The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam

by Safi, Omid

• ISBN13: 9780807856574
• ISBN10: 0807856576
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-31
• Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr

Summary

Safi examines the rule of the Great Saljuqs, a Turkish-speaking people from central Asia, who, in the 11th century, established rule over the eastern half of the Islamic world that lasted for 150 years. In an analysis that combines social, cultural, and political history, Safi examines the Saljuqs' efforts to create a lasting political presence by joining forces with scholars and saints who functioned under state patronage. He revises conventional views of the Saljuqs as benevolent Muslim rulers and of the Sufis as timeless, ethereal mystics.

Author Biography

Omid Safi is associate professor of Islamic studies at Colgate University and co-chair of the steering committee for the Study of Islam at the American Academy of Religion

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Carl W. Ernst
Bruce B. Lawrence
Acknowledgments	xiii
Transliteration Systems and Chronologies	xvii
Introduction	xxi
Chronology of the Great Saljuqs and 'Abbasids	xxxvii
Key Figures and Primary Sources	xxxix
Deconstructing the Great Saljuq Myth	1	(42)
The Nizam's Realm, the Orderly Realm	43	(39)
Saljuq State Apparatuses	82	(23)
The Shifting Politics of al-Ghazali	105	(20)
Bargaining with Baraka	125	(33)
An Oppositional Sufi: 'Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani	158	(43)
Conclusion	201	(8)
Appendix: Nizam al-Mulk's Descendants in Saljuq Administrations	209	(4)
Notes	213	(48)
Bibliography	261	(22)
Index	283