
Preaching Pious Rulership in Medieval Islam
Ibn al-Jawzi's Political Thought
Han Hsien Liew(Author)
Edinburgh University Press
Will be published approx. on 28. February 2026
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-3995-1129-2 (ISBN)
Description
This book studies the relationship between political thought, preaching and emotions through the writings of Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201), a celebrated hortatory preacher in late-Abbasid Baghdad. Through an intertextual analysis of Ibn al-Jawzi's works in various genres, this book details how his ideal form of rulership reflected the emotional norms and pietistic moral virtues promoted in Muslim hortatory sermons. It also examines the emotional strategies deployed in his efforts to reform the rulers of his time. In highlighting the importance of piety in Ibn al-Jawzi's political discourses, the book points to a new reading of the history of Islamic political thought that, rather than foregrounding order and military prowess, considers competing political languages among medieval Muslim intellectuals. In doing so, it calls for the need to rethink notions of 'politics' and the 'political' when studying 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 CollegeMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
626 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-1129-2 (9781399511292)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Han Hsien Liew is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Arizona State University. In addition to the history of Islamic political thought, his research interests include Qur'anic exegesis, Islamic theology, Islam in Southeast Asia and the history of emotions. His work has been published in Al-Qan?ara: Revista de Estudios Arabes, Journal of Islamic Studies, Journal of the American Oriental Society and Arabica. He was recently awarded a Herodotus Fund Membership from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
Content
Acknowledgements
Conventions
Introduction: Piety and Emotions in Medieval Islamic Political Thought
Part I. Historical and Intellectual Background
1. Politics and Society in Late Abbasid Baghdad
2. The Life and Career of Ibn al-Jawzi
3. Intellectual Trends in Late Abbasid Political Thought
Part II. Conceptualising Ideal Islamic Rulership
4. Homiletic Piety: Moral Virtues and Emotional Norms
5. Embodying Homiletic Piety: Ibn al-Jawzi's Biographies of Caliphs
Part III. An Ameliorative Approach to Politics
6. Legitimising Politics: Ibn al-Jawzi's Reassessment of Ruler-Scholar Relations
7. 'I Put My Fear for You before My Fear of You': Talattuf (Tact) as a Mode of Political
Engagement
8. The Cursing of Yazid ibn Mu?awiya: Debating Rebellion against Sinful and Unjust Rulers
Conclusion: Redefining the Political
Bibliography
Index
Conventions
Introduction: Piety and Emotions in Medieval Islamic Political Thought
Part I. Historical and Intellectual Background
1. Politics and Society in Late Abbasid Baghdad
2. The Life and Career of Ibn al-Jawzi
3. Intellectual Trends in Late Abbasid Political Thought
Part II. Conceptualising Ideal Islamic Rulership
4. Homiletic Piety: Moral Virtues and Emotional Norms
5. Embodying Homiletic Piety: Ibn al-Jawzi's Biographies of Caliphs
Part III. An Ameliorative Approach to Politics
6. Legitimising Politics: Ibn al-Jawzi's Reassessment of Ruler-Scholar Relations
7. 'I Put My Fear for You before My Fear of You': Talattuf (Tact) as a Mode of Political
Engagement
8. The Cursing of Yazid ibn Mu?awiya: Debating Rebellion against Sinful and Unjust Rulers
Conclusion: Redefining the Political
Bibliography
Index