The Islamic Middle East : an historical anthropology / Charles Lindholm.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lindholm, Charles, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Manners and customs.

Middle East--Social life and customs.

Middle East.

Middle East--Politics and government.

Politics and government.

Middle East Region.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 324 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford, OX ; Cambridge, MA : Blackwell Pub., 1996.

Summary:

This is an account of the origins, nature, and evolution of Islam. It is also an exploration of the cultures of the Middle East where Islam originated fourteen centuries ago and of the Arab, Persian and Turkish societies where it remains a powerful force. Islam and the cultures in which it arose are inseparably linked, and, as the author shows, need to be understood in the context of each other.

The book is divided into six parts. The first describes the problems of viewing the Middle East from a western perspective and discusses the violent consequences of centuries of misunderstanding between Muslim society and the broadly Christian West. The second examines the cultural characteristics of ancient, medieval, and modern Arab societies, focusing on the central notions of individualism, authority, loyalty, and egalitarianism.

In Part III the author describes the rise of Islam, the tensions between secular and religious authority, and the rise and fall of the great Muslim empires. He then moves in Part IV to the evolution of Islam itself and to the development of Sufism, Shi'ism and other sects and cults. He examines the achievements of Islamic learning and philosophy, and the paradoxes of claims to spiritual ascendancy within the anti-authoritarian ethic of Islam.

In the final parts of the work Professor Lindholm seeks to reconcile negative Middle Eastern attitudes towards blacks, slaves, and women with cultural and Islamic affirmations of the equality of all human beings. In his conclusion he draws together the evidence of history, culture, and religion to consider the paradox of egalitarian peoples living under despotic regimes, and the present prospects for resistance to authority and emancipation from tyranny.

This outstanding synthesis of historical and anthropological perspectives provides a fresh understanding of the nature of Islam and of the Middle East in the past and in the present. It is written with verve and wit, and illustrated with maps, figures and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century lithographs. It is also fully referenced, indexed, and includes a glossary and comparative time line.

Contents:

1 The Middle East: Assumptions and Problems 3

The Middle East in Western Eyes 3

Where is the Middle East? 7

Equality and Individualism as Central Values 10

Part II Preconditions for Egalitarian Individualism

2 Ways of Living 17

The Ecological Framework 17

The Bedouin Option 19

Shepherds and Confederacies 22

Independent Farmers of the Mountains 25

The Dialectic of Desert and Sown 28

3 Traditions of Authority and Freedom 33

Continuities with Jabiliyya 33

Emissaries and Exemplars: Types of Prophecy 36

The Legacy of Gilgamesh 41

The Limits of Authority 46

4 The Social Construction of Egalitarianism 49

Ibn Khaldun's Theory of Authority 49

Group Feeling: the 'Band of Brothers' 53

Middle Eastern Kinship 55

Complications in the Model 59

Part III State and Society: Prophets, Caliphs, Sultans, and Tyrants

5 The Prophetic Age 65

The Rise of Islam 65

The Reconfiguration of Ordinary Life under Islam 73

The State in Early Islam 78

Tensions and Divisions 81

6 Early Struggles for Authority 84

The Rule of the Righteous 84

Movements of Religious Resistance: Kharijites and Shi'ites 88

Maintaining Secular Domination 90

The Abbasid Rebellion 96

The New Hierarchy of the Courtier 100

7 Sacred and Secular Rulers 105

The Quest for the Redeemer: the Qarmati 105

Pragmatic Tribesmen: Buyids and Seljuks 107

The Religious Option 112

8 Novelties and Continuities 120

The Ottoman Exception 120

Other Experiments: Chevaliers and Assassins 127

Reprise: the Uses and Abuses of Government 131

Part IV Sacred Power: Reciters, Lawyers, Incarnations, and Saints

9 The Essentials of Islam 139

The Authority of the Quran and the Necessity of Practice 139

The Problem of Salvation 146

The Charisma of the Prophet 148

10 Recapturing the Sacred Past: the Power of Knowledge 151

The Authority of History 151

Legalism in Islam 155

The Education of the Scholarly Elite 160

Resistance to the Authority of the Learned 163

11 The Partisans of Ali 167

The Charisma of Ali 167

The Two Faces of Shi'ism 170

Shi'ite History: Acquiescence and Rebellion 173

Khomeini's Revolution 178

12 Sufism in Practice 181

In Search of the Beloved 181

Ecstasy and Remembrance 185

The Cosmic Order 188

The Spiritual Division of Labor 190

13 The Contradictions of Saintly Authority 194

The Cult of Saints 194

The Delegitimization of Sufism 198

The Exaggeration of Charisma 200

Ambiguities of Selflessness 203

Islamists and Sufis 206

Part V Dilemmas of Subordination

14 Slaves, Eunuchs, and Blacks 213

Gelded Warriors: Slaves and Clients 213

Race and Inferiority 216

The Categorization of Human Types 219

Noble Slaves, Base Freemen 224

15 The Ambiguities of Women 228

Women in Middle Eastern Consciousness 228

History, Culture, and Misogyny 234

Quandaries of Patrilineality 237

The Dangers of Female Sexuality 241

16 Escapes from Distinction: Love and Friendship 245

Romantic Love 245

Love Between Men 251

'I Am You': Idealized Friendship 253

17 Problems and Possibilities 259

The Command of the Powerful 259

Egalitarian Individualism and Despotism 265

Resistance to Authority 268.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [302]-313) and index.

ISBN:

1557864217

1557864209

OCLC:

32665800