Remember, Remember

This is a keen examination of the Saljuks' religious, social, and political history with the intention of "Deconstructing the Great Saljuq Myth."Safi argues that the success of the Saljuk ideology, which has been accepted uncritically by later scholars, is not a historical norm, but rather an ingenious production on behalf of the Saljuk Empire.In six chapters, he takes us through the journey of the Saljuk takeover of Iran and how this is a key moment in history to decipher the origins of the Saljuk myth making, and how their interests in schools and scholarly achievements as well as political treatises (produced in these schools) was part of the Saljuk propaganda machine.More important for the Seljuks was their motivation to present themselves as the champions of orthodoxy.In the bid to establish themselves as the normative view, two figures in particular are revered as the regime's political and religious genii: the efforts of the great administrator Nizam al-Mulk and the staunchly orthodox theologian (and would-be Sufi) Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali.The final two chapters of the book deals with a particularly interesting topic as Safi attempts to "problematise" and "de-mythicise" the genre of Islamic mysticism (rather admittedly in his restricted sociohistorical experiment) to magnify and critically analyse the social and political role of the Sufis of this period.This is a difficult task, no doubt, as Safi admits, and by no means an effort to discredit the magic of Sufi mysticism.On the contrary, Safi offers a limited but honest presentation of the sociopolitical impact of the Sufis on Saljuk contemporary politics.For this, in a series of case studies, he examines the hagiographies of three influential Sufi figures of the Seljuk era; the almost mythical Baba Tahir, the enigmatic Abu Sa'id-i Abi'l Khayr, and 'Ain al-Qudat al-Hamadani.The study not only demonstrates the degree of influence that the Sufis had on contemporary politics, but that at the same time demonstrate rather plainly that not all Sufis (in fact the very minority were ever directly partial to any political regime).At times, the work does little justice to the realities of the mystical texts (which it sources), and little with respect to the profundity and presence of the figures it analyses.However, the work does not intend to nor as Safi explains.The book serves as a valuable source for a range of interests covering religious studies, critical theory, Islamic studies, and Middle Eastern studies, as well as being a timely contribution to the study of the relationship between power and religious knowledge

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