Teaching Humanity

1 Introduction: Teaching Humanity—Islam as a Humanistic Tradition.- Islam as a Humanistic Tradition.- Defining Humanism and the Humanities.- Orientalism and the Study of Islam.- Islam as a Legalistic Tradition.- Three Men and an Elephant: Describing Islam.- Islam: The Straight Path, or Is It?.- Islam or Islam(s)?: Accounting for Islamic Diversity.- Talal Asad: Islam as a Discursive Tradition.- Shahab Ahmed and the Critique of Asad.- The “Pre-Text”.- The “Con-Text”: The Product of Engagement.- Islam as an Affective Tradition.- Challenging Textual Essentialism.- Moving Beyond the Text: There Is a Reason They Call It Folk Wisdom Teaching Humanity: An Alternative Introduction to Islam.- Questions for Discussion.-2 Islam’s Diverse Paths, Part One: Patterns of Belief.- Defining Islam.- Islam’s Diverse Paths.- Islam: A Man and A Book.- Islam: Unity in Diversity.- Usul al-Din: The Roots of Religion.- Tawhid: The Unity of God.- Mansur Al-Hallaj: The Secret of Ana al-Haqq.- Nubuwwa: Belief in Prophets.- A Brief Outline of the Life of the Historical Muhammad.- Following Muhammad: The Prophet as a Model for Later Generations Qiyama: Belief in the Day of Judgment.- Conclusion.- Questions for Discussion.- 3 Islam’s Diverse Paths, Part Two: Patterns of Practice and Identity.-The Path of “Law”: The Shariʿa.- ʿIbadat and Muʿamalat: Shariʿa as Ritual and Social Practice.- Muʿamalat: Shariʿa as Social Practice.- Shariʿa: Islamic Law?.- The Path of Morality and Etiquette: Akhlaq and Adab.- Paths of Love: Mahabba and ʿIshq.- Walking the Path of Love: The Story of Layla and Majnun.- Islam’s Diverse Communities: Shiʿa, Sunni, and Sufi.- The Force of History: From Saqifa to Karbala.- A Man and a Book: Accounting for Sunni and Shiʿi Islam.- Shiʿi Islam: The Path of Devotional Allegiance.- Shiʿi Islam’s Diverse Paths.- Sunni Islam: The Islam of the Sunna and the Community.- Belief in the AwliyaʾAllah: The Sufi Tradition.- Wahdat al-Wujud and the Sufi Tradition.- Conclusion: Islam as a Humanistic Tradition.- Questions for Discussion.- 4 Teaching Humanity: The Human Being as the Object and Means of Revelation in Islamic Piety.-Approaching the Qurʾan.- The Qurʾan as Sacred Presence.- The Form and Content of the Qurʾan.- Qurʾanic Verses: Affirmations of Tawhid and Qiyama.- Qurʾanic Verses: Practice and Ethics.- Qurʾanic Verses: Narratives.- Interpreting the Qurʾan.- Muhkamat and Mutashabihat Verses.- Teachers of Humanity: Prophets, Imams, and Awliyaʾ.- Adam in the Qurʾan.- Iblis and Adam in the Qurʾan.- Mansur al-Hallaj and the Creation of Adam.- The Alevi Understanding of the Adam and Iblis Story.- The Narrative of Khidr and Musa.- Conclusion: Humanity in the Qurʾan.- Questions for Discussion.- 5 Patterns of Devotional Allegiance: God’s Friends (AwliyaʾAllah) and Perfected Persons (al-Insan al-Kamil).- Devotional Allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad.- Love and Devotional Allegiance to the Prophet Muhammad.- Love and Devotion for ʿAli b. Abu Talib.- Karbala: Shiʿi Islam’s Spiritual Fulcrum.- Karbala as a Meme.- Karbala as a Root Paradigm.- Victor Turner on Human Nature: Communitas and Structure.- Etic and Emic.- Devotional Allegiance in the Sufi Tradition.- The Story of Baba Farid Shakr Ganj and Mullah Sahab.- Interpretation.- Ahmet Yesevi in the Vilayetname.- The Proclamation of the Praiseworthy Qualities of Hoca Ahmet Yesevi Hezretleri Analysis.- Conclusion.- Questions for Discussion.- 6 My Qibla Is a Man: Islam Beyond the Shariʿa.- Defining Alevilik.- The Nature of Alevi Religion.- Alevilik as Shiʿi Piety.- Alevilik as a Sufi Tradition.- The Cem.- The Origin of the Cem in the Miraç of the Prophet.- Contemporary Alevilik.- Urban Cems and Cem Evis.- Alevi Music and Performance.- The Saz and the Minaret.- Contemporary Alevi Literature.- Narratives from the Vilayetname.- The Narrative of the Lineage and Birth of Hacı Bektaş in the Vilayetname.- The Vilayetname as an Islamic Text.- The Narrative of Güvenç Abdal.- My Qibla is a Man: Islam Beyond the Law.- Questions for Discussion.- 7 Conclusion: Not an Excess of Religion, But a Lack of Humanity—In Search of “Mainstream Islam”.- Radical Muslims and Muslim Extremists.- How to Write About Muslims.- Islam and Humanity.- The “Reformers” and Their Legacy.- In Search of “Mainstream” Islam.- “I Created Everything for You and You for Me:” An Alternative View of Islam.- Creating Insan al-Kamil: The End of Humanity.- “Mainstream Islam” and Shari‘a.- “Mainstream Islam” and Modernity.- Conclusion.- Questions for Discussion.- Glossary.- Bibliography.