Islam: The View from the Edge [Paperback]

Richard W. Bulliet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1995

Bulliet abandons the historian's habit of viewing Islamic history "from the center," that is, focusing on the rise and fall of imperial dynasties. Instead, he derives an understanding of how and why Islam became -- and continues to be -- so rooted in the social structure of the vast majority of people who lived far from the political locus and did not see the caliphate as essential in their lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With this work Bulliet ( The Gulf Scenario , LJ 2/1/84) proposes a new approach for studying the evolution of Islam. Believing that too much attention has been paid to studying developments at the political center, i.e., the doings of caliphs and sultans, he looks instead toward what he calls the "edge" of Islam, which exists wherever an individual decides to become a Muslim. Now, in the midst of what Bulliet believes is, for Muslims, the most intellectually and spiritually vigorous period of the last 1000 years, Muslims are seeking answers to the question of how they should live their lives within their faith in the modern world. For answers, they are turning to people whose piety, religious knowledge, and character qualify them for religious leadership. Bulliet believes that the future of the Muslim world lies with the Islamic revivalists and not with nationalist leaders like Saddam Hussein. This work takes an original approach to tracing the roots of the current Islamic revival. Highly recommended.
- Robert Andrews, Duluth P.L., Minn.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Middle East scholar and writer Richard Bulliet offers an insightful and provocative look at the historical evolution of Islamic religious authority. It is this authority that will have ultimate impact on the future of the Middle East, and yet contemporary historians have largely ignored its influence in the social structure of the people it governs. Bulliet describes how a view "from the edge" shows diverse groups of people coming together in institutional, doctrinal, and social cohesion, not because of great empires, but because of the leadership of religious scholars and moral guides. This book should be of interest to students of both religion and politics, particularly since Westerners tend to misunderstand the religious motivations behind a country's actions. Mary Deeley --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231082193
• ISBN-13: 978-0231082198
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have been teaching at Columbia University since 1973. Before that I taught at Harvard for six years and at UC Berkeley for two. All that redeems me from being identified as a pure academic is the enjoyment I derive from writing fiction. My first novel, Kicked to Death by a Camel, was nominated for an Edgar in the category of Best First Mystery. Some readers have maintained that the best thing about it was the title. Neither Kicked to Death nor any of my subsequent novels met much commercial success, but they enabled me to make stories out of my personal experiences, mostly during travels to the Middle East.

My academic writings deal either with Islam, human-animal relations, or the history of technology. In all three cases, my greatest satisfaction comes from asking unusual or previously unasked questions and exploring innovative methods in trying to answer them. When I came to Columbia, a colleague who was opposed to my appointment predicted that I would never write "real" history. Maybe I haven't. That's for others to judge. All I can say is that I don't think I have written any history that could have been written by someone else.

Personally, I come from Rockford, Illinois and consider myself a lapsed Methodist. That is to say, I recognize that the conduct of my life has been strongly influenced by the social expectations of Methodism, but I have long departed from the theology and rituals of any church. I have no personal or family roots in the Middle East or in Islam--or on a farm, for that matter. Though my early research and writing concentrated on the social and economic aspects of medieval Islam, and of Iran in particular, after the Iranian Revolution I became more actively involved in contemporary affairs. In particular, I pay close attention to religious political currents in the Muslim world and to the ups and downs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which I feel constitutes one of the major political and social experiments of our time.

After 40+ years as a Middle East/Islam specialist, I'm pretty tired of reading about that subject. My reading preferences lean more to science fiction (William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson, Richard Morgan), graphic novels (Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Garth Ennis, Mike Carey, Brian Vaughan), and experimental novelists (John Barth, Donald Barthelme, Thomas Pynchon, William Gaddis).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Islam: A View from the Edge, February 18, 2003

By 

Pragmatic Man "pragmaticman" (NYC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam: The View from the Edge (Paperback)

Islam: A View from the Edge. By Richard W. Bulliet. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. Pp. 236. [money amount]

Islam: A View from the Edge is a socio-historical analysis of the Nishapur Diaspora through the experience of the new converts and their relationship with the ulemas. The aptly titled book is a survey of how Islam developed in the periphery rather than in the center, and how the scholastic developmental patterns in the center were heavily influenced by the creativity in the periphery. He suggests that the edge's creative source was the question-answer motif employed by the converts to learn about Islam. When people converted they would seek out individuals who knew the answers to questions regarding worship. This led to the emergence of individuals who succeeded in gaining the convert's ratification for their interpretive efforts as being the most authentic representations of the divine intent. Such fluid discourse led to the development of local expressions of Islam. Bulliet contends that there was no single legitimate interpretation of Islam but rather many in the early years of Islamic history. Islam was homogenized by the efforts of many Persian ulemas who were expatriates of what is today Eastern Iran. These individuals organized themselves into schools of law around charismatic eponyms which came to be known as madhhabs.

Madhhabs would later become the center of all religious interpretive exercises and a source of legitimacy in the Muslim body politic. In particular Bulliet points out the Ashari-Shafi community of Persia that were the most influential consolidators of Sunnism. They spread their rationalistic expression of Sunni Islam via their stock and trade, namely the Madrasa, a quintessential Persian innovation in early Muslim civilization. This group eventually became part of the center and its version of orthodoxy was championed by such figures as Nizam al-Mulk. This form of Sunni Islam was understood by its proponents as the middle path between the excessively rationalistic Mu'tazilites and the overly conservative traditionalist Hanbalites. Nizam al-Mulk commissioned the famous Nizamiyya Madrasas in Tus and more importantly in Nishapur and Baghdad. It was from these schools that the Ash'ari-Shafi'i scholars propagated their doctrines and inserted a type of mythology into the collective memory that the scholastic evolution within Sunni Islam had its end goal their grand synthesis of the text and reason.

If there are any criticisms that could be directed at Bulliet's work it is that he stresses the edge disproportionately and effectively gives an impression that the center had no significant role in the development of Islam. Bulliet says the view from the edge is needed because it is the edge that ultimately creates the center (pg. 12). However he becomes too dogmatic in distinguishing between the edge and the center and overlooks their similarity. The development of the center Iraq and the edge Iran/Nishapur have much more in common than in differences. The relationship between the edge and the center should be seen as interactive where both influenced each others development. However this does not take away from the fact that the book is very well written and offers a fresh look at the origin and development of Islam.

That obscurantism withstanding, there is a lot that we as American Muslims can learn from Prof. Bulliet's research. We here in North America constitute a particular edge and the discourse within our community can, if we take the task at hand seriously and work determinedly, produce the type of reorientation of the Sunni worldview in the center, that the Ash'ari-Shafi'i Ulema achieved in Medieval Islam, from authoritarianism to the authoritative pluralism, in the 21st century. Insha'Allah.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Islam by Richard Bulliet, August 2, 2001

By 

KHALID M. SHAH (St Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam (Hardcover)

There is a saying attributed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that 'Disagreement among the scholars is great mercy for mankind'. Taken in this spirit, this work of Professor Bulliet is a great contribution to Islam. There exists very little information about some of the events and development in early muslim history. By looking at what people did write about (like personal biographies) and also some broader social/economic conditions the author is able to make some very surprising conclusions.

For a layperson and believing muslim like myself this was a book that was engrossing in what I learn't from it and thought provoking in what questions it raised for me. I am sure that scholars (muslim and non-muslim) studying about Islam would read this book. However I would recommend that any muslim serious about learning of the development of islamic society and traditions would find this work of great value. One does not have to agree with everything in a particular work for it to be valuable. This book has far more to offer any one studying development of islamic societies than any I have read.

6 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Islam: The View from the Edge, April 12, 2001

By 

Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Islam (Hardcover)

Bulliet-a creative though often wrong-headed historian of medieval Islam-proposes a novel way of looking at the early centuries of Islam that offers a valuable perspective on the surge of Islam during the past twenty-five years. The author distinguishes between the "view from the center," by which he means the utilitarian vision of Islam propounded by its political rulers, and the "view from the edge" of seekers, adepts, and all those trying to figure out for themselves what their faith means. The two visions differ profoundly: the one propounds a view of Islam as a legalistic system in keeping with the rulers' interests, the other seeks to fulfill deep spiritual needs. The one remains within containable limits, the other finds unpredictable and dangerous manifestations. Saudi Arabia's government represents the former system, Iran's the latter. Bulliet argues that while Muslims and Westerners alike often accept the center's view of Islam, the edge actually drives Muslim history by spontaneously finding its own religious authorities and following their guidance. In the early centuries of Islam, converts made up the edge. Today, the edge's two main groups consist of disoriented students and urbanized peasants. In need of guidance, they turn to the interpreters of Islam who most convincingly address their concerns. And, Bulliet predicts, their choices will determine far more about the future of Islam than will the actions of politicians or the books of philosophers.

Middle East Quarterly, September 1994