Khaled El-Rouayheb - Böcker

The study of Islamic philosophy has entered a new and exciting phase in the last few years. Both the received canon of Islamic philosophers and the narrative of the course of Islamic philosophy are in the process of being radically questioned and revised. Most twentieth-century Western scholarship on Arabic or Islamic philosophy has focused on the period from the ninth century to the twelfth. It is a measure of the transformation that is currently underway in the field that, unlike other reference works, the Oxford Handbook has striven to give roughly equal weight to every century, from the ninth to the twentieth. The Handbook is also unique in that its 30 chapters are work-centered rather than person- or theme-centered, in particular taking advantage of recent new editions and translations that have renewed interest and debate around the Islamic philosophical canon. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy gives both the advanced student and active scholar in Islamic philosophy, theology, and intellectual history, a strong sense of what a work in Islamic philosophy looks like and a deep view of the issues, concepts, and arguments that are at stake. Most importantly, it provides an up-to-date portrait of contemporary scholarship on Islamic philosophy.

The North African scholar Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanūsī (1436-90), from Tlemcen, present-day Algeria, was one of the most influential theologians and logicians in the Islamic tradition. al-Sanūsī theological works were wildly popular in large areas of the Islamic world until the modern period and are still studied to this day. In the premodern period, his works were translated or adapted into Berber, Fulani, Turkish, Malay, and Javanese. The sheer number of commentaries, glosses, adaptations, and versifications of his works in subsequent centuries is testament to their popularity. Despite this historical influence, contemporary studies on al-Sanūsī have been sparse. In this book, author Khaled El-Rouayheb surveys al-Sanūsī life, writings, and intellectual milieu, including discussions of his controversial attacks on imitation or conformism to one's elders and peers when it comes to religious belief and his insistence that every sane believer should learn both the core articles of faith and their rational groundings. Closely analyzing al-Sanūsī logical writings--especially the influential Epitome of Logic-- and interventions in long-standing topics in Islamic theology, El-Rouayheb traces and the reception of the revered theologian's works down to the modern period.

The North African scholar Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Sanūsī (1436-90), from Tlemcen, present-day Algeria, was one of the most influential theologians and logicians in the Islamic tradition. al-Sanūsī theological works were wildly popular in large areas of the Islamic world until the modern period and are still studied to this day. In the premodern period, his works were translated or adapted into Berber, Fulani, Turkish, Malay, and Javanese. The sheer number of commentaries, glosses, adaptations, and versifications of his works in subsequent centuries is testament to their popularity. Despite this historical influence, contemporary studies on al-Sanūsī have been sparse. In this book, author Khaled El-Rouayheb surveys al-Sanūsī life, writings, and intellectual milieu, including discussions of his controversial attacks on imitation or conformism to one's elders and peers when it comes to religious belief and his insistence that every sane believer should learn both the core articles of faith and their rational groundings. Closely analyzing al-Sanūsī logical writings--especially the influential Epitome of Logic-- and interventions in long-standing topics in Islamic theology, El-Rouayheb traces and the reception of the revered theologian's works down to the modern period.

The study of Islamic philosophy has entered a new and exciting phase in the last few years. Both the received canon of Islamic philosophers and the narrative of the course of Islamic philosophy are in the process of being radically questioned and revised. Most twentieth-century Western scholarship on Arabic or Islamic philosophy has focused on the period from the ninth century to the twelfth. It is a measure of the transformation that is currently underway in the field that, unlike other reference works, the Oxford Handbook has striven to give roughly equal weight to every century, from the ninth to the twentieth. The Handbook is also unique in that its 30 chapters are work-centered rather than person- or theme-centered, in particular taking advantage of recent new editions and translations that have renewed interest and debate around the Islamic philosophical canon. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy gives both the advanced student and active scholar in Islamic philosophy, theology, and intellectual history, a strong sense of what a work in Islamic philosophy looks like and a deep view of the issues, concepts, and arguments that are at stake. Most importantly, it provides an up-to-date portrait of contemporary scholarship on Islamic philosophy.

Attitudes toward homosexuality in the premodern Arab-Islamic world are commonly depicted as schizophrenic - it was visible and tolerated on one hand, prohibited by Islam on the other. Khaled El-Rouayheb argues that this apparent paradox is based on the anachronistic assumption that homosexuality is a timeless, self-evident fact to which a particular culture reacts with some degree of tolerance or intolerance. Drawing on poetry, biographical literature, medicine, dream interpretation, and Islamic texts, he shows that the culture of the period lacked the concept of homosexuality.

Attitudes toward homosexuality in the premodern Arab-Islamic world are commonly depicted as schizophrenic - it was visible and tolerated on one hand, prohibited by Islam on the other. Khaled El-Rouayheb argues that this apparent paradox is based on the anachronistic assumption that homosexuality is a timeless, self-evident fact to which a particular culture reacts with some degree of tolerance or intolerance. Drawing on poetry, biographical literature, medicine, dream interpretation, and Islamic texts, he shows that the culture of the period lacked the concept of homosexuality.

For much of the twentieth century, the intellectual life of the Ottoman and Arabic-Islamic world in the seventeenth century was ignored or mischaracterized by historians. Ottomanists typically saw the seventeenth century as marking the end of Ottoman cultural florescence, while modern Arab nationalist historians tended to see it as yet another century of intellectual darkness under Ottoman rule. This book is the first sustained effort at investigating some of the intellectual currents among Ottoman and North African scholars of the early modern period. Examining the intellectual production of the ranks of learned ulema (scholars) through close readings of various treatises, commentaries, and marginalia, Khaled El-Rouayheb argues for a more textured - and text-centered - understanding of the vibrant exchange of ideas and transmission of knowledge across a vast expanse of Ottoman-controlled territory.

For much of the twentieth century, the intellectual life of the Ottoman and Arabic-Islamic world in the seventeenth century was ignored or mischaracterized by historians. Ottomanists typically saw the seventeenth century as marking the end of Ottoman cultural florescence, while modern Arab nationalist historians tended to see it as yet another century of intellectual darkness under Ottoman rule. This book is the first sustained effort at investigating some of the intellectual currents among Ottoman and North African scholars of the early modern period. Examining the intellectual production of the ranks of learned ulema (scholars) through close readings of various treatises, commentaries, and marginalia, Khaled El-Rouayheb argues for a more textured - and text-centered - understanding of the vibrant exchange of ideas and transmission of knowledge across a vast expanse of Ottoman-controlled territory.