DeWeese, Devin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by DeWeese, Devin

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2020

work, which is a remarkably low figure); and his contextualization of the five commentaries again... more work, which is a remarkably low figure); and his contextualization of the five commentaries against the backdrop of the wider tradition of Quran interpretation along with his care to expand his gaze, within reasonable bounds, to the non-tafsīr works of his Sufi commentators, four of whom were prolific authors who left behind significant textual legacies, is nothing short of commendable. Does Coppens achieve his research objectives? On the question of the nature of Sufi Quran commentary, he concludes that the five works he examines do indeed add up to a separate "genre" of tafsīr due to their genealogical interlinkages and the shared body of proof texts that they use, but he stops short of characterizing this genre as "Sufi" (p. 69). However, his extension of generic status to the corpus of works he analyses while declining to give this genre a name comes across as a halfhearted response to what is inevitably a much larger question about how we should categorize Quran commentaries written by Sufis, a question that calls for a correspondingly extensive analysis of the subject across the whole length of the tradition. In the absence of such a wide-ranging attempt, one is tempted to agree with the assessment of Jamal Elias from a decade ago that Sufi tafsīr works do not form a separate genre because they "do not follow a shared structure, nor do they reflect identical concerns or motivations in the acts and processes of commentary" ("Sufi tafsīr reconsidered", Journal of Qur'anic Studies 12, 2010, 45-Coppens cites this article). Why not settle for something like a "sub-generic offshoot" from the mainstream tafsīr genre instead, an offshoot that provides Sufi commentators "more room for innovation and subjective understandings" (p. 263) of Quranic verses? As for Sufi eschatology, Coppens' findings are more substantial and credible, if still somewhat modest and unsurprising. He successfully demonstrates that Sufi Quran commentators of the eleventh and twelfth centuries indeed displayed a "relative disregard. .. for the rewards and punishments of Paradise and Hell without denying their physical reality" and focused instead on the "concepts of nearness to and vision of God" (p. 257), all the while staying largely faithful to mainstream, on the whole Ashʿarī, theological positions (pp. 261-2). This is entirely in keeping with what one would expect from a bunch of well-educated Sufis who were thoroughly conversant with theological and legal scholarship of their era. Here, the real question is whether the sample of Sufi textual legacy Coppens used for his study is at all representative of Sufi approaches to eschatology as a whole, especially for later periods, but this is, as Coppens observes (p. 263), a broad research topic for the future. In the meantime, Seeing God in Sufi Qur'an Commentaries will serve as a solid foundation for all such studies to come.

Islamology, 2017

This text is a translation of DeWeese’s review, published in Journal of Interdisciplinary History... more This text is a translation of DeWeese’s review, published in Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Volume 45, Number 4, Spring 2015, pp. 611-613.

The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam, 2018

This study presents a transcription and word index for a Chaghatay Turkic treatise on the craft o... more This study presents a transcription and word index for a Chaghatay Turkic treatise on the craft of writing from 19 th-century Central Asia, written by the Khwarazmian historian Muʼnis, entitled Savād-i taʻlīm; this "teaching text" is a guide to calligraphy, describing the preparation of the implements for writing and offering instructions for practical methods of forming the letters of the Arabic script. The Savād-i taʻlīm begins, after praise of God and the Prophet, and the author's mentor qāżī ʻAbd al-Laṭīf b. Qāżī Ṣafā, with a passage on the reason for the treatise's composition, and the first half of the work then explains the preparation of the things needed for writing. The pen is discussed at length, beginning with reflections on its importance; the art of writing, too, is praised and described, and then several sections focus on the sharpening of the pen, the preparation of its nib, its 'testing,' and so on. The second half of the treatise is devoted to the formation of the individual letters; each is described, with each description followed by a depiction of the letter, often with the 'points' used as a measure shown as well. A short 'disclaimer' about those letters not addressed individually follows, and a conclusion (khātima) mentions the title of the treatise and affirms the date of its completion. In the current study, the text of the Savād-i taʻlīm, established on the basis of two manuscripts, is presented in transcription, in order to make this work better known to the scholarly world, as an example of a Central Asian writer's practical meditations on the craft of writing.

Miracle et Karama. Hagiographies médiévales comparées, 2000

Oriens, 2015

This study explores a substantial work in Chaghatay Turkic produced in Bukhārā in the early 16th ... more This study explores a substantial work in Chaghatay Turkic produced in Bukhārā in the early 16th century for ʿĀʾisha Sulṭān Khānïm, wife of the 'Uzbek' Chinggisid ruler ʿUbaydullāh (nephew of Muḥammad Shïbānī Khān). The work, written by a certain Maḥmūd Andkhūdī, survives in a unique manuscript in Paris, but hitherto has not drawn scholarly attention (due to the misleading catalogue description, from the 1930s); it offers anecdotal commentaries and illustrations for a selection of Qurʾānic verses, and the stories used to explain and expand upon the religious principles have in common a focus on issues regarded as of importance to women.

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2015

Revue Des Mondes Musulmans Et De La Mediterranee, Jul 1, 2000

... Sacred History for a Central Asian Town Saints, Shrines, and Legends of Origin in Histories o... more ... Sacred History for a Central Asian Town Saints, Shrines, and Legends of Origin in Histories of Sayrām, 18th-19th Centuries. Histoire sacrée pour une ville d'Asie centrale : saints, mausolées et légendes d'origine dans les Histoires de Sayrām, XVIII e -XIX e siècles. Devin ...

International Journal of Turkish Studies, 2013

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 2015

ESSAYS IN HONOR OF PATRICK OLIVELLE, 2009

Politics, Patronage and the Transmission of Knowledge in 13th - 15th Century Tabriz, 2013