Before Sufism: Early Islamic renunciant piety

Christopher Melchert

Published by De Gruyter 2020

Before Sufism

Early Islamic renunciant piety

Christopher Melchert

Volume 4 in the series Islam – Thought, Culture, and Society

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110617962

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Christopher Melchert, University of Oxford, UK.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Conventions Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Chapter 1: Basic problems Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2: Physical austerities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
Chapter 3: Moral austerity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Chapter 4: Supererogatory forms of required worship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
Chapter 5: New devotional forms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
Chapter 6: The Muslim holy man Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
Chapter 7: Renunciants and politics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
Chapter 8: The economics of renunciation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
Chapter 9: Opposition to renunciation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
Chapter 10: The transition to Sufism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Works cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Islamwissenschaftler/-innen, Historiker/-innen, Koranforscher/-innen
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 240
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 5
Keywords: Early Islam; Sufism; piety

eBook

Published: June 8, 2020
ISBN: 9783110617962

Hardcover

Published: June 8, 2020
ISBN: 9783110616514

Paperback

Published: July 18, 2022
ISBN: 9783110991604