Kashmir's Transition to Islam: The Role of Muslim Rishis

The book breaks fresh ground in historical research. Based on a critical and empathic understanding of Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Kashmiri sources, it provides a critique of Orientalist scholarship against the background of

an historical enquiry conducted into the processes of Islamization and its dynamics in relation to the role of Muslim Rishis (Kashmiri Sufis).

Professor Ishaq Khan has brought together a number of perspectives the historical, the sociological, and the religious. The crux of his argument is that Islam is not merely a matter of theological propositions, but also a historical realization: realizing the Oneness of Allah by total surrender, dedication, service and above all self-sacrifice for the good of humankind.

The Rishi movement is an integral component of the process of Islamization that started in the picturesque Valley in the wake of the introduction of Sufi orders from Central Asia and Persia in the fourteenth century. The author particularly focuses on the paradox and tension that the Kashmiri Brahmanic society experienced as a result of the Rishis advocacy of virtues such as self-imposed poverty, identification with the poor and the down-trodden, and above all opposition to the caste system.

A significant feature of the book is a perceptive analysis of legends and miracles?associated?with?Muslim?Rishis.

The author advocates the idea of looking at history from a fresh point of view, and argues in favour of studying the history of human civilization in its totality, involving an interaction between religion and society. The author has shown that the history of human civilization cannot be studied in watertight compartments of matter and faith. The present work is therefore worthy of attention and should be of interest to a wide range of readers, rather than merely to specialists.

Table of Contents

• Preface to the Third Edition vii
• Preface to the Paperback Edition ix
• Preface xi
• Introduction 1
• I Conceptual Framework of Conversion to Islam 22
• II The Historical Background of the Rishi Movement 36
• III Socio-Religious Milieu of Shaikh Nuruddin Rishi 61
• IV Shaikh Nuruddins Religious Career and its Social Impact 95
• V Religious Thought of Shaikh Nuruddin 111
• VI The Attitudes of the Sufi Orders Towards the Rishi Movement 144 VII The Rishis and Conversion to Islam 177
• VIII The Societal Dimensions of Miracles and Legends 205
• IX Epilogue 221
• Appendices
• (A) Genealogy of Shaikh Nuruddin 241
• (B) Genealogy of Sayyid Ali 243
• (C) Women Sufis of Kashmir 245
• (D) A Note on Risala-i Lahiniyya 250
• (E) Khat-i Irshad of Sayyid Muhammad Hamadani 256
• (F) Elegy of Sham Ded 259
• Glossary 261
• Bibliography 283
• Index 295