Messianism and Sociopolitical Revolution in Medieval Islam

By: Said Amir Arjomand

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Synopsis: This study of messianism and revolution examines an extremely rich though unexplored historical record on the rise of Islam and its sociopolitical revolutions from Muhammad’s constitutive revolution in Arabia to the Abbasid revolution in the East and the Fatimid and Almohad revolutions in North Africa and the Maghreb. Bringing the revolutions together in a comprehensive framework, Saïd Amir Arjomand uses sociological theory as well as the critical tools of modern historiography to argue that a volatile but recurring combination of apocalyptic motivation and revolutionary action was a driving force of historical change time and again. In addition to tracing these threads throughout 500 years of history, Arjomand also establishes how messianic beliefs were rooted in the earlier Judaic and Manichaean notions of apocalyptic transformation of the world. By bringing to light these linkages and factors not found in the dominant sources, this text offers a sweeping account of the long arc of Islamic history.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 388 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9780520387591
Related ISBNs:: 9780520387584
Publisher:: University of California Press
Date of Addition:: 10/25/22
Copyrighted By:: Saïd Amir Arjomand
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Sociology
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.