"Mysticism" in Iran : the Safavid roots of a modern concept / Ata Anzali.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anzali, Ata, author.

Series:

Studies in comparative religion (Columbia, S.C.)

Studies in comparative religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mysticism--Islam--Iran--History.

Mysticism.

Mysticism--Islam.

History.

Iran.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 276 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

University of South Carolina Press : Columbia, South Carolina, [2017]

Summary:

"Mysticism" in Iran is an in-depth analysis of significant transformations in the religious landscape of Safavid Iran that led to the marginalization of Sufism and the eventual emergence of 'irfan as an alternative Shi'i model of spirituality. Ata Anzali draws on a treasure trove of manuscripts from Iranian archives to offer an original study of the transformation of Safavid Persia from a majority Sunni country to a Twelver Shi'i realm. The work straddles social and intellectual history, beginning with an examination of late Safavid social and religious contexts in which Twelver religious scholars launched a successful campaign against Sufism with the tacit approval of the court. This led to the social, political, and economic marginalization of Sufism, which was stigmatized as an illegitimate mode of piety rooted in a Sunni past. Anzali examines the creative and successful attempts by other members of the ulama to incorporate the Sufi tradition into the new Twelver milieu. He argues that the category of 'irfan, or "mysticism," was invented at the end of the Safavid period by mystically minded scholars. The book closes with a chapter devoted to fascinating changes in the thought and practice of 'irfan in the twentieth century during the transformative processes of modernity. Focusing on the little-studied figure of Kay van Qazvini and his writings, Anzali explains how 'irfan was embraced as a rational, science-friendly, nonsectarian, and anticlerical concept by secular Iranian intellectuals. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: the question of ʻirfan in contemporary Iran

ʻIrfan in the pre-Safavid period

The Safavid opposition to sufism

The sufi response

The invention of ʻirfan

The institutionalization of ʻirfan

Modernization of ʻirfan

Epilogue: ʻirfan as mysticism?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Anzali, Ata. Mysticism in Iran.

ISBN:

9781611178074

161117807X

OCLC:

972093372