S. E. Finer
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198207900
- eISBN:
- 9780191677854
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207900.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Medieval History
No one has hitherto had the breadth of imagination and intellectual boldness to describe and analyse government throughout recorded history and throughout the world. Ranging over 5,000 years, from ...
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No one has hitherto had the breadth of imagination and intellectual boldness to describe and analyse government throughout recorded history and throughout the world. Ranging over 5,000 years, from the Sumerian city state to the modern European nation state, five themes emerge in this book: state-building, military formats, belief systems, social stratification, and timespan. The three volumes examine both representative and exceptional polities, and focus on political elites of different types. This text is the second volume and it analyses the ‘church’ politics of the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate; the evolution of the T'ang and Ming Empires in China; the characteristics of feudal Europe, the ‘republican alternatives’ of Florence and Venice, and finally the growth of representative assemblies across Europe.Less
No one has hitherto had the breadth of imagination and intellectual boldness to describe and analyse government throughout recorded history and throughout the world. Ranging over 5,000 years, from the Sumerian city state to the modern European nation state, five themes emerge in this book: state-building, military formats, belief systems, social stratification, and timespan. The three volumes examine both representative and exceptional polities, and focus on political elites of different types. This text is the second volume and it analyses the ‘church’ politics of the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate; the evolution of the T'ang and Ming Empires in China; the characteristics of feudal Europe, the ‘republican alternatives’ of Florence and Venice, and finally the growth of representative assemblies across Europe.
Gerhard Bowering (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164823
- eISBN:
- 9781400866427
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164823.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
In sixteen concise chapters on key topics, this book provides a rich, authoritative, and up-to-date introduction to Islamic political thought from the birth of Islam to today, presenting essential ...
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In sixteen concise chapters on key topics, this book provides a rich, authoritative, and up-to-date introduction to Islamic political thought from the birth of Islam to today, presenting essential background and context for understanding contemporary politics in the Islamic world and beyond. Selected from the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, and focusing on the origins, development, and contemporary importance of Islamic political ideas and related subjects, each chapter offers a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to its topic. Written by leading specialists and incorporating the latest scholarship, the alphabetically arranged chapters cover the topics of authority, the caliphate, fundamentalism, government, jihad, knowledge, minorities, modernity, Muhammad, pluralism and tolerance, the Qur'an, revival and reform, shari'a (sacred law), traditional political thought, ‘ulama’ (religious scholars), and women. Read separately or together, these chapters provide an indispensable resource for students, journalists, policymakers, and anyone else seeking an informed perspective on the complex intersection of Islam and politics.Less
In sixteen concise chapters on key topics, this book provides a rich, authoritative, and up-to-date introduction to Islamic political thought from the birth of Islam to today, presenting essential background and context for understanding contemporary politics in the Islamic world and beyond. Selected from the acclaimed Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, and focusing on the origins, development, and contemporary importance of Islamic political ideas and related subjects, each chapter offers a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to its topic. Written by leading specialists and incorporating the latest scholarship, the alphabetically arranged chapters cover the topics of authority, the caliphate, fundamentalism, government, jihad, knowledge, minorities, modernity, Muhammad, pluralism and tolerance, the Qur'an, revival and reform, shari'a (sacred law), traditional political thought, ‘ulama’ (religious scholars), and women. Read separately or together, these chapters provide an indispensable resource for students, journalists, policymakers, and anyone else seeking an informed perspective on the complex intersection of Islam and politics.
Shafique N. Virani
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195311730
- eISBN:
- 9780199785490
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311730.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
In the period following the Mongol invasion, we witness the primacy of the belief in the soteriological necessity of the imamate and, in particular, of the current Imam. While this conviction was ...
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In the period following the Mongol invasion, we witness the primacy of the belief in the soteriological necessity of the imamate and, in particular, of the current Imam. While this conviction was basic to Shi'ism, previous elaborations of the imamate had generally given a place to the Imam's political role and his right to rule the Muslim polity. In documents spanning the entire period, 250 years after Alamut's fall to the Mongols, we find an emphasis on the absolute and uncompromising necessity for a present (hadir) and living (mawjud) Imam, the manifest guide who could lead believers to a recognition of God. The Imam is the speaking Quran, the talisman by which the treasury of creation's spiritual meaning can be opened. In Ismaili thought, to come in contact with the Imam of one's time is the aim of every seeker of truth.Less
In the period following the Mongol invasion, we witness the primacy of the belief in the soteriological necessity of the imamate and, in particular, of the current Imam. While this conviction was basic to Shi'ism, previous elaborations of the imamate had generally given a place to the Imam's political role and his right to rule the Muslim polity. In documents spanning the entire period, 250 years after Alamut's fall to the Mongols, we find an emphasis on the absolute and uncompromising necessity for a present (hadir) and living (mawjud) Imam, the manifest guide who could lead believers to a recognition of God. The Imam is the speaking Quran, the talisman by which the treasury of creation's spiritual meaning can be opened. In Ismaili thought, to come in contact with the Imam of one's time is the aim of every seeker of truth.
Hüseyin Yilmaz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691197135
- eISBN:
- 9781400888047
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691197135.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The medieval theory of the caliphate, epitomized by the Abbasids (750–1258), was the construct of jurists who conceived it as a contractual leadership of the Muslim community in succession to the ...
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The medieval theory of the caliphate, epitomized by the Abbasids (750–1258), was the construct of jurists who conceived it as a contractual leadership of the Muslim community in succession to the Prophet Muhammed's political authority. This book traces how a new conception of the caliphate emerged under the Ottomans, who redefined the caliph as at once a ruler, a spiritual guide, and a lawmaker corresponding to the prophet's three natures. Challenging conventional narratives that portray the Ottoman caliphate as a fading relic of medieval Islamic law, the book offers a novel interpretation of authority, sovereignty, and imperial ideology by examining how Ottoman political discourse led to the mystification of Muslim political ideals and redefined the caliphate. It illuminates how Ottoman Sufis reimagined the caliphate as a manifestation and extension of cosmic divine governance. The Ottoman Empire arose in Western Anatolia and the Balkans, where charismatic Sufi leaders were perceived to be God's deputies on earth. The book traces how Ottoman rulers, in alliance with an increasingly powerful Sufi establishment, continuously refashioned and legitimated their rule through mystical imageries of authority, and how the caliphate itself reemerged as a moral paradigm that shaped early modern Muslim empires.Less
The medieval theory of the caliphate, epitomized by the Abbasids (750–1258), was the construct of jurists who conceived it as a contractual leadership of the Muslim community in succession to the Prophet Muhammed's political authority. This book traces how a new conception of the caliphate emerged under the Ottomans, who redefined the caliph as at once a ruler, a spiritual guide, and a lawmaker corresponding to the prophet's three natures. Challenging conventional narratives that portray the Ottoman caliphate as a fading relic of medieval Islamic law, the book offers a novel interpretation of authority, sovereignty, and imperial ideology by examining how Ottoman political discourse led to the mystification of Muslim political ideals and redefined the caliphate. It illuminates how Ottoman Sufis reimagined the caliphate as a manifestation and extension of cosmic divine governance. The Ottoman Empire arose in Western Anatolia and the Balkans, where charismatic Sufi leaders were perceived to be God's deputies on earth. The book traces how Ottoman rulers, in alliance with an increasingly powerful Sufi establishment, continuously refashioned and legitimated their rule through mystical imageries of authority, and how the caliphate itself reemerged as a moral paradigm that shaped early modern Muslim empires.
Wadad Kadi and Aram A. Shahin
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164823
- eISBN:
- 9781400866427
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164823.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter discusses the political, historical, and institutional aspects of the caliphate. The term “caliphate” is most commonly restricted to five periods or dynasties: the Rightly Guided ...
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This chapter discusses the political, historical, and institutional aspects of the caliphate. The term “caliphate” is most commonly restricted to five periods or dynasties: the Rightly Guided Caliphate (632–61), the Umayyad caliphate (661–750), the Abbasid caliphate (750–1258 and 1261–1517), the Fatimid caliphate (909–1171), and the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba (928–1031). Throughout the centuries, however, various other rulers have made claims to the caliphate or adopted the caliphal titulature—that is, one or more titles usually associated with caliphs. The first four successors of the Prophet Muhammad are usually called the Rightly Guided Caliphs. But those Muslims who do not accept the legitimacy of some of these rulers refrain from applying this expression to them.Less
This chapter discusses the political, historical, and institutional aspects of the caliphate. The term “caliphate” is most commonly restricted to five periods or dynasties: the Rightly Guided Caliphate (632–61), the Umayyad caliphate (661–750), the Abbasid caliphate (750–1258 and 1261–1517), the Fatimid caliphate (909–1171), and the Umayyad caliphate of Córdoba (928–1031). Throughout the centuries, however, various other rulers have made claims to the caliphate or adopted the caliphal titulature—that is, one or more titles usually associated with caliphs. The first four successors of the Prophet Muhammad are usually called the Rightly Guided Caliphs. But those Muslims who do not accept the legitimacy of some of these rulers refrain from applying this expression to them.
Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691144870
- eISBN:
- 9781400842483
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691144870.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter studies how literate Jewish farmers abandoned farming and became small, urban populations of skilled craftsmen, shopkeepers, traders, money changers, moneylenders, scholars, and ...
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This chapter studies how literate Jewish farmers abandoned farming and became small, urban populations of skilled craftsmen, shopkeepers, traders, money changers, moneylenders, scholars, and physicians. The literacy of the Jewish people, coupled with a set of contract-enforcement institutions developed during the five centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple, gave the Jews a comparative advantage in occupations such as crafts, trade, and moneylending—occupations that benefited from literacy, contract-enforcement mechanisms, and networking. Once the Jews were engaged in these occupations, they rarely converted, which is consistent with the fact that the Jewish population grew slightly from the seventh to the twelfth century. Subsequently, the establishment of the Muslim caliphates during the seventh and eighth centuries, and the concomitant vast urbanization and growth of manufacture and trade in the Middle East, acted as a catalyst for the massive transition of the Jews from farming to crafts and trade.Less
This chapter studies how literate Jewish farmers abandoned farming and became small, urban populations of skilled craftsmen, shopkeepers, traders, money changers, moneylenders, scholars, and physicians. The literacy of the Jewish people, coupled with a set of contract-enforcement institutions developed during the five centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple, gave the Jews a comparative advantage in occupations such as crafts, trade, and moneylending—occupations that benefited from literacy, contract-enforcement mechanisms, and networking. Once the Jews were engaged in these occupations, they rarely converted, which is consistent with the fact that the Jewish population grew slightly from the seventh to the twelfth century. Subsequently, the establishment of the Muslim caliphates during the seventh and eighth centuries, and the concomitant vast urbanization and growth of manufacture and trade in the Middle East, acted as a catalyst for the massive transition of the Jews from farming to crafts and trade.
Mona Hassan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691166780
- eISBN:
- 9781400883714
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691166780.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
In the United States and Europe, the word “caliphate” has conjured historically romantic and increasingly pernicious associations. Yet the caliphate's significance in Islamic history and Muslim ...
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In the United States and Europe, the word “caliphate” has conjured historically romantic and increasingly pernicious associations. Yet the caliphate's significance in Islamic history and Muslim culture remains poorly understood. This book explores the myriad meanings of the caliphate for Muslims around the world through the analytical lens of two key moments of loss in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries. The book explores the rich constellation of interpretations created by religious scholars, historians, musicians, statesmen, poets, and intellectuals. The book fills a scholarly gap regarding Muslim reactions to the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad in 1258 and challenges the notion that the Mongol onslaught signaled an end to the critical engagement of Muslim jurists and intellectuals with the idea of an Islamic caliphate. It also situates Muslim responses to the dramatic abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924 as part of a longer trajectory of transregional cultural memory, revealing commonalities and differences in how modern Muslims have creatively interpreted and reinterpreted their heritage. The book examines how poignant memories of the lost caliphate have been evoked in Muslim culture, law, and politics, similar to the losses and repercussions experienced by other religious communities, including the destruction of the Second Temple for Jews and the fall of Rome for Christians. A global history, the book delves into why the caliphate has been so important to Muslims in vastly different eras and places.Less
In the United States and Europe, the word “caliphate” has conjured historically romantic and increasingly pernicious associations. Yet the caliphate's significance in Islamic history and Muslim culture remains poorly understood. This book explores the myriad meanings of the caliphate for Muslims around the world through the analytical lens of two key moments of loss in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries. The book explores the rich constellation of interpretations created by religious scholars, historians, musicians, statesmen, poets, and intellectuals. The book fills a scholarly gap regarding Muslim reactions to the destruction of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad in 1258 and challenges the notion that the Mongol onslaught signaled an end to the critical engagement of Muslim jurists and intellectuals with the idea of an Islamic caliphate. It also situates Muslim responses to the dramatic abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924 as part of a longer trajectory of transregional cultural memory, revealing commonalities and differences in how modern Muslims have creatively interpreted and reinterpreted their heritage. The book examines how poignant memories of the lost caliphate have been evoked in Muslim culture, law, and politics, similar to the losses and repercussions experienced by other religious communities, including the destruction of the Second Temple for Jews and the fall of Rome for Christians. A global history, the book delves into why the caliphate has been so important to Muslims in vastly different eras and places.
John C. Wilkinson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199588268
- eISBN:
- 9780191595400
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588268.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter discusses pre-Islamic religion and the conversion of the Arab tribes in Oman, how they drove the Persian occupants out and took possession of the settled lands. It then examines the ...
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This chapter discusses pre-Islamic religion and the conversion of the Arab tribes in Oman, how they drove the Persian occupants out and took possession of the settled lands. It then examines the conflicting histories of the ridda (apostasy) wars in some detail, not only because anything new relevant to the period of the Prophet and the immediate aftermath of his death is of concern to Muslim history, but also because the tribal and religious bias of the classical Arabic sources against the Yamani tribes and the much feared Ibâḍi ‘shurât’ has downplayed the role of Oman. The chapter concludes with an examination of the system of Caliphate government as it became incorporated into the Islamic state and the tribes became involved in campaigns in Sasanid territory, first based on Tawwaj and then on Basra (Ch IV), with the consequence that Oman itself lapsed into a tribal backwater under the pre-Islamic dynasty of the Julandâ.Less
This chapter discusses pre-Islamic religion and the conversion of the Arab tribes in Oman, how they drove the Persian occupants out and took possession of the settled lands. It then examines the conflicting histories of the ridda (apostasy) wars in some detail, not only because anything new relevant to the period of the Prophet and the immediate aftermath of his death is of concern to Muslim history, but also because the tribal and religious bias of the classical Arabic sources against the Yamani tribes and the much feared Ibâḍi ‘shurât’ has downplayed the role of Oman. The chapter concludes with an examination of the system of Caliphate government as it became incorporated into the Islamic state and the tribes became involved in campaigns in Sasanid territory, first based on Tawwaj and then on Basra (Ch IV), with the consequence that Oman itself lapsed into a tribal backwater under the pre-Islamic dynasty of the Julandâ.
F. E. Peters
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199747467
- eISBN:
- 9780199894796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199747467.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The legacy of each man is the subject of this chapter. Though it presents grave problems to the historian, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead — there were reportedly witnesses to the risen Jesus — ...
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The legacy of each man is the subject of this chapter. Though it presents grave problems to the historian, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead — there were reportedly witnesses to the risen Jesus — empowers the Twelve and sets in train the Jesus movement that soon begins to worship him as the Son of God. What followed Muhammad’s perfectly natural death was more political: a struggle over the succession to the leadership of the community, overshadowed perhaps by the expanding military conquest of Arabia and then the Middle East. Muhammad meanwhile grows in stature after his death: he becomes the ideal Muslim, the paragon and model of all the virtues he preached in the Quran.Less
The legacy of each man is the subject of this chapter. Though it presents grave problems to the historian, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead — there were reportedly witnesses to the risen Jesus — empowers the Twelve and sets in train the Jesus movement that soon begins to worship him as the Son of God. What followed Muhammad’s perfectly natural death was more political: a struggle over the succession to the leadership of the community, overshadowed perhaps by the expanding military conquest of Arabia and then the Middle East. Muhammad meanwhile grows in stature after his death: he becomes the ideal Muslim, the paragon and model of all the virtues he preached in the Quran.
Sara Savage and Jose Liht
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548781
- eISBN:
- 9780191720673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548781.003.0025
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter outlines key ingredients of Islamist radical religious speech and the social psychological needs to which they appeal, particularly among second and third generation young Muslims living ...
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This chapter outlines key ingredients of Islamist radical religious speech and the social psychological needs to which they appeal, particularly among second and third generation young Muslims living in Europe and Britain. Key structural features of Islamist radical religious speech include: a three-part narrative, promoting low levels of complexity, rhetorical strategies, the closed way in which the belief system is organized, and the ‘rationalistic’ word-based emphasis. The chapter discusses the social psychological tendencies to which the extreme speech appeals: self-definitional uncertainty among young Muslims, intensified perceptions of ingroup and outgroups, and perceptions of the world-wide status hierarchy that is deemed unstable and liable to change (post 9/11). Extreme speech is most powerfully ‘activated’ under totalist group conditions.Less
This chapter outlines key ingredients of Islamist radical religious speech and the social psychological needs to which they appeal, particularly among second and third generation young Muslims living in Europe and Britain. Key structural features of Islamist radical religious speech include: a three-part narrative, promoting low levels of complexity, rhetorical strategies, the closed way in which the belief system is organized, and the ‘rationalistic’ word-based emphasis. The chapter discusses the social psychological tendencies to which the extreme speech appeals: self-definitional uncertainty among young Muslims, intensified perceptions of ingroup and outgroups, and perceptions of the world-wide status hierarchy that is deemed unstable and liable to change (post 9/11). Extreme speech is most powerfully ‘activated’ under totalist group conditions.
Andrew Marsham
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625123
- eISBN:
- 9780748653157
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625123.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This history explores the ceremony of the oath of allegiance to the caliph from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until the fragmentation of the caliphate in the late ninth and tenth centuries in ...
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This history explores the ceremony of the oath of allegiance to the caliph from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until the fragmentation of the caliphate in the late ninth and tenth centuries in Syria and Iraq. The book examines how caliphs sought to proclaim their status as the representatives of God's covenant on earth through syntheses of Roman and Iranian royal ritual and customs and practices brought from pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabia. The study of royal rituals of accession and succession in Christian Rome, Byzantium and the early Medieval West has generated an extensive literature. This has however remained unexplored in scholarship on the Islamic world. This book redresses that by examining the ceremonial of accession to the caliphate in early Islam, covering the place of ritual in political practice, changes and continuities in that practice, and the problem of how best to understand accounts of ritual. The book also offers a contribution to major, current debates in Islamic history — development of Arab-Muslim identity and the formation of the ‘Islamic state’. Engaging with current debates about the reliability of the Islamic tradition for early Islamic history, the book identifies key turning-points in the formation of classical Islamic political culture. An early chapter discusses the importance of the Qur'an as a historical source for the time of the Prophet Muhammad.Less
This history explores the ceremony of the oath of allegiance to the caliph from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until the fragmentation of the caliphate in the late ninth and tenth centuries in Syria and Iraq. The book examines how caliphs sought to proclaim their status as the representatives of God's covenant on earth through syntheses of Roman and Iranian royal ritual and customs and practices brought from pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabia. The study of royal rituals of accession and succession in Christian Rome, Byzantium and the early Medieval West has generated an extensive literature. This has however remained unexplored in scholarship on the Islamic world. This book redresses that by examining the ceremonial of accession to the caliphate in early Islam, covering the place of ritual in political practice, changes and continuities in that practice, and the problem of how best to understand accounts of ritual. The book also offers a contribution to major, current debates in Islamic history — development of Arab-Muslim identity and the formation of the ‘Islamic state’. Engaging with current debates about the reliability of the Islamic tradition for early Islamic history, the book identifies key turning-points in the formation of classical Islamic political culture. An early chapter discusses the importance of the Qur'an as a historical source for the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
Hüseyin Yılmaz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691197135
- eISBN:
- 9781400888047
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691197135.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter discusses the mystification of the Ottoman caliphate and the apocalyptic-messianic reconstruction of imperial ideology in the context of the long Ottoman–Safavid conflict of the ...
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This chapter discusses the mystification of the Ottoman caliphate and the apocalyptic-messianic reconstruction of imperial ideology in the context of the long Ottoman–Safavid conflict of the sixteenth century. Current studies in the main treat the Ottoman–Safavid conflict as no more than a sectarian conflict between two expanding Muslim empires. The Ottomans, however, perceived it as an apocalyptic conflict between primordial forces of faith and disbelief, often expressed in manicheistic dichotomies. Being one of the most aggressively fought religious wars in Islamic history, it profoundly altered both Sunni and Shiite conceptions of history and rulership. The Safavids, being at once a Turkoman chieftainship, a Shiite dynasty, and a Sufi order, were better endowed with esoteric image-making skills than the Ottomans, whose juristic and theological arguments against heresy were, simply, by definition nullified. Despite the Ottoman military might that overwhelmed the Safavids in multiple battles, the Safavid–Shiite call resonated much more strongly among the vast Turkoman diaspora from Central Asia to the Balkans, particularly among popular mystical orders of the countryside.Less
This chapter discusses the mystification of the Ottoman caliphate and the apocalyptic-messianic reconstruction of imperial ideology in the context of the long Ottoman–Safavid conflict of the sixteenth century. Current studies in the main treat the Ottoman–Safavid conflict as no more than a sectarian conflict between two expanding Muslim empires. The Ottomans, however, perceived it as an apocalyptic conflict between primordial forces of faith and disbelief, often expressed in manicheistic dichotomies. Being one of the most aggressively fought religious wars in Islamic history, it profoundly altered both Sunni and Shiite conceptions of history and rulership. The Safavids, being at once a Turkoman chieftainship, a Shiite dynasty, and a Sufi order, were better endowed with esoteric image-making skills than the Ottomans, whose juristic and theological arguments against heresy were, simply, by definition nullified. Despite the Ottoman military might that overwhelmed the Safavids in multiple battles, the Safavid–Shiite call resonated much more strongly among the vast Turkoman diaspora from Central Asia to the Balkans, particularly among popular mystical orders of the countryside.
Christian C. Sahner
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691179100
- eISBN:
- 9780691184180
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691179100.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play in this process? This book explains how Christians across the ...
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How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play in this process? This book explains how Christians across the early Islamic caliphate slowly converted to the faith of the Arab conquerors and how small groups of individuals rejected this faith through dramatic acts of resistance, including apostasy and blasphemy. Using previously untapped sources in a range of Middle Eastern languages, the book introduces an unknown group of martyrs who were executed at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries CE. Found in places as diverse as Syria, Spain, Egypt, and Armenia, they include an alleged descendant of Muhammad who converted to Christianity; high-ranking Christian secretaries of the Muslim state who viciously insulted the Prophet; and the children of mixed marriages between Muslims and Christians. The book argues that Christians never experienced systematic persecution under the early caliphs, and indeed, they remained the largest portion of the population in the greater Middle East for centuries after the Arab conquest. Still, episodes of ferocious violence contributed to the spread of Islam within Christian societies, and memories of this bloodshed played a key role in shaping Christian identity in the new Islamic empire. The book examines how violence against Christians ended the age of porous religious boundaries and laid the foundations for more antagonistic Muslim–Christian relations in the centuries to come.Less
How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play in this process? This book explains how Christians across the early Islamic caliphate slowly converted to the faith of the Arab conquerors and how small groups of individuals rejected this faith through dramatic acts of resistance, including apostasy and blasphemy. Using previously untapped sources in a range of Middle Eastern languages, the book introduces an unknown group of martyrs who were executed at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries CE. Found in places as diverse as Syria, Spain, Egypt, and Armenia, they include an alleged descendant of Muhammad who converted to Christianity; high-ranking Christian secretaries of the Muslim state who viciously insulted the Prophet; and the children of mixed marriages between Muslims and Christians. The book argues that Christians never experienced systematic persecution under the early caliphs, and indeed, they remained the largest portion of the population in the greater Middle East for centuries after the Arab conquest. Still, episodes of ferocious violence contributed to the spread of Islam within Christian societies, and memories of this bloodshed played a key role in shaping Christian identity in the new Islamic empire. The book examines how violence against Christians ended the age of porous religious boundaries and laid the foundations for more antagonistic Muslim–Christian relations in the centuries to come.
Brian Ulrich
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474436793
- eISBN:
- 9781474464857
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474436793.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Examining a single broad tribal identity - al-Azd - from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Umayyad and into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time. ...
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Examining a single broad tribal identity - al-Azd - from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Umayyad and into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time. It explores the ways in which the rise of the early Islamic empire influenced the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula who became a core part of it, and examines the connections between the kinship societies and the developing state of the early caliphate. This helps us to understand how what are often called 'tribal' forms of social organisation identity conditioned its growth and helped shape what became its common elite culture. Studying the relationship between tribe and state during the first two centuries of the caliphate, the focus is on understanding the survival and transformation of tribal identity until it became part of the literate high culture of the Abbasid caliphate and a component of a larger Arab ethnic identity. The book argues that, from pre-Islamic Arabia to the caliphate, greater continuity existed between tribal identity and social practice than is generally portrayed.Less
Examining a single broad tribal identity - al-Azd - from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Umayyad and into the early Abbasid era, this book notes the ways it was continually refashioned over that time. It explores the ways in which the rise of the early Islamic empire influenced the peoples of the Arabian Peninsula who became a core part of it, and examines the connections between the kinship societies and the developing state of the early caliphate. This helps us to understand how what are often called 'tribal' forms of social organisation identity conditioned its growth and helped shape what became its common elite culture. Studying the relationship between tribe and state during the first two centuries of the caliphate, the focus is on understanding the survival and transformation of tribal identity until it became part of the literate high culture of the Abbasid caliphate and a component of a larger Arab ethnic identity. The book argues that, from pre-Islamic Arabia to the caliphate, greater continuity existed between tribal identity and social practice than is generally portrayed.
Mona Hassan
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691166780
- eISBN:
- 9781400883714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691166780.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book explores the complex constellations of meanings and networks that shaped Muslim reactions to the remarkably ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book explores the complex constellations of meanings and networks that shaped Muslim reactions to the remarkably unexpected disappearance of an Islamic caliphate in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries. It probes the collective memories encircling the caliphate, as an institution enmeshed with the early history of Islam, which circulated widely across Afro-Eurasia and created a shared sense of community among disparate peoples at the same time as it gave rise to differing and competing visions of the community's past, present, and future. The book asks two essential questions: What did Muslims imagine to be lost with the disappearance of the Abbasid and Ottoman caliphates in 1258 and 1924 respectively? And how did they attempt to recapture that perceived loss, and in doing so redefine the caliphate for their times, under shifting circumstances?Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book explores the complex constellations of meanings and networks that shaped Muslim reactions to the remarkably unexpected disappearance of an Islamic caliphate in the thirteenth and twentieth centuries. It probes the collective memories encircling the caliphate, as an institution enmeshed with the early history of Islam, which circulated widely across Afro-Eurasia and created a shared sense of community among disparate peoples at the same time as it gave rise to differing and competing visions of the community's past, present, and future. The book asks two essential questions: What did Muslims imagine to be lost with the disappearance of the Abbasid and Ottoman caliphates in 1258 and 1924 respectively? And how did they attempt to recapture that perceived loss, and in doing so redefine the caliphate for their times, under shifting circumstances?
Peter Sarris
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199261260
- eISBN:
- 9780191730962
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199261260.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter details attempts on the part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire to reverse the Arab conquests. Efforts on the part of the Emperors Constans II and Justinian II to restore Roman ...
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This chapter details attempts on the part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire to reverse the Arab conquests. Efforts on the part of the Emperors Constans II and Justinian II to restore Roman control to the occupied territories are examined in detail, and the reasons for their failure elucidated. As divisions within the Arab elite were surmounted, the new political order in the Near East achieved a measure of stability and the world of the Caliphate acquired a more coherent and cohesive identity. The Arab conquest of North Africa effectively put an end to hopes for Byzantine revival, and the war-torn Empire of Constantinople itself entered a period of major internal cultural, ideological, and organizational reconfiguration. With Byzantine control of the central Mediterranean dislocated, the societies of the West would now follow new paths of developmentLess
This chapter details attempts on the part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire to reverse the Arab conquests. Efforts on the part of the Emperors Constans II and Justinian II to restore Roman control to the occupied territories are examined in detail, and the reasons for their failure elucidated. As divisions within the Arab elite were surmounted, the new political order in the Near East achieved a measure of stability and the world of the Caliphate acquired a more coherent and cohesive identity. The Arab conquest of North Africa effectively put an end to hopes for Byzantine revival, and the war-torn Empire of Constantinople itself entered a period of major internal cultural, ideological, and organizational reconfiguration. With Byzantine control of the central Mediterranean dislocated, the societies of the West would now follow new paths of development
B. R. Nanda
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658279
- eISBN:
- 9780199081394
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658279.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
The Hindu–Muslim conflict was a major problem during the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. This book shows how Mahatma Gandhi resolved the conflict and even united the Hindus and the ...
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The Hindu–Muslim conflict was a major problem during the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. This book shows how Mahatma Gandhi resolved the conflict and even united the Hindus and the Muslims. It presents a detailed introduction to the Khilafat (Pan-Islamist) movement, a venture that Gandhi supported whole-heartedly. The discussion looks at Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, which, he believed, could help bridge the gap between the two communities. It discusses concepts such as mass civil disobedience and the Caliphate, and studies notable events such as the brief alliance between the British Raj and the Indian Muslims and the Mappila Rebellion. It also takes note of the responses of the British officials towards Gandhi’s efforts and the confrontation that nearly occurred between the Viceroy and Gandhi. The book introduces readers to some of the people who participated and contributed to these events, including the Ali Brothers, Syed Ahmad Khan, and Ameer Ali.Less
The Hindu–Muslim conflict was a major problem during the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. This book shows how Mahatma Gandhi resolved the conflict and even united the Hindus and the Muslims. It presents a detailed introduction to the Khilafat (Pan-Islamist) movement, a venture that Gandhi supported whole-heartedly. The discussion looks at Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, which, he believed, could help bridge the gap between the two communities. It discusses concepts such as mass civil disobedience and the Caliphate, and studies notable events such as the brief alliance between the British Raj and the Indian Muslims and the Mappila Rebellion. It also takes note of the responses of the British officials towards Gandhi’s efforts and the confrontation that nearly occurred between the Viceroy and Gandhi. The book introduces readers to some of the people who participated and contributed to these events, including the Ali Brothers, Syed Ahmad Khan, and Ameer Ali.
Massimo Campanini
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748639946
- eISBN:
- 9780748653294
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748639946.003.0012
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
This chapter attempts to place al-Ghazālī's political thought in the context of the Seljuq sultanate and the late Abbasid caliphate, based on the two premises: that al-Ghazālī's political thought is ...
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This chapter attempts to place al-Ghazālī's political thought in the context of the Seljuq sultanate and the late Abbasid caliphate, based on the two premises: that al-Ghazālī's political thought is as important as his theological thought; and that it is understandable only in the light of the political developments of his time. The chapter begins by formulating an answer to the issue of whether the Seljuqs revitalised Islam. It is argued that the Seljuqs somehow brought a measure of order to the chaotic Muslim world; however, in doing so, they sacrificed the prestige and the role of the caliphate. It has been debated whether the Seljuqs were the defenders or the enemies of the caliphate. In a sense, they defended the caliphate as they have allowed it to endure for a few centuries but from another point of view, they were enemies of the caliphate as they imposed a secular image of power against the religious legitimisation of the caliphal power. In other words, while the Seljuqs protected the caliphate institution from enemies and adversaries, they however made it evident that the management of power in Islam was no longer a question of the Islamic state but rather of an Islamic mode of the state. These contentions are examined closely in this chapter.Less
This chapter attempts to place al-Ghazālī's political thought in the context of the Seljuq sultanate and the late Abbasid caliphate, based on the two premises: that al-Ghazālī's political thought is as important as his theological thought; and that it is understandable only in the light of the political developments of his time. The chapter begins by formulating an answer to the issue of whether the Seljuqs revitalised Islam. It is argued that the Seljuqs somehow brought a measure of order to the chaotic Muslim world; however, in doing so, they sacrificed the prestige and the role of the caliphate. It has been debated whether the Seljuqs were the defenders or the enemies of the caliphate. In a sense, they defended the caliphate as they have allowed it to endure for a few centuries but from another point of view, they were enemies of the caliphate as they imposed a secular image of power against the religious legitimisation of the caliphal power. In other words, while the Seljuqs protected the caliphate institution from enemies and adversaries, they however made it evident that the management of power in Islam was no longer a question of the Islamic state but rather of an Islamic mode of the state. These contentions are examined closely in this chapter.
B. R. Nanda
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658279
- eISBN:
- 9780199081394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658279.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This chapter discusses Pan-Islamism in India, and notes that it was only during the last few years of the nineteenth century when Turkey began to play an important role in the imagination of the ...
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This chapter discusses Pan-Islamism in India, and notes that it was only during the last few years of the nineteenth century when Turkey began to play an important role in the imagination of the Indian Muslims. It studies the historical link between Indian Islam and the institution of the Caliphate. It examines the classical theory of the Caliphate which assumed that the Caliph was part of the Prophet’s tribe, the Quraish (Koreish). It introduces Abul Kalam Azad, son of a sheikh and the initial leader of the Khilafat agitation. This chapter reveals that Azad was replaced by Mohamed Ali and Shaukat Ali, who seized the leadership of the Khilafat agitation from him. It describes ‘the Ali Brothers’ as more unpredictable, dynamic, and articulate than Azad.Less
This chapter discusses Pan-Islamism in India, and notes that it was only during the last few years of the nineteenth century when Turkey began to play an important role in the imagination of the Indian Muslims. It studies the historical link between Indian Islam and the institution of the Caliphate. It examines the classical theory of the Caliphate which assumed that the Caliph was part of the Prophet’s tribe, the Quraish (Koreish). It introduces Abul Kalam Azad, son of a sheikh and the initial leader of the Khilafat agitation. This chapter reveals that Azad was replaced by Mohamed Ali and Shaukat Ali, who seized the leadership of the Khilafat agitation from him. It describes ‘the Ali Brothers’ as more unpredictable, dynamic, and articulate than Azad.
B. R. Nanda
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195658279
- eISBN:
- 9780199081394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195658279.003.0019
- Subject:
- History, Indian History
This chapter looks at the events that led to the collapse of the Khilafat movement. The first event was the cessation of mass civil disobedience by Gandhi, and the second was the stopping of the ...
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This chapter looks at the events that led to the collapse of the Khilafat movement. The first event was the cessation of mass civil disobedience by Gandhi, and the second was the stopping of the non-cooperation movement after Gandhi’s arrest. However, the most brutal blow to the Khilafat movement was the elimination of the Caliphate in Turkey. This was followed by a number of drastic steps taken by the Kemalist regime in order to hasten the process of westernization and secularization of Turkey. It shows that this event shocked the Indian Muslims and caused disquiet in India, and that it led to the realization that the issue of the Caliphate was actually a question of power politics, not of Islamic doctrine.Less
This chapter looks at the events that led to the collapse of the Khilafat movement. The first event was the cessation of mass civil disobedience by Gandhi, and the second was the stopping of the non-cooperation movement after Gandhi’s arrest. However, the most brutal blow to the Khilafat movement was the elimination of the Caliphate in Turkey. This was followed by a number of drastic steps taken by the Kemalist regime in order to hasten the process of westernization and secularization of Turkey. It shows that this event shocked the Indian Muslims and caused disquiet in India, and that it led to the realization that the issue of the Caliphate was actually a question of power politics, not of Islamic doctrine.
