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" The rise of Ni‘matullāhī Shi‘ite Sufism in early nineteenth-century Qājār Persia : "
Tabandeh, Reza
Lewisohn, Leonard
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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830821
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TLets586695
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| Main Entry
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Tabandeh, Reza
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| Title & Author
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The rise of Ni‘matullāhī Shi‘ite Sufism in early nineteenth-century Qājār Persia :\ Tabandeh, RezaLewisohn, Leonard
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| College
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University of Exeter
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| Date
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2013
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2013
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| Degree
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Thesis (Ph.D.)
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| Abstract
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The fundamental question I have tried to answer in this thesis is how the Ni‘matullāhī masters were successful in reviving Ni‘matullāhī Sufism in Shi‘ite Persia during the early nineteenth century. This study investigates the revival of the Ni‘matullāhī Sufi order in Persia after the death of the last Indian Ni‘matullāhī master, Riḍā ‘Alī Shāh (d. 1214/1799) in the Deccan. Meticulous attention is given to the role of Ḥusayn ‘Alī Shāh (d. 1234/1818), Majdhūb ‘Alī Shāh (d. 1239/1823) and Mast ‘Alī Shāh (d. 1253/1837), who were the masters (quṭbs) of the Ni‘matullāhī order after Riḍā ‘Alī Shāh. The Ni‘matullāhī Sufi order flourished as a Persian Sufi order in 8th/14th century. During the Safavid era most of the Sufi orders in Persia became inactive or systematically suppressed. With the advent of the Safavids, the Ni‘matullāhī order moved to Hyderabad in India, and gradually became less important in the mystical milieu of Persia. After the fall of the Safavids, the revival movement of the Ni‘matullāhī order began with the arrival of the enthusiastic Indian Sufi master Ma‘ṣūm ‘Alī Shāh during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Later Persian masters of the Ni‘matullāhī order in the beginning of the early nineteenth century solidified the order’s place in the mystical and theological milieu of Persia. Ma‘ṣūm ‘Alī Shāh and his disciples soon spread their mystical and ecstatic beliefs all over Persia. They succeeded in converting a large mass of Persians to Sufi teachings despite the opposition and persecution they faced from Shi‘ite clerics, who were politically and socially the most influential class in Persia. The clerics were able to turn the political powers against the Sufis to a certain extent, such that Āqā Muḥammad ‘Alī Bihbihānī, principal champion of this oppression, largely succeeded in his persecution of Ma‘ṣūm ‘Alī Shāh and his disciples. The question of the Ni‘matullāhī Sufis’ survival in Persia after Maṣūm ‘Alī Shāh is evaluated here by using the biographies and writings of later masters and modern scholars. The conclusion is reached that Ḥusayn ‘Alī Shāh, Majdhūb ‘Alī Shāh and Mast ‘Alī Shāh were able to consolidate the social and theological role of the Ni‘matullāhī order by reinterpreting and articulating classical Sufi teachings in the light of Persian Shi‘ite mystical theology.
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Sufism ; Sufism ; Persia ; Persia ; Shi'ite Sufism ; Usulism ; Shi'ite Usulism ; Ni'matullahi Sufism ; Ni'matullahi
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Lewisohn, Leonard
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University of Exeter
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