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Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire

Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire PDF Author: Jamel Velji
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748690891
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Explores the role of apocalyptic symbolism in the formation and maintenance of a medieval Islamic empireHow can religion transform a society? This book investigates the ways in which a medieval Islamic movement harnessed Quranic visions of utopia to construct one of the most brilliant and lasting empires in Islamic history (979-1171). The Fatimids apocalyptic vision of their central place in an imminent utopia played a critical role in transfiguring the intellectual and political terrains of North Africa in the early tenth century. Yet the realities that they faced on the ground often challenged their status as the custodians of a pristine Islam at the end of time.Through a detailed examination of some of the structural features of the Fatimid revolution, as well as early works of ta'wil, or symbolic interpretation, Jamel Velji illustrates how the Fatimids conceived of their mission as one that would bring about an imminent utopia. He then examines how the Fatimids reinterpreted their place in history when the expected end never materialised. The book ends with an extensive discussion of another apocalyptic event linked to a Fatimid lineage: the Nizari Ismaili declaration of the end of time on August 8, 1164.Key featuresIntroduces selected themes, texts and theoretical problems in early Fatimid history and thought to those unfamiliar with Islam or the Shia tradition Explores the nature of apocalyptic rhetoric, what constitutes an apocalypse and how apocalyptic prophecies can be reinterpretedUses techniques from religious studies and rhetorical analysis on data from the Fatimid tradition, showing how Islam can contribute to broader discussions in the history of religionsContains extensive translations from two Fatimid texts, including: the Kitab al-Kashf (Book of unveiling), and Qadi l-Nu'mans Ta'wil al-da'a'im (Symbolic interpretation of his Pillars of Islam)

Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire

Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire PDF Author: Jamel Velji
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748690891
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Explores the role of apocalyptic symbolism in the formation and maintenance of a medieval Islamic empireHow can religion transform a society? This book investigates the ways in which a medieval Islamic movement harnessed Quranic visions of utopia to construct one of the most brilliant and lasting empires in Islamic history (979-1171). The Fatimids apocalyptic vision of their central place in an imminent utopia played a critical role in transfiguring the intellectual and political terrains of North Africa in the early tenth century. Yet the realities that they faced on the ground often challenged their status as the custodians of a pristine Islam at the end of time.Through a detailed examination of some of the structural features of the Fatimid revolution, as well as early works of ta'wil, or symbolic interpretation, Jamel Velji illustrates how the Fatimids conceived of their mission as one that would bring about an imminent utopia. He then examines how the Fatimids reinterpreted their place in history when the expected end never materialised. The book ends with an extensive discussion of another apocalyptic event linked to a Fatimid lineage: the Nizari Ismaili declaration of the end of time on August 8, 1164.Key featuresIntroduces selected themes, texts and theoretical problems in early Fatimid history and thought to those unfamiliar with Islam or the Shia tradition Explores the nature of apocalyptic rhetoric, what constitutes an apocalypse and how apocalyptic prophecies can be reinterpretedUses techniques from religious studies and rhetorical analysis on data from the Fatimid tradition, showing how Islam can contribute to broader discussions in the history of religionsContains extensive translations from two Fatimid texts, including: the Kitab al-Kashf (Book of unveiling), and Qadi l-Nu'mans Ta'wil al-da'a'im (Symbolic interpretation of his Pillars of Islam)

Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire

Apocalyptic History of the Early Fatimid Empire PDF Author: Jamel Velji
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748690905
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Explores the role of apocalyptic symbolism in the formation and maintenance of a medieval Islamic empireHow can religion transform a society? This book investigates the ways in which a medieval Islamic movement harnessed Quranic visions of utopia to construct one of the most brilliant and lasting empires in Islamic history (979-1171). The Fatimids apocalyptic vision of their central place in an imminent utopia played a critical role in transfiguring the intellectual and political terrains of North Africa in the early tenth century. Yet the realities that they faced on the ground often challenged their status as the custodians of a pristine Islam at the end of time.Through a detailed examination of some of the structural features of the Fatimid revolution, as well as early works of ta'wil, or symbolic interpretation, Jamel Velji illustrates how the Fatimids conceived of their mission as one that would bring about an imminent utopia. He then examines how the Fatimids reinterpreted their place in history when the expected end never materialised. The book ends with an extensive discussion of another apocalyptic event linked to a Fatimid lineage: the Nizari Ismaili declaration of the end of time on August 8, 1164.Key featuresIntroduces selected themes, texts and theoretical problems in early Fatimid history and thought to those unfamiliar with Islam or the Shia tradition Explores the nature of apocalyptic rhetoric, what constitutes an apocalypse and how apocalyptic prophecies can be reinterpretedUses techniques from religious studies and rhetorical analysis on data from the Fatimid tradition, showing how Islam can contribute to broader discussions in the history of religionsContains extensive translations from two Fatimid texts, including: the Kitab al-Kashf (Book of unveiling), and Qadi l-Nu'mans Ta'wil al-da'a'im (Symbolic interpretation of his Pillars of Islam)

The Apocalypse of Empire

The Apocalypse of Empire PDF Author: Stephen J. Shoemaker
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812250400
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
In The Apocalypse of Empire, Stephen J. Shoemaker argues that earliest Islam was a movement driven by urgent eschatological belief that focused on the conquest, or liberation, of the biblical Holy Land and situates this belief within a broader cultural environment of apocalyptic anticipation. Shoemaker looks to the Qur'an's fervent representation of the imminent end of the world and the importance Muhammad and his earliest followers placed on imperial expansion. Offering important contemporary context for the imperial eschatology that seems to have fueled the rise of Islam, he surveys the political eschatologies of early Byzantine Christianity, Judaism, and Sasanian Zoroastrianism at the advent of Islam and argues that they often relate imperial ambition to beliefs about the end of the world. Moreover, he contends, formative Islam's embrace of this broader religious trend of Mediterranean late antiquity provides invaluable evidence for understanding the beginnings of the religion at a time when sources are generally scarce and often highly problematic. Scholarship on apocalyptic literature in early Judaism and Christianity frequently maintains that the genre is decidedly anti-imperial in its very nature. While it may be that early Jewish apocalyptic literature frequently displays this tendency, Shoemaker demonstrates that this quality is not characteristic of apocalypticism at all times and in all places. In the late antique Mediterranean as in the European Middle Ages, apocalypticism was regularly associated with ideas of imperial expansion and triumph, which expected the culmination of history to arrive through the universal dominion of a divinely chosen world empire. This imperial apocalypticism not only affords an invaluable backdrop for understanding the rise of Islam but also reveals an important transition within the history of Western doctrine during late antiquity.

Building the Caliphate

Building the Caliphate PDF Author: Jennifer A. Pruitt
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030024682X
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
A riveting exploration of how the Fatimid dynasty carefully orchestrated an architectural program that proclaimed their legitimacy This groundbreaking study investigates the early architecture of the Fatimids, an Ismaili Shi‘i Muslim dynasty that dominated the Mediterranean world from the 10th to the 12th century. This period, considered a golden age of multicultural and interfaith tolerance, witnessed the construction of iconic structures, including Cairo’s al-Azhar and al-Hakim mosques and crucial renovations to Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and Aqsa Mosque. However, it also featured large-scale destruction of churches under the notorious reign of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, most notably the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Jennifer A. Pruitt offers a new interpretation of these and other key moments in the history of Islamic architecture, using newly available medieval primary sources by Ismaili writers and rarely considered Arabic Christian sources. Building the Caliphate contextualizes early Fatimid architecture within the wider Mediterranean and Islamic world and demonstrates how rulers manipulated architectural form and urban topographies to express political legitimacy on a global stage.

Cultures of Eschatology

Cultures of Eschatology PDF Author: Veronika Wieser
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110593580
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1181

Book Description
In all religions, in the medieval West as in the East, ideas about the past, the present and the future were shaped by expectations related to the End. The volumes Cultures of Eschatology explore the many ways apocalyptic thought and visions of the end intersected with the development of pre-modern religio-political communities, with social changes and with the emergence of new intellectual and literary traditions. The two volumes present a wide variety of case studies from the early Christian communities of Antiquity, through the times of the Islamic invasion and the Crusades and up to modern receptions, from the Latin West to the Byzantine Empire, from South Yemen to the Hidden Lands of Tibetan Buddhism. Examining apocalypticism, messianism and eschatology in medieval Christian, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist communities, the contributions paint a multi-faceted picture of End-Time scenarios and provide their readers with a broad array of source material from different historical contexts. The first volume, Empires and Scriptural Authorities, examines the formation of literary and visual apocalyptic traditions, and the role they played as vehicles for defining a community’s religious and political enemies. The second volume, Time, Death and Afterlife, focuses on key topics of eschatology: death, judgment, afterlife and the perception of time and its end. It also analyses modern readings and interpretations of eschatological concepts.

"e;The Book of Tribulations"e;: The Syrian Muslim Apocalyptic Tradition

Author: al-Marwazi Nu'aym b. Hammad al-Marwazi
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474424120
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 366

Book Description
The Book of Tribulations is the earliest complete Muslim apocalyptic text to survive, and as such has considerable value as a primary text. It is unique in its importance for Islamic history: focusing upon the central Syrian city of Hims, it gives us a picture of the personalities of the city, the tribal conflicts within, the tensions between the proto-Muslim community and the majority Christian population, and above all details about the wars with the Byzantines. Additionally, Nu`aym gives us a range of both the Umayyad and the Abbasid official propaganda, which was couched in apocalyptic and messianic terms.

Jihadist Preachers of the End Times

Jihadist Preachers of the End Times PDF Author: Bronislav Ostransky
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 147443925X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
Focusing on apocalyptic manifestations found in ISIS propaganda, this book situates the group's agenda in the broader framework of contemporary Muslim thought and explains key topics in millennial thinking within the spiritual context of modern Islamic apocalypticism.Based on the group's primary sources as well as medieval Muslim apocalyptic literature and its modern interpretations, the book analyses the ways ISIS presents its message concerning the Last Days as a meaningful, inventive and frightening expression of collectively shared expectations relating to the supposedly approaching the End Times.

Seeing God in Sufi Qur'an Commentaries

Seeing God in Sufi Qur'an Commentaries PDF Author: Pieter Coppens
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474435076
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Examines the intersection of Samuel Beckett's thirty-second playlet Breath with the visual arts

Apocalypses in Context

Apocalypses in Context PDF Author: Kelly J. Murphy
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506416853
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 526

Book Description
Apocalyptic scenarios remain prevalent and powerful in popular culture (in television, film, comic books, and popular fiction), in politics (in debates on climate change, environmentalism, Middle East policy, and military planning), and in various religious traditions. Academic interest in apocalypticism is flourishing; indeed, the study of both ancient and contemporary apocalyptic phenomena has long been a focus of attention in scholarly research and a ready way to engage the religious studies classroom. Apocalypses in Context is designed for just such a classroom, bringing together the insights of scholars in various fields and using different methods to discuss the manifestations of apocalyptic enthusiasm in different ages. This approach enables the instructor to make connections and students to recognize continuities and contrasts across history. Apocalypses in Context features illustrations, graphs, study questions, and suggestions for further reading after each chapter, as well as recommended media and artwork to support the college classroom.

Attempt to Uproot Sunni-Arab Influence

Attempt to Uproot Sunni-Arab Influence PDF Author:
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
ISBN: 183624052X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Book Description
In the aftermath of popular uprisings that unleashed the quest for freedom, Arab governments scrambled to limit sectarian divisions, though much of these efforts came to naught. Regrettably, weak governments fell into carefully laid traps, aimed to divide and rule. Protracted wars further destroyed Arab wealth and cohesiveness, and Sunni communities saw their power bases marginalised. On cue, and predicted by some commentators, extremist movements like the so-called Islamic State emerged, targeting Sunnis with extreme violence. In 2014 Nabil Khalife, an established Lebanese thinker, published a widely praised thesis that identified the root causes of renewed sectarian tensions at a time when confrontations polarised awakened Arab societies. Based on an extensive discussion of the 1979 Iranian Revolution that toppled the Shah, Khalife advanced the notion that the revolution was not Islamic but an Iranian-Shiah rebellion that ended the Pahlavi military monarchy, and that the post-2011 Sunni-Shiah struggle was planned by leading Western powers, including Russia, to preserve Israel and impose the latters acceptance in the Middle East as a natural element. In this translation of Istihdaf Ahl al-Sunna [Targeting Sunnis], Joseph A. Kechichian analyses the fundamental questions raised by the author to better place the current sectarian collision in a geo-strategic global perspective. Based on the books avowals of how the worlds three monotheistic religions perceive each other and Political Sunnism, Kechichian assesses Henry Kissinger's famous appellation of the Middle World that houses significant and indispensable oil resources, and why that allegedly makes it -- Political Sunnism -- dangerous. In a comprehensive introduction to the translation, he describes various initiatives that led global powers to check the undeniable force of Political Sunnism.