Skip to main content
University of California Press
Cart(opens in new window)
Download Cover Image(opens in new window)Download Flyer Google Books Preview(opens in new window)

Tales of God’s Friends

Islamic Hagiography in Translation
by John Renard (Editor)
Paperback
Price: $34.95 / £30.00
Publication Date: May 2009
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 432
ISBN: 9780520258969
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 21 b/w photographs, 1 map, 1 table
Request an Exam or Desk Copy(opens in new window)RightsLink(opens in new window)Read an Excerpt(opens in new window)
Recommend to your Library (PDF)(opens in new window)Rights and Permissions

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.

Table of Contents

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 
 

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.”
— 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.”
— 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