The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam
Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry
Omid Safi
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 05/2006
Pages: 352
Subject: Religion
| University of North Carolina
Print ISBN: 9.78E+12
eBook ISBN: 9780807876985
DESCRIPTION
In order to legitimize their political power, Saljuq rulers presented themselves as champions of what they alleged was an orthodox and normative view of Islam. Their notion of religious orthodoxy was constructed by administrators in state-sponsored arenas such as madrasas and khanaqahs. Thus orthodoxy was linked to political loyalty, and disloyalty to the state was articulated in terms of religious heresy.
Drawing on a vast reservoir of primary sources and eschewing anachronistic terms of analysis such as nationalism, Safi revises conventional views both of the Saljuqs as benevolent Muslim rulers and of the Sufis as timeless, ethereal mystics. He makes a significant contribution to understanding premodern Islam as well as illuminating the complex relationship between power and religious knowledge.