Description
Book SynopsisOratory and sermons had a fixed place in the religious and civic rituals of pre-modern Muslim societies and were indispensable for transmitting religious knowledge, legitimising rulers and inculcating moral values. While there has been abundant scholarship on medieval Christian and Jewish preaching, this book is the first to consider the tradition of pulpit oratory in the medieval Islamic world.
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Laying the foundations; 2. The khutba: the 'central jewel' of medieval Arab-Islamic prose; 3. The khutba: rhetorical and discursive strategies of persuasion; 4. Putting it all together: the khutba, texts, and contexts; Part I. Canonical Questions: 5. Putting it all together: the khutba, texts, and contexts; Part II. Thematic and Occasional Orations: 6. Homiletic exhortation and storytelling: challenging the 'popular'; 7. 'The good eloquent speaker': profiles of pre-modern Muslim preachers; 8. The audience responds: participation, reception, contestation; Conclusion.
