Sufi Castigator: Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian Mystical Tradition

257 Pages·2006·1.72 MB·English

by  Lloyd Ridgeon

SUFI CASTIGATOR
Sufi Castigator investigates the writings of Ahmad Kasravi who was one of the
foremost intellectuals in Iran.It studies his work within the context of Sufism in
modern Iran and mystical Persian literature and includes translations of Kasravi’s
writings.
Kasravi provides a fascinating topic for those with interests in Sufism and
Iranian studies as he attempted to produce a form of Iranian identity that he
believed was compatible with the modern age and Iranian nationalism.His stress
on reason and the demystification of religion caused him to repudiate Sufism and
much of the Sufi literary heritage as backwards and believe it a reason for the
weakness of modern Iran. Kasravi’s historical observations were weak, and his
writings indicate that he was working towards pre-determined conclusions.
However, his works are of significance because they contributed to a major
discussion in the 1930s–40s about the ideal image and identity that Iranians
should adopt. Despite the academic weaknesses of Kasravi’s works, he had a
profound effect on the next generation of thinkers.
Sufi Castigator is a stimulating and meticulously researched book and includes
two lengthy translations of Kasravi’s works,SufismandWhat does Hafez Say?,and
will appeal to scholars of Middle Eastern studies.
Lloyd Ridgeonis senior lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Glasgow.
His research interests include Sufism, Islamic theology and history, modern
Iranian politics and culture and Iranian cinema and literature. He is the author
of Aziz Nasafi, and he has recently edited a reader entitled Religion and Politics in
Modern Iran.
ROUTLEDGE SUFI SERIES
Series editor: Ian Richard Netton
Professor of Arabic Studies
University of Leeds
The Routledge Sufi series provides short introductions to a variety of facets of
the subject, which are accessible both to the general reader and the student
andscholar in the field.Each book will be either a synthesis of existing knowledge
or a distinct contribution to, and extension of, knowledge of the particular
topic. The two major underlying principles of the series are sound scholarship
and readability.
1.BEYOND FAITH AND INFIDELITY
The Sufi poetry and teaching of Mahmud Shabistari
Leonard Lewisham
2.AL-HALLAJ
Herbert W.Mason
3.RUZBIHAN BAQLI
Mysticism and the rhetoric of sainthood in Persian Sufism
Carl W.Ernst
4.ABDULLAH ANSARI OF HERAT
An early Sufi master
A.G.Ravan Farhadi
5.THE CONCEPT OF SAINTHOOD IN EARLY
ISLAMIC MYSTICISM
Bernd Radtke and John O’Kane
6.SUHRAWARDI AND THE SCHOOL OF ILLUMINATION
Mehdi Amin Razavi
7.PERSIAN SUFI POETRY
An introduction to the mystical use of classical poems
J.T.P.de Bruijn
8.AZIZ NASAFI
Lloyd Ridgeon
9.SUFIS AND ANTI-SUFIS
The defence,rethinking and rejection of Sufism in the modern world
Elizabeth Sirriyeh
10.REVELATION, INTELLECTUAL INTUITION AND REASON
IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MULLA SADRA
An analysis of the al-hikmah al-‘arshiyyah
Zailan Moris
11.DIVINE LOVE IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM
The teachings of al-Ghâzalî and al-Dabbâgh
Binyamin Abrahamov
12.STRIVING FOR DIVINE UNION
Spiritual exercises for Suhrawardi Sufis
Qamar-ul Huda
13.A PSYCHOLOGY OF EARLY SUFI SAMA
Listening and altered states
Kenneth S.Avery
14.MUSLIM SAINTS OF SOUTH ASIA
The eleventh to fifteenth centuries
Anna Suvorova
15.SUFI VISIONARY OF OTTOMAN DAMASCUS
‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi,1941–1731
Elizabeth Sirriyeh
16.SUFI RITUAL
The parallel universe
Ian Richard Netton
17.EARLY MYSTICS IN TURKISH LITERATURE
Mehmed Fuad Koprulu
Translated,edited and with an introduction by
Gary Leiser & Robert Dankoff
18.INDIAN SUFISM SINCE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Saints,books and empires in the Muslim deccan
Nile Green
19.SUFI CASTIGATOR
Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian mystical tradition
Lloyd Ridgeon
Ahmad Kasravi
SUFI CASTIGATOR
Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian
mystical tradition
Lloyd Ridgeon
First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square,Milton Park,Abingdon,Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave,New York,NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,an informa business
© 2006 Lloyd Ridgeon
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,mechanical,
or other means,now known or hereafter invented,including
photocopying and recording,or in any information storage or
retrieval system,without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN10:0–415–31635–9 (hbk)
ISBN10:0–203–57194–0 (ebk)
ISBN13:978–0–415–31635–4 (hbk)
ISBN13:978–0–203–57194–1 (ebk)
FOR JESSICA, WITH LOVE AND GRATITUDE
FOR SO MUCH

CONTENTS
List of figures x
Acknowledgements xi
1 The background 1
2 Opinions of Sufism in Iran,1850–1950 13
3 Scourge of the Sufis:Kasravi’s rejection of Persian
mysticism 45
4 “Sufism” 65
5 Opposition to the orientalists:Kasravi’s criticisms
of E.G.Browne 121
6 Hostility to Hafez:Kasravi’s views of Persian poetry 137
7 “What does Hafez Say?” 160
Conclusion 191
Notes 195
Select bibliography 232
Index 240
ix