cultures. The book will be of particular interest to those concerned with the relationship between the pre-Islamic, Islamic and Eastern Christian (especially Armenian) world. The study is fully illustrated, with 209 (b/w and full colour) plates, many of previously unpublished material. Illustrations include photographs of architectural structures visited by the author, as well as a vast collection of artefacts, all of which are described and discussed in detail with inscription readings, historical data and textual sources.
#66
Basran Mutazilite Theology
Abu Ali Muhammad B. Khallad's Kitab Al-usul and Its Reception (Islamic History and Civilization, 85)
2010
Ibn Khallad was a disciple of the famous Mu?tazili theologian, Abu Hashim al-Jubba?i (d. 933). His otherwise lost theological summa, K. al-U?ul, has reached us embedded in the Ziyadat Shar? al-U?ul by the Zaydi Imam al-Na?iq bi-l-?aqq (d. 1033). This volume contains an editio princeps of this text.
#68
The Oliphant
Islamic Objects in Historical Context
2004
Setting a group of medieval carved ivory horns in the specific artistic and historical context in which they were manufactured, used and re-used, this book presents a mine of information for the study of medieval history.
The first chapters explore such technical aspects as the cutting and carving of oliphants, and also the broader issues of the morphology of ivory and its availability in the Mediterranean basin in the Middle Ages. On the basis of specific carving methods and varying vocabulary of motifs, the oliphants are organized into groups and their probable sites of production are suggested.
The core of this volume, however, is the attempt to place them in their specific historical context. The purpose of their mass-production, namely their patronage and original function, is explored, but also their reception and new functions in the church treasuries of Latin Europe is broadly discussed.
#69
Facts and Artefacts - Art in the Islamic World
Festschrift for Jens Kröger on His 65th Birthday
2007
The scholarly search on the art of the object is of enduring interest and enjoys a new renaissance in the last few years. This book mainly explores the art and craft of Islamic artefacts and presents to the reader a diverse range of approaches. Despite this variety, in which also artefacts of the pre-Islamic, period as well as 'orientalized' European artefacts of the modern era are included, there is an overarching theme - the linking of the interpretation of objects and their specific aesthetics to textual sources and the aim of setting them in historical and artistic context.
In this impressive collection honouring the German scholar of Islamic art Jens Kröger on his 65th birthday, Avinoam Shalem and Annette Hagedorn bring together contributions from a highly distinguished group of scholars of Asiatic, Sasanian, Islamic as well as European art history. Unpublished artefacts and new interpretations are presented in this book.
#70
After One Hundred Years
The 1910 Exhibition "Meisterwerke Muhammedanischer Kunst" Reconsidered
2010
This book is the first comprehensive study of the path-breaking exhibition Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst held in Munich in 1910. It offers new ideas and unpublished material on the exhibition's historical context, organization, display, reception in the West and its later influence on the study of Islamic art.
#71
Umayyad Legacies
Medieval Memories from Syria to Spain
2010
The Umayyads, the first dynasty of Islam, ruled over a vast empire from their central province of Syria, providing a line of caliphs from 661 to 750. Another branch later ruled in al-Andalus Islamic Spain from 756 to 1031, ruling first as emirs and then as caliphs themselves. This book is the first to bring together studies of this far-flung family and treat it not as two unrelated caliphates but as a single enterprise. Yet for all that historians have made note of Umayyad accomplishments in the Near East and al-Andalus, Umayyad legacies what later generations made of these caliphs and their achievements are poorly understood. Building on new interest in the study of memory and Islamic historiography and including interdisciplinary perspectives from Arabic literature, art, and archaeology, this book highlights Umayyad achievements and the shaping of our knowledge of the Umayyad past.
#72
Sunnitischer Tafsir in Der Modernen Islamischen Welt
Akademische Traditionen, Popularisierung Und Nationalstaatliche Interessen (Texts and Studies on the Qur'an, 7)
2010
Analysing recent Sunnite Qur?anic commentaries from the Arab World, Indonesia and Turkey, this book offers new insights into the academic, biographic, political and religious context of contemporary Qur?anic exegesis and into the theological traditions and sources it relies on.
Durch die Analyse neuerer sunnitischer Korankommentare aus der arabischen Welt, Indonesien und der Türkei liefert dieses Buch neue Erkenntnisse zum akademischen, biographischen, politischen und religiösen Kontext zeitgenössischer Koranexegese und zu den theologischen Traditionen und Quellen, auf die sie sich stützt.
#74
Histories of the Middle East
Studies in Middle Eastern Society, Economy and Law in Honor of A.L. Udovitch
2010
Dedicated to their teacher, Abraham L. Udovitch, his students offer in this volume a chronologically, geographically and thematically wide range of papers united by an emphasis on a close reading of primary sources and the juxtaposition of different genres of narratives.
#75
Papyrology And The History Of Early Islamic Egypt
2004
Tens of thousands of documents dating form the late Byzantine and early Islamic periods have been found in Egypt. These texts, written on papyrus and a variety of other materials, in Greek, Coptic Egyptian, and Arabic, offer a unique, but underutilized resource for the study of a society experiencing a profound transformation, this volume collects papers given at the conference "Documentary Evidence and the History of Early Islamic Egypt", including editions of previously unpublished Greek, Coptic, and Arabic documents, historical and linguistic studies which make use of documentary evidence, a discussion of the importance of Arabic literary papyri, and an introduction to papyrology and its relevance for the study of this period of Egyptian history.
For more titles about Papyrology, please click here.
#76
From Al-andalus to Khurasan
Documents from the Medieval Muslim World
2006
This volume collects papers given at the conference ""Documents and the History of the Early Islamic Mediterranean World"", including editions of unpublished documents and historical studies, which make use of documentary evidence from al-Andalus, Sicily, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, Syria and Khurasan.
#77
Documents and the History of the Early Islamic World (Islamic History and Civilization, 111)
2014
Historians have long lamented the lack of contemporary documentary sources for the Islamic middle ages and the inhibiting effect this has had on our understanding of this critically important period. Although the field is richly served by surviving evidence, much of it is hard to locate, difficult to access, and philologically intractable. Presenting a mixture of historical studies and new editions of Greek, Arabic and Coptic material from the seventh to the fifteenth century C.E. from Egypt and Palestine, Documents and the History of the Early Islamic World explores the untapped wealth of documentary sources available in collections around the world and shows how this exciting material can be used for historical analysis.
Contributors Hugh Kennedy, Anne Regourd, Jairus Banaji, Alain Delattre, Shaun O'Sullivan, Anna Selander, Frédéric Bauden, Mostafa El-Abbadi, Rachel Stroumsa, Sebastian Richter, Tascha Vorderstrasse, Matt Malczycki, R.G. Khoury, Nicole Hansen, and Alia Hanafi.
For more titles about Papyrology, please click here.
#78
The Nuṣayrī-ʿAlawīs
An Introduction to the Religion, History and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria
2009
A century after Dussaud's "Histoire et religion des Nosairis" (1900), new light is shed on the medieval history and the mysterious religion of the leading sect in Syria in a comprehensive and updated study of the Nuṣayrī-ʿAlawīs."
#79
Die Eroberung Von Damaskus
Quellenkritische Untersuchung Zur Historiographie in Klassisch-Islamischer Zeit (Islamic History and Civilization, 76)
2009
Using the method of of isnad-cum-matn-analysis this book analyzes the approximately 1000 narratives on the conquest of Damascus. After the reconstruction of earlier versions, in part from the 8th century C.E., the course of the events is finally described. Mit Hilfe der isnad-cum-matn-Analyse werden die etwa 1000 Überlieferungen zur Eroberung von Damaskus in diesem Buch analysiert. Auf Grundlage der so rekonstruierten Versionen, die zum Teil aus dem 8. Jh. stammen, zeichnet diese Untersuchung den Verlauf der Eroberung nach.
#80
Beyond Death
The mystical teachings of ʻAyn al-Quḍāt al-Hamadhānī
2010
The twelfth-century Iranian mystic ʻAyn al-Quḍāt al-Hamadhānī (d. 1131) wrote vividly of his explorations of death as a state of consciousness which he experienced while alive. This state and his visions of Doomsday and the innumerable non-corporeal worlds that lie past the world of matter confront him with paradoxical realities that upset the notional understanding of faith. The present book concerns itself with a discussion on the subject of death as it is viewed by one of the defining mystic scholars of medieval Iran. Based on medieval manuscripts and primary sources in classical Persian and Arabic, this book explores the significance of this important Iranian mystic and his insights on the nature of reality in light of death."
#81
The Unveiling of Secrets (Kashf Al-Asrār)
The Visionary Autobiography of Rūzbihān Al-Baqlī (1128-1209 A.D.) (Islamic History and Civilization)
2005
The Unveiling of Secrets ( Kashf al-Asrār ) is the visionary autobiography of one of the most significant mystics of twelfth-century Iran, Rūzbihān al-Baqlī (522/1128-606/1209). Written in Arabic, it describes the life of the author primarily as comprised of his mystical visions. Rūzbihān depicts himself in the unseen world ( ʿālam al-ghayb ) in the company of God, saints, prophets, and angels. His self-portrait in this manner communicates his special status with God. The sublime quality of these visions is well captured in the style of Kashf al-Asrār : the writing is simultaneously simple and clear, but eloquent and rich with extraordinary images.
This is the first critical edition of the manuscipt of Kashf al-Asrār which provides an intriguing case in the genre of Islamic autobiographies.
#82
Sufism in an Age of Transition
ʿumar Al-Suhrawardī And the Rise of the Islamic Mystical Brotherhoods
2008
Although the early thirteenth century was a critical period in the development of Sufism, it has received little scholarly attention. Based on heretofore unexplored sources, this book examines a pivotal figure from this the scholar, mystic, statesman, and eponym of one of the earliest ṭarīqa lineages, ʿUmar al-Suhrawardī. In situating Suhrawardī's life work in its social, political, and religious contexts, this book suggests that his universalizing Sufi system was not only enmeshed within a broader economy of Muslim religious learning, but also furnished social spaces which allowed for novel modes of participation in Sufi religiosity. In doing so, this book provides a framework for understanding the increasingly ubiquitous presence of intentional Sufi communities and institutions throughout the late-medieval Islamic world.
#85
The Chronicles and Annalistic Sources of the Early Mamluk Circassian Period
2007
This book examines in a detailed and comprehensive manner, the genealogy of the historiography of the Early Mamluk Circassian period and provides a source-critical assesment of the sources for the reign of al-Zhir Barqq (784-91, 792-81/1382-9, 139-9).
#86
Beyond the Legacy of Genghis Khan
2006
This publication offers a wide-ranging account of the Mongols in western and eastern Asia in the aftermath of Genghis Khan's disruptive invasions of the early thirteenth century, focusing on the significant cultural, social, religious and political changes that followed in their wake. The issues considered concern art, governance, diplomacy, commerce, court life, and urban culture in the Mongol world empire as originally presented at a 2003 symposium at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and now distilled in this volume. This collection of 23 papers by many of the main authorities in the field demonstrates both the scope and the depth of the current state of Mongol-related studies and will undoubtedly inspire and provoke further research. The text is profusely illustrated by 30 color and 112 black-and-white illustrations.
Contributors Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom, Devin DeWeese, Teresa Fitzherbert, Bert G. Fragner, Robert Hillenbrand, Dietrich Huff, Ralph Kauz, Linda Komaroff, Dickran Kouymjian, Mark Kramarovsky, Donald P. Little, Charles Melville, David Morgan, Bernard O'Kane, Judith Pfeiffer, George Saliba, Noriyuki Shiraishi, Marianna Shreve Simpson, Eleanor Sims, John Masson Smith Jr., Abolala Soudavar, Oliver Watson and Elaine Wright.
#87
The Making of a Forefather
Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical Narratives
2006
This comparative analysis of the Muslim and Jewish exegetical texts on the early life of Abraham provides a new perspective on the extent of the relationship between Islam and Judaism while explaining the particular significance of Abraham in both traditions.
#88
The Last Pagans of Iraq
Ibn Wahshiyya And His Nabatean Agriculture
1600
This is the first analysis in any language of the religious, philosophical and folkloristic content of Ibn Wa?shiyya's (d. 931) "Nabatean Agriculture," This enigmatic book, said to have been translated by Ibn Wa?shiyya from Syriac into Arabic, contains much material on Late Antique Paganism in Iraq and semi-learned reception of Greek philosophical thought. The first part of the present book studies the question of authenticity, authorship and context of the "Nabatean Agriculture," dated by the author to around 600 AD. The second part consists of 61 translated and annotated excerpts of the "Nabatean Agriculture," until now available only in the Arabic original, as well as introductions to the world view of the text.
#89
Moscheen Und Madrasabauten in Iran 1785-1848
Architektur Zwischen Rückgriff Und Neuerung (Islamic History and Civilization)
2005
The book studies late 18th to mid-19th century Iranian architecture in mosques and madrasas, entering a widely unknown architectural period.
The introduction places the buildings as religious and political architecture in the context of the early Qājār monarchy and the rising urban elites. The main part analyses architectural development within a formal typology. Stylistic characteristics are defined, and formal groups are interpreted with regard to patron circles. The remarkable combination of tradition and innovation is discussed as a phenomenon of 18th/19th-century Iran and with a view to general trends of the period.
The thorough catalogue including buildings visited by the author and supplementary material, provides the reader with descriptions, inscription readings, historical data and textual sources, and is illustrated with photographs and plans on 200 plates (16 in colour).
#90
Egypt's Adjustment to Ottoman Rule
Institutions, Waqf and Architecture in Cairo, 16th and 17th Centuries
1994
Egypt's Adjustment to Ottoman Rule deals with the impact of the Ottoman conquest of Egypt on its political, religious and social institutions, their transition from the Mamluk to the Ottoman regime and further development up to the 17th century.
The relationship between the Ottoman ruling establishment, the local religious groups and the military aristocracy is discussed in the first part of the volume. Waqf documents are a major source for this study which, in the second part, analyzes and compares the endowments of the Ottoman governors and those of the military aristocracy and their respective impact on the urban development and architecture of Cairo in this period. The architecture is documented with 70 photographs and figures.
By integrating architecture and urbanism in the historical analysis of the period under study, this book is important for historians and art historians of Egypt.
#94
شعرية التأريخ الإسلامي
تفكيك تاريخ الطبري
2004
وكتاب شوشان هذا يقع في قسمين كبيرين، إضافة إلى المقدمة والتمهيد. كل من هذين القسمين مقسم بدوره" إلى أربعة فصول. القسم الأول تنظيري، يطرح الخطوط العامة للأساليب التي اتبعها الطبري ورواته لتوجيه الرواية التاريخية أو لإدارة دفتها في اتجاهٍ معين. من ذلك، مثلاً، الحرص على تصوير الرواية التاريخية على أنها محاكاة دقيقة، إلى هذا الحد أو ذاك، للواقعة التاريخية المروية. والمؤلف يقر بتأثره بطريقة هايدن وايت في معالجة النصوص التأريخية الكلاسيكية بوصفها أعمالاً سردية، والإستفادة من توظيف أدوات النقد الأدبي في دراسة تلك النصوص. وهذا، بعبارة أخرى، يعني توجيه الأنظار إلى الشكل الذي صيغت فيه الروايات، لا إلى البحث في مصداقيتها. أما القسم الآخر فهو تطبيقي، ويتناول أربع وقائع كبرى من تاريخ صدر الإسلام باعتبارها أمثلة مفصلة توضح الكيفية التي تم بها تطبيق تلك المباديء والستراتيجيات العامة المذكورة في القسم الأول. هذه الوقائع الأربع هي: حادثة السقيفة، ومقتل عثمان، ومعركة صفين، واستشهاد الحسين." - من صفحة المترجم على الفيس بوك
#95
The Revolution Which Toppled the Umayyads
Neither Arab Nor 'Abbasid
2003
This book re-examines the so-called 'Abbasid revolution, the ethnic character of whose effective constituency has been contested for over eight decades. It also brings to question the authenticity of the 'Abbasid dynastic claim. To establish its two theses (neither Arab nor 'Abbasid) this book employs, in its three parts, three distinct methodological approaches.To reconstruct the secret history of the clandestine Organization, Part One elicits a narrative through a rigorous application of the historical-critical method. Part Two subjects to close textual analysis some prime-grade literary specimen. In Part Three, a purely quantitative approach is adopted to study the demographic character of the formal structures of leadership within the Organization.
#96
Method and Theory in the Study of Islamic Origins
2003
This volume deals with the methodological and theoretical issues of the study of Islamic origins. Each of the twelve articles examines a different aspect of Islamic early Islamic history including the life of the Prophet, the Sunna and ḥadīth, tafsīr and the Qur'ān, and the rise of Islamic law. Both sceptical (or revisionist) scholars and sanguine (or traditionalist) scholars examine and employ the various contemporary theories on the development of Islam in the first 3 centuries A.H. In so doing, they seek to exemplify the sources and methodologies used to support these theories and to discuss their relative merits.
#97
Texts, Documents, and Artefacts
Islamic Studies in Honour of D.S. Richards
2003
Archaeologist Richards retired from a long teaching and research career at Oxford University in 2000. Former students, colleagues, and others in the profession honor him with essays on Arabic script and the committing of the Qur'an to writing, caliphs and their chroniclers in the Middle Abbasid period, the imprisonment of Reynalf of Chatillon, an original Arabic document from Crusader Antioch in about 1213, tribal feuding and Mamluk faction in medieval Syria, the collapse of the Great Saljuqs, the authenticity of the letter of the descendants of Muhammad b. Salih to the descendants of Mu'awiya b. Salih, materials for studying Arabic in the age of the early printed book, and other topics. There is no subject index. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
#101
Verbranntes Ufer
Auswirkungen Mamlukischer Seepolitik Auf Beirut Und Die Syro-Palastinensische Kuste (1250-1517) (Islamic History & Civilization)
2001
Verbranntes Ufer zeichnet erstmals das Bild der Entwicklung der syro-palästinensischen Hafenstädte nach der Vertreibung der letzten Kreuzfahrer mit Hilfe lokaler Chroniken wie den Werken von Sāliḥ Ibn Yaḥyā und Ibn Sibāṭ. Die Mamluken zerstörten die Küstenstädte, um den Kreuzfahrern keinen potentiellen Brückenkopf für eine erneute Landung zu geben. Auf die Politik des verbrannten Ufers griffen die Mamluken zurück, weil sie keine planvolle Seepolitik betrieben. Daher besaßen sie keine Flotte, mit der sie die Küste schon auf dem Meer hätten verteidigen können. Nach einer einführenden Diskussion der Gründe, warum die Mamluken keine Flotte aufbauten, folgt im Haupteil die Beschreibung der Geschichte der syro-palästinensischen Küste. Abgeschlossen wird das Werk durch eine analytische Darstellung der Sozialgeschichte der Küste, dem administrativen Aufbau der lokalen Verwaltung und dem Handel zwischen Europa und der Levante, wozu auch Dokumente aus dem Archivio di Stato von Venedig herangezogen wurden.
Verbranntes Ufer is the first complete presentation of the history of the Syro-Palestinian coast after the expulsion of the last crusaders as it appears in the local chronicles of Sāliḥ Ibn Yaḥyā und Ibn Sibāṭ. The Mamluks destroyed the coastal towns in order to leave no bridge head for a potential return of the crusaders. They maintained a policy of burned shore because they had no systematic sea policy. Therefore they did not develop a fleet to defend the coast. After discussing the reasons, why the Mamluks never constructed a fleet the main part of the work deals with the political history of the Syro-Palestinian coast. The work ends with an analytic description of the social history of the coast, the structure of the local administration and the trade between Europe and the Mamluk Empire, which is based on documents of the Archivio di Stato in Venice.
#103
Traktat Über Die Derwischmützen (Risāle-I Tāciyye) Des Müstaqīm-Zāde Süleymān Sādeddin (St. 1788) (Islamic History and Civilization)
2001
Dealing with dervish headcoverings ( tac ) in the Ottoman Empire and interpreting them in a broad sense this book is based on a late 18th century treatise of the Naqshbandi scholar Müstaqim-zade Süleyman Sadeddin (d. 1788) from Istanbul.
The introduction interprets the meaning of headcoverings in both the Ottoman society as well as in a dervish's private world and it discusses the terminology used in the dervish literature.
The second chapter is the critical transliteration of Müstaqim-zade's treatise. Müstaqim-zade does not only tell the history and meaning of headcoverings in Islam but also examines precisely the differences of the headcoverings in different tariqats.
Nine different indices conclude the book. Some of these are commented. The index on dressing terminology is especially important and serves as a reference. The book is illustrated with partly non-published hand drawings from Ottoman manuscripts as well as prints and photographs
#104
Excellence and Precedence
Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leadership
2002
This volume focuses on how legitimate leadership came to be defined in the formative period of Islam in terms of two key Qur'anic moral excellence ( faḍl/faḍīla ) and precedence ( sābiqa ). These two concepts undergirded a specific discourse on leadership which developed in the first century of Islam. This discourse is reconstructed through careful scrutiny of the manāqib literature in particular, which contains detailed accounts of the excellences attributed to the Rāshidūn caliphs. This book stresses that all early factions, including the proto-Shī'a, subscribed to the Qur'ānically-mandated vision of a righteous polity guided by its most morally excellent members. Such a conclusion forces us to rethink the nature of leadership in the earliest period and reconsider the criteria invoked to establish its legitimacy.
#105
The Great Mosque of Damascus
Studies in the Makings of an Umayyad Visual Culture
2000
The celebrated Great Mosque of Damascus was built in the early eighth century by the Umayyad caliph al-Walīd b. 'Abd al-Malik. This book provides a detailed study of this Mosque. Using textual, visual, and archaeological evidence, the author attempts to reconstruct some of the basic formal and decorative features of the Umayyad mosque, to locate it within its broader urban context, and to consider its role within al-Walīd's unprecedented programme of architectural patronage. The work explores the intracultural and intercultural functions of religious architecture within an official visual discourse intended to project a distinctive Muslim identity in a manner determined by Umayyad political aspirations. It will be of particular interest to those concerned with the relationship between the Umayyad caliphate and Byzantium.
#106
The Exoteric Ah?mad Ibn Idris
A Sufi's Critique on the Madhahib and the Wahhabis (Islamic History and Civilization, 31)
1999
The Moroccan mystic and theologian Aḥmad b. Idrīs (1749-1837) was one of the most dynamic personalities in the Islamic world of the 19th century. Through his teachings and the activity of his students important Sufi orders were founded which exerted wide-ranging social and political influence, orders such as the Sanūsiyya in Libya and the Khatmiyya in the Sudan. To date, publications dealing with him have especially focused on his biography and particular aspects of his mystical doctrines.
In the present work an Arabic edition and translation with commentary of two texts are made available which throw light on Ibn Idrīs' attitude towards the religious-dogmatic questions of his day and age. The first text, Risālat al-Radd 'alā ahl al-ra'y, provides information about Ibn Idrīs' relation to the Islamic schools of jurisprudence, in particular his position regarding the ijtihād-taqlīd debate which was so significant in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like many similarly minded scholars of his time, Aḥmad b. Idrīs categorically rejects the authority of the established schools of jurisprudence and favors instead the application of personal methods in deriving a legal judgement.
The second text presented here is a vivid report by one of his students describing a debate which Ibn Idrīs, at an advanced age, entered into with a Wahhābī theologian in the Yemenite city of sabyā in 1832. The text makes clear with regard to which points Ibn Idrīs hoped to establish agreement with the Wahhābīs, and where it was not possible to reach any mutual understanding.
The introduction of the present book examines the tumultuous political circumstances in which both Arabic texts were composed and sketches the larger cultural and intellectual context which shaped Ibn Idrīs' world of ideas.
#107
Islamic Mysticism Contested
Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics
1999
Islamic mysticism was contested from the formative period of Islam till the present. Criticism of and opposition to mystical conceptions of Islam and their adherents constitute an integral part of an ongoing debate inside the Islamic tradition. Controversies and polemics concerning Islamic mysticism often shaped and coincided with socio-political configurations. This volume results from a collective effort by a group of Islamicists and area specialists with a variety of disciplinary orientations to arrive at a comprehensive view of these controversies and polemics wherever and whenever found. The thirty-five contributions and the introduction are united in their historicising approach, while taking into account the wider socio-political context. Detailed indexes facilitate consultation of the work and give it an added value as work of reference and research tool.
#108
Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire
Al-Sa'di's Ta'rikh al-Sudan Down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents
1999
Rather than retranslating the Arabic text of Al-Saidi's (1596- 1656) history of western Africa, which would find little appeal among today's publishers, Hunwick (history, religions, and Islamic thought in Africa, Northwestern U.) revises the translation of French scholar Octava Houdas, which stood as the standard throughout the 20th century, based on other current editions. He also includes four other accounts of the region from the period. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Authors
Christophe Picard
Author · 2 books
Christophe Picard is Professor of History at the University of Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Anne Marie Edde
Author · 2 books
Anne-Marie Eddé is Director of Research at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, and was Professor of Medieval History at the University of Reims.
Shari L. Lowin
Author · 2 books
Dr. Shari L. Lowin is a historian of Judaism. Her research focuses on Judaism and its relation to Islam, particularly in the early and early medieval Islamic periods. Currently, she is a Professor of Religious Studies & Theology at Stonehill College.
Itzchak Weismann
Author · 2 books
Itzchak Weismann is Professor of Islamic studies and Director of the Jewish-Arab Center at Haifa University, Israel. His research focuses on modern Islam, including Islamic movements in the Middle East and South Asia, and interfaith dialogue.
Hugh Kennedy
Author · 10 books
NOTE: There is more than one author with this name on Goodreads. Hugh^Kennedy Has studies Arabic at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies. Went on to read Arabic, Persian & History at Cambridge. Taught in the Department of Medieval History at St Andrews since 1972, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2000).
Avinoam Shalem
Author · 1 books
Avinoam Shalem (born 1959) is the Riggio Professor of the History of the Arts of Islam. He is the author or editor of ten books, including, most recently, The Image of Muhammad Between Ideal and Ideology: A Scholarly Investigation.
Helga Anetshofer
Author · 1 books
Helga Anetshofer (PhD, Vienna University) is Lecturer for Ottoman and Turkish Studies at the University of Chicago. Her publications include her recent articles “Folk Etymologies and Stories of Toponyms from Danishmendid Territory in Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname” (2015) and “The Hero Dons a Talismanic Shirt for Battle: Magic Objects Aiding the Warrior in a Turkish Epic Romance” (2018).
