The Naqshbandiyya

Description

The Naqshbandiyya is one of the most widespread and influential Sufi orders in the Muslim world. Having its origins in the Great Masters tradition of Central Asia almost a millennium ago, it played a significant role in the pre-modern history of the Indian subcontinent and the Ottoman Empire, and is still spreading today. This volume seeks to present a broad picture of the evolution of the ideas and organizational forms of the Naqshbandi order throughout its history. It combines a synthesis of the vast literature on the order with original research, and shall be an important contribution for those interested in Sufism, Islamic history and Muslim-Christian relations.

Contents

1. The Core and Contours of a Sufi Brotherhood 2. Local Beginnings in the Oases of Inner Asia (Thirteenth to Sixteenth Centuries) 3. Consolidation and Expansion 4. Shari‘a and Renewal in the Great Empires (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries) 5. Inner Rivalries and Cooperation 6. Scholarship and Organization into the Modern World (Nineteenth Century to the Present) 7. The Persistence of Older Traditions 8. Modern Transformations on the Path (Seventeenth to Twentieth Centuries) 9. The Contemporary Situation

Author Bio

Itzchak Weismann is senior lecturer at the Department of Middle Eastern history, University of Haifa, Israel. His research interests focus on modern Islam, particularly interrelations between Sufism and fundamentalist and radical movements.

Related Subjects

1. Medieval & Renaissance Philosophy
2. Islam - Religion