This book presents an analysis of the dynamic relationship between apocalyptic prophesies and medieval Muslim politics. "Messianic Beliefs and Imperial Politics in Medieval Islam" analyzes the role of Muslim messianic and apocalyptic beliefs in the development of the 'Abbasid Caliphate to highlight connections between charismatic authority and institutional developments in the early ninth century. Hayrettin Yucesoy studies the relationship between rulers and religion to advance understanding of the era's political actions and, more specifically, to illustrate how messianic beliefs influenced...

Rethinking Islamic Studies upends scholarly roadblocks in post-Orientalist discourse within contemporary Islamic studies and carves fresh inroads toward a robust new understanding of the discipline, one that includes religious studies and other politically infused fields of inquiry. Editors Carl W. Ernst and Richard C. Martin, along with a distinguished group of scholars, map the trajectory of the study of Islam and offer innovative approaches to the theoretical and methodological frameworks that have traditionally dominated the field. In the volume's first section, the contributors reexamine...

Sufi Aesthetics argues that the interpretive keys to erotic Sufi poems and their medieval commentaries lie in understanding a unique perceptual experience. Using careful analysis of primary texts, Cyrus Ali Zargar explores the theoretical and poetic pronouncements of two major Muslim mystics, Muhyi al-Din ibn al- Arabi (d. 1240) and Fakhr al-Din Iraqi (d. 1289), under the premise that behind any literary tradition exist organic aesthetic values. The complex assertions of these Sufis appear not as abstract theory, but as a way of seeing all things, including the sensory world.
The Sufi...

Illustrated with color and black-and-white images of the mountain and its associated religious practices, H. Byron Earhart s study utilizes his decades of fieldwork including climbing Fuji with three pilgrimage groups and his research into Japanese and Western sources to offer a comprehensive overview of the evolving imagery of Mount Fuji from ancient times to the present day. Included in the book is a link to his twenty-eight minute streaming video documentary of Fuji pilgrimage and practice, Fuji: Sacred Mountain of Japan.
Beginning with early reflections on the beauty and power...

Sonic Liturgy: Ritual and Music in Hindu Tradition builds on the foundation of Guy L. Beck s earlier work, which described the theoretical role of sound in Hindu thought. Sonic Liturgy continues the discussion of sound into the realm of Hindu ritual and musical traditions of worship.
Beginning with the chanting of the Sama-Veda alongside the fire sacrifices of the ancient Indo-Aryans and with the classical Gandharva music as outlined in the musicological texts of Bharata and Dattila, Beck establishes a historical foundation for an in-depth understanding of the role of music in the early...

In Knowledge before Action, Amina M. Steinfels examines medieval Sufism and its place in Islamic society by telling the story of the life and career of Sayyid Jal?l al-d?n Bukh?r?, a revered figure in Pakistan. Considered one of the most important Sufi masters of South Asia, Sayyid Jal?l al-d?n Bukh?r?, more popularly referred to as Makhd?m-i Jah?niy?n, is known for combining spirituality and scholarship in a formative period for Sufism. Steinfels assembles the details of Bukh?r?'s life from records of his teachings, dynastic chronicles, and correspondence to discover how he achieved his...

In Shur't Legends, Ib Identities, Adam Gaiser explores the origins and early development of Islamic notions of martyrdom and of martyrdom literature. He examines the catalogs or lists of martyrs (martyrologies) of the early shur't (Kh?rijites) in the context of late antiquity, showing that shur't literature, as it can be reconstructed, shares continuity with the martyrologies of earlier Christians and other religious groups, especially in Iraq, and that this powerful literature was transmitted by seventh century shur't through their successors, the Ib iyya. Gaiser examines the sources of...

Examines transcendentalism as a distinct rhetorical genre concerned primarily and self-consciously with questions of power

In the wake of the Arab Spring, the Coptic community was caught up in regional violence, and its predicament became a cause for concern around the world. Copts in Context examines the situation of the Copts as a minority faith in a volatile region and as a community confronting modernity while steeped in tradition.

An exploration of how Muslims in the U.S. have interpreted the Qur'an in ways that make it speak to their American realities