Ecumenical Community : Language and Politics of the Ummah in the Qurʾan /
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"In Ecumenical Community, Hamza M. Zafer explores the language and politics of community-formation in the Qurʾan. Zafer proposes that ecumenism, or the inclusivity of social difference, was a key alliance-building strategy in the western Arabian proto-Muslim communitarian movement (1st/7th century). The Proto-Muslims imagined that their pietistic community-the ummah-transcended but did not efface prior social differences based in class, clan, and custom. In highlighting the inclusive orientation of the Qurʾan's ummah-building program, Zafer provides new insights into the development of early Islam and the period preceding the Arab conquests"--
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004442993
9789004442986
Exploring the Mind of God: An Introduction to Shiʿite Legal Epistemology /
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This book introduces readers to the legal epistemology that is advocated within Twelver Shiʿite uṣūl al-fiqh (legal theory). It critically surveys the epistemological underpinnings upheld by post-19th century Uṣūlī clerics that impel them to mainly deduce and interpret Sharia using scripture and literalist hermeneutical methods. An evaluation of these underpinnings uncovers the important juxtaposition that exists between the seminarian discourses of uṣūl al-fiqh and philosophy. The book hypothesises that uṣūl al-fiqh has both space and historical precedence to accept alternative epistemological theories that may enable orthodox Shiʿite clerics to display greater dynamism in deducing and interpreting Sharia.
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1 online resource (180 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004536814
9789004544000
Jesus for Zanzibar : narratives of Pentecostal (non-)belonging, Islam, and nation /
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In Jesus for Zanzibar: Narratives of Pentecostal (Non-)Belonging, Islam, and Nation Hans Olsson offers an ethnographic account of the lived experience and socio-political significance of newly arriving Pentecostal Christians in the Muslim majority setting of Zanzibar. This work analyzes how a disputed political partnership between Zanzibar and Mainland Tanzania intersects with the construction of religious identities. Undertaken at a time of political tensions, the case study of Zanzibar's largest Pentecostal church, the City Christian Center, outlines religious belonging as relationally filtered in-between experiences of social insecurity, altered minority / majority positions, and spiritual powers. Hans Olsson shows that Pentecostal Christianity, as a signifier of (un)wanted social change, exemplifies contested processes of becoming in Zanzibar that capitalizes on, and creates meaning out of, religious difference and ambient political tensions.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004410367
John of Damascus and Islam : Christian heresiology and the intellectual background to earliest Christian-Muslim relations /
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How did Islam come to be considered a Christian heresy? In this book, Peter Schadler outlines the intellectual background of the Christian Near East that led John, a Christian serving in the court of the caliph in Damascus, to categorize Islam as a heresy. Schadler shows that different uses of the term heresy persisted among Christians, and then demonstrates that John's assessment of the beliefs and practices of Muslims has been mistakenly dismissed on assumptions he was highly biased. The practices and beliefs John ascribes to Islam have analogues in the Islamic tradition, proving that John may well represent an accurate picture of Islam as he knew it in the seventh and eighth centuries in Syria and Palestine.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004356054 :
1570-7350 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Philosophical Theology in Islam : Later Ashʿarism East and West /
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Philosophical Theology in Islam studies the later history of the Ashʿarī school of theology through in-depth probings of its thought, sources, scholarly networks and contexts. Starting with a review of al-Ghazālī's role in the emergence of post-Avicennan philosophical theology, the book offers a series of case studies on hitherto unstudied texts by the towering thinker Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī as well as specific philosophical and theological topics treated in his works. Studies furthermore shed light on the transmission and reception of later Ashʿarī doctrines in periods and regions that have so far received little scholarly attention. This book is the first exploration of the later Ashʿarī tradition across the medieval and early-modern period through a trans-regional perspective. Contributors: Peter Adamson, Asad Q. Ahmed, Fedor Benevich, Xavier Casassas Canals, Jon Hoover, Bilal Ibrahim, Andreas Lammer, Reza Pourjavady, Harith Ramli, Ulrich Rudolph, Meryem Sebti, Delfina Serrano-Ruano, Ayman Shihadeh, Aaron Spevack, and Jan Thiele.
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1 online resource. :
9789004426610
9789004426603
Reading Islam : life and politics of brotherhood in modern Turkey /
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In Reading Islam Fabio Vicini offers a journey within the intimate relations, reading practices, and forms of intellectual engagement that regulate Muslim life in two enclosed religious communities in Istanbul. Combining anthropological observation with textual and genealogical analysis, he illustrates how the modes of thought and social engagement promoted by these two communities are the outcome of complex intellectual entanglements with modern discourses about science, education, the self, and Muslims' place and responsibility in society. In this way, Reading Islam sheds light on the formation of new generations of faithful and socially active Muslims over the last thirty years and on their impact on the turn of Turkey from an assertive secularist Republic to an Islamic-oriented form of governance.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004413757
Christian-Muslim dialogue : perspectives of four Lebanese thinkers /
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Lebanon is a significant region of encounter between Muslims and Christians in the Middle East. This book examines how Christian-Muslim dialogue is envisioned by four present-day Lebanese thinkers: Great Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah and Doctor Mahmoud Ayoub from the Shiite tradition, and Metropolitan Georges Khodr and Doctor, Father Mouchir Basile Aoun from the Eastern Christian Antiochian tradition. The study seeks to bring the four thinkers into dialogue on a number of topics, including doctrinal themes, ethical principles and the issue of political power-sharing in Lebanon. All four thinkers make several suggestions for facilitating mutual understanding and transcending old debates. The concept of God and the principle of neighbourly love seem to have particular potential as fruitful bases for further dialogue.
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1 online resource (vii, 349 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004238534 :
1570-7350 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The qussas of early Islam /
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The Islamic qāṣṣ (preacher/storyteller) has been viewed most commonly as a teller of stories, primarily religious in nature and often unreliable. Building on material of over a hundred quṣṣāṣ from the rise of Islam through the end of the Umayyad period, this book offers the most comprehensive study of the early Islamic qāṣṣ to-date. By constructing profiles of these preachers/ storytellers and examining statements attributed to them, it argues that they were not merely storytellers but were in fact a complex group with diverse religious interests. The book demonstrates how the style and conduct of their teaching sessions distinguished them from other teachers and preachers and also explores their relationship with early religio-political movements, as well as with the Umayyad administration.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004335523 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The city of the moon god : religious traditions of Harran /
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This study treats the religious and intellectual history of the city of Harran (Eastern Turkey) from biblical times down to the establishment of Islam. The author starts from the well-known reference in the Qur'an and the early Islamic histories to the people of Harran as Sabians, one of the 'peoples of the book.' The author unravels strands of religious tradition in Harran that run from the old Semitic planetary cults through Hellenistic hermeticism, gnosticism, and Neo-Pythagoreanism and Christian cults to esoteric Islamic sects such as the Sufis and Shiites.
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1 online resource (viii, 232 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-224) and index. :
9789004301429 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Theology and society in the second and third centuries of the Hijra. a history of religious thought in Early Islam /
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Theology and Society is the most comprehensive study of Islamic intellectual and religious history, focusing on Muslim theology. With its emphasis on the eighth and ninth centuries CE, it remains the most detailed prosopographical study of the early phase of the formation of Islam. Originally published in German between 1991 and 1995, Theology and Society is a monument of scholarship and a unique scholarly enterprise which has stood the test of time as an unparalleled reference work.
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1 online resource (844 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004344020 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tafsir as mystical experience: intimacy and ecstasy in Quran commentary : the Tafsir Surat al-Baqara by Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad, the Bab (1819-1850) /
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In Tafsir as Mystical Experience , Todd Lawson shows how the Quran may be engaged with for meaning and understanding, the usual goal of mystical exegesis, and also how it may be engaged with through tafsīr in a quest for spiritual or mystical experience. In this earliest of the Báb's extended works, written before his public claim to be the return of the hidden Imam, the act of reading is shown to be something akin to holy communion in which the sacred text is both entrance upon and destination of the mystic quest. The Quran here is a door to an "abode of glory" and an abiding spiritual encounter with the divine through the prophet, his daughter Fāṭima and the twelve Imams of Ithna-ʿasharī Shiʿism who inhabit the letters, words, verses and suras of the Book. Cover calligraphy by Burhan Zahrai of Quran 53:11
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004385436
Malay court religion, culture and language : interpreting the Qur'an in 17th century Aceh /
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In Malay Court Religion, Culture and Language: Interpreting the Qurʾān in 17th Century Aceh Peter G. Riddell undertakes a detailed study of the two earliest works of Qur'anic exegesis from the Malay-Indonesian world. Riddell explores the 17th century context in the Sultanate of Aceh that produced the two works, and the history of both texts. He argues that political, social and religious factors provide important windows into the content and approaches of both Qur'anic commentaries. He also provides a transliteration of the Jawi Malay text of both commentaries on sūra 18 of the Qur'ān ( al-Kahf ), as well as an annotated translation into English. This work represents an important contribution to the search for greater understanding of the early Islamic history of the Malay-Indonesian world.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004341326 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian-Muslim Relations. Volume 15 A Thematic History (600-1600) /
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Christian-Muslim Relations, Volume 15, A Thematic History (600-1600) is a further volume in a general history of relations between the two faiths from the 7th century to the early 20th century. The chapters within it illustrate the range, complexity, and dynamics of interaction between the two faiths during the first thousand years of encounter. All chapters primarily draw upon entries found in volumes 1-7 of Christian-Muslim Relations. They explore tropes of perception, image and judgement that each religious community held in respect to the other through these centuries, and discuss issues and topics that occupied Christians and Muslims in their interaction. The first millennium sets the scene for the modern era and our understandings of contemporary relations and issues. Contributors are Mark Beaumont, Clinton Bennett, David Bertaina, Ulisse Ceceni, David Bryan Cook, Martha Frederiks, Ayşe İçöz, Maha El Kaisy-Friemuth, Sandra Keating, James Harry Morris, Nicholas Morton, Gordon Nickel, Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala, Tom Papademetriou, Gabriel Said Reynolds, Christian Sahner, Mark N. Swanson, Mourad Takawi, Luke Yarbrough.
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1 online resource. :
9789004423701
9789004423190
On the margins : Jews and Muslims in interwar Berlin /
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"This study addresses encounters between Jews and Muslims in interwar Berlin. Living on the margins of German society, the two groups sometimes used that position to fuse visions and their personal lives. German politics set the switches for their meeting, while the urban setting of Western Berlin offered a unique contact zone. Although the meeting was largely accidental, Muslim Indian missions served as a crystallization point. Five case studies approach the protagonists and their network from a variety of perspectives. Stories surfaced testifying the multiple aid Muslims gave to Jews during Nazi persecution. Using archival materials that have not been accessed before, the study opens up a novel view on Muslims and Jews in the 20th century".
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004421813
Thus spake the dervish : Sufism, language, and the religious margins in Central Asia, 1400-1900 /
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Thus Spake the Dervish explores the unfamiliar history of marginal Sufis, known as dervishes, in early modern and modern Central Asia over a period of 500 years. It draws on various sources (Persian chronicles and treatises, Turkic literature, Russian and French ethnography, the author's fieldwork) to examine five successive cases, each of which corresponds to a time period, a specific socially marginal space, and a particular use of mystical language. Including an extensive selection of writings by dervishes, this book demonstrates the diversity and tenacity of Central Asian Sufism over a long period. Here translated into a Western language for the first time, the extracts from primary texts by marginal Sufis allow a rare insight into their world. The original French edition of this book, Ainsi parlait le dervice, was published by Editions du Cerf (Paris, France). Translated by Caroline Kraabel.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004402027
Islamic mysticism : a short history.
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The book provides a general survey of the history of Islamic mysticism (Sufism) since its inception up to the modern time. It combines chronological and personality-based approaches to the subject with a thematic discussion of principal Sufi notions and institutions. Sufism is examined from a variety of different perspectives: as a vibrant social institution, a specific form of artistic expression (mainly poetic), an ascetic and contemplative practice, and a distinctive intellectual tradition that derived its vitality from a dialogue with other strands of Islamic thought. The book emphasizes the wide variety of Sufism's interactions with the society and its institutions from an ascetic withdrawal from the world to an active involvement in its affairs by individual Sufi masters and organizations. Islamic Mysticism by Knysh is a comprehensive survey of the interesting and fascinating world of Islamic Mysticism.
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1 online resource (358 pages) :
9789004215764 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Mysticism and philosophy in al-Andalus : Ibn Masarra, Ibn al-'Arabi and the Isma'ili tradition /
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Muslim Spain gave rise to two unusual figures in the mystical tradition of Islam: 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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004255371
The theology of Abu l-Qasim al-Balkhi/al-Ka'bi (d. 319/931) /
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This is the first comprehensive monograph on the theology of Abū l-Qāsim al-Kaʿbī al-Balkhī (d. 319/931), a leading Muʿtazilī who flourished at the end of the Baghdādī school and at the beginning of the scholastic phase of Muʿtazilī history. The study of al-Kaʿbī's theology has been hindered by historiographical barriers: the fragmentary nature of extant articles, and the difficulties of reconstructing their contexts. This work investigates the twofold challenge of recovering al-Kaʿbī's theology on the basis of a source-critical reconstruction of major extant fragments. One result of this study positions al-Kaʿbī's theology as influenced less by the precepts of a Baghdādī school, and guided more by his individual views and affinity for earlier independent Muʿtazilī positions. Another result not only corroborates al-Kaʿbī's previously noted contributions in epistemology and cosmology, but also argues for their centrality to his theology as a whole.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004259683 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Sufi doctrine of man : ?adr al-Din al-Qunawi's metaphysical anthropology /
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In The Sufi Doctrine of Man , Richard Todd examines the life and thought of Ibn 'Arabī's chief disciple, Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī (13th century C.E.). Making use of manuscript sources, he analyzes and contextualizes Qūnawī's esoteric vision of the nature and purpose of human existence, a doctrine which incorporates core elements of Qūnawī's metaphysics, cosmology, psychology, and eschatology. Qūnawī's thought is placed in relation to Ibn 'Arabī's and that of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā', and his interaction with the Avicennian tradition is explored by focusing on his dialogue with the philosopher al-Ṭūsī. Although not as famous as his master, Qūnawī is shown to have been a sophisticated metaphysician in his own right, who had a major impact on Sufi thought.
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1 online resource (pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004271265 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.