Overview

This study of messianism and revolution examines an extremely rich though unexplored historical record on the rise of Islam and its sociopolitical revolutions from Muhammad's constitutive revolution in Arabia to the Abbasid revolution in the East and the Fatimid and Almohad revolutions in North Africa and the Maghreb. Bringing the revolutions together in a comprehensive framework, Saïd Amir Arjomand uses sociological theory as well as the critical tools of modern historiography to argue that a volatile but recurring combination of apocalyptic motivation and revolutionary action was a driving force of historical change time and again. In addition to tracing these threads throughout 500 years of history, Arjomand also establishes how messianic beliefs were rooted in the earlier Judaic and Manichaean notions of apocalyptic transformation of the world. By bringing to light these linkages and factors not found in the dominant sources, this text offers a sweeping account of the long arc of Islamic history.

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9780520425163

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Reviews

“In this remarkable work Said Amir Arjomand presents a compelling account of the impact of messianism on the evolution of revolutionary movements in the histories of Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA). He aims to rectify the longstanding neglect of Islam as both a revolutionary force and a catalyst for historical revolutionary endeavors.”   * JAOS *

Author Information

Saïd Amir Arjomand is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University, founder of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies, editor of the Journal of Persianate Studies, and author of Revolution: Structure and Meaning in World History.

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