Before Sufism : early Islamic renunciant piety / Christopher Melchert.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Melchert, Christopher, author.

Series:

Islam – Thought, Culture, and Society ; 4

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sufism--History.

Sufism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (X, 240 p.)

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] : [Walter de Gruyter GmbH], [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Christopher Melchert proposes to historicize Islamic renunciant piety (zuhd). As the conquest period wound down in the early eighth century c.e., renunciants set out to maintain the contempt of worldly comfort and loyalty to a greater cause that had characterized the community of Muslims in the seventh century. Instead of reckless endangerment on the battlefield, they cultivated intense fear of the Last Judgement to come. They spent nights weeping, reciting the Qur’an, and performing supererogatory ritual prayers. They stressed other-worldliness to the extent of minimizing good works in this world. Then the decline of tribute from the conquered peoples and conversion to Islam made it increasingly unfeasible for most Muslims to keep up any such régime. Professional differentiation also provoked increasing criticism of austerity. Finally, in the later ninth century, a form of Sufism emerged that would accommodate those willing and able to spend most of their time on religious devotions, those willing and able to spend their time on other religious pursuits such as law and hadith, and those unwilling or unable to do either.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Conventions

Chapter 1: Basic problems

Chapter 2: Physical austerities

Chapter 3: Moral austerity

Chapter 4: Supererogatory forms of required worship

Chapter 5: New devotional forms

Chapter 6: The Muslim holy man

Chapter 7: Renunciants and politics

Chapter 8: The economics of renunciation

Chapter 9: Opposition to renunciation

Chapter 10: The transition to Sufism

Works cited

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783110617719

3110617714

9783110617962

311061796X

OCLC:

1158160127