Tales of God’s Friends Islamic Hagiography in Translation

by John Renard (Editor)
May 2009
First Edition
Paperback
$34.95, £30.00
Title Details

Rights: Available worldwide
Pages: 432
ISBN: 9780520258969
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 21 b/w photographs, 1 map, 1 table

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About the Book About the Author Reviews Table of Contents Related Books

About the Book

This remarkable collection gathers a breathtakingly diverse selection of primary texts from the vast repertoire of Islamic stories about holy men and women—also known as Friends of God—who were exemplary for their piety, intimacy with God, and service to their fellow human beings. Translated from seventeen languages by more than two dozen scholars of Islamic studies, these texts come from the Middle East, North and sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and China and Southeast Asia. Historically, they begin with the eighth century and include samples from medieval, early modern, and modern Muslim societies. Expertly edited and introduced by John Renard, Tales of God's Friends serves as a companion volume to Renard's Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood.

About the Author

John Renard is Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. His many books include Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims, Windows on the House of Islam, and Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood, all from UC Press.

Reviews

“Highly recommended.”—Choice

“This book is ground-breaking scholarship and an absolute pleasure to read.”—Journal School Of Oriental & Afrcn Stds

“[Renard] has provided an important means of getting nearer to the letter and spirit of such a vast domain of Islamic culture.”—Giuseppe Scattolin Islamochristiana

“A fresh and innovative look et a plethora of narratives about Sufi shaykhs and their communities across the globe.”—Review Of Middle East Stds

“This anthology is a fresh and innovative look at a plethora of narratives about Sufi shaykhs and their communities across the globe. It is a work that promises to stimulate new discussions and directions in our understanding of Islamic mysticism.”—Blain Auer Review Of Middle East Stds

"The works of Islamic mysticism are a crucial genre of Islamic piety, and the lives of the awliya (friends of God) have been and continue to be a crucial way in which the theoretical insights of Sufism are embodied and communicated to a wider audience. Traditionally, these genres would be deciphered by a living Sufi master. Here John Renard acts as our Sufi guide, transporting us to the marvelous world of Islamic piety."—Omid Safi, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Northern Carolina

List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction: Islamic Hagiography: Sources and Contexts
Part I. The Arab Middle East and North Africa
1. Abü Bakr in Tradition and Early Hagiography
John Renard
2. Tamïmï’s Eyewitness Account of Abü Ya`zä Yallanür (572/1177)
Kenneth Honerkamp
3. `Abd Alläh ibn As`ad al-Yäfi`ï’s Defense of Saintly Marvels
Erik S. Ohlander
4. The Wafä´ïya of Cairo
Richard McGregor
Part II. Iran and Afghanistan
5. Junayd in the ‘Hilyat al-awliyä´’ and the ‘Nafahät al-uns’
Jawid Mojaddedi
6. Sa`dï’s Earthly Vision of Sainthood in the ‘Bustän’and the ‘Gulistän’
Fatemeh Keshavarz
7. Ostad Elahi and Hajjï Ni`mat: Master and Disciple,Father and Son
James W. Morris
8. A Miracle of an Afghan Friend of God, the Mulla of Hadda
David Edwards
Part III. Turkey and Central Asia
9. Three Tales from the Central Asian ‘Book of Hakïm Ata’
Devin DeWeese
10. Sari Saltik Becomes a Friend of God
Ahmet T. Karamustafa
11. Sari Ismail: The Beloved Disciple of Haci Bektaš Veli
Vernon James Schubel and Nurten Kilic-Schubel
12. Yünus Emre Seeks His Share:Traditional and Modern Accounts
Mark Soileau
Part IV. Africa: West and East
13. Shaykh al-Hajj Abbass Sall: In Praise of the Tïjänïya Order
Souleymane Bachir Diagne
14. Imitating the Life of the Prophet:Nana Asma´u and Usman dan Fodiyo
Beverly B. Mack
15. Job’s Wife in the Swahili ‘Epic of Job’
J. W. T. Allen
16. The Death of Shaykh Uways of Somalia
Scott Reese
Part V. South Asia
17. A Tazkira for the Times:
Saving Islam in Post-Partition Punjab
Anna Bigelow
18. Tales of Renewal: Ahmad Sirhindï, Reformer of the Second Millennium
Arthur Buehler
19. Sufi Poetry of the Indus Valley: Khwäja Ghuläm Farïd
Jamal J. Elias
20. The Ismä`ïlï Pïr Sadr ad-Dïn
Ali S. Asani
21. An Indo-Persian Guide to Sufi Shrine Visitation
Carl W. Ernst
22. Sufi Autobiography in the Twentieth Century:The Worldly and Spiritual Journeys of Khwäja Hasan Nizämï
Marcia Hermansen
23. Bonbïbï, Protectress of the Forest
Sufia Mendez Uddin
24. The Tales of Mänik Pïr: Protector of Cows in Bengal
Tony K. Stewart
Part VI. Southeast and East Asia
25. The Malay Story of Muhammad al-Hanafïya
Lode F. Brakel
26. Sunan Ampel of the Javanese Wali Songo
Anna M. Gade
27. Lan Zixi’s “Epitaphs of the Real Humans”
Sachiko Murata
Appendix
Glossary
About the Contributors
Index of Names
Index of Concepts, Themes, Places, and Book Titles
Qur´an Index