Spiritual wayfarers, leaders in piety : Sufis and the dissemination of Islam in medieval Palestine / Daphna Ephrat.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ephrat, Daphna.

Series:

Harvard Middle Eastern monographs ; 40.

Harvard Middle Eastern monographs ; 40

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sufism--Palestine--History.

Sufism.

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 223 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : distributed for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies of Harvard University by Harvard University Press, [2008]

Summary:

This book represents the first continuous history of Sufism in Palestine. Covering the period between the rise of Islam and the spread of Ottoman rule, and drawing on vast biographical material and complementary evidence such as legal documents and physical remnants, the book describes the social trajectory that Sufism followed in this specific area over the long term. The narrative centers on the process by which ascetics, mystics, and holy figures living in medieval Palestine and collectively labeled "Sufis," disseminated their traditions, formed communities, and helped shape an Islamic society and space. Thus, the work makes an original contribution to the study of the diffusion of Islam's religious traditions and the formation of communities of believers in medieval Palestine, as well as the Islamization of the Palestinian landscape and the spread of popular religiosity in this area.

Furthermore, the study of the area-specific is placed within the broader context of the history of Sufism, and the book as a whole is laced with observations about the historical social dimensions of Islamic mysticism in general. Central to its subject matters are the diffusion of Sufi traditions, the extension of the social horizons of Sufism, and the emergence of institutions and public spaces around the Sufi friend of God. As such, the book is of interest to historians in the fields of Sufism, Islam, and the Near East.

Contents:

Beginnings

Setting the stage

Typical ascetic piety and diversity

Early role models

The wayfaring elite

The genesis of the Sufi circle

Integration

Building bridges

Profiles of Sufi traditionalists

The Sufi jurist

The moral guide and the birth of the local congregation

The role of the mosque

The advent of the Sufi establishment

Expansion

Diffusing the tradition

The charismatic shaykh

Authority and following

Lodge and tomb

Conclusion

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 202-218) and index.

ISBN:

9780674032019

0674032012

OCLC:

221175327