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In The Qarmatians From Concept to State, author Mai Mohammed Al Khalifa provides a fascinating reinvestigation of 7th-10th century Islamic and Middle East history in Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. Up until recent times, Bahrainis referred to their madhab (religious school) and self-identified as 'Abu Sa'idis' in reference to Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi (d. 913 CE), founder of the independent Qarmatian state in Bahrain. Based on the principle of al-ulfahâ'brotherly love' and camaraderie, that polity, which persisted for a century-and-a-half (ca., 899-1078 CE), provided the world with a unique political and socio-economic model of Islam. Most frequently remembered for their bands of fast-roving horsemen committed to a Spartan, desert code and Abu Tahir al-Jannabi's (d. 944 CE) infamous seizure of the hajar al-aswad ('black stone') from the ka'bah in Mecca, the Qarmatians merit serious academic consideration for the fact that the viable states and forms of equitable human society evolved under Hamdan Qarmat in al-Kufah and Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi in Bahrain remain unique in the annals of history. Their mode of living presaged vital concerns of our era including: socialization of wealth and means of production; gender-equality; group-/ collective decision making (under the Islamic democratic principle of shura); and abolition of private property, in a system of social status and merit according to ethical conduct and service to community. Meticulously detailed research and a vivid history covering the rise of forms of state in Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain lay open to question common assumptions about 'Islam' and Islamic historiography. A uniquely Ba?raini perspective raises provocative possibilities that the political and socio-economic model of the Qarmatians might have been closer than anything under the Umayyads or 'Abbasids to the original Islam and initial dar al-hijrah ('house of emigration') of the first Muslim community established by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina (Yathrib), ca. 622-632 CE. At conceptual and philosophical levels, early Isma?ili-Qarma?ian doctrine and derivative projects of state are, arguably, the best expressions 'on the ground' of the principles of the Risa?il of the Ikhwan al-Safa' (The Treatises of the 'Brethren of Purity'), which summarized the known scientific, mathematical, philosophical and religious knowledge of the ancient world as collected, emended and translated under the Bayt al-Hikmah ('House of Wisdom'). At the level of credo, the Qarmatians may have drawn inspiration from the greatest Sufi of all time, al-Husayn bin Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922 CE). In the integration of science, philosophy and religion with parameters for equitable and egalitarian human coexistence the Qarmatians merit renewed attention as the society they evolved may have indeed reflected the legal intents (maqasid al-shari'ah) of Islamic law in a highly progressive form, unprecedented up until today. This book makes meaningful contribution to the field in its depth of analysis and reliance on previously overlooked Bahraini sources. The author's dispassionate and unbiased approach cracks the façade of dubious historiographical suppositions and accretions and sheds new light in a highly politicized domain where politics and dynastic intrigue have frequently been confounded with Islam. Readers are poised to revisit, witness and ponder a new reading of the history of the Qarmatians and the formative period of Islam itself with an open mind.Author Mai Mohammed Al Khalifa, historian and founder of the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa Center for Culture and Research, is the Chairperson of the Board of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage and the Minister of Culture of Bahrain.Translated by Abdullah Richard Lux, professor of Arabic, former Director of Translation at the Centre for Arab Unity Studies (CAUS) in Beirut and previous Executive Editor of Contemporary Arab Affairs (Routledge, UK).
Analyzes Muslim countries' contemporary problems, particularly violence, authoritarianism, and underdevelopment, comparing their historical levels of development with Western Europe.
What should be the place of Shari‘a—Islamic religious law—in predominantly Muslim societies of the world? In this ambitious and topical book, a Muslim scholar and human rights activist envisions a positive and sustainable role for Shari‘a, based on a profound rethinking of the relationship between religion and the secular state in all societies. An-Na‘im argues that the coercive enforcement of Shari‘a by the state betrays the Qur’an’s insistence on voluntary acceptance of Islam. Just as the state should be secure from the misuse of religious authority, Shari‘a should be freed from the control of the state. State policies or legislation must be based on civic reasons accessible to citizens of all religions. Showing that throughout the history of Islam, Islam and the state have normally been separate, An-Na‘im maintains that ideas of human rights and citizenship are more consistent with Islamic principles than with claims of a supposedly Islamic state to enforce Shari‘a. In fact, he suggests, the very idea of an “Islamic state” is based on European ideas of state and law, and not Shari‘a or the Islamic tradition. Bold, pragmatic, and deeply rooted in Islamic history and theology, Islam and the Secular State offers a workable future for the place of Shari‘a in Muslim societies.
From ancient Mesopotamia into the 20th century, "the Circle of Justice" as a concept has pervaded Middle Eastern political thought and underpinned the exercise of power in the Middle East. The Circle of Justice depicts graphically how a government’s justice toward the population generates political power, military strength, prosperity, and good administration. This book traces this set of relationships from its earliest appearance in the political writings of the Sumerians through four millennia of Middle Eastern culture. It explores how people conceptualized and acted upon this powerful insight, how they portrayed it in symbol, painting, and story, and how they transmitted it from one regime to the next. Moving towards the modern day, the author shows how, although the Circle of Justice was largely dropped from political discourse, it did not disappear from people’s political culture and expectations of government. The book demonstrates the Circle’s relevance to the Iranian Revolution and the rise of Islamist movements all over the Middle East, and suggests how the concept remains relevant in an age of capitalism. A "must read" for students, policymakers, and ordinary citizens, this book will be an important contribution to the areas of political history, political theory, Middle East studies and Orientalism.
This book discusses the common principles of morality and ethics derived from divinely endowed intuitive reason through the creation of al-fitr' a (nature) and human intellect (al-‘aql). Biomedical topics are presented and ethical issues related to topics such as genetic testing, assisted reproduction and organ transplantation are discussed. Whereas these natural sources are God’s special gifts to human beings, God’s revelation as given to the prophets is the supernatural source of divine guidance through which human communities have been guided at all times through history. The second part of the book concentrates on the objectives of Islamic religious practice – the maqa' sid – which include: Preservation of Faith, Preservation of Life, Preservation of Mind (intellect and reason), Preservation of Progeny (al-nasl) and Preservation of Property. Lastly, the third part of the book discusses selected topical issues, including abortion, assisted reproduction devices, genetics, organ transplantation, brain death and end-of-life aspects. For each topic, the current medical evidence is followed by a detailed discussion of the ethical issues involved.
Research completed January 1993.
Decadent Orientalisms presents a sustained critique of the ways Orientalism and decadence have formed a joint discursive mode of the imperial imagination. Attentive to historical and literary configurations of language, race, religion, and power, Fieni shows the importance of understanding Western discourses of Eastern decline and obsolescence together with Arab and Islamic responses in which the language of decadence returns as a characteristic of the West. Taking seriously Edward Said’s claim that Orientalism is a “style of having power,” Fieni works historically through the aesthetic and ideological effects of Orientalist style, showing how it is at once comparative, descriptive, and performative. Orientalism, the book argues, relies upon decadence as the figure through which its positivist scientific claims become redistributed as speech acts—“truths” that establish dominance. Rather than attending to Orientalism as a repertoire of clichés and stereotypes, Decadent Orientalisms considers the systemic epistemological consequences of the diffuse, yet coherent network of institutions that have constituted Orientalism’s power.
The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Islam presents a concise overview of Islamic history, religion, philosophy, and Islamic political movements.