Books And Written Culture Of The Islamic World

In celebration of the many contributions of Claude Gilliot to Islamic studies, an international group of twenty-one friends and colleagues join together to explore books and written culture in the Muslim world. Divided into three sections – authors, genres and traditions – the essays explore themes that have been of central interest and concern to Gilliot himself including the Qurʾān, tafsīr, ḥadīth, poetry, and mysticism. Gilliot’s detailed and extensive work on many authors and texts, literary genres, and specific case-studies on many Muslim traditions renders this volume an apt tribute to him as well as offering Islamic studies’ scholars valuable research insights on these subjects. The authors of these English, French and German essays are all renowned scholars from Europe and North America, each of whom have benefitted substantially from Gilliot’s work and collegiality. With contributions by: Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, Mehdi Azaiez, Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau, Abdallah Cheikh-Moussa, Jean-Louis Déclais, Denis Gril, Manfred Kropp, Pierre Larcher, Michael Lecker, Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Harald Motzki, Tilman Nagel, Angelika Neuwirth, Emilio Platti, Jan van Reeth, Andrew Rippin, Uri Rubin, Walid Saleh, Roberto Tottoli, Reinhard Weipert, Francesco Zappa

The Book in the Islamic World brings together serious studies on the book as an intellectual entity and as a vehicle of cultural development. Written by a group of distinguished scholars, it examines and reflects upon this unique tool of communication not as a physical artifact but as a manifestation of the aspirations, values, and wisdom of Arabs and Muslims in general. The Islamic system of book production differed from that of the West. This volume shows the peculiarities of book making and the intellectual principles that governed a book's inner structure, mysteries, and impact on culture. Investigated and explained are the issues involved in printing; the compilation of the Koran, the most important book in Islam; attitudes toward books; the oral versus the written tradition; metaphors of the book in literature; biographical dictionaries, an important genre of Islamic books; the grammatical tradition; women's contribution to calligraphy; scientific manuscripts; the transition from scribal to print culture; publishing in the modern Arab World; and the new electronic media, a non-book vehicle of communication, and its impact on education.

The Islamic World is an outstanding guide to Islamic faith and culture in all its geographical and historical diversity. Written by a distinguished international team of scholars, it elucidates the history, philosophy and practice of one of the world's great religious traditions. Its grounding in contemporary scholarship makes it an ideal reference source for students and scholars alike. Edited by Andrew Rippin, a leading scholar of Islam, the volume covers the political, geographical, religious, intellectual, cultural and social worlds of Islam, and offers insight into all aspects of Muslim life including the Qur’an and law, philosophy, science and technology, art, literature, and film and much else. It explores the concept of an ‘Islamic’ world: what makes it distinctive and how uniform is that distinctiveness across Muslim geographical regions and through history?

The Islamic World is an outstanding guide to Islamic faith and culture in all its geographical and historical diversity. Written by a distinguished international team of scholars, it elucidates the history, philosophy and practice of one of the world's great religious traditions. Its grounding in contemporary scholarship makes it an ideal reference source for students and scholars alike. Edited by Andrew Rippin, a leading scholar of Islam, the volume covers the political, geographical, religious, intellectual, cultural and social worlds of Islam, and offers insight into all aspects of Muslim life including the Qur’an and law, philosophy, science and technology, art, literature, and film and much else. It explores the concept of an ‘Islamic’ world: what makes it distinctive and how uniform is that distinctiveness across Muslim geographical regions and through history?

Medieval Arab notions of physical difference can feel singularly arresting for modern audiences. Did you know that blue eyes, baldness, bad breath and boils were all considered bodily 'blights', as were cross eyes, lameness and deafness? What assumptions about bodies influenced this particular vision of physical difference? How did blighted people view their own bodies? Through close analyses of anecdotes, personal letters, (auto)biographies, erotic poetry, non-binding legal opinions, diaristic chronicles and theological tracts, the cultural views and experiences of disability and difference in the medieval Islamic world are brought to life.

This publication examines art, the human sciences, science, philosophy, mysticism, language and literature. For this task, UNESCO has chosen scholars and experts from all over the world who belong to widely divergent cultural and religious backgrounds.--Publisher's description.

"Beginning in the twelfth century, the migration of various Turkic peoples over a four-century period greatly influenced the political and cultural organization of the Islamic world. This book assesses various factors, including the Mongol incursions and the Crusades, during the period of expansion and renewal leading up to Ottoman rule. Also covered are the impacts of colonialism, decolonization, and globalization on Islamic societies. This in-depth, academic guide's exploration of the history of Islam through the present gives readers the tools they need to understand the politics and culture of, and the problems faced by, the Islamic world today."

Bernard Lewis's work has covered all periods, and most countries, of the Islamic Middle East. This festschrift, written by some of his numerous colleagues, friends, and former students, includes some of the most distinguished orientalists, historians, and social scientists of our time and is a fitting tribute to Professor Lewis's scholarship. The contributions range, geographically, from "On Chinese Rhubarb" to "The Jewish Courtier Class in Late Eighteenth-Century Morocco" and, topically, from "The Concept of Authority in Islamic Thought" to "A Forgotten Ottoman Romance" and "Safety in Numbers: Reflections on the Middle Eastern Balance of Power". Taken together, the fifty-two essays constitute a variegated collection of studies on a many-sided and important civilisation. The collections are assembled under three major headings: The Classical and Medieval Islamic World; Ottoman Studies and The Modern Middle East.