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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
A Fractured Family And Its Heirs: Seljuq Power And The “Sunni Revival” In The Middle East, 1000-1200 Ce, Elijah Sloat
A Fractured Family And Its Heirs: Seljuq Power And The “Sunni Revival” In The Middle East, 1000-1200 Ce, Elijah Sloat
History Summer Fellows
The Seljuq Turks were a group of nomadic warriors who converted to Sunni Islam by the end of the tenth century. Over the course of the next half century the Seljuqs conquered the majority of what we now call the Middle East. One Seljuq dynasty in particular, known to historians as the Great Seljuqs, positioned themselves as the dominant political power in the region as well as champions of Sunni Islam. Scholars refer to this period of Seljuq control as the “Sunni Revival” and debate heavily whether Seljuq political and religious practices were the cause of this “Revival,” as well …
Supplanting The Wrong With The Right: A Synoptic Overview Of Christian And Islamic Reactions Towards The Subject Of Heresy, Brett G. Barnard
Supplanting The Wrong With The Right: A Synoptic Overview Of Christian And Islamic Reactions Towards The Subject Of Heresy, Brett G. Barnard
Lawrence University Honors Projects
Whenever there is a faith that is claiming to be the “one true religion,” just what is it that defines that most sinister of opposition known as “heresy?” Is it the choices made by these aforementioned “heretics” to hold beliefs that are contrary to the mainstream? Or is the way in which “orthodox” authorities have historically asserted their own superiority while legally eliminating the competition? When overlooking monotheistic belief systems that claim universal theological authority, such as Christianity and Islam, what stands out the most is the fact that the greatest threat almost always comes not from exterior rivals, but …
Salafism, Wahhabism, And The Definition Of Sunni Islam, Rob J. Williams
Salafism, Wahhabism, And The Definition Of Sunni Islam, Rob J. Williams
Honors Program: Student Scholarship & Creative Works
My capstone deals with the historical definition of Sunni Islam, and how it has changed in approximately the past 200 years. Around 1800, Sunni Islam was pretty clearly defined by an adherence to one of four maddhabs, or schools of law: the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali schools and are all based in nearly a millennium of legal scholarship. Since 1800, however, numerous reform movements have sprung up which disavow previous scholarship and interpret Islamic law their own way. However, certain reformist groups, such as Traditionalist Salafis and Wahhabis, claim that their version of Islam is the only “pure” …