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Sufism in Eighteenth-Century India focuses on one particular treasure from surviving Persian manuscripts in India, Nala-yi Andalib, written by Muhammad Nasir Andalib (d. 1759), a Naqshbandi Mujaddidi mystical thinker. It explores the convergence and interrelation of the text with its context to find how Andalib revisits the central role of the Prophet as the main protagonist in his allegorical love story with great attention to the circumstances of the Muslim community during the eighteenth century.
The present volume elucidates Andalib's Sufism calling for a return to the pristine form of Islam and the idealization of the first Muslim community. It considers his ariqa-yi Khalis Muhammadiyya as a derivation of the ariqa-yi Muhammadiyya, which had an important role in promoting Islam. The book attempts to clarify and systematize all of the concepts which Andalib employs within the framework of the Khalis Muhammadiyya, such as the state of the nasir and the Khalis Muhammadi. It addresses controversial topics in religion, such as the struggles between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and the controversies between Shuhudis and Wujudis. It illuminates two key personalities, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Ali b. Abi alib, and two types of relationships, the maiyya and ayniyya, with the spirituality of the Prophet.
The book will be of interest to scholars and students interested in Islamic studies, Islamic mysticism, the intellectual history of Muslims in South Asia, the history of the Mughal Empire, Persian literature, studies of manuscripts, Islamic philosophy, comparative studies of religions, social studies, anthropology, and debates concerning the eighteenth century, such as the transition from pre-colonialism to colonialism and the origins of modernity in Islam.
List of contents
List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Notes on Transliteration and Abbreviations Introduction 1. Muhammad Nasir Andalib's Life and Works 2. Narratives: Doorways into Andalib's Mystical World 3. Muhammad Nasir Andalib's ariqa-yi Khalis Muhammadiyya Epilogue Appendices Appendix 1. Summarized Table of Contents of Nala-yi Andalib Appendix 2. Detailed Table of Contents of Nala-yi Andalib Index
About the author
Neda Saghaee received her PhD degree from the University of Erfurt. She specializes in cultural studies, comparative studies of religions, Sufism, Persian literature, and old manuscripts. Her research aims to recognize the impact of mystical and theological discourses, in classical and modern contexts, on personal life, society, culture, and politics by employing multidisciplinary methods.
Summary
This book explores the convergence and interrelation of the text of Nala-yi ?Andalib with its context. It considers the development of the notion of the ?ariqa-yi Mu?ammadiyya as an intellectual achievement in the history of ideas in Islam generally and also as an important part of Sufism in South Asia.
Report
'Muhammad Nasir Andalib was a major Sufi thinker of eighteenth-century India. This is the first thorough study of his contribution. It is done with such scholarship and depth that no one considering Sufism in the eighteenth-century, or in the reform movements of the period in general, should ignore it.'
Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
'This is the first major academic work on the Nala-yi 'Andalib, a fascinating yet understudied Sufi text from eighteenth-century India. Through her impressive research in the manuscripts and acute analysis of the text, Dr Saghaee has made an important contribution to the study of Persianate Sufism and modern Islamic intellectual history more generally.'
Fitzroy Morrissey, University of Oxford, UK
