Sufism is Islam’s main mystical tradition. There are Sufi orders in almost all Muslim countries around the world, but not all Sufis accept the same beliefs and practices.     Mystical Islam offers an introduction that encompasses the full history and richness of the Sufi spiritual tradition over fourteen centuries of Islam. This accessible work covers the origins of Sufism and early influences, particularly from Christianity; the rise of the great Sufi organizations; the thought of Sufism’s main theorist and systemizer, Ibn Arabi; Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes; relations with Shi’ism in Iran; Sufism in the heyday of the great empires in Iran, India, and Turkey; and relations with Turkey and Egypt during the nineteenth century as well as Sufi practices in the twentieth century.    In a new afterword, the author reflects on recent scholarship and offers fresh perspectives on this fascinating tradition of belief and devotion.  

Mystical Islam: An Introduction to Sufism (NYU Studies in NE Civilization)

Religion & Spirituality

Baldick, Julian

Islam

NYU Press

Sufism is Islamâ€™s main mystical tradition. There are Sufi orders in almost all Muslim countries around the world, but not all Sufis accept the same beliefs and practices. Mystical Islam offers an introduction that encompasses the full history and richness of the Sufi spiritual tradition over fourteen centuries of Islam. This accessible work covers the origins of Sufism and early influences, particularly from Christianity; the rise of the great Sufi organizations; the thought of Sufismâ€™s main theorist and systemizer, Ibn Arabi; Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes; relations with Shiâ€™ism in Iran; Sufism in the heyday of the great empires in Iran, India, and Turkey; and relations with Turkey and Egypt during the nineteenth century as well as Sufi practices in the twentieth century. In a new afterword, the author reflects on recent scholarship and offers fresh perspectives on this fascinating tradition of belief and devotion.

Mystical Islam: An Introduction to Sufism (NYU Studies in NE Civilization, 3)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Imaginary Muslims: The Uwaysi Sufis of Central Asia

The Uwaysis--who take their name from Uways, a contemporary of the prophet Mohammad who is reputed to have communicated with him telepathically--are Muslim mystics who look for instruction to the spirit of the dead or physically absent person. Julian Baldick here surveys the legend of Uways and the Uwaysi phenomenon within Sufism, Islam's main mystical tradition.Baldick examines the Uwaysi movement in 16th-century East Turkistan (now Xinjiang in northwest China) and then discusses the book the central text in the development of the sect, History of the Uwaysis, written by Ahmad of Uzgen around 1600. Analyzing the intricate combination of Biblical motifs, shamanistic initiation rites, and Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist legends, Baldick argues that an understanding of the Uwaysi sect reveals many of the paradoxes which lie at the heart of Islam. The first definitive study of this important sect, IMAGINARY MUSLIMS will be of central interest to all those concerned with Islamic studies, the Middle East, and the history of religion

Animal and Shaman presents a comparative survey of the ancient customs and religions of Central Asia. The Pre-Christian and Pre-Muslim peoples of the region, such as the Huns, Scythians, Turks, Mongols, Manchus, Finns and Hungarians, shared a number of traditions and rituals. Characteristics observed by anthropologists today may be traced directly back to an ancient past. In ancient times there were remarkable commonalities in the forms of worship and spiritual expression among the different peoples of Inner Eurasia, all largely based on the role of animals in their lives. The harsh physical climate of the region led to an emphasis on hunting and animals, in contrast to the fertility rites common in more agriculturally hospitable areas. These characteristics have survived not only in the legends of the region, but have also found their way into the mythologies of the West. Baldick proposes that the myths, rituals, and epics of Central Asia served as possible foundations for such great works at the Odyssey, the Gospels, and Beowulf, which seem to have precursors in Iranian and Inner Eurasian tales.

Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia

History

Asia

Animal and Shaman presents a comparative survey of the ancient customs and religions of Central Asia. The Pre-Christian and Pre-Muslim peoples of the region, such as the Huns, Scythians, Turks, Mongols, Manchus, Finns and Hungarians, shared a number of traditions and rituals. Characteristics observed by anthropologists today may be traced directly back to an ancient past. In ancient times there were remarkable commonalities in the forms of worship and spiritual expression among the different peoples of Inner Eurasia, all largely based on the role of animals in their lives. The harsh physical climate of the region led to an emphasis on hunting and animals, in contrast to the fertility rites common in more agriculturally hospitable areas. These characteristics have survived not only in the legends of the region, but have also found their way into the mythologies of the West. Baldick proposes that the myths, rituals, and epics of Central Asia served as possible foundations for such great works at the Odyssey, the Gospels, and Beowulf, which seem to have precursors in Iranian and Inner Eurasian tales.

World

It is argued that just as there is a common Afroasiatic language family, so too there is a common Afroasiatic family of religions. There is an inner logic to be found in myths, folk-tales, rituals, customs and beliefs as far apart as Yemen and Nigeria which go back to an ancient past shared by the Bible and the pharaohs. Using the method of comparative mythology, the author sifts through the work of scholars - including anthropologists, religious historians, archaeologists and classical Greek writers and contemporary comments on them by professional Egyptologists - to build his picture of the Afroasiatic heritage, and how much of it is still with us in modern Western thought.

Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Religions

Syracuse Univ Pr

Austronesia is the vast oceanic region which stretches from Madagascar to Taiwan to New Zealand. Encompassing both scattered archipelagos and major landmasses, Austronesia – derived from the Latin australis, 'southern', and Greek nesos, 'island' – is used primarily as a linguistic term, designating a family of languages spoken by peoples with a shared heritage. Julian Baldick, a celebrated historian of ancient religion, here argues that the diverse inhabitants of the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, New Guinea and Oceania show a common inheritance that extends beyond language. This commonality is found above all in mythology and ritual, which reach back to an ancient, prehistoric past. From around 1250 BCE the original proto-Oceanic speakers migrated eastwards from southeast Asia. Navigating by the sun, the stars, bird flight, the swells of the sea and cloud-swathed mountain islands, Austronesian voyagers used canoes and outriggers to settle on new territories. They developed a unified pattern of religion characterised by mortuary rites, headhunting and agrarian rituals of the annual calendar, culminating in a post-harvest festival often sexual in nature. This unique overview of Austronesian belief and tradition will be essential reading for students of religion, prehistory and anthropology.

Ancient Religions of the Austronesian World: From Australasia to Taiwan (International Library of Ethnicity, Identity and Culture)

I.B.Tauris

An examination of the Uwaysi Muslims, who look for instruction from the spirit of the dead and who take their name from Uways, reputed to have communicated with Mohammad by telepathy. They are considered both as part of the Sufi tradition and as a distinct group with esoteric and eclectic roots.

Imaginary Muslims: Uwaysi Sufis of Central Asia

This study in comparative mythology interprets the Greek myths in the light of the mythologies of other Indo-European cultures - Indian, Celtic, Scandinavian, Roman, Greek, Iranian and Ossetian. The author uses a modified version of the schema proposed by the French theorist Dumezil to consider the profound connections between such works as the ""Iliad"", the ""Odyssey"", the Indian epics - the ""Ramayana"" and the ""Mahabharata"" - the Iranian ""Book of Kings"" and the Scandinavian ""Yaglingasaga"".The book includes a long critical exposition of the discipline of comparative mythology from its 18th-century origins to the revival of the discipline by Dumezil and his followers from 1938 to the present. It also reassesses the profound critique of Dumezil which linked him with Nazi ideology.

Homer and the Indo-Europeans: Comparing Mythologies

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Baldick, Julian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Baldick, Julian

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Baldick, Julian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Mystical Islam: An Introduction to Sufism (NYU Studies in NE Civilization)

Mystical Islam: An Introduction to Sufism (NYU Studies in NE Civilization, 3)

Imaginary Muslims: The Uwaysi Sufis of Central Asia

Imaginary Muslims: The Uwaysi Sufis of Central Asia

Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia

Animal and Shaman: Ancient Religions of Central Asia

Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Religions

Ancient Religions of the Austronesian World: From Australasia to Taiwan (International Library of Ethnicity, Identity and Culture)

Imaginary Muslims: Uwaysi Sufis of Central Asia

Homer and the Indo-Europeans: Comparing Mythologies