Synopses & Reviews
This reader provides crucial political and religious texts that cover the past one hundred years of Iranian history. It introduces the chief issues preoccupying the minds of the most prominent thinkers of modern Iran. Many of these writings have become indispensable texts for students of Middle East studies, religious studies and Islamic studies, while others are difficult to find or have never appeared before in English. Each article is preceded by an introduction discussing its significance and placing each writer in historical context. It includes chapters on Sufism in modern Iran and on women in Iran.
Synopsis
The first comprehensive anthology of texts to do justice to modern Iranian political thought containing many crucially important texts appear here for the first time in English. This work is unique in its emphases on questions of gender and Sufism in Iran. Covering the last hundred years of Iranian history, Religion and Politics in Modern Iran introduces students to some of the most crucial political and religious texts of the period. Writers represented here include Seyyid Jamal al-Afghani, Shaykh Fazlallah Nuri, Ahmad Kasravi, Ali Shari'ati, Ayatollah Khomeini and Mehrangiz Kar. Many of these writings have become core texts for students of Middle East studies, religious studies and Islamic studies, while others - while just as important - are difficult to find or have never appeared before in English. It is noteworthy in that it offers fifteen chapters of substantial length, each of which is preceded by an introduction discussing the significance of the piece and placing each writer in their historical context.
Religion and Politics in Modern Iran is an immensely timely publication for students who wish to know not only about the past hundred years in Iran but also about the continuing trends in the country that move far beyond simplistic ideas about Iran's role in an 'axis of evil'.
About the Author
Lloyd Ridgeon is Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of
Persian Mysticism and Metaphysics: Selected Works of Aziz Nasafi. Table of Contents
Introduction * The Reign of Terror in Persia--Jamal al-Din al-Afghani * A Traveler's Narrative--Mirza Malkom Khan * Shaykh Fazl Allah Nuri's Refutation of the Idea of the Constitution--Shaykh Fazl Allah Nuri * The Detrimental Consequences of Islam--Ahmad Kasravi * An Iranian Feminist--Sediqeh Dawlatabadi * A Persian Sufi in the Age of Printing--Mirza Hasan Safi 'Ali Shah * The Kernal of the Kernal--'Allameh Tabataba'I * Extracts from Sufism--Ahmad Kasravi * A New Perspective on Mysticism and Sufism--'Abdollah Entezam * The Outline of a Disease--Jalal Al-e Ahmad * Civilisation and Modernisation--'Ali Shari'ati * The Form of Islamic Government--Ruhollah Khomeini * Tolerance and Governance--Ziba Mir-Hosseini * An Extract from Reading Lolita in Tehran--Azar Nafisi * Women's Political Rights after the Islamic Revolution--Mehrangiz Kar