Public Violence in Islamic Societies: Power, Discipline, and the Construction of the Public Sphere, 7th-19th Centuries CE

Public Violence in Islamic Societies Edited by Christian Lange and Maribel Fierro This exploration of the role of violence in the history of Islamic societies considers the subject particularly in the context of its implementation as a political strategy to claim power over the public sphere. Violence, both among Muslims and between Muslims and non-Muslims, has been the object of research in the past, as in the case of jihad, martyrdom, rebellion or criminal law. This book goes beyond these concerns in addressing, in a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary fashion, how violence has functioned as a basic principle of Islamic social and political organization in a variety of historical and geographical contexts. Contributions trace the use of violence by governments in the history of Islam, shed light on legal views of violence, and discuss artistic and religious responses. Authors lay out a spectrum of attitudes rather than trying to define an Islamic doctrine of violence. Bringing together some of the most substantive and innovative scholarship on this important topic to date, this volume contributes to the growing interest, both scholarly and general, in the question of Muslim attitudes toward violence. Christian Lange is a Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Justice, Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination (2008). Maribel Fierro is Research Professor at the Center of Human and Social Sciences - Higher Council for Scientific Research (Spain). She is the author of Abd al-Rahman III, The first Cordoban Caliph (2005).