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Gnostic Apocalypse in Islam: The Qur'?n and the Babi Movement
London and New York: ROUTLEDGE, December 2009.

Of the several works on the rise and development of the Babi movement, especially those dealing with the life and work of its founder, Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi, few deal directly with the compelling and complex web of mysticism, theology and philosophy found in his earliest compositions. This book examines that intricate and sometimes dazzling corpus for what it has to tell us about the literary making of the Babi movement, its relationship to the wider religious milieu and its profound debt to esoteric Islam, especially Shi'ism. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of Qur'an Commentary, Mysticism, Shi'ism, the modern history of Iran, comparative apocalyptic and messianism.

 

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The Crucifixion and the Qur'an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, forthcoming March 2009, 250 pp.



This book studies the varying interpretations of Qur'an 4:157-158 to disclose a wide variety of Muslim interpretations ranging from a denial of the historicity of the crucifixion of Jesus to its actual validation and acceptance. The research here takes account of the many different Islamicate minor traditions that provided the dialogue and debate out of which a major tradition may be thought to have emerged. Click here for promo flyer.

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Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought, London & New York: I.B. Tauris in associaton with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2005, 558 pp.


The treasures of the inner life of Islam are sadly neglected in current debates, descriptions and studies. This book attempts to reorient the focus to concentrate on the experience and expression of the spiritual realm where problems of being, identity, authority, mind, love and soul are studied from a variety of perspectives. The 38 articles represent new research by leading figures in the contemporary study of Islam.

"The richness of the volume cannot fairly be described in a short review. . . . It is a veritable one-volume encyclopaedia of contemporary scholarship tapping the themes of theology, philosophy and mysticism in the history of Islamic thought . . . and highly recommended for all who are genuinely interested, professionally or otherwise, in the Islamic tradition." David Waines, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Religious Studies, Lancaster University, U.K.

selected publications

  • "Divine Wrath and Divine Mercy in Islam: Their Reflection in the Qur'?n and Quranic Images of Water," Divine Wrath and Divine Mercy in the World of Antiquity, edited by Reinhard G. Kratz and Hermann Spieckermann (Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 2.Reihe), Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen, 2008, pp. 248-67.
  • Guest editor, "Texts and Society" special issue of American Journal
    of Islamic Social Sciences, vol. 25, no. 3 (2008).
  • "The Qur'an as Matrix of Islamic Society and Civilization", AJISS, vol. 25, no. 3 (2008): i-iv.
  • ”Globalization and the Hidden Words” in Bahai and Globalization eds. A. Hvithamar, M. Warburg & M. Warmind, Copenhagen: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 2005, pp. 32-49.
  • “Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Twelver Shi’ism: Ahmad al-Ahsa’i on Fayd Kashani (the Risalat al-‘Ilmiyya),” in Religion and Society in Qajar Iran ed. Robert Gleave, London & New York: RoutlledgeCurzon, 2005, pp. 127-54.
  • “The Bab’s Epistle on the Spiritual Journey towards God: provisional translation, commentary and preliminary edition of the Arabic text of the Risalatus’suluk” in The Baha’i Faith and the World Religions, ed. Moojan Momen, Oxford: George Ronald, [2005], pp. 231-47.
  • “Seeing Double: The Covenant and the Tablet of Ahmad,” in The Baha’i Faith and the World Religions, ed. Moojan Momen Oxford: George Ronald, [2005], pp. 39-87.
  • “The Hidden Words of Fayz Kashani,” Actes du 4e Colloque de la Societas Iranologica Europaea, Paris, septembre 1999 in vol. 2, Cahiers de Studia Islamica ed. M. Szuppe et al. (Leuven 2002): 427-447.
  • “The Authority of the Feminine and Fatima,” The Most Learned of the Shi’a, edited by Linda Walbridge, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 94-127.
  • “Qur’an Commentary as Sacred Performance,” in Der Iran um 19 Jahrhundert und die Enstehung der Baha'i Religion. Edited by Johann-Christoph Burgel & Isabel Schayani. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, 1998, pp.145-58.
  • “The Dangers of Reading: Inlibration, Communion and Transference in Qur’an Commentary,” in Scripture and Revelation, edited by Moojan Momen, George Ronald: Oxford, 1997, pp.171-215.
  • “The Qur’an and Religious Pluralism” in Religious Tolerance and Intolerance in a Multicultural Society, Foreword by Prof. Hanna Kassis, Department of Religious Studies, University of British Columbia, 1993, pp.55-64.
  • “Akhbari Shi’i Approaches to tafsir,” in Approaches to the Qur’an, edited by G.R. Hawting & Abdul-Kader A. Shareef, Routledge: New York & London, 1993, pp.173-210.
  • “The Structure of Existence in the Bab's Tafsir and the Perfect Man Motif” in Studia Iranica: Cahiers 11: Recurrent Patterns in Iranian Religions from Mazdaism to Sufism. Proceedings of the Round Table held in Bamberg (30th September - 4th October 1991). Association pour l'avancement des Études iraniennes, 1992, pp.81-99.
  • “Note for the Study of a 'Shi’i Qur’an',” Journal of Semitic Studies, 36 (1991) 279-295.
  • “The Dawning Places of the Lights of Certainty in the Divine Secrets Connected with the Commander of the Faithful by Rajab Bursi,” in The Legacy of Mediaeval Persian Sufism, edited by Leonard Lewisohn, Foreword by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Introduction by S.H. Nasr. Khaniqahai Nimatullahi Publications (London) in association with SOAS Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, University of London: London, 1992, pp. 261-276.
  • “The Crucifixion of Jesus in the Qur’an and Qur’anic Commentary: A Historical Survey (Parts I&II),” The Bulletin of Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies, vol.10 no.2 (April-June 1991) pp. 34-62 & vol.10 no.3 (July-September 1991) pp. 6-40.
  • “The Terms Remembrance (dhikr) and Gate (báb) in the Bab's Commentary on the Sura of Joseph,” Bábi and Bahá'í Studies in Honour of H.M. Balyuzi, ed. M. Momen, Kalimat Press, Los Angeles, 1989, pp. 1-63.
  • “Interpretation as Revelation: The Qur'án Commentary of Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab,” in Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur'án, ed. A. Rippin. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1988, pp. 223-253.

Encyclopedia Articles

  • "Hermeneutics of Pre-modern Islamic and Shi'ite Exegesis," Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 12, fasc. 3.
  • "Exegesis iii: Akhbárí and post-Safavid esoteric Shí’í Exegesis," Encyclopaedia Iranica vol. 7, pp. 118-20.
  • “Exegesis: Bábí and Bahá’í,” Encyclopaedia Iranica,
  • “Ebn Abí Jomhúr al-Ahsá’í,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 7, pp. 662-3.
  • “Bahá’í,” Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Editor in Chief, John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press: New York & Oxford, 1995, vol. 1, pp.177-182.
  • “Martyrdom,” Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Editor in Chief, John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press: New York & Oxford, 1995, vol. 3, pp.54-59.
  • “Naw Rúz,” Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Editor in Chief, John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press: New York & Oxford, 1995, vol. 3, pp.243-244.
  • “Qayyúm al-asmá,” Encyclopédie philosophique universelle: Les Oeuvres philosophiques. Volume III, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1992.

Other Articles

  • “al-Fárábí,” Who's Who in Religion, Edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Macmillan Press, 1991, pp.118-119.
  • “Ibn Rushd,” Who's Who in Religion, Edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Macmillan Press, 1991, pp.171-172.
  • “Ibn Síná,” Who's Who in Religion, Edited by John R. Hinnells. London: Macmillan Press, 1991, p.172.
  • Fifteen entries for John Esposito (ed) The Oxford Dictionary of Islam: Abraha, Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab, Ad, Destiny, al-Khidr, Kiswah, Maktub, Manasik, Mourning, Sabil, al-Sarakhshi, Sayf, Tahrif, Zabur.

Book Reviews

  • Issa Boullata (ed.), Literary Structures of Religious Meaning London: Curzon, 1999, International Journal of Middle East Studies 35 (2003): 493-4.
  • Fritz Meier, Essays on Islamic Piety and Mysticism, translated by John O’Kane with editorial assistance of Bernd Radtke, Brill: Leiden, 1999. International Journal of Middle East Studies 35 (2003)
  • Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern Texts and Traditions in Memory of Norman Calder, eds G.R. Hawting, J.A. Mojaddedi, A. Samely, Oxford University Press, 2000, in Middle East and South Asia Folklore Bulletin (Fall 2001) pp.4-5.
  • S. Schmidtke (ed.) Correspondance Corbin-Ivanow (Paris 1999) for Iranian Studies.
  • Louis Massignon et l’Iran eds. Pierunek et Richard (Paris 200) for Iranian Studies.
  • D. Marshall, God, Muhammad and the Unbelievers (London, 1999) for Journal of the American Oriental Society.
  • Ibn Warraq (ed.) The Origins of the Koran (Amherst, N.Y., 1998) for Journal of the American Oriental Society.
  • Michel Lagarde, Index du Grand Commentaire de Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Handbuch der orientalistik Erste Abteilung der Nahe und Mittlere Osten Zweiundzwanzigster Band. E.J. Brill: Leiden, New York, Köln, 1996, 82pp plus 358 pp, for Journal of the American Oriental Society.
  • Abbas Amanat, Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896 University of California Press, 1997, in Canadian Journal of History /Annales canadiennes d’histoire, 33 (1998): 137-8.
  • Yann Richard. Shiite Islam; polity, ideology, and creed. Blackwell, 1995 in Canadian Journal of History, 32 (1997): 142-3.
  • Louis Massignon. Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr, translated, edited, and abridged by Herbert Mason; Bollingen Series XCVIII, Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1994 in International Journal of Middle East Studies, 29 (1997): 280-1.
  • Richard Bell. A Commentary on the Qur’án. 2 vols. eds. C. Edmund Bosworth and M.E.J. Richardson. Manchester: The Victoria University of Manchester, 1991, for: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 56:1 (1997): 53-4.
  • Lenn E. Goodman. Avicenna. London: Routledge, 1991, in Journal of Semitic Studies 40 (1995): 85-86.
  • Ian Netton. al-Farabi and His School. London: Routledge, 1992 in Journal of Semitic Studies 40 (1995): 85-86.
  • Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi, al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi’s Manual of Islam, translation and appendices by Noah Ha Mim Keller, Evanston, Il.: Sunna Books, 1994 in Journal of the American Oriental Society, 115 (1995).
  • Barbara F. Stowasser, Women in the Qur’an, Traditions, and Interpretation, New York, 1994 in Journal of the American Oriental Society 116 (1996): 323-4
  • Bahá’u’lláh (Mirza Husayn ‘Ali). The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Bahá’í World Centre: Haifa, Israel, 1992 in: Iranian Studies, 29 (1996): 207-9.
  • Sarwat Anis al-Assiouty, Révolutionaires et Contre-Révolutionaires parmi les disciples de Jésus et les compagnons de Muhammad. Letouzy & Ané: Paris, 1994 in: Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 34:1 (Winter, 1997): 151.
  • Francis E. Peters. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. State University of New York Press: Albany, 1994 for The Journal of Religion, 75 (1995): 602-4.
  • Th. Emil Homerin. From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn al-Farid, His Verse, and His Shrine. University of South Carolina Press: Columbia, South Carolina, 1994 in: International Journal of Middle East Studies 27 (1995):.
  • Denis MacEoin. The Sources for Early Babi Doctrine and History: A Survey, Journal of Semitic Studies, 38 (1993): 355-7.
  • Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Qur’ánic Christians: An Analysis of Classical and Modern Exegesis. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1991 for International Journal of Middle East Studies 25:1 (1993): 149-51.
  • Neighbours: Muslims in North America. Interviews by Elias D. Mallon. New York: Friendship Press, 1989 in Journal of Ecumenical Studies 28:4 (Fall 1991): 656.
  • Harvey Cox, Many Mansions in Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 27:1 (1990): 158.
  • Stuart Brown (comp.) Meeting in Faith in Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 27:4 (1990): 793-4.
  • Abbas Amanat, Resurrection and Renewal in Iranian Studies, 22:4 (1989): 112-113.
  • The Commentary on the Qur'an (Cooper's trans. of Tafsir Tabari) for International Journal of Middle East Studies, 22:3 (August 1990): 352-355.
  • The Islamic World, (McNeill & Waldman, eds.) in Religious Studies and Theology, 5 (1985): 99-100.
  • Abu Fadl Gulpaygani, Miracles and Metaphors, (Trans. J.R. Cole) in Religious Studies Review, 11:2 (1985):.
  • Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History. Vol. 1 (ed. M. Momen) in Religious Studies Review, 11:2 (1985):.
  • Shahrastani (Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Karim), Muslim Sects and Divisions (trans. Kazi & Flynn) in Religious Studies and Theology, 6:1&2 (1986): 59-61.
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