Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam

Reviews / Votes

Han Hsien Liew's work stakes out new ground for the study of politics in Islam. Tabling the modernist focus on power for the intricate role of preaching-emotionally rich and morally challenging-in setting norms of rulership in Islam, it is a clarion call to take pietistic ideals seriously amidst Islam's hierarchies. -- Paul Heck, Georgetown University This book is an articulate rehabilitation of the Hanbali scholar and preacher Ibn al-Jawzi, undertaken through a careful examination of his political discourse and program of reform that was a response to the circumstances of the age. An essential read, the book is an eloquent attestation to the performative ethical and political power of hortatory disquisition, a perspective rarely attended to in the field. -- Wael Hallaq, Columbia University Han Hsien Liew's study is an engaging exploration of a major premodern religious scholar's grappling with political and social contingency. This book stands as a finely crafted reminder of the enduring political significance of religious preaching-both in the past and in our present moment. -- Hayrettin Yuecesoy, Washington University in St Louis A superb study of Ibn al-Jawzi, thoroughly, meticulously and insightfully conveying the integration in his writings and preaching of discourses of ethical politics on the one hand and personal piety and merit on the other. Han Hsien Liew shows how preaching brought debates over political legitimacy into the public sphere, and how the offering of political advice moved well beyond court circles into urban space. -- Louise Marlow, Wellesley College