In the Shadow of the Prophet: Essays in Islamic History

(Hardback)

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In essays drawn from over the course of his distinguished career, Roy Mottahedeh explores such diverse topics as the social bonds that connected people in the early Islamic Middle East, the transmission of learning in the Muslim world and the theme of wonders in The Thousand and One Nights. His rich corpus attends to the early Islamic period, the medieval era and modern times. A number of pieces concern Iran, the country of his fathers birth, and here too Mottahedehs focus is varied, as he studies Persian panegyric poetry, the origins of the city of Kashan andShiite political thought. Intended not only for those in Islamic studies but for students of history and interested lay readers, there are introductions to each section written with the non-specialist in mind, and these sections progress from more general topics to those more specialised. In the Shadow of the Prophet thus reflects Mottahedehs desire that the Islamic world and its history become better understood in the Western world.

Reviews

Few can claim to have produced a wealth of scholarship and achieved mastery over Middle Eastern history, but Roy Mottahedeh's insatiable curiosity for the past has left us with a treasure trove of works. Reading essays that he has written over the past fifty years and collected together in his new book,you get a sense of the past whispering to you in more ways than one a pleasure to readIn the Shadow of the Prophetoffersa wide range of thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating engagement with Middle Eastern, Iranian and Islamic history. It provides anyone who has a passion for history with new horizons to explore and a renewed sense of purpose.

-- Middle East Monitor

The fruit of decades of travel, teaching, research, and deep personal engagement with modern Iran and the Middle East, these articles are as humane as they are learned, and as wise as they are trenchant.

-- Peter Brown, Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History, Emeritus, Princeton University

The erudite elegance of his discourse in this remarkable collection is the result of a long, prolific life dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the many Islams in history.

-- Abbas Milani, Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies, Stanford University

This book demonstrates its authors impressive breadth and insight dealing with diverse aspects of premodern and modern Islamic history, religion, and culture. Roy Mottahedeh shows us the complexity of a civilizational experience over a millennium and highlights the place of Iranians in it. This is a timely contribution at a time when misperceptions abound. His delightful autobiography adds to the books appeal.

-- Abbas Amanat, William Graham Sumner Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University

Author Bio

Roy Parviz Mottahedeh is the Gurney Professor of History, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He served as the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard from 1987 to 1990 and as Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard from 2006 to 2011. He is the author of The Mantle of the Prophet and translator of Lessons in Islamic Jurisprudence by Muhammad Baqir As-Sadr, both of which are available from Oneworld. He lives in Watertown, Massachusetts.