Sayyids and Sharifs in Muslim Societies: The Living Links to the Prophet (New Horizons in Islamic Studies) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415519179 ISBN 13: 9780415519175

Publisher: Routledge, 2012

Synopsis

The global Muslim population includes a large number of lineal descendants and relatives of the Prophet Muhammad. These kinsfolk, most often known as "sayyid" or "sharif," form a distinct social category in many Muslim societies, and their status can afford them special treatment in legal matters and in the political sphere.

This book brings together an international group of renowned scholars to provide a comprehensive examination of the place of the kinsfolk of Muhammad in Muslim societies, throughout history and in a number of different local manifestations. The chapters cover:

• how the status and privileges of sayyids and sharifs have been discussed by religious scholars
• how the prophetic descent of sayyids and sharifs has functioned as a symbolic capital in different settings
• the lives of actual sayyids and sharifs in different times and places

Providing a thorough analysis of sayyids and sharifs from the ninth century to the present day, and from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indonesian Archipelago, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Islamic studies, Middle East and Asian studies.

About this title

Review:

"It must be said that Stern's survey represents a tremendous moment of synthesis within calendrical studies and is an essential purchase for both research libraries and specialists in calendrics."
J. Cale Johnson, Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

About the Author:

MORIMOTO Kazuo is an Associate Professor in the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo. He is the Executive Editor of the International Journal of Asian Studies, and his main research interest lies in the role and position of sayyid/sharifs in Muslim societies.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0415519179
• ISBN 13: 9780415519175
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Morimoto Kazuo