Lloyd Ridgeon
Biographic Data
| ID | 1608028 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lloyd Ridgeon |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lloyd |
| FAMILY NAME | Ridgeon |
| SIGNATURE | RIDGEON L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Glasgow |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 4 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Ahmad Qābel, Religious Secularity and Velāyat-e Faqih in Iran
Religious secularity and Islam have not often been considered in the West as comfortable bedfellows, yet the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 questioned assumptions about the appropriateness of separate spheres for religion and politics. However, within a decade of the revolution, theoretical and intellectual shifts were visible in the Iranian seminaries, and alternative views about the doctrine of velāyat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurists) …
Routledge Handbook on Sufism
The Problems of Sinicizing Beijing’s Mosques
The “Sinicization of religion” that is being implemented in China since 2016 has not only adversely affected the practice of Islam by Hui Muslims but it has also impacted upon the architecture and decoration of mosques where Hui communities live. This article argues that the politics of Sinicizing religious spaces is inherently problematic; it involves issues of what exactly constitutes “Sinicization”, and assumptions behind the choices that Musl…
Ahmad Qabil, a reason to believe and the New Religious Thinking in Iran
Ahmad Qabil (d. 2012) was a mid-ranking seminarian who achieved considerable fame in Iran due to his foregrounding of reason in his jurisprudential writings, his opposition to both the strict ‘literalist’ version of sharica law propounded by the authorities in the Islamic Republic and the authoritarian regime of Ayatollah Khamenei, and for his 2004 fatwa which permitted women the choice about head covering (hijab). His commitment to reason and ju…
Javanmardi: The Ethics and Practice of Persianate Perfection
Short Back and Sides
Qalandars have often been depicted in negative terms in medieval and pre-modern literature by Sufis themselves, clerics and historians. Treatises composed by Qalandars are rare, thus the possibility of producing a balanced survey of their form of Sufism and contribution to the socio-political and religious climate of any given period is difficult. One such text, the “Sulīmān Qalandar Nāma”, however, completed in 1668, offers an intriguing perspec…
Russian Terrorism in Tehran: A Qajar Princes’ Letters During the “Minor Tyranny” of 1908
During the Minor Tyranny of 1908, a daughter of Naser al-Din Shah named Malakeh-ye Iran suffered the indignity of having her house in Tehran plundered when the autocratic Shah attempted to re-assert control over the newly won powers of the democratic Constitutional movement. It is generally thought that the ransacking of her house was due to the sympathetic views towards the Constitutional movement that she shared with her husband, Zahir al-Dawle…
Ahmad Kasravi and “Pick-Axe Politics”: Neckties and Literature as Western Tools of Cultural Imperialism
Cultural authenticity has occupied the minds of Iranian intellectuals from the nineteenth century onwards, and Ahmad Kasravi (d. 1946) was among the greatest supporters of an Iran whose independence included not just territorial integrity but the freedom to choose elements of its heritage that were compatible with a modern nation-state. Kasravi attempted to identify those elements of Iranian culture that he believed were based on reason, and reje…
The Cambridge Companion to Sufism
Sufism, the mystical or aesthetic doctrine in Islam, has occupied a very specific place in the Islamic tradition, with its own history, literature and devotional practices. Its development began in the seventh century and spread throughout the Islamic world. The Cambridge Companion to Sufism traces its evolution from the formative period to the present, addressing specific themes along the way within the context of the times. In a section discuss…
A Critical Introduction to Khomeini
As the architect of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini remains one of the most inspirational and enigmatic figures of the twentieth century. The revolution placed Iran at the forefront of Middle East politics and the Islamic revival. Twenty years after his death, Khomeini is revered as a spiritual and political figurehead in Iran and in large swathes of the Islamic world, while in the West he is remembered by many as a dictator an…
Associate Editors Note
Special issues of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies have tended to focus on contemporary issues. Indeed, on looking back there have been special issues on Iranian Intellectuals (2007)
The Controversy of Shaykh Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī and Handsome, Moon-Faced Youths: A Case Study of Shāhid-Bāzī in Medieval Sufism
The ability to witness the divine in creation has been one of the features that has often distinguished Sufis from non-Sufis. One of the most controversial manifestations of this was shāhid-bāzī (“playing the witness”), which was a practice of gazing at the form of young males in order to witness the inner, divine presence. Since medieval times a Persian Sufi by the name of Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī has been most commonly associated with shāhid-bāzī (…
A Collection of Sufi Rules of Conduct
Morals and Mysticism in Persian Sufism: A history of Sufi-futuwwat in Iran
Sufism is often understood to be the mystical dimension of Islam, and many works have focused on the nature of "mystical experiences" and the relationship between man and God. Yet Sufism was a human response to a wide range of contexts and circumstances; the fact that Sufis lived in society and interacted with the community necessitating guidance on how to behave. This book examines the development of Persian Sufism, showing it to be a practical …
Shaggy or Shaved? The Symbolism of Hair among Persian Qalandar Sufis
The Qalandars have usually been considered antinomian Sufis, a view that may have been perpetuated by their shocking appearance (the shaving of head-hair, eyebrows, moustache and beard, that is, the so-called “four-shaves”, chahār-żarb, which runs against the normative Islamic tradition. This paper briefly highlights the significance of hair in the Islamic tradition with reference to the sacred sources (the Qur'ān, Hadīth and biographies of the P…
Introduction: Iranian Intellectuals (1997–2007)
It is a very special honour to be the guest editor of this first, special issue of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, and I sincerely hope that the increase from two to three issues per year (with the third issue devoting its space to a particular theme or topic) will continue for many years to come. The increasing regard paid to the region and the numbers of excellent articles that the journal receives for publication suggests that t…
The Zūrkhāna between Tradition and Change
The zūrkhāna is perceived to be an old Iranian institution where “ancient sports” are performed in an environment of ideal ethical behaviour in which the normal social structures are transcended by social levelling. The ritual exercises are interpreted in different ways, and this multivocality lends itself to multiple identities among Iranians. Recent developments in Iran have resulted in a greater interest in the institution, suggesting that it …
Sufi Castigator
Sufi Castigator investigates the writings of Ahmad Kasravi, one of the foremost intellectuals in Iran. It studies his work within the context of Sufism in modern Iran and mystical Persian literature and includes translations of Kasravi’s writings. Kasravi provides a fascinating topic for those with interests in Sufism and Iranian studies as he attempted to produce a form of Iranian identity that he believed was compatible with the modern age and …
Sufi Castigator: Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian Mystical Tradition
E: Reviews: Religion
Aḥmad Kasravī's Criticisms of Edward Granville Browne
“We have stood up, ready to be counted and we have said ‘God is with us.’ What is our aim? The victory of Iran and the exaltation of Iranians. God is a witness that we have no aim other than this.”
Major World Religions: From Their Origins to the Present
This work seeks to answer questions about the great religious traditions in the contemporary age. It focuses upon those religions that continue to demand the attention of the Western world. Following an introduction on the philosophy of religion, attention is focused on Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam which are religions that have had (and probably continue to have) the greatest number of followers in Western society. In addi…
A Sufi Perspective of Evil
L'un des problemes majeurs auquel sont confrontees les grandes religions est celui de l'existence du mal. Le monde islamique a ainsi debattu de cette question, a laquelle 'Azīz Nasafī, mystique qui vecut en Asie centrale et en Iran au 13e siecle, proposa des explications. Malgre le fait qu'il n'ait jamais redige de traite specifique ou d'essai sur ce sujet, il est possible, en passant en revue ses ecrits, de reconstituer sa conception de l'existe…
ʿAzīz Nasafī's Six Ontological Faces (Wherever You Turn There Is the Face of God)
L'A. a selectionne un chapitre du traite d'Azīz Nasafī intitule Kitāb-i tanzīl, Le livre de la descente, afin d'expliquer la perspective ontologique de Nasafī. Celui-ci est un representant de la tradition soufie. Chacune des six stations ontologiques qu'il decrit represente une maniere de considerer la relation de l'homme a Dieu, en d'autres termes, la relation tashbīb-tanzīh. Ces six stations revelent en outre la conception que Nasafī se fait du…
Ahmad Qabil, a reason to believe and the New Religious Thinking in Iran
Ahmad Qabil (d. 2012) was a mid-ranking seminarian who achieved considerable fame in Iran due to his foregrounding of reason in his jurisprudential writings, his opposition to both the strict ‘literalist’ version of sharica law propounded by the authorities in the Islamic Republic and the authoritarian regime of Ayatollah Khamenei, and for his 2004 fatwa which permitted women the choice about head covering (hijab). His commitment to reason and ju…
The Problems of Sinicizing Beijing’s Mosques
The “Sinicization of religion” that is being implemented in China since 2016 has not only adversely affected the practice of Islam by Hui Muslims but it has also impacted upon the architecture and decoration of mosques where Hui communities live. This article argues that the politics of Sinicizing religious spaces is inherently problematic; it involves issues of what exactly constitutes “Sinicization”, and assumptions behind the choices that Musl…
Aḥmad Kasravī's Criticisms of Edward Granville Browne
“We have stood up, ready to be counted and we have said ‘God is with us.’ What is our aim? The victory of Iran and the exaltation of Iranians. God is a witness that we have no aim other than this.”
Ahmad Qābel, Religious Secularity and Velāyat-e Faqih in Iran
Religious secularity and Islam have not often been considered in the West as comfortable bedfellows, yet the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 questioned assumptions about the appropriateness of separate spheres for religion and politics. However, within a decade of the revolution, theoretical and intellectual shifts were visible in the Iranian seminaries, and alternative views about the doctrine of velāyat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurists) …
The Zūrkhāna between Tradition and Change
The zūrkhāna is perceived to be an old Iranian institution where “ancient sports” are performed in an environment of ideal ethical behaviour in which the normal social structures are transcended by social levelling. The ritual exercises are interpreted in different ways, and this multivocality lends itself to multiple identities among Iranians. Recent developments in Iran have resulted in a greater interest in the institution, suggesting that it …
ʿAzīz Nasafī's Six Ontological Faces (Wherever You Turn There Is the Face of God)
L'A. a selectionne un chapitre du traite d'Azīz Nasafī intitule Kitāb-i tanzīl, Le livre de la descente, afin d'expliquer la perspective ontologique de Nasafī. Celui-ci est un representant de la tradition soufie. Chacune des six stations ontologiques qu'il decrit represente une maniere de considerer la relation de l'homme a Dieu, en d'autres termes, la relation tashbīb-tanzīh. Ces six stations revelent en outre la conception que Nasafī se fait du…
A Sufi Perspective of Evil
L'un des problemes majeurs auquel sont confrontees les grandes religions est celui de l'existence du mal. Le monde islamique a ainsi debattu de cette question, a laquelle 'Azīz Nasafī, mystique qui vecut en Asie centrale et en Iran au 13e siecle, proposa des explications. Malgre le fait qu'il n'ait jamais redige de traite specifique ou d'essai sur ce sujet, il est possible, en passant en revue ses ecrits, de reconstituer sa conception de l'existe…
Major World Religions: From Their Origins to the Present
This work seeks to answer questions about the great religious traditions in the contemporary age. It focuses upon those religions that continue to demand the attention of the Western world. Following an introduction on the philosophy of religion, attention is focused on Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam which are religions that have had (and probably continue to have) the greatest number of followers in Western society. In addi…
Aḥmad Kasravī's Criticisms of Edward Granville Browne
“We have stood up, ready to be counted and we have said ‘God is with us.’ What is our aim? The victory of Iran and the exaltation of Iranians. God is a witness that we have no aim other than this.”
E: Reviews: Religion
Sufi Castigator
Sufi Castigator investigates the writings of Ahmad Kasravi, one of the foremost intellectuals in Iran. It studies his work within the context of Sufism in modern Iran and mystical Persian literature and includes translations of Kasravi’s writings. Kasravi provides a fascinating topic for those with interests in Sufism and Iranian studies as he attempted to produce a form of Iranian identity that he believed was compatible with the modern age and …
Sufi Castigator: Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian Mystical Tradition
Introduction: Iranian Intellectuals (1997–2007)
It is a very special honour to be the guest editor of this first, special issue of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, and I sincerely hope that the increase from two to three issues per year (with the third issue devoting its space to a particular theme or topic) will continue for many years to come. The increasing regard paid to the region and the numbers of excellent articles that the journal receives for publication suggests that t…
The Zūrkhāna between Tradition and Change
The zūrkhāna is perceived to be an old Iranian institution where “ancient sports” are performed in an environment of ideal ethical behaviour in which the normal social structures are transcended by social levelling. The ritual exercises are interpreted in different ways, and this multivocality lends itself to multiple identities among Iranians. Recent developments in Iran have resulted in a greater interest in the institution, suggesting that it …
Morals and Mysticism in Persian Sufism: A history of Sufi-futuwwat in Iran
Sufism is often understood to be the mystical dimension of Islam, and many works have focused on the nature of "mystical experiences" and the relationship between man and God. Yet Sufism was a human response to a wide range of contexts and circumstances; the fact that Sufis lived in society and interacted with the community necessitating guidance on how to behave. This book examines the development of Persian Sufism, showing it to be a practical …
Shaggy or Shaved? The Symbolism of Hair among Persian Qalandar Sufis
The Qalandars have usually been considered antinomian Sufis, a view that may have been perpetuated by their shocking appearance (the shaving of head-hair, eyebrows, moustache and beard, that is, the so-called “four-shaves”, chahār-żarb, which runs against the normative Islamic tradition. This paper briefly highlights the significance of hair in the Islamic tradition with reference to the sacred sources (the Qur'ān, Hadīth and biographies of the P…
The Controversy of Shaykh Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī and Handsome, Moon-Faced Youths: A Case Study of Shāhid-Bāzī in Medieval Sufism
The ability to witness the divine in creation has been one of the features that has often distinguished Sufis from non-Sufis. One of the most controversial manifestations of this was shāhid-bāzī (“playing the witness”), which was a practice of gazing at the form of young males in order to witness the inner, divine presence. Since medieval times a Persian Sufi by the name of Awḥad al-Dīn Kirmānī has been most commonly associated with shāhid-bāzī (…
A Collection of Sufi Rules of Conduct
Associate Editors Note
Special issues of the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies have tended to focus on contemporary issues. Indeed, on looking back there have been special issues on Iranian Intellectuals (2007)
The Cambridge Companion to Sufism
Sufism, the mystical or aesthetic doctrine in Islam, has occupied a very specific place in the Islamic tradition, with its own history, literature and devotional practices. Its development began in the seventh century and spread throughout the Islamic world. The Cambridge Companion to Sufism traces its evolution from the formative period to the present, addressing specific themes along the way within the context of the times. In a section discuss…
A Critical Introduction to Khomeini
As the architect of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini remains one of the most inspirational and enigmatic figures of the twentieth century. The revolution placed Iran at the forefront of Middle East politics and the Islamic revival. Twenty years after his death, Khomeini is revered as a spiritual and political figurehead in Iran and in large swathes of the Islamic world, while in the West he is remembered by many as a dictator an…
Ahmad Kasravi and “Pick-Axe Politics”: Neckties and Literature as Western Tools of Cultural Imperialism
Cultural authenticity has occupied the minds of Iranian intellectuals from the nineteenth century onwards, and Ahmad Kasravi (d. 1946) was among the greatest supporters of an Iran whose independence included not just territorial integrity but the freedom to choose elements of its heritage that were compatible with a modern nation-state. Kasravi attempted to identify those elements of Iranian culture that he believed were based on reason, and reje…
Short Back and Sides
Qalandars have often been depicted in negative terms in medieval and pre-modern literature by Sufis themselves, clerics and historians. Treatises composed by Qalandars are rare, thus the possibility of producing a balanced survey of their form of Sufism and contribution to the socio-political and religious climate of any given period is difficult. One such text, the “Sulīmān Qalandar Nāma”, however, completed in 1668, offers an intriguing perspec…
Russian Terrorism in Tehran: A Qajar Princes’ Letters During the “Minor Tyranny” of 1908
During the Minor Tyranny of 1908, a daughter of Naser al-Din Shah named Malakeh-ye Iran suffered the indignity of having her house in Tehran plundered when the autocratic Shah attempted to re-assert control over the newly won powers of the democratic Constitutional movement. It is generally thought that the ransacking of her house was due to the sympathetic views towards the Constitutional movement that she shared with her husband, Zahir al-Dawle…
Javanmardi: The Ethics and Practice of Persianate Perfection
Ahmad Qabil, a reason to believe and the New Religious Thinking in Iran
Ahmad Qabil (d. 2012) was a mid-ranking seminarian who achieved considerable fame in Iran due to his foregrounding of reason in his jurisprudential writings, his opposition to both the strict ‘literalist’ version of sharica law propounded by the authorities in the Islamic Republic and the authoritarian regime of Ayatollah Khamenei, and for his 2004 fatwa which permitted women the choice about head covering (hijab). His commitment to reason and ju…
Routledge Handbook on Sufism
The Problems of Sinicizing Beijing’s Mosques
The “Sinicization of religion” that is being implemented in China since 2016 has not only adversely affected the practice of Islam by Hui Muslims but it has also impacted upon the architecture and decoration of mosques where Hui communities live. This article argues that the politics of Sinicizing religious spaces is inherently problematic; it involves issues of what exactly constitutes “Sinicization”, and assumptions behind the choices that Musl…
Ahmad Qābel, Religious Secularity and Velāyat-e Faqih in Iran
Religious secularity and Islam have not often been considered in the West as comfortable bedfellows, yet the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 questioned assumptions about the appropriateness of separate spheres for religion and politics. However, within a decade of the revolution, theoretical and intellectual shifts were visible in the Iranian seminaries, and alternative views about the doctrine of velāyat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurists) …
Islamic Studies and History (19 works) · History (16 works) · Political science (14 works) · Ancient history (12 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Art (11 works) · Islam (11 works) · Law (11 works) · History (10 works) · Sociology (8 works)