Sufi Brotherhoods Research Articles

Waqf—The Muslim endowments in India: ideological and legal intricacies

Abstract Waqf is the permanent dedication by any person, of any movable or immovable property for any purpose recognised by the Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable. Making waqf is considered a virtuous act in Islam. As a result, Muslims established auqaf wherever they lived. Apart from agricultural, commercial and residential properties, waqf in India includes functional/non-functional mosques, darghās (tomb or shrine of Muslim saint), khanqahās (building or space for Sufi brotherhood), maqbaras (tombs), ashoor-khanās (mourning place for Shias), qabristāns (graveyards), idghās (space to offer Eid Prayer), imam-baras (space for prayers and gatherings for Shias), etc. With the passage of time, waqf endowments started playing an important role in shaping the religious, social, educational, cultural, economic and political aspects/institutions of Muslim societies. This voluntary institution of waqf supplemented the State in fulfilment of its obligations towards the provisions of public good. This interaction between the state and the waqf created ideological and legal intricacies that have shaped the present-day waqf legislations.

Politics and Sufi Brotherhoods in Turkey: The Case of the Menzil Community

The article describes the political viewpoints and the relations with the conservative Turkish political parties of the Menzil community. This religious group is one of the most important Sufi brotherhoods in modern-day Turkey and is renowned for its modest image, its wealth, and its purported links with the AKP, the country’s ruling political party since 2002. The piece gives a brief history of the Menzil community and provides an overview of their social and economic profile. It then goes on to evaluate the electoral statistics of the community’s place of origin. It is argued that these outcomes could be replicated in the rest of the country as well, according to studies on the voting behaviour and political mobilization of smaller religious groups. The statistics and their analysis confirm that the Menzil brotherhood has consistently voted for conservative parties, having supported both the ANAP and the AKP. The popularity of these parties within the Menzil community can be attributed to both the disciples’ support for conservatism, the evolution of their social composition and tactical voting considerations.

APPLICATION OF NETNOGRAPHY METHODS IN THE STUDY OF MUSLIM PILGRIMS AND VISITORS TO THE HOLY PLACES OF THE REPUBLIC OF BASHKORTOSTAN

The number of pilgrims and visitors to the holy places of the Republic of Bashkortostan increases every year. New objects of worship are being built in the region every year and old ones are being improved. This article is devoted to the study of pilgrimage in Bashkiria at the present stage.
 
 The purpose of the article is to analyze the reasons for the increase in the number of pilgrims and the existing trends of religious tourism in Bashkiria.
 
 Materials and methods. Within the framework of the study, the materials of the field expedition were used, which were achieved through such methods as questionnaire, survey and overt observation. The methods of cyberethnography were also applied: the analysis of the Internet community, whose actors participate in events organized at the holy sites of the Southern Urals, was carried out.
 
 Scientific novelty. This work is the first to study a sharp increase in pilgrimage in Bashkiria after 2019. In addition, the author applied overt observation in the expedition, which was last carried out by ethnographers on these monuments in 2010. Currently, foreign and domestic scientists are actively implementing the method of cyberethnography in the study of modern trends, the author of the article for the first time uses the method of cyberethnography in the study of religious pilgrimage in the Republic of Bashkortostan.
 
 Study results. During the expedition, a survey of tourists, guides and pilgrims was conducted at the mausoleum of Kuseynbek and Tura Khan in Chishminsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and at the Ilchigulovo-IV burial mound (sacred mountain Narystau) in Miyakinsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, a questionnaire was also compiled for a group of tourists from Ufa and an analysis of pilgrims by gender and age using cyberethnography methods was carried out. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that the flow of pilgrims and tourists to the holy places of the region increases annually.
 
 Conclusions. The most active visitors to the holy places are the Muslims associated with Sufi brotherhoods. Most of the Muslims’ holy places are organized on the site of archaeological sites of the XIV–XV centuries. According to demographic characteristics, tourists are mostly middle-aged and elderly women, which shows the need to improve the infrastructure for leisure and walking.

Իսլամիդերըքրդականազգայնականությանառաջացմանմեջ

This article delves into the intricate relationship between Kurdish nationalism and Islam during its formative years and subsequent development. The historical backdrop reveals a profound interconnection, with profound implications for the shaping of Kurdish national identity. Kurdish nationalism's emergence and evolution were deeply enmeshed with Islamic influences. This connection found its expression through the pivotal roles played by Sufi brotherhoods and Islamic educational institutions known as madrasas. Sufi brotherhoods occupied a central position in the lives of Kurds, and it is notable that a significant majority of prominent Kurdish nationalist figures were devout followers of Sufism, nurtured within the nurturing embrace of these brotherhoods. In their turn, medreses, functioning as indispensable Islamic educational establishments, exerted a substantial influence on the rise of Kurdish national sentiments and the eventual crystallization of Kurdish nationalism. Notably, the inclusion of Kurdish language instruction within the curriculum of medreses played a pivotal role in fostering a distinct national identity, thereby providing a sturdy foundation for the emergence of Kurdish nationalism. This article sheds light on the intertwined narratives of religion and nationalism in the Kurdish context, offering valuable insights into the complex historical forces that have contributed to the shaping of Kurdish identity and the enduring relationship between Kurdish nationalism and Islam.

Inner Visions: Art Practice and Sufi Devotion in Morocco at the Turn of the Fourteenth/Twentieth Century

Abstract This article examines a large calligraphic panel from Morocco preserved in the Harvard Art Museums (2016.206). The artwork features stylized representations of Mecca and Medina alongside Prophet Muhammad’s sandals and a selection of religious texts praising the prophet. This composition is characteristic of Islamic devotional imagery, highlighting artistic transfer from Moroccan illustrated copies of the Dalāʾil al-Khayrāt by the ninth/fifteenth-century Sufi mystic al-Ǧazūlī. This article aims to contextualize the production of this specific panel artwork within the Wazzāniyya Sufi Brotherhood in Morocco. It also presents how the expression of religious devotion through symbolic images reflects a mediation between the believer and Islamic holy sites and relics of the prophet.

Эшон-бобо и его потомки: сакральный статус и религиозная роль династии ишанов

The historically cyclical nature of Islamic culture is visible in the repetition of heydays and periods of decline of Islamic piety and education. The most important factor influencing the religious upsurge was the activity of individual spiritual leaders, whose role in Central Asia since the 14th century most often have been played by the sheikhs of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi brotherhood. Sheikhs were recognized as spiritual authorities not only for a narrow circle of their disciples (murids) but for the entire community. People spoke about them with reverence: “They (pers. – Ishan)!” – thereby emphasizing the special sacred status of Sufi shaikhs. This article considers the specifics of religious processes in contemporary Uzbekistan, examining the activities of the Ishan lineage going back to Muhammad Sharif al-Bulghari, a sheikh of the Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya, well known in Khorezm as Eshon bobo. When exploring the history of this family, we will see how a single man of faith contributed to the symbolic capital of a sacral blood-related group and helped shape the dynamics of a transregional family and religious network, which members have greatly influenced local religious tradition. The article argues that the al Bulghari network “reactivation” is part of the state-supported discourse on “traditional Islam” in contemporary Uzbekistan.

Resilience-based Islamic program as a promising intervention on diabetes fatigue and health-related quality of life.

Psychological problems commonly experienced by patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cause diabetes fatigue conditions that can further worsen the treatment prognosis. We conducted this investigation to determine the effectiveness of a resilience-based Islamic program on diabetes fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) by measuring the biochemical indicators of T2DM. This was a quasi-experimental study performed from May to August 2021, in which 80 respondents aged 18-64 years diagnosed with T2DM were included through purposive sampling at a male:female sex ratio of 1:1 in the control group and 17:23 in the treatment group. A resilience-based Islamic program (a combination of stress management, mindfulness, prayer, and dhikr (the ritual formula of Sufi brotherhood recited devotionally in praise of Allah and as a means of attaining ecstatic experience)) was implemented in the treatment group for six sessions by blended online and offline interventions. Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 and World Health Organization Quality of Life, Brief Form were used to evaluate diabetes fatigue and HRQoL. Blood tests were performed to measure HbA1c, total antioxidant serum, insulin, cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels from baseline to 3 months. Statistical analyses were conducted using paired t test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, independent t test, and Mann-Whitney U test. The resilience-based Islamic program had a beneficial impact on the levels of HbA1c (p < 0.001), lipid profile (triglyceride) (p = 0.011), HDL-c (p = 0.01), LDL-c (p < 0.001), total antioxidant serum (p = 0.001), insulin (p < 0.001), diabetes fatigue (p < 0.05), and HRQoL (p < 0.05) in patients of the treatment group. The results of biochemical tests related to T2DM also indicated a reduction in diabetes fatigue and an increase in HRQoL due to the resilience-based Islamic program. Considering that a patient's resilience to diabetes is an important factor in the management of diabetes fatigue, the resilience-based Islamic program can be applied at public health centers and community levels to increase T2DM resilience.

The specifi cs of Monotheism (tawhid) as “a thing-in-itself”. On the Evolution of Islamic Theology in the Late Russian Empire

In this paper, we will try to give a dynamic characterization of the object and the subject of Modern theology among the Tatar Muslims on the exemplar of the theological views of ‘Abdunnasīr Qursavi (1776–1812), Shihabutdin Marjani (1818–1889) and Murad Ramzi (1854–1934) (and partly of their contemporaries). The incognizability of the Creator and the faith as “a thing-in-itself” transformed Tatar Religious Epistemology into the cognition of more defi nite realities. Agnosticism in the question of God’s attributes led to the anthropocentric features of theological worldviews. The above-mentioned chain of theologians demonstrates not only the continuity of the Tatar Theology, but also refl ects the dynamics of the evolution of the attitude towards the madhhabs and towards the role of an individual, the specifi cs of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidiya Sufi brotherhood, as well as the Ottoman ‘usul fi qh’ in the modernization period of the early XVIII century. In general, the works of Qursavi constitute a certain system of views that can be considered as a certain cornerstone, the so-called ‘starting point’ of Tatar School of Theology.

Jihadi Audiovisuality and Its Entanglements: Meanings, Aesthetics, Appropriations

Jihadi Audiovisuality and Its Entanglements: Meanings, Aesthetics, Appropriations

Mosques and Imams: Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia ed. by Kathryn Robinson (review)

Reviewed by: Mosques and Imams: Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia ed. by Kathryn Robinson Thomas Gibson Mosques and Imams: Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia. Edited by Kathryn Robinson. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press. 2021. 277 pp. ISBN 978-981-325-120-5 [End Page 212] This volume contains a collection of essays by nine authors all of whom collaborated on a research project on 'Being Muslim in Eastern Indonesia'. The project was based at the Australian National University in Canberra and the Universitas Hasanuddin in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Each author focusses on the role played by the local imam in their area of research. This was an inspired methodological decision. Local communities have a wide range of latitude in the way they select their imams, who are often among the most respected members of their communities. Local imams must navigate an increasingly complex field of competing opinions about what constitutes correct doctrine and practice, as well as changing social and economic conditions. In most cases, their goal is to ensure that all members of their congregations can continue to worship together in peace while continuing to preside over the life cycle rituals that reproduce the local social and cosmic order. The essays explore a wide range of ways local imams go about these tasks, providing a window into the way global currents of religious opinion, national economic development, and increasing levels of higher education are assimilated at the local level throughout Eastern Indonesia. Rather than trying to synthesize the material in the volume, I will summarize the most notable features of each paper. A bit of background is in order. In many parts of Eastern Indonesia, the local population is divided between those who follow the practices endorsed by the 'traditionalist' Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) organization and the 'modernist' Muhammadiyah organization. For the past hundred years, the Muhammadiyah has been denouncing many Indonesian local customs, adat, as contrary to Islam, claiming that they amount to the worship of beings other than Allah (syirk), or that they constitute illegitimate innovations in scripturally mandated religious practices (bid'ah). Many of these so-called 'local customs' were not local at all, but were practiced throughout the Islamic world in the precolonial period. They were based in the oral transmission of scriptural knowledge and in the mystical traditions of the Sufi brotherhoods. These practices were called into question only when modern schooling created a class of educated lay persons and when vernacular translations of Islamic texts allowed them to bypass the interpretations of the ulama who had been trained in the traditional oral way. Educated modernists saw excessive mysticism as one of the reasons why the Islamic world had fallen behind Europe and subjected it to severe criticism. Traditionalists were at first put on the defensive, but soon began to justify their practices in new ways. In Indonesia, tensions between the followers of the NU and Muhammadiyah seem to have moderated over the past generation as imams have altered certain practices in response to modernist criticism, and as modernists have adopted a more tolerant attitude toward some of the practices they continue to view as ill-founded. A prime example of this is the recitation of the Maulid an-Nabi by Jaffar al-Barzanji (1716–1764), a poetic account of the life of the Prophet, during life cycle rituals throughout Indonesia and elsewhere in the Islamic world. Modernists regard this practice as showing the Prophet undue veneration on a par with Allah, and so as a species of syirk, traditionalists are fiercely devoted to it. This disagreement has the potential to disrupt a great many life cycle rituals, and imams must be able to finesse the issue. [End Page 213] More recently, a new generation of students has come under the influence of the views of the Salafi movement emanating from Egypt and Saudi Arabia that is far less willing to accommodate local cultural practices anywhere and that seeks to impose a uniform interpretation of Islam on the global community. It is this latter current of opinion that local imams must now seek to accommodate to maintain some level of social harmony. Muhamad Adlin Sila discusses the way members of the royal family of...

“FALSE SHEIKH” CRITIQUE IN DAGESTAN IN THE END OF THE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE WORK OF HASAN-HILMI AL-KAKHI “DURRA AL-BAYDA’ FI RADDI-L-BADA’ WA-L-AHWA”)

Based on a brief source analysis of an Arabic-language work of a prominent Dagestan Sufi sheikh Hasan-Hilmi al-Kakhi “Durra al-bayda’ fi raddi-l-bada’ wa-l-ahwa” (A shining pearl for the refutation of innovations and whims), the article reveals the essence of an inter-Sufi dispute between the followers of different Sufi brotherhoods, which took place in Dagestan at the end of the 19th – early 20th centuries. This dispute was expressed in mutual criticism and accusations of some Sufi figures of being “false sheikhs”. The polemics were mainly initiated by the representatives of the Mahmudiyya branch of the Naqshbandi brotherhood; their opponents were the representatives of the Khalidiyya branch, which at that time amounted to the largest number of followers. One of the most active participants in the inter-Sufi polemics was the Naqshbandi sheikh Hasan-Hilmi al-Kakhi. In his work “Durra al-bayda’ fi raddi-l-bada’ wa-l-ahwa” al-Kakhi strongly criticizes some Dagestani Sufis, who, in his opinion, illegally engage in mentoring activity without the appropriate investiture, and thereby discredit the Sufi teaching. In the same work, al-Kakhi first attempted to classify the “Dagestani false sheikhs.” He devoted several more of his later works to this issue, in which he generalized and supplemented his ideas, while his positions on some issues and the rhetoric itself changed greatly. Al-Kakhi’s criticism provoked a backlash from his opponents. This problem was also reflected in the Arabic-language polemical works of other Dagestan Sufi contemporaries. The study of this issue is an important part in revealing the history of the spread and development of Sufism in Dagestan.

Apperception of Sufism: sociocultural background (evidence from the Crimean ulus of the golden horde)

The study states that the spread of Sufi teachings in Crimea in the 13th-15th centuries should be considered as a display of the continuous recursiveness of spiritual culture. The prerequisites for apperception are developing as a result of the formation of an institutional matrix, the basis of which was the union of the so-called nomadic empires and Hellenistic states. Maintenance of the Khazar heritage, the impact of the Hellenistic culture, and recursive practice contributed to the spread of Sufism. The atmosphere of the Golden Horde became a certain “fertiliser” for the establishment of the social structure and development of the spiritual life of the medieval Turkic world. The research highlights the specifics of Jochid rulers’ attitude towards Christians. The study describes the role of the first Muslim rulers in the development of new religious traditions of the state, the spread of the Arab-Muslim educational model in the Crimean ulus, the impact of Sufi brotherhoods on the socio-cultural development of Crimea and the influence of prominent Sufis on the ruling elite. In conclusion, the apperception of Sufism is an organic, tradition-based perception of doctrine as the basis of the medieval Crimea’s ideology.

AN EXAMINATION OF SUFISM'S RESISTANCE AGAINST THE REGIME IN THE SOVIET PERIOD (1922-1991)

Islam consists of three parts – first, faith; second, practice; and finally, Ihsan or ahlak, that is, ethics or morals. Sufism profoundly engages with the third part of Islam. In other words, it deals with the inner part of human beings. The goal of this research is to demonstrate that the persistence of Islam in Central Asia is due to the incredible, though nearly invisible, work of Sufi brotherhoods. Therefore, the role of Sufism in preserving Islam will be examined by analysing how Sufis resisted the communist regime. This research will utilise the historical method in analysing the role of Sufi brotherhoods. The first section will deal with the role of underground mosques and sacred sites in preserving Islam by illustrating the case studies of Keller and the analysis of Bennigsen. The second part will examine Islamic education and the role of mullahs who have undertaken the main responsibility in keeping Islamic education alive. The final section will focus on the moral qualities of Sufism, such as submissiveness and subservience, which were helpful in resisting the communist regime.

The Tijaniyya Sufi Brotherhood Amongst the Idaw ‘Ali of the Western Sahara

ORIGINS OF THE IDAW ALIThe Idaw ‘Ali are one of the two most prominent and influentialzuwaya groups in Mauritania, the other being the Kunta, disseminatorsof the Qadiriyya tariqa in West Africa who claim to be descendants ofthe great Arab hero and conqueror of North Africa, Uqba b. Nafi. Thebasis of the prestige of the Idaw ‘Ali rested in part on their widelyrecognized sharifian origin. Another basis of their prestige was theirintroduction of the Tijaniyya tariqa in Mauritania As descendants ofProphet Muhammed, the Idaw ‘Ali occupied a noble and privilegedposition in the society that placed them above the other zawaya and laygroups in Mauritania.The Idaw ‘Ali traditions, as reported by Sidi Abd-allah b. al-HajjIbrahim al-‘Alawi (d. 1818) in his treatise, “Sahihat al-Naql fi AlawiyatIdaw ‘Ali wa Bakriyat Muhammed Ghull” (The Authenticity of theDescee Idaw ‘Ali from Caliph ‘Ali and that of Muhammed Ghull fromCaliph ‘Abu Bakr al-Siddiq), state unequivocally that the Idaw ‘Alidescended from ‘Ali b. ‘Abu Talib (d. 661), son-in-law of the Prophet andfourth Caliph, through an eponymous ancestor ‘Ali b. Yahya. SidiAbdallah maintains that:. . .the Idawa ‘Ali are the descendants of ‘Ali b. Yahya and to bereckoned the progeny of ‘Ali b. ‘Abu Talib (May God bepleased with him). We know of no disagreement between thosewho are learned in that which has been handed down, bothwritten and spoken, and those who have been favored withspiritual illumination regarding it.This genealogy is said to have been examined and declared sound by SidiMukhtar al-Kunti, the founding father of the Qadiriyya-Mukhtariyyabrotherhood in West Africa. Furthermore, the author of “Sahihat al-Naql” adduced numerous quotations which he related to genealogistsand scholars of Mauritania and the Orient to prove the validity of theIdaw ‘Ali’s claim to shar(fian ancestry.Sidi Abdallah relates in “Sahihat al-Naql” that he was informed bySidi Ahmed al-Daymani, the famed scholar of the Awlad Daymanzawaya group, that the Idaw ‘Ali descended from the house of theProphet. According to al-Daymani, the Idaw ‘Ali. . .are the progeny of ‘Ali and.. . both their young and their oldcontinue to trace their lineage to him in spite of the paucity ofthat which God has allotted to them in support of their claim.Sidi Abdallah also relates that a member of the Idaw ‘Ali made thepilgrimage to Mecca where he met Sidi Ahmed al-Habib of the Idaw‘Ali. Sidi Ahmed is said to have told the pilgrim:If you are in straightened circumstances, then say-ohforefather, oh Messenger of God-for in truth you are hisdescendant.The pilgrim asked Sidi Ahmed how he acquired this informationconcerning the lineage of the Idaw ‘Ali, and Sidi Ahmed replied:I saw that in a book in Cairo, but if you return there, askSheikh al-Murtada about the lineage of the people of Shinqit.Sheikh al-Murtada is the saint of Egypt and its sun . . .On the pilgrim’s return journey he passed through Cairo and asked ...

Rising of the Safavid dynasty: from the Sufi brotherhood to the political movement (based on the works of French researchers)

Rising of the Safavid dynasty: from the Sufi brotherhood to the political movement (based on the works of French researchers)

Elements of Early Wahhabism in the Ideology of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi

The article examines the ideology of the leader of the Mahdist uprising in Sudan at the end of the 19th century, Muhammad Ahmad, who took the title al-Mahdi. The role of elements of Wahhabism, as well as the teachings of Sufi brotherhoods spread in the territory of Sudan, on the ideology of the Mahdists is revealed. Conclusions reached during the study: 1) Muhammad Ahmad&amp;apos;s ideology was influenced by the Sufi orders of Senusiyya and Sammaniyya, as well as early Wahhabism; 2) a significant part of the tenets of the Senussi was also drawn from Wahhabism by them; 3) the influence of Wahhabism on the ideology of the Mahdists was much greater than was commonly believed in Soviet and Russian historiography; 4) at the same time, the Wahhabi influence was indirect, since it used methods of Sufism that were close and understandable to the population of Sudan to spread.

Суфийский джамаат «Исмаил ага» на территории Поволжья: появление, распространение, отношение к нему государства и общества

The article deals with the investigation of religious revival processes, observed in the post-Soviet period. The process of religious revival took place among the Muslims on the territory of the Volga region, accompanied by the emergence of new religious movements of Islamic origin, many of which had their spiritual centers in the Middle East. It is stated that alongside the emergence of Salafi groups, recognized as extremist and terrorist or-ganizations in the 2000s, the followers of various Sufi jamaats from Turkey also appeared – Ismail Agha is supposed to be one of the most pronounced. The peak of its activity in the region begins with Kamil Samigullin’s coming to the post of Tatarstan mufti in 2013, belonging to this Sufi community. He begins to appoint Ismail Agha murids to the posts of imams and mukhtasibs, simultaneously expanding his influence outside Tatarstan, meeting some resistance, both from the Muslim clergy and from government agencies in charge of the religious sphere in the region. At the same time, the process of strengthening the influence of this particular Sufi brother-hood is taking place against the background of a general shift towards Sufism in the Middle Volga region: today different branches of the Naqshbandi Tariqa are represented in the region, and there are also groups of murids of the Qadiri and Shazili tariqas. Such a variety of Sufism in the Muslim Ummah of the Volga region is caused by the fact that different centers of its historical area (Turkey, Central Asia and the North Caucasus) exert influ-ence through their murids. At the same time, the Sufis themselves are in no hurry to openly advertise their pres-ence, largely due to the minimization of conflicts with the Salafists, whose influence in the Islamic Ummah of Tatarstan is noticeably preserved.

To the Question of Relationships of Representatives of the Sheybanid Dynasty with the Leaders of the Sufi Brotherhood of Maverannahr (1534-1598)

The purpose of this article is to show the complex relationship of the Sheybanid rulers with the local Maverannahr Sufi brotherhoods - naqshbandiya, kubraviya and jahriya (yassaviya). The main materials for this study were information from Persian-language sources and Muslim hagiographic writings ( manakib ) of that period. The second generation of the Sheybanids, whose representatives came to power in the middle 30s of the 16th century, unlike their predecessors, sought to establish trusting relations with the leaders of the various Sufi brotherhoods of Maverannahr. After the death of the great Khan Kuchkunji Khan (died in 1534), Ubaidulla (died in 1540), whose residence was in Bukhara, became the new great khan of nomadic Uzbeks. He maintained close relations with such well-known leaders of the Sufi brotherhoods of that period as the leader of the naqshbandi brotherhood - Khoja Ahmad Kosoni (died in 1549), the leader of the kubraviya brotherhood - Sheikh Hussein Khorezmi (died in 1551), etc. In the other large political center of Maverannahr - Samarkand, after the death of Kuchkunji Khan, his sons Abu Said Khan and Fulad Sultan became co-rulers of the city. They established very close relations with prominent Sufi leaders. In the 50-60s of the 16th century, due to the political ambitions of a new generation of Sheybanids, the country plunged into political chaos and a state of instability. Almost all famous Sufi leaders of that period supported the claims of Sheibanid Abdullah Khan II (died 1598) on the Khan’s throne.

Linking the poetical text and the doctrines of Sufi brotherhoods: Sufi poetry of A. Lahuti

The article deals with the poetical heritage of Abulqasim Lahuti, more precisely his poetical works of an early period, which constitute a special section in his collection of poems, the Divan. It was published in Teheran as early as in 1979 by 'Ali Bashiri under the title As'ar-e mazhabi va 'erfani («Religious and Sufi verses»). The revolutionary, patriotic and lyrical poetical works by A. Lahuti published since 1909 are well-known. However, his early poetry, which reflects the time when he was in contact with various Sufi brotherhoods remains almost a terra incognita for most scholars who have been studying his poetry ever since. Moreover, the existence of such poetry of his was hardly even accounted for, at least by the Soviet scholars who made attempts to reconstruct Lahuti’s biography as a poet. Usually, it is difficult to link an author of a poetical piece (ghazal) with a certain Sufi brotherhood or school unless there is a direct indication left by his biographers that he was taught by certain sheiks. One of the least researched questions in the text studies remains, whether an ideology of a given brotherhood can be traced in the poetic features of a given ghazai. The section from the Divan by A. Lahuti contains traditional “genres”, such as the tawhid (the Unicity of the Almighty); na't (praise to the Prophet Muhammad, praise to 'Ali and Hussain); lamentation on the events in Karbala; praise to Sheikh Hayran Kurdistani and some other works. The second part of the section comprises 107 ghazals. As A. Lahuti mentions in his autobiography, he became a member of a Sufi brotherhood. The article explores the connection between the early poetry by A. Lahuti and the doctrine of Sufi brotherhoods as reflected in the poetics of his ghazais. His work of this period reveals his awareness of the doctrines of ne'matallahi and ahl-i haqq (or 'Aii- ilahi) Sufi orders. The poet had three mentors, each of whom represented the following types of the Sufi Path: ecstatic and visionary one; a militant one; and a humble one praising holy behaviour and being content with little. The early ghazais by A. Lahuti respectively reflects these types of the Sufi Path.

Selected Bibliography: 2019

The Maghreb Review, Vol. 45, 2, 2020 © The Maghreb Review 2020 This publication is printed on FSC Mix paper from responsible sources SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 2019 CURATED BY MOHAMED BEN-MADANI This selected bibliography published here is for the benefit of our readers and subscribers and is listed in aphabetical order. The price listed here is the price from the Publishers’ catalogues at the time of catalogue publication and does not include packing and postage. 2nd and 3rd edition reprints as well as print on demand and ebooks which is now quite common practice are not included in this list. Some titles below are in stock at The Maghreb Bookshop, others can be ordered on request. We offer 10% discount on all books listed in our catalogues to our 2020 paid-up subscribers to The Maghreb Review. The minimum order is£50.00. If you would like to receive our latest catalogue, please let us know. Mahan Abedin, Iran Resurgent:The Rise and Rise of the Shia State, 2019, 272 pp, notes, bibliography, index, Paperback, £25.00 ‘By far the most important analysis of Iran’s foreign policy, Abedin’s study vividly brings to light the debates over its strategies and their domestic and international constraints. The book offers productive new insights into the future possibilities and limitations of Iran’s regional and global ambitions.’ — Faisal Devji, St Antony’s College, Oxford. Nadje Al-Ali, Deborah Al-Najjar, Editor, We Are Iraqis. Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War, 2019, 304 pp, notes, bibliography, index, Paper $34.95, Hardcover $45.00 “The book takes its readers on a journey, introducing them to different faces and facets of the country and showing them that no matter how embattled and dispersed cultural production in Iraq has become, it contains beauty even in the most desperate of situations.” — Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication “We Are Iraqis vividly describes and relives this ebb and flow of catastrophe and rebirth via a remarkably rich collection of essays, poems, interviews, and memoirs.” — Review of Middle East Studies Mohammed A. Bamyeh, Lifeworlds of Islam.The Pragmatics of a Religion, 2019, 256 pp, notes, bibliography, index, cloth, £41.99 In Lifeworlds of Islam, Mohammad Bamyeh shows that Islam has typically SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 2019 485 operated not in the form of standard dogmas, but more often as a compass for practical individual orientations or “lifeworlds.” Through a comprehensive sociological analysis of Islam, he maps out how Muslims have employed the faith to foster global networks, public philosophies, and engaged civic lives both historically and in the present. Bamyeh further argues that all three fields are poorly understood in recent literature, which tends to focus on one specific problem or another and does not take into account the variety of lifeworlds in which Islam operates. Aurelie Campana, Cédric Jourde, Editors, Islamism and Social Movements in North Africa, the Sahel and Beyond. Transregional and Local Perspectives, 2019, 184 pp, notes, bibliography, index, paperback £37.00, cloth £120.00 As North African, Middle Eastern, and Sahelian societies adapt to the postArab Spring era and the rise of violence across the area, various groups find in Islam an answer to the challenges of the era. This book explores how Islamist social movements, Sufi brotherhoods, and Jihadi armed groups, in their great diversity, elaborate their social networks, and recruit sympathizers and militants in complicated times. The book innovates by transcending regional boundaries, bringing together specialists of the three aforementioned regions. First, it highlights how geographically dispersed religious groups define themselves as members of a larger, universal Umma, while evolving in deeply embedded local contexts. Second, its contributors prioritize in-depth fieldwork research, offering fine-grained, original insights into the manifold mobilization of Islamist-inspired social movements in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, and Western Europe. The book sheds light on the tense debates and competition taking place amongst the different trends composing the Islamist galaxy and between other groups that also claim an Islamic legitimacy, including Sufi brotherhoods and ethnic and/or tribal groups as well. Eglė Česnulytė, Selling Sex in Kenya. Gendered Agency under Neoliberalism, 2019,192 pp, notes, bibliography, index, cloth £75.00 ‘An outstanding contribution...