Description
Book SynopsisThe present volume—the first of its kind—deals with takfīr: accusing one´s opponents of unbelief (kufr). Originating in the first decades of Islam, this practice has been applied intermittently ever since. The nineteen studies included here deal with cases, covering different periods and parts of the Muslim world, of individuals or groups that used the instrument of takfīr to brand their opponents—either persons, groups or even institutions—as unbelievers who should be condemned, anathematized or even persecuted. Each case presented is placed in its sociopolitical and religious context. Together the contributions show the multifariousness that has always characterized Islam and the various ways in which Muslims either sought to suppress or to come to terms with this diversity. With contributions by: Roswitha Badry, Sonja Brentjes, Brian J. Didier, Michael Ebstein, Simeon Evstatiev, Ersilia Francesca, Robert Gleave, Steven Judd, István T. Kristó-Nagy, Göran Larsson, Amalia Levanoni, Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, Hossein Modarressi, Justyna Nedza, Intisar A. Rabb, Sajjad Rizvi, Daniel de Smet, Zoltan Szombathy, Joas Wagemakers.
Table of ContentsContents List of contributors Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction I. Takfīr Through Islamic History 1. The Early Period (First/Seventh-Fourth/Tenth Centuries) Self-defining through Faith: The walāya and barāʾa Dynamics among the Early Ibāḍis Ersilia Francesca Were the Umayyad-Era Qadarites Kāfirs? Steven Judd Denouncing the Damned Zindīq! Struggle and Interaction between Monotheism and Dualism István T. Kristó-Nagy Kufr et takfīr dans l’ismaélisme fatimide: Le Kitāb Tanbīh al-hādī de Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī Daniel De Smet 2. The Classical and Post-Classical Period (Fifth/Eleventh-Eleventh/Eighteenth Centuries) The Vocabulary of "Unbelief" in Three Biographical Dictionaries and Two Historical Chronicles of the 7th/13th and 8th/14th Centuries Sonja Brentjes Takfīr in Egypt and Syria during the Mamluk Period Amalia Levanoni Takfīr and Messianism: The Ḥurūfī Case Orkhan Mir-Kasimov The Qāḍīzādeli Movement and the Revival of takfīr in the Ottoman Age Simeon Evstatiev The takfīr of the Philosophers (and Sufis) in Safavid Iran Sajjad Rizvi 3. The Modern Period The Cost of Condemnation: Heresy and takfīr in a South Indian Community Brian J. Didier The Sum of its Parts: The State as Apostate in Contemporary Saudi Militant Islamism Justyna Nedza “The Kāfir Religion of the West”: Takfīr of Democracy and Democrats by Radical Islamists Joas Wagemakers On the takfīr of Arab Women Rights Advocates in Recent Times Roswitha Badry Apostasy in the West: A Swedish Case Study Göran Larsson II. Discussing Takfīr:Different Perspectives Essential Islam: The Minimum that a Muslim is Required to Acknowledge Hossein Modarressi Abandoning Prayer and the Declaration of Unbelief in Imāmī Jurisprudence Robert Gleave Society and Propriety: The Cultural Construction of Defamation and Blasphemy as Crimes in Islamic Law Intisar A. Rabb Literary Works as Evidence of Unbelief Zoltan Szombathy “Religions, Opinions and Beliefs Are Nothing but Roads and Paths … While the Goal Is One”: Between Unity and Diversity in Islamic Mysticism Michael Ebstein
