Jonathan Porter Berkey's Books

The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

A Social History of Islamic Education

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

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The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

A Social History of Islamic Education

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

In rich detail Jonathan Berkey interprets the social and cultural consequences of Islam's regard for knowledge, showing how education in the Middle Ages played a central part in the religious experience of nearly all Muslims. Focusing on Cairo, which under Mamluk rule (1250-1517) was a vital intellectual center with a complex social system, the author describes the transmission of religious knowledge there as a highly personal process, one dependent on the relationships between individual scholars and students. The great variety of institutional structures, he argues, supported educational efforts without ever becoming essential to them. By not being locked into formal channels, religious education was never exclusively for the elite but was open to all. Berkey explores the varying educational opportunities offered to the full run of the Muslim population--including Mamluks, women, and the "common people." Drawing on medieval chronicles, biographical dictionaries, and treatises on education, as well as the deeds of endowment that established many of Cairo's schools, he explains how education drew groups of outsiders into the cultural center and forged a common Muslim cultural identity. Originally published in 1992. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Page Count

251

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Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400862582

ISBN 13

9781400862580

Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East (Publications on the Near East)

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

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Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East (Publications on the Near East)

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

This book examines popular preaching and religious storytelling in the medieval Islamic Near East. It argues that popular preaching and storytelling reflect the persistent flexibility of the Islamic understanding of religious authority.

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Page Count

170

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University of Washington Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0295981261

ISBN 13

9780295981260

The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

A Social History of Islamic Education

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

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The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

A Social History of Islamic Education

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

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Page Count

251

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Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400862582

ISBN 13

9781400862580

The Formation of Islam

Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

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The Formation of Islam

Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800

By: Jonathan Porter Berkey

Jonathan Berkey's 2003 book surveys the religious history of the peoples of the Near East from roughly 600 to 1800 CE. The opening chapter examines the religious scene in the Near East in late antiquity, and the religious traditions which preceded Islam. Subsequent chapters investigate Islam's first century and the beginnings of its own traditions, the 'classical' period from the accession of the Abbasids to the rise of the Buyid amirs, and thereafter the emergence of new forms of Islam in the middle period. Throughout, close attention is paid to the experiences of Jews and Christians, as well as Muslims. The book stresses that Islam did not appear all at once, but emerged slowly, as part of a prolonged process whereby it was differentiated from other religious traditions and, indeed, that much that we take as characteristic of Islam is in fact the product of the medieval period.

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Page Count

308

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521588138

ISBN 13

9780521588133

Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East

By: Jonathan P. Berkey

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Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East

By: Jonathan P. Berkey

Islamic popular preachers and storytellers had enormous influence in defining common religious knowledge and faith in the medieval Near East. Jonathan Berkey’s book illuminates the popular culture of religious storytelling. It draws on chronicles, biographical dictionaries, sermons, and tales — but especially on a number of medieval treatises critical of popular preachers, and also a vigorous defense of them which emerged in fourteenth-century Egyptian Sufi circles. Popular preachers drew inspiration and legitimacy from the rise of Sufi mysticism, with its emphasis on internal spiritual activity and direct enlightenment, enabling them to challenge or reinforce social and political hierarchies as they entertained the masses with tales of moral edification. As these charismatic figures developed a popular following, they often aroused the wrath of scholars and elites, who resented innovative interpretations of Islam that undermined orthodox religious authority and blurred social and gender barriers. Critics of popular preachers and storytellers worried that they would corrupt their audiences’ understanding of Islam. Their defenders argued that preachers and storytellers could contribute to the consensus of the Islamic community as to what constituted acceptable religious knowledge. In the end, religious knowledge, and the definition of Islam as it was commonly understood, remained porous and flexible throughout the Middle Period, thanks in part to the activities of popular preachers and storytellers.

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Page Count

156

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University of Washington Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0295800984

ISBN 13

9780295800981

Book's by Jonathan Porter Berkey

The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East (Publications on the Near East)

Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East (Publications on the Near East)

The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo

The Formation of Islam

The Formation of Islam

Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East

Popular Preaching and Religious Authority in the Medieval Islamic Near East

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