Bibliography: #BIB26939

web link	bahai-library.com/bibliography/BIB26939
reference type	Book
title	Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam : Qur'an, Exegesis, Messianism and the Literary Origins of the Babi Religion
series title	Iranian Studies
author	Lawson, Todd
authority control	Todd Lawson
year	2011
date	2011
publisher	Routledge
place published	Abingdon, Oxon ; New York
issue	7.
ISBN	9780415495394 (hardback : alk. paper). 9780203801529 (ebook)
abstract	Of the several works on the rise and development of the Babi movement, especially those dealing with the life and work of its founder, Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi, few deal directly with the compelling and complex web of mysticism, theology and philosophy found in his earliest compositions. This book examines the Islamic roots of the Babi religion, (and by extension the later Baha’i faith which developed out of it), through the Qur’anic commentaries of the Bab and sheds light on its relationship to the wider religious milieu and its profound debt to esoteric Islam, especially Shi'ism. Todd Lawson places the two earliest writings of the Bab within the diverse contexts necessary to understand them, in order to explain why these writings made sense to and inspired his followers. He delves into the history of the tafsir (Qur’an commentary) genre of Islamic scholarship, situates these early writings in the Akhbari, Sufi and most importantly Shaykhi traditions of Islam. In the process, he identifies both the continuities and discontinuities between these works and earlier works of Shi’i tafsir, helping us appreciate significant elements of the Bab’s thought and claims. Filling an important gap in the existing literature on the Babi movement, this book will be of greatest interest to students and scholars of Qur'an commentary, Mysticism, Shi'ism, the modern history of Iran and messianism.
notes	LC Control Number: 2011019624 Includes bibliographical references and index Contents: Qur'an, apocalypse & gnosis -- Commentary and imitation -- Charismatic text, messianic exegesis -- Voices of the text -- Remembrance and gate -- Center of existence -- Concidentia oppositorum in the primal point -- The metaleptic Joseph -- The shirt, the bees & gnostic apocalypse -- Conclusion: a hermeneutic spiral
language	English
keywords	BABI FAITH; GNOSTICIM; MESSIANISM
number of pages	[8], 230
series volume	12

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