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THE SHI’IS OF SAUDI ARABIA
₨ 10,797“The Shi’is of Saudi Arabia” offers a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Shi’i opposition in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, from the Iranian Revolution in 1979 to the ascension of Abdullah to the throne in August 2005. Fouad Ibrahim examines the Reform Movement, which replaced the Islamic Revolution Organization following the Shi’i uprisings in al-Hasa and Qatif. Since its initiation, the Movement has campaigned for an Islamic state similar to the Iranian model. It became more moderate in the early nineties, when it began advocating democracy, human rights and civil society. It also succeeded in bringing issues of political and individual liberty in Saudi Arabia to the attention of human rights organizations, Western governments and political parties throughout the world. King Fahd decreed a general amnesty in 1993, allowing Shi’i dissidents who had fled to return to the country. In return, the Shi’is were required to abandon their political programme of reform. This marked a new era for the Shi’is in the Eastern Province. Ibrahim assesses the leaders’ considerable efforts to formulate a new discourse, participating in activities throughout the country with the aim of bringing about political change in the kingdom.
ISBN: 086356903X
Publisher: SAQI -
THE PRIVATE WORLD OF OTTOMAN WOMEN
₨ 4,626Recovering the oft-neglected role of women in Ottoman high society and power politics, this book brings to life the women who made their mark in a male domain. Though historical records tend to favour the glitter of palaces over the trials of daily life, Goodwin also reconstructs ordinary women’s domestic toil. As the Ottoman Empire first expanded and then shrank, women travelled its width and breadth whether out of necessity or merely for pleasure. Some women owned slaves while others suffered the misfortune of being enslaved. Goodwin examines the laws, which governed women’s lives from the harem to the humblest tasks. This perceptive study of Ottoman life culminates with the nineteenth century and explores the advent of modernity and its impact on women at a time of imperial decline.
ISBN: 0863567452
Publisher: SAQI -
THE JANISSARIES
₨ 4,626From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, the janissaries were the scourge of Europe. With their martial music, their muskets and their drilled march, it seemed that no one could withstand them. Their loyalty to their corps was infinite, as the Ottomans conquered the Balkans as far as the Danube, and Syria, Egypt and Iraq. Their political power was such that even sultans trembled.
Who were they? Why were they an elite? Why did they decline and what was their end? To answer these questions, the book begins by exploring the origins of the Janissary corps with the careful selection of youths from Christian families in the Balkans. It then introduces the pillars of the Ottoman state which these recruits were to serve, and depicts the victorious years of this elite corps.
ISBN: 0863567401
Publisher: SAQI -
ISLAM
₨ 995At a time when Islam is the focus of attention, vilified by some and a source of inspiration for others, Arkoun’s is one of few voices that seeks to go against the stream. His radical review of mainstream historiography of Islam draws on interdisciplinary analysis – historical, social, psychological and anthropological. One of the foremost thinkers of the Muslim world, Arkoun is in a position to question dogmatic constructs from within, with respect and critical acumen. An understanding of this approach can lead to an emancipatory turn in the intellectual and political spheres of Muslim societies.
ISLAM: TO REFORM OR TO SUBVERT?
ISBN: 0863567657
Publisher: SAQI -
THE SECRET HISTORY OF AL-QA’IDA
₨ 1,295Over the last ten years, journalist Abdel Bari Atwan has cultivated well-placed sources and amassed a wealth of information about al-Qa‘ida’s origins, masterminds and plans for the future. Atwan reveals how al-Qa‘ida’s radical departure from the classic terrorist/guerrilla blueprint has enabled it to outpace less adaptable efforts to neutralise it. The fanaticism of its fighters, and their willingness to kill and be killed, are matched by the leadership’s opportunistic recruitment strategies and sophisticated understanding of psychology, media and new technology – including the use of the Internet for training, support and communications.
Atwan shows that far from committing acts of violence randomly and indiscriminately, al-Qa‘ida attacks targets according to a decisive design underwritten by unwavering patience. He also argues that events in Iraq and Saudi Arabia are watershed moments in the group’s evolution that are making it more dangerous by the day, as it refines and appropriates the concept of jihad and makes the suicide bomber a permanent feature of a global holy war. While Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri remain al-Qa‘ida’s figureheads, Atwan introduces a new kind of leader made possible by its horizontal chain of command, epitomised by the brutal Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi in Iraq and the anonymous bombers of London, Madrid, Amman, Bali and elsewhere.
ISBN: 0863567606
Publisher: SAQI₨ 5,242 -
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JOURNEYS OF A SUFI MUSICIAN
₨ 4,626Erguner’s memoir sets out to share not only the final moments of a vanished community, but also to relate the encounter of traditional Sufi culture with the Western world. He raises issues relating to the transmission of a teaching both musical and spiritual and the role of a ‘traditional’ musician.
ISBN: 0863565476
Publisher: SAQI -
MODERN ARABIC LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION
₨ 10,797This indispensable guide to modern Arabic literature in English translation features not only a comprehensive bibliography but also chapters on fiction, drama, poetry, and autobiography, as well as a special chapter on Iraq’s Arabic literature. By focusing on Najib Mahfuz, one of Arabic Literature’s luminaries, and on poetry–a major, if not the major genre of the region– Altoma assesses the progress made towards a wider reception of Arabic writing throughout the western world.
ISBN: 0863565972
Publisher: SAQI -
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TRIBES AND POWER
₨ 10,797Tribes and Power provides a comprehensive understanding of the structure, functioning, and change of today’s Middle Eastern tribes. In some Middle Eastern countries, tribalism has been strengthened by centralized policies, modern technology, and the market economy. This stimulating collection scrutinizes the complexities of kinship structures in Arab and Islamic cultures, and contains case studies of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia.
ISBN: 0863568041
Publisher: SAQI -
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