Neither Belief nor Unbelief: Intentional Ambivalence in al-Maʿarrī’s Luzūm

Sona Grigoryan

Published by De Gruyter 2023

Neither Belief nor Unbelief

Intentional Ambivalence in al-Maʿarrī’s Luzūm

Sona Grigoryan

Volume 45 in the series Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110773644

Overview
Contents

About this book

The book re-examines the religious thought and receptions of the Syrian poet Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (d.1057) and one of his best known works - Luzūm mā lā yalzam (The Self-Imposed Unnecessity), a collection of poems, which, although widely studied, needs a thorough re-evaluation regarding matters of (un)belief. Given the contradictory nature of al-Maʿarrī’s oeuvre and Luzūm in particular, there have been two major trends in assessing al-Maʿarrī’s religious thought in modern scholarship. One presented al-Maʿarrī as an unbeliever and a freethinker arguing that through contradictions, he practiced taqīya, i.e., dissimulation in order to avoid persecution. The other, often apologetically, presented al-Maʿarrī as a sincere Muslim. This study proposes that the notion of ambivalence is a more appropriate analytical tool to apply to the reading of Luzūm, specifically in matters of belief. This ambivalence is directly conditioned by the historical and intellectual circumstances al-Maʿarrī lived in and he intentionally left it unsolved and intense as a robust stance against claims of certainty. Going beyond reductive interpretations, the notion of ambivalence allows for an integrative paradigm in dealing with contradictions and dissonance.

Author / Editor information

Sona Grigoryan, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary/Wien, Austria.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Some Matters of Usage Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1 Milieu and Life: al-Maʿarrī in Context Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
Chapter 2 Luzūmīyāt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
Chapter 3 Between Belief and Unbelief—Early Treatments and Responses Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
Chapter 4 Between Belief and Unbelief—Modern Readings and Receptions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
Chapter 5 Neither Belief nor Unbelief— Intentional Ambivalence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Chapter 6 Contradictions in Luzūmīyāt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
Conclusions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Appendix: Verses of Luzūm in Arabic Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Arabic Literature, Abbasid studies, Religious Studies, Medieval Studies, History
Pages
- Front matter: 11
- Main content: 204
Keywords: Islam; Religion; Poetry; al-Maʿarrī

eBook

Published: December 19, 2022
ISBN: 9783110773644

Hardcover

Published: December 19, 2022
ISBN: 9783110772531