Sufi Martyrs of Love : The Chishti Order in South Asia and Beyond,
Book Cover May Vary [Paperback - 224 pages],
by Carl W. Ernst and Bruce B. Lawrence.
Description : The Chishti Sufi order has been the most widespread and popular of all Sufi traditions since the twelfth-century.
Sufi Martyrs of Love offers a critical perspective on Western attitudes towards Islam and Sufism, clarifying its contemporary importance, both in the West and in traditional Sufi homelands.
Finally, it provides access to the voices of Sufi authorities, through the translation of texts being offered in English for the first time.
Reviews:
"This book is a superb example of what subtly rigorous, questioning, and
imaginative scholarship can contribute to inter-civilizational
understanding - a goal that honours the
Chishtis'own preoccupation with
religious inclusiveness and tolerance." "
---"Farhan Nizami, The Prince of
Wales Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford.
'' Sufi Martyrs of Love is particularly supple in its examination of
intertwined topics like meditative practice, the complex role and nature
of genealogies, the relation of tradition to tombs and shrines; the
relation of the
Chishti order to configurations of power--pre-colonial,
colonial, and post colonial; and the pull between the the traditions
homeland and its many and fascinating outposts or new centers. This is
an outstanding book; it should be at the top of the reading list not
only for Sufism but for comparative mysticism and the history of
religions as well.''
---Michael Sells, Emily Judson Baugh and John Marshall Gest Professor of
Comparative Religions, Haverford College.
'...an exemplary study...a wonderful introduction to the
Chishiyya of South Asia and to issues of method and form in the history of South Asian religions.'
--- Samira Sheikh, The Indian Economic and Social History Review.
Contents:
---Figures,
---Introduction,
---What is a Sufi Order?
---The Core Chishti Practices,
---The Art of Ancestry,
---The Chishti Masters,
---Major Chishti Shrines,
---Colonial Chishtis,
---Modern Day Chishtis,
---Appendix,
---The Earliest Chishtiyya as Model Sufi Masters,
---A Chishti Calendar of Saints'
URS ; Death-Anniversaries,
---Major Chishti Masters,
---Regional Chishti Masters,
---Bibliography of European Language Sources,
---Select Bibliography of Persian and Urdu Sources.
- Biographical note :
- Carl
W. Ernst is Zachary Smith Professor of Religious Studies at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of "Teachings
of Sufism"; " The Shambhala Guide to Sufism"; and "Eternal Garden:
Mysticism, History, and Politics at a South Asian Sufi Center."
- Bruce B. Lawrence is the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor
of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religion at Duke University. He is
the author of "Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence"; "New Faiths,
Old Fears: Muslims and Other Asian Immigrants in American Religious
Life"; and the translation of "Morals for the Heart: Conversations of
Shaykh Nizam ad-Din Awliya."
[**Book Cover may Vary]
