"From Empire to Orient" offers an alternative perspective on Britain's late imperial period by looking at the lives and the writings of the men who chose to defy the conventional social and political attitudes of the British ruling classes towards the Near East. Between the Greek revolt in 1830 and the fall of the Caliphate in 1924 a different kind of voice was heard that was both anti-imperialist and pro-Islamic. Geoffrey Nash places David Urquhart's passionate belief in the ideal of municipal government in Turkey, W.S. Blunt's enthusiasm for the Egyptian reformers of the Azhar, E.G. Browne's zeal for the Persian revolution and Marmaduke Pickthall's pained advocacy of the cause of the Young Turks into their political and historical context and into the context of their writings. The author argues that the actions of these men represented a distinctive identification with the Islamic world and of the involvement of the West in its politics. By condemning Britain's manoeuvres and choice of allies in the Near East, each of these writers embellished a narrative of betrayal and a breach with the British educated classes' view of the Islamic East.Through the lives and writings of these men who identified so passionately with the Islamic world, Nash offers a fascinating perspective on Britain's late imperial period.

Analyses modernity and Orientalist discourses in Iranian millenarian movements Employs historical and discourse analysis to probe the conflict between orthodox and heterodox religious movements in 19th- and 20th-century Iran Links the conflict between orthodoxy and heterodoxy to the impact of modernity on Iran's society and religion and to colonisation on India's Muslims Broadens the scope of this conflict to include Palestine, Central Asia and Turkey Presents a postcolonial analysis of the new movements and their broader relationship to the Islamic world during the age of imperialism Religion, Orientalism and Modernity explores the emergence of the revolutionary Babis and reformist Baha'is and their conflict with mainstream Shi'a Muslims in Iran, and of the parallel Ahmadi movement in North India. It gives fresh insights into the writings that defined these innovatory movements, penned on the one hand by their proponents, and on the other by western interpreters. Comparing these movements shows that, together, they define important aspects of Islamic modernity. A focus on two case studies (Babis and Baha'is in Iran, and Ahmadis in India) reveals similarities and differences in their responses to a perceived need for change and renewal of religious authority.

With a focus on the areas of theory, literature, culture, society and film, this collection of essays examines, questions and broadens the applicability of Postcolonialism and Islam from a multifaceted and cross-disciplinary perspective. Topics covered include the relationship between Postcolonialism and Orientalism, theoretical perspectives on Postcolonialism and Islam, the position of Islam within postcolonial literature, Muslim identity in British and European contexts, and the role of Islam in colonial and postcolonial cinema in Egypt and India. At a time at which Islam continues to be at the centre of increasingly heated and frenzied political and academic deliberations, Postcolonialism and Islam offers a framework around which the debate on Muslims in the modern world can be centred. Transgressing geographical, disciplinary and theoretical boundaries, this book is an invaluable resource for students of Islamic Studies, Cultural Studies, Sociolgy and Literature.

With a focus on the areas of theory, literature, culture, society and film, this collection of essays examines, questions and broadens the applicability of Postcolonialism and Islam from a multifaceted and cross-disciplinary perspective. Topics covered include the relationship between Postcolonialism and Orientalism, theoretical perspectives on Postcolonialism and Islam, the position of Islam within postcolonial literature, Muslim identity in British and European contexts, and the role of Islam in colonial and postcolonial cinema in Egypt and India. At a time at which Islam continues to be at the centre of increasingly heated and frenzied political and academic deliberations, Postcolonialism and Islam offers a framework around which the debate on Muslims in the modern world can be centred. Transgressing geographical, disciplinary and theoretical boundaries, this book is an invaluable resource for students of Islamic Studies, Cultural Studies, Sociolgy and Literature.

Though known to specialists, Comte de Gobineau's vital if idiosyncratic contribution to Orientalism has only been accessible to the English reader through secondary sources. Especially important for its portrayal of an esoteric Sufi sect like the Ahl-i Haqq, and its vivid narrative of the Babi episode in Persia, Gobineau's work impacted significantly on European intelligentsia, including Ernest Renan, Matthew Arnold, Lord Curzon, and the Orientalist Edward Granville Browne. Daniel O'Donoghue's brilliant translation now makes available sizeable extracts from Gobineau's two most important writings on the East: Three Years in Asia and Religions and Philosophies of Central Asia. Geoffrey Nash's comprehensive introduction and notes contextualise Gobineau's work in the light of contemporary scholarship, as well as assessing its impact on nineteenth century Orientalists and modern Iranians, and its relevance to debates around Islam and modernity that are still alive today.

Though known to specialists, Comte de Gobineau's vital if idiosyncratic contribution to Orientalism has only been accessible to the English reader through secondary sources. Especially important for its portrayal of an esoteric Sufi sect like the Ahl-i Haqq, and its vivid narrative of the Babi episode in Persia, Gobineau's work impacted significantly on European intelligentsia, including Ernest Renan, Matthew Arnold, Lord Curzon, and the Orientalist Edward Granville Browne.

Daniel O'Donoghue's brilliant translation now makes available sizeable extracts from Gobineau's two most important writings on the East: Three Years in Asia and Religions and Philosophies of Central Asia. Geoffrey Nash's comprehensive introduction and notes contextualise Gobineau's work in the light of contemporary scholarship, as well as assessing its impact on nineteenth century Orientalists and modern Iranians, and its relevance to debates around Islam and modernity that are still alive today.

This book looks at the first generation of Arab British and Arab-American writers to produce English writings in the earlier twentieth-century: Ameen Rihani, Khalil Jibran, George Antonius and Edward Atiyah. It theorises their work within the context of Arab nationalism, postcolonialism and the criticism of Edward Said.

An innovative analysis of modernity and Orientalist discourses in Iranian millenarian movements Religion, Orientalism and Modernity explores the emergence in Iran of the revolutionary Babis and reformist Baha'is and their conflict with mainstream Shi'a Muslims, and of the parallel Ahmadi movement in North India. It gives fresh insights into the writings that defined these innovatory movements, penned on the one hand by their proponents, and on the other by western interpreters. Comparison of these movements shows that, together, they define important aspects of Islamic modernity. A focus on two case studies (Babis and Baha'is in Iran, and Ahmadis in India) reveals similarities and differences in their responses to a perceived need for change and renewal of religious authority.

Examining a wide range of genres, including novels, memoirs, travel writing and journalism, this book explores representations of Muslims and Islam in modern English literature. The relationship between Islam and the West is one of the most urgent and hotly debated issues of our time. This book is the first to offer a comprehensive overview of the way in which Muslims are represented within modern English writing, ranging from the novel, through memoir and travel writing to journalism. Covering a wide range of texts and authors, it scrutinises the identity 'Muslim' by looking at its inscription in recent and contemporary literary writing within the context of significant events like the Rushdie Affair, the Gulf War and 9/11. Examining the wide range of writing internationally that takes Islam or Islamic cultures as its focus, the authors discuss the representation of Muslim identity in writing by non-Muslim writers, former Muslim 'native informants', and practising Muslims.

Examining a wide range of genres, including novels, memoirs, travel writing and journalism, this book explores representations of Muslims and Islam in modern English literature. The relationship between Islam and the West is one of the most urgent and hotly debated issues of our time. This book is the first to offer a comprehensive overview of the way in which Muslims are represented within modern English writing, ranging from the novel, through memoir and travel writing to journalism. Covering a wide range of texts and authors, it scrutinises the identity 'Muslim' by looking at its inscription in recent and contemporary literary writing within the context of significant events like the Rushdie Affair, the Gulf War and 9/11. Examining the wide range of writing internationally that takes Islam or Islamic cultures as its focus, the authors discuss the representation of Muslim identity in writing by non-Muslim writers, former Muslim 'native informants', and practising Muslims.

According to the late Edward Said, 'Why English and not Arabic is the question an Egyptian, Palestinian, Iraqi or Jordanian writer has to ask him or herself right now.' This concise study argues there is a qualitative difference between Arabic literature, Arabic literature translated into English, and a literature conceived and executed in English by writers of Arab background. It examines for the first time the corpus of a group of contemporary Arab writers who have taken the decision to incorporate Arab subjects and themes into the English language. Though variegated and distinct, the work of each writer contributes to a nexus of ideas, the central link of which is the notion of Anglo-Arab encounter. The fiction of Ahdaf Soue if, Jamal Mahjoub, Tony Hanania, Fadia Faqir and Leila Aboulela engages with the West - primarily England - and in the process blurs and hybridises discrete identities of both Arabs and English. Memoirs by accomplished academics, Leila Ahmed, Ghada Karmi and Jean Said Makdisi, are shown to expand definitions of postcolonial autobiography.