In the shade of the Sunna : Salafi piety in the twentieth-century Middle East

This book is an intellectual and social history of Salafism that moves beyond a focus on specific organizations or a commitment to the boundaries of particular nation states to trace the emergence of distinctly Salafi social practices from 1926 to the present. Salafis explicitly base their legitimacy on the word of the Qu'ran and the Sunna, and scholarship has taken them at their word by treating this movement as having sprung fully forth from Islam’s original teachings. Their distinctive public practices—praying in shoes, wearing long beards and short pants, and observing gender segregation—are thus understood to have a similarly ancient pedigree. Aaron Rock-Singer powerfully demonstrates that contemporary Salafism is in fact a creation of the twentieth century and that the movement’s signature practices emerged primarily out Salafis’ competition with other movements amidst the intellectual and social upheavals of modernity. Drawing from a range of media forms as well as traditional religious texts, Rock-Singer offers a three-dimensional portrait of a group often dismissed as a reactionary throwback to the past. __I____n the Shade of the Sunna__ takes readers beyond the surface claims of Salafism’s own proponents—and the academics who often repeat them—into the larger sociocultural and intellectual forces that have definitively shaped Islam’s fastest growing revivalist movement. "This book is an intellectual and social history of Salafism that moves beyond a focus on specific organizations or a commitment to the boundaries of particular nation states to trace the emergence of distinctly Salafi social practices between 1926 and the present. Salafis explicitly base their legitimacy on the word of the Qu'ran and the Sunna alone, and scholarship has taken them at their word by treating this movement as having sprung fully forth from Islam's original teachings. Their distinctive public practices--praying in shoes, long beards, and short pants, and observing gender segregation--are thus understood to have a similarly ancient pedigree. Aaron Rock-Singer powerfully demonstrates that contemporary Salafism is in fact a creation of the twentieth century and that the movement's signature practices emerged primarily out [of] Salafis' competition with other movements amidst the intellectual and social upheavals of modernity. Drawing on a range of media forms as well as on traditional religious texts, Aaron Rock-Singer offers a three-dimensional portrait of a group often dismissed as a reactionary throwback to the past. In the Shade of the Sunna takes readers beyond the surface claims of Salafism's own proponents--and the academics who often repeat them--into the larger sociocultural and intellectual forces that have definitively shaped Islam's fastest growing revivalist movement"-- Provided by publisher. Salafis explicitly base their legitimacy on continuity with the Quran and the Sunna, and their distinctive practices—praying in shoes, wearing long beards and short pants, and observing gender segregation—are understood to have a similarly ancient pedigree. In this book, however, Aaron Rock-Singer draws from a range of media forms as well as traditional religious texts to demonstrate that Salafism is a creation of the twentieth century and that its signature practices emerged primarily out of Salafis’ competition with other social movements amid the intellectual and social upheavals of modernity. In the Shade of the Sunna thus takes readers beyond the surface claims of Salafism’s own proponents—and the academics who often repeat them—into the larger sociocultural and intellectual forces that have shaped Islam’s fastest growing revivalist movement. Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments The Ethics of an Orphan Image A Note on Transliteration and Spelling Introduction 1. The Roots of Salafism: Strands of an Unorthodox Past, 1926–1970 2. Conquering Custom in the Name of Tawhid: The Salafi Expansion of Worship 3. Praying in Shoes: How to Sideline a Practice of the Prophet 4. The Salafi Mystique: From Fitna to Gender Segregation 5. Leading With a Fist: The Genesis and Consolidation of a Salafi Beard 6. Between Pants and the Jallabiyya: The Adoption of Isbal and the Battle for Authenticity Conclusion Bibliography Index