The Shi'i Islamic Martyrdom Narratives of Imam al-Ḥusayn
Author | : Muhammad-Reza Fakhr-Rohani |
Publisher | : Cambridge Scholars Publishing |
Total Pages | : 276 |
Release | : 2023-06-14 |
ISBN-10 | : 9781527592292 |
ISBN-13 | : 1527592294 |
Rating | : 4/5 (92 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Martyrdom narratives (maqtals) represent a prominent genre of Islamic, particularly Shiʽi, literature. In this genre, the heart-rending aspects of the martyrdom scenes of religiously prominent people are depicted graphically. Although not exclusively limited to the martyrdom accounts of Imam al-Ḥusayn and his companions, who were martyred on the plain of Karbala, Iraq, a great majority of Islamic martyrdom narratives deal with the Ashura episodes. As the first book-length treatment of this genre in English, this text takes the reader from the dawn of Islam in ancient Arabia, exploring the background of the Battle of Karbala and giving a view of the various maqtals and several related studies. Although examining Arabic and Persian sources, this book presupposes little background knowledge on the part of the reader.