Variable state of intellectual activity in13th-14th centuries

Intellectual decline in comparison toEurope?

1. Impact of ongoing instability2. Scholarship as activity at royal

courts

Sunni schools of Islamic law:1. Malikis2. Shafi‘is3. Hanafis4. Hanbalis

Qur’an hadith (stories of Muhammadand companions)

“Closing of the gate of ijtihad?”

mufti (jurisconsult)

Variations from Sunni mainstream:

Kharijites

Shi‘ite groups:Isma‘ilis (with living Imam)Twelvers (with hidden Imam)

Rejected by most Muslims:

Druze (awaiting return of al-Hakim (d. 1021),in Lebanon and Syria)

Nusayris (a.k.a. ‘Alawis, followers of IbnNusayr (d. 868), associated withtrinity of ‘Ali (God of Qur’an),Muhammad and Salman theIranian, also in Syria)

Sufis tariqa = Sufi order

wali = saint baraka = blessing

Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328), critic of pilgrimages

“Sufi deviants” known as dervishes, fromdarvish = wandering mendicant

New Sufi tariqas:

Naqshbandis, named after Baha’ al-Din Naqshbandof Bukhara (d. 1398), popular in C. Asia andIndia

Bektashis, founded by Hajji Bektash (d. by 1337),popular among janissaries, had similarities toNusayris and linked to Turkish Alevi Shi‘itemovement

Safavids, founded by Safi al-Din (d. 1334) inArdabil (Persia)

Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyya

Hanbali theologian and mufti

Family left Harran to avoid Mongol threat in1269; thereafter brought up in Damascus

1284 Succeeded father as head of a madrasa(religious college)

Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328)

Also worked in various places as administratorand teacher. Employed by Mamluksultans as jihad propagandist. Wrote manyworks, esp. fatwas on many legal topics.Advocate of Islamic reform

1293 onwards involved in number of politicaland theological disputes; repeatedlyaccused of anthropomorphism.Imprisoned several times

Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328)

Hafez (Shams al-Din MuhammadShirazi, c. 1325-c. 1390)

Famous Persian mystical poet, lived most oflife in Shiraz

Educated in religious sciences (hafiz = “onewho has memorised the Qur’an”) andPersian poetry

Sufi, but not ascetic. Lover of good life

Wrote lyric poems in simple language, butreplete with symbolic images