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This collection investigates the conflictual relationship between the Islamic world and Western civilization, looking at its history as key to understanding its present. The historical narrative starts from the controversial encounter that took place at the close of the 18th century, the effort being to improve our understanding of that engagement and its current implications, focusing in particular on how it has affected law, philosophy, and religion. The subsequent age of 19th-century colonialism is analysed with a view to understanding the currents of mutual influence that throughout that era ran between Islam and the Western world, looking at the law and the institutions, as well as at different strains in the culture. This discussion provides the backdrop against which the book turns a critical eye on current Euro-Mediterranean relations, highlighting the need to move beyond the conditionality principle that has traditionally been a cornerstone of European policy toward Arab Muslim peoples and to set this relationship on a new foundation, one that recognizes the interdependency between these two areas, making it possible to open up a Mediterranean space of mutual recognition among all its peoples. The book will be of interest to researchers and academics working in the areas of legal and political history, comparative law, legal philosophy, law and religion, and Islamic studies.

The late Ch.-E. Dufourcq was one of the first to map out the relations between the Christian and Muslim coastlands of the medieval western Mediterranean. These studies reveal the extent of the contribution he made to the subject, and the care and attention with which he handled the scattered documentary sources. There are three main themes to the volume: one group of articles focuses on the political and diplomatic aspects of the relations between Spain (Catalonia in particular) and the Maghreb (the lands of the modern Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia); a second is concerned more with commercial contacts and with a comparison of the economic conditions north and south of the Mediterranean, and with the day-to-day life of the sailors and merchants who formed the link between the two. A third theme, most prominent in the final articles, is the social and economic history of Catalonia itself, a subject to which he returned in the final years of his life. Le regretté Ch.-E. Dufourcq à été l'un des premiers à établir les grandes lignes des rapports existant entre les pays côtiers chrétiens et musulmans de la Méditerannée occidentale durant le Moyen Age. Ces études revelent l'éntendue de la contribution de l'auteur à ce sujet, ainsi que le soin et l'attention avec lesquels il en a manié le s sources documentaires dispersées. On retrouve trois themes principeaux au travers de ce volume : un groupe d'articles se concentre sur les aspects politiques et diplomatiques des rapports entre l'Espagne, plus particulièrement la Catalogne, et le Maghreb; le seconde s'attache plus aux contracts commercieaux, comparant les conditions économiques du Nord et du Sud de la Méditérranee, et à la vie quotidienne des marins et des marchands qui formaient le lien entre les deux. Un troisième théme, plus proéminent dans les derniers articles, écrits par l'auteur vers à la fin de sa vie, est celui de l'histoire sociale et économique de la Catalogne elle-

The Books of Kings have long been at the center of scholarly discussions on the Hebrew Bible because they constitute important sources for the history of ancient Israel and Judah, and because they are key components of the Deuteronomistic History. The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings provide a clear and useful introduction to the main aspects and issues pertaining to the scholarly study of Kings. These include textual history (including the linguistic profile), compositional history, literary approaches, key characters, history, important recurring themes, reception history and some contemporary readings. As a one-volume introduction embracing all the aspects of the study of Kings, written by an international and diverse team of scholars, this handbook is the ideal point of entry into the study of Kings for generations of students and scholars.

This book examines material and multi-sensorial expressions of Shiʿi Islam in diverse, and understudied demographic and geographic contexts.It engages with conceptual debates and makes several propositions that push the frontiers of scholarship on Islamic and Religious Studies, Material Religion, Heritage Studies, and Anthropology and Sociology of Religion.The contributions presented in this volume demonstrate how material things and less thing-like materialities make the praesentia and potentia of the Sacred tangible, how they cultivate intimate relations between human and more-than-human beings, and how they act as links and gateways to the Elsewhere and Otherworldly. The volume posits that materialities of religion are integral to processes of heritagization shaped by competing social and political actors involved in the construction and canonization of religious—in this case, Shiʿi—heritage.

A wealth of political literature has survived from Greek antiquity, from political theory by Plato and Aristotle to the variety of prose and verse texts that more broadly demonstrate political thinking. However, despite the extent of this legacy, it can be surprisingly hard to say how ancient Greek political thought makes its influence felt, or whether this influence has been sustained across the centuries. This volume includes a range of disciplinary responses to issues surrounding the legacy of Greek political thought, exploring the ways in which political thinking has evolved from antiquity to the present day.

These pages represent the compendium of a long journey of more than twenty-five years. It would be simplistic to define this journey as exclusively intellectual, because it would be unthinkable without frequent visits to the Middle East, in particular to Turkey, the second Holy Land of Christianity, the ancient Asia Minor of biblical history, with its overwhelming Muslim population today. The fact is that, since many years now, the theme of hospitality has been the subject of numerous publications, studies, contributions and gatherings with protagonists of various opinions and expertise convening to give answers to questions related to the challenge of living together in the complex society of our contemporary world. It is precisely by letting ourselves be questioned by these complexities that we become aware that the challenge of hospitality is not merely economic or political but also spiritual. Claudio Monge addresses one of the key questions of today with an extremely ancient text from the deepest roots of our civilisation, Genesis 18, in which Abraham welcomes the three strangers who come to his tent and announce the conception of Isaac. Today, when millions are in movement, fleeing war and poverty, the question of how we are to receive strangers is urgent and inescapable. Monge explores this text through the traditions of three religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - which claim the assent of approximately half of the population of the world. Yet these three religions, all looking back in one way or another to Abraham, are often strangers to each other. If we could offer welcome to each other, what a powerful sign of hope this would be for our conflict torn world!

From the images carved and painted to the buildings edified, from liturgical objects to reliquaries and tombs, from books to personal objects of piety, this volume reflects the many domains where the relation between materiality and devotion can be a prospect and a problem. It intersects the material, functional, performative and aesthetic dimensions with the different readings it calls for, the cognitive and emotional apprehensions, the representations (erudite and popular) it associates with, the practices that it sustains, the memories that polarize and legitimize, the powers that were affirmed through it. It discloses the diversity of variants such as wealth and social position, literate training, and gender differences.

What were the effects of Mongol rule in Iran? This book focuses on Shiraz and the province of Fars to provide a detailed political, social and economic history of Ilkhanid rule from the first Mongol invasions in 1220 until the end of the Injuid Dynasty in 1357. Using a vast collection of sources, Denise Aigle combines local and global approaches to integrate the history of the province into the whole administrative system. Central is the thesis that Mongol rule caused a break in traditional administrative patterns. A dual administrative system was set up, consisting of both Mongol and local Persian personnel, directed from the court. Charting the fortunes of each successive ruler, her research shows that the failings of individual rulers, as well as intriguing by Persian notables, were the principal reasons for Shiraz and Fars's economic decline under the Mongols in comparison with the more successful neighbouring province of Kirman. Iran Under the Mongols is a vital contribution to our understanding of the effects of Mongol rule in Iran.

Inscriptions on buildings are a distinctive feature of Islamic architecture, and this book studies the 79 surviving monumental inscriptions in the Iranian world from the first five centuries of the Muslim era (A.D. 622-1106), the period in which all the major trends of monumental epigraphy in the area were set.These foundation, commemorative, and funerary texts come from the region between Iraq and Soviet Central Asia. Written primarily in Arabic, they embellished architectural monuments and furnishings whose nature implies the construction of major buildings. An extended introduction discusses such general topics as titulature, patronage, and stylistic development. Each text is then presented individually with photographs, drawings, transcriptions, translations and an extensive commentary, which presents the inscription in its larger palaeographic and historical contexts.

‘Alī, son of Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin, is the only Companion of the Prophet who has remained to this day the object of fervent devotion of hundreds of millions of followers in the lands of Islam, especially in the East. Based on a detailed analysis of several categories of sources, this book demonstrates that Shi‘ism is the religion of the Imam, of the Master of Wisdom, just like Christianity is that of Christ, and that ‘Alī is the first Master and Imam par excellence. Shi‘ism can therefore be defined, in its most specific religious aspects, as the absolute faith in ‘Alī: the divine Man, the most perfect manifestation of God's attributes, simultaneously spiritual refuge, model and horizon. With contributions by Orkhan Mir-Kasimov & Mathieu Terrier Translated from French by Francisco José Luis & Anthony Gledhill

Over the last twenty years, the rise of Qur'anic studies has been one of the most remarkable developments within the wider framework of Islamic scholarship. This evolution can be viewed from three angles: exponential growth in the accessibility of relevant primary; the use of contemporary methods for developing new analytical agendas; a renewed appreciation of diverse hermeneutical orientations. A veritable gold-rush of publications, theses, colloquia and study projects devoted to the Qur'an in the past two decades illustrates these developments. This scholarly community subsists primarily in European countries and the United States, but its effects are not limited there. The reception and dissemination of this work in Muslim-majority countries is constant and bodes as a promising opportunity to establish a real dialogue between scholars and lived community. The present book contains expert contributions emerging from this nexus, with scholars from North African, Middle Eastern and Western backgrounds who share a common ambition: to advance academic study of the Qurʾan by promoting cooperation across global boundaries.

The authoritative account of Islam's schism that for centuries has shaped events in the Middle East and the Islamic world. In 632, soon after the Prophet Muhammad died, a struggle broke out among his followers as to who would succeed him. Most Muslims argued that the leader of Islam should be elected by the community's elite and rule as Caliph. They would later become the Sunnis. Others—who would become known as the Shia—believed that Muhammad had designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali as his successor, and that henceforth Ali's offspring should lead as Imams. This dispute over who should guide Muslims, the Caliph or the Imam, marks the origin of the Sunni-Shii split in Islam. Toby Matthiesen explores this hugely significant division from its origins to the present day. Moving chronologically, his book sheds light on the many ways that it has shaped the Islamic world, outlining how over the centuries Sunnism and Shiism became Islam's two main branches, and how Muslim Empires embraced specific sectarian identities. Focussing on connections between the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, it reveals how colonial rule and the modern state institutionalised sectarian divisions and at the same time led to pan-Islamic resistance and Sunni and Shii revivalism. It then focuses on the fall-out from the 1979 revolution in Iran and the US-led military intervention in Iraq. As Matthiesen shows, however, though Sunnism and Shiism have had a long and antagonistic history, most Muslims have led lives characterised by confessional ambiguity and peaceful co-existence. Tensions arise when sectarian identity becomes linked to politics. Based on a synthesis of decades of scholarship in numerous languages, The Caliph and the Imam will become the standard text for readers looking for a deeper understanding of contemporary sectarian conflict and its historical roots.

Drawing upon research carried out in several different languages and across a variety of disciplines, The Mongol World documents how Mongol rule shaped the trajectory of Eurasian history from Central Europe to the Korean Peninsula, from the thirteenth century to the fifteenth century.Contributing authors consider how intercontinental environmental, economic, and intellectual trends affected the Empire as a whole and, where appropriate, situate regional political, social, and religious shifts within the context of the broader Mongol Empire. Issues pertaining to the Mongols and their role within the societies that they conquered therefore take precedence over the historical narrative of the societies that they conquered. Alongside the formation, conquests, administration, and political structure of the Mongol Empire, the second section examines archaeology and art history, family and royal households, science and exploration, and religion, which provides greater insight into the social history of the Empire -- an aspect often neglected by traditional dynastic and political histories.With 58 chapters written by both senior and early-career scholars, the volume is an essential resource for all students and scholars who study the Mongol Empire from its origins to its disintegration and legacy.

This volume takes a global view of the emergence of public protest movements over the last decade, asking whether such movements contribute to the globalization of civil society. Through a variety of studies, organised around the themes of public agency, public norms, public memory and public art, it considers the tendency of political contestations to move beyond national boundaries and create transnational connections. Departing from the approaches of social movements perspectives, it focuses on public space as a site of social'mixity'and opens up a new field for the study of politics and cultural controversies. An analysis of the paradigmatic change in the way in which society is made and politics is conducted, this study of the new enactment of citizenship in public space will appeal to scholars of sociology, anthropology, geography and politics with interests in protest movements and contentious politics, citizenship and the public sphere, and globalization.

This second collective volume of the series The Presence of the Prophet explores the growing importance of the figure of the Prophet Muhammad for questions of authority and power in early modern and modern times. The authors provide a rich collection of case studies on how Muhammad's material, spiritual, and genealogical heritage has been claimed for the foundation of Muslim empires, revolutionary movements, the formation of modern nation states and ideologies, as well as for communal mobilization and social reform. This novel comparative, and diachronic study, which is unique for its wide coverage of regional cases and perspectives, reveals diverse political representations of the Prophet in an increasingly globalised struggle over the control of his image between secularization and sacralization. Contributors Gianfranco Bria, Rachida Chih, Christoph Günther, Gottfried Hagen, Jan-Peter Hartung, David Jordan, Soraya Khodamoradi, Jamal Malik, Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen, Alix Philippon, Martin Riexinger, Stefan Reichmuth, Dilek Sarmis, Renaud Soler, Jaafar Ben El Haj Soulami, Florian Zemmin.

Describing the Islamic State's ideologues as ‘entrepreneurs of identity', this book explores how the group defined categories of social identity and used them as tools of communicative and cognitive structuring. Based on a wide dossier of original texts, speeches, images, and videos, the book examines how these ideologues have built a symbolic repertoire around the black flag as well as ideas and social practices such as the dictum to command good and forbid wrong, the supervision of public behaviour, and the oath of allegiance to the Caliph.

Saudi Arabia has never commanded more attention and yet it remains one of the world's least understood countries. In The Normalization of Saudi Law, Chibli Mallat dives into the heart of Saudi society, politics, and business by exploring the workings of its courts. Legal practitioners and scholars will find a comprehensive analysis of the law's operation in the kingdom. The practitioner will access full thematic coverage of all important fields: judicial organization, contracts and torts, crime, family, property, administration, commerce, companies, banking, insolvency, the stock market, the constitution, succession, and human rights, with major statutes and a large number of court decisions distilled in 16 chapters. The scholar is presented with an assessment of a dynamic legal process, a'normalization'of Saudi law where developing norms are both'normal'(usual) and'normative'(carrying moral force). This includes judges reshaping Islamic law by applying it in everyday transactions and disputes as they interpret classical treatises and modern statutes. In whole, The Normalization of Saudi Law paints a compelling picture of a fast-changing country. The book is a systematic study of Saudi law over nearly a decade, and its analysis draws from Mallat's involvement as a legal expert in landmark decisions around the world and as a law professor in leading universities in the Middle East, Europe, and America. The book reflects his work with Saudi law students and practicing colleagues, from cases in commercial law to those involving government and human rights. The Normalization of Saudi Law will interest both readers following the fast-changing world of comparative law and those intrigued by Saudi Arabia.

Concepts such as influence, imitation, emulation, transmission or plagiarism are transcendental to cultural history and the subject of universal debate. They are not mere labels imposed by modern historiography on ancient texts, nor are they the result of a later interpretation of ways of transmitting and teaching, but are concepts defined and discussed internally, within all cultures, since time immemorial, which have yielded very diverse results. In the case of culture, or better Arab-Islamic cultures, we could analyze and discuss endlessly numerous terms that refer to concepts related to the multiple ways of perceiving the Other, receiving his knowledge and producing new knowledge. The purpose of this book evolves around these concepts, and it aims to become part of a very long tradition of studies on this subject that is essential to the understanding of the processes of reception and creation. The authors analyze them in depth through the use of examples that are based on the well-known idea that societies in different regions did not remain isolated and indifferent to the literary, religious or scientific creations that were developed in other territories and moreover that the flow of ideas did not always occur in only one direction. Contacts, both voluntary and involuntary, are never incidental or marginal, but are rather the true engine of the evolution of knowledge and creation. It can also be stated that it has been the awareness of the existence of multidimensional cultural relations which has allowed modern historiography on Arab cultures to evolve and be enriched in recent decades.

The IJBF is the only regularly published, truly international, Festschrift bibliography. Since 1983, more than 880,000 articles from more than 39,000 Festschriften, published between 1977 and 2020, have been catalogued.

This groundbreaking book offers the first systematic study of the Qur'ān and Islamic history in the light of René Girard's mimetic theory. Girard did not deal deeply with Islam, offering only scattered hints in some interviews after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Addressing this gap in Girardian studies, Adnane Mokrani aims to develop an Islamic theology that goes beyond just war theory to adopt a radical nonviolent approach. He analyzes the Qur'ānic text and classical and modern exegetical literature, focusing on the Qur'ānic narratives, then extends his research to the history of Islam, removing the sacred character attributed to some events and human choices in order to disarm theology and dismantle the ideologies of power. This same critique is also applied to the unprecedented levels of violence in modern and contemporary history. A radical and politically committed theology of peace is needed to recover the spiritual dimension of religion that frees people from the temptations of the individual and collective ego. It is a mystical and narrative theology in dialogue with other world theologies on the future of humanity—an urgent appeal needed now more than ever.

The Sound Traditions: Studies in Ismaili Texts and Thought is a collection of Ismail K. Poonawala's articles on Ismaili studies. Divided into three sections, the volume consists of nineteen articles that have been published over a long period of more than forty years. Part One focuses on Ismaili sources and the question of their authorship. The aspects of Ismaili rational discourses are examined in Part Two. Focusing on the scriptural knowledge of Ismaili tradition, Part Three then delves into investigating al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān's life and contribution. This volume is an excellent gateway to the study of origins and development of Ismaili thought.

In the Islamic tradition, fiqh (Islamic law) is generally regarded as the science of furū'al-dīn (matters complementary to the Islamic faith), as opposed to kalām (Islamic theology) which is known as the science of uṣūl al-dīn (matters primary to the Islamic faith). Over time, however, fiqh has significantly surpassed Kalām in terms of cognitive maturation and epistemic development. In The Higher Objectives of Islamic Theology, Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour argues that far too little attention has been paid to parallel developments in Islamic theology. Consequently, the theological project in the Islamic tradition has largely become limited to definitions and deliberations about the nature and qualities of the transcendent God, and has barely developed as a systematic discipline devoted to the higher objectives of Islamic theology, similar to those of Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a (higher objectives of Islamic law). Addressing this gap and drawing on the full-fledged genre of Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a, this study aims to develop a genre of Maqāṣid al-?Aqīda (higher objectives of Islamic theology) based on a scheme of core values (Truth, Justice, Beauty), instead of a scheme of ḥudūd (penalties). Arguing that the tradition's current overemphasis on law (Justice) has relegated both theology (Truth) and Sufism (Beauty) to the periphery of the tradition, Abdelnour illustrates how this marginalisation of theology and Sufism leaves less room for an'ethical Islam'and instead prioritises'legal'and'political Islam.'In shifting the focus from law to theology, the book thereby grapples with such questions as: why did Islamic theology fail to develop a systemic genre of Maqāṣid al-?Aqīda? How do we chart out a map to guide the process of founding such an area? In what ways can the emerging Maqāṣid al-?Aqīda benefit from the well-established Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a? What are the ramifications of having an underdeveloped theology?

This book represents a reflection on the policies of preservation that were established and interventions for restoration that occurred in Iran before and in the years after the Khomeinist Revolution, as well as being an analysis of the impact that Italian restoration culture has had in the country. Research concerning the state of conservation and the ongoing restoration of the Armenian churches in the Khoy and Salmas areas is included, along with precise documentation of the observation of the two cities, their architecture and the context of their landscape. The problems of architectural restoration in present-day Iran and the compatible use of buildings no longer intended for worship are addressed. The book is bolstered by first-hand documentation obtained through inspections and interviews with Iranian specialists during three missions carried out between 2016 and 2018 and a large anthology of period texts that have only recently been made available for the first time for study inelectronic form, including travel reports written by Westerners describing Persia between the 15th and 19th centuries.