{"product_id":"art-of-jihad","title":"Art of Jihad","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIdentifies and traces the evolution of a forgotten \"realist\" tradition in medieval Islamic political thought, and considers the prospects for its revival in the context of the contemporary Middle East.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow all but forgotten, there exists within medieval Islamic political thought a coherent \"realist\" tradition analogous to its Western counterpart. In \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Jihad\u003c\/i\u003e, Malik Mufti begins by analyzing contemporary debates on jihad designed to highlight the lacuna occupied by realism in other cultures. He explicates the features of medieval Islamic realism; those it shares with realism everywhere-a focus on power, for example, or the ubiquity of human conflict-but also those features that are distinctive: its insistence on the political centrality of religion, its rejection of scientific certainty, its valorization of hierarchy, and its adherence to empire as the optimal ethico-political framework. These features are fleshed out through the writings of medieval political thinkers such as Ibn al-Muqaffa`, al-Jahiz, and the anonymous author of a seminal military manual, as well as political philosophers such as Ibn Rushd and Ibn Khaldun. Finally, Mufti explores the prospects for a revival of Islamic realism in the context of the political and intellectual upheavals currently besetting the Middle East.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"State University of New York Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54410273587544,"sku":"9781438476360","price":34.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781438476360.jpg?v=1777895155","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/art-of-jihad","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}