Overview

Since the late 1800s, apocalyptic thought in Sunn Islam has produced a wide range of societal attitudes about modernity. For some, apocalyptic thought encouraged an optimistic investment in the idea of social progress; for others, it encouraged a total rejection of society. Some apocalyptic thinkers attempted to reform existing political institutions, while still others sought violent upheaval or conquest. In highlighting the many faces of Islamic apocalypticism from the last decades of the 19th century to the present era, this book dispels the notion that apocalyptic Islamic writings had a single fixed programme. Moreover, it proposes new categories for understanding the relationship between Islamic apocalyptic thought and the political, social and technological changes of the long 20th century. Bringing to light numerous unstudied Arabic texts and considering previously undiscussed debates, this book corrects misconceptions about Islamic apocalypticism and enables a better understanding of the variety of thought that appears in apocalyptic materials published throughout the Arab World. In highlighting the many faces of Islamic apocalypticism from the last decades of the 19th century to the present era, this book dispels the notion that apocalyptic Islamic writings had a single fixed program. Moreover, it proposes new categories for understanding the relationship between Islamic apocalyptic thought and the political, social and technological changes of the long 20th century. Bringing to light numerous unstudied Arabic texts and considering previously undiscussed debates, this book corrects misconceptions about Islamic apocalypticism and enables a better understanding of the variety of thought that appears in apocalyptic materials published throughout the Arab World.

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9781399555418

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Reviews

The first authoritative and comprehensive account of Muslim apocalyptic literature, ideas, and movements in the modern era. Rikab’s study marks a milestone in the study of modern Islamic apocalypticism, bringing analytical clarity and rigor to a subject of immense importance in modern Islam. -- Cole Bunzel, Stanford University

Author Information

Waleed Rikab holds a Ph.D. in the study of Religion from Rice University and has taught college courses on Islam and politics from the era of the Crusades to the 21st century. His research focuses on the interactions between apocalyptic thought, political reform, militancy, and utopianism in Islamic traditions. Together with co-authors David Cook and Eyüp Öztürk, Waleed Rikab also has a forthcoming Anthology of Later Muslim Apocalyptic Sources that makes a collection of Ottoman apocalyptic treatises, authored from the 1400s to the 1900s, accessible to scholars for the first time.

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