{"product_id":"neither-belief-nor-unbelief-intentional-ambivalence-in-al-ma-arri-s-luzum-9783110772531","title":"Neither Belief nor Unbelief: Intentional Ambivalence in al-Maʿarrī’s Luzūm","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book re-examines the religious thought and receptions of the Syrian poet Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (d.1057) and one of his best known works - \u003cem\u003eLuzūm mā lā yalzam (The Self-Imposed Unnecessity)\u003c\/em\u003e, a collection of poems, which, although widely studied, needs a thorough re-evaluation regarding matters of (un)belief. Given the contradictory nature of al-Maʿarrī’s \u003cem\u003eoeuvre\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eLuzūm\u003c\/em\u003e in particular, there have been two major trends in assessing al-Maʿarrī’s religious thought in modern scholarship. One presented al-Maʿarrī as an unbeliever and a freethinker arguing that through contradictions, he practiced \u003cem\u003etaqīya\u003c\/em\u003e, i.e., dissimulation in order to avoid persecution. The other, often apologetically, presented al-Maʿarrī as a sincere Muslim. This study proposes that the notion of ambivalence is a more appropriate analytical tool to apply to the reading of \u003cem\u003eLuzūm\u003c\/em\u003e, specifically in matters of belief. This ambivalence is directly conditioned by the historical and intellectual circumstances al-Maʿarrī lived in and he intentionally left it unsolved and intense as a robust stance against claims of certainty. Going beyond reductive interpretations, the notion of ambivalence allows for an integrative paradigm in dealing with contradictions and dissonance. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"De Gruyter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53516641108311,"sku":"9783110772531","price":98.32,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/neither-belief-nor-unbelief-intentional-ambivalence-in-al-ma-arri-s-luzum-9783110772531","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}