A Culture of Sufism: Naqshbandis in the Ottoman World, 1450-1700 (S U N Y Series in Medieval Middle East History) (Hardcover)

Book Description
A Culture of Sufism opens a window to a new understanding of one of the most prolific and enduring of all the Sufi brotherhoods, the Naqshbandiyya, as it spread from its birthplace in central Asia to Iran, Anatolia, Arabia, and the Balkans between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Drawing on original sources and carefully aware of the power of modern paradigms to obscure, Le Gall portrays a Naqshbandiyya that was devotionally sober yet not demysticized and rigorously orthodox without being politically activist. She argues that the establishment of this brotherhood in Ottoman society was not the product of political instrumentality. Instead the Naqshbandi dissemination is best explained in reference to a series of little-appreciated organizational and cultural modes such as proclivity to long-distance travel, independence from specialized Sufi institutions, linguistic adaptability, commitment to writing and copying, and the practice of bequeathing spiritual authority to non-kin.

From the Publisher
Unearths the history of the Naqshbandiyya, one of the most widespread and enduring Sufi brotherhoods.

About the Author
Dina Le Gall is Assistant Professor of History at Lehman College, The City University of New York.

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Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire (Paperback)

Product Description
To date no book has explored the day-to-day life of the common people during the centuries of Ottoman rule. Suraiya Foroqhi here explores the urban world of the Ottoman lands from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. She describes the social significance of the popular arts and crafts of the period and examines the interaction among the diverse populations and classes of the Empire. She also brings to life the banalities associated with everyday life, such as bathing, the market, loving and grieving–all explored for the first time.

Book Description
Suraiya Foroqhi here explores the urban world of the common people living under Ottoman rule from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. She describes the social significance of the popular arts and crafts of the period and examines the interaction among the diverse populations and classes of the Empire. She also brings to life the activities of everyday life, such as bathing, the market, loving and grieving–all explored for the first time.