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Ali A Olomi Profile picture
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18 Jun, 20 tweets, 8 min read
Summer is upon us and I am looking forward to doing some reading.

Here are some books I'll be reading/rereading which I recommend:
On My Right Michael On My Left Gabriel by @MikaAhuvia

An exciting exploration of ancient Jewish belief in angels using a fascinating array of sources. I'm super excited about reading this book which just from the previews I've seen looks brilliant!

ucpress.edu/book/978052038…
Iranian Metaphysicals by @docstobar

A fascinating foray into Iranian magical, occult, and metaphysical circles. A brilliant blend of historical and anthropological research, it is an amazing book which I’ve reread several times now! Highly recommended!

press.princeton.edu/books/paperbac…
Muhammad’s Body by @MM_Knight

I’m exciting to read this book about embodiment and baraka in the hadith and sira sources. MM Knight’s intervention into the history and literature theorizing the prophet’s body looks groundbreaking and fascinating!

uncpress.org/book/978146965…
Indian Muslim Minorites and the 1857 Rebellion by @ProfIRMF

I’ve read this fantastic book several times now and learn something new each time. This is the type of work in history and religion which uncovers the deep roots of the contemporary moment.
If you want to understand the history of colonialism, religious nationalism, and the minoritization of religious communities this book is a must read.

bloomsbury.com/us/indian-musl…
Buying Buddha and Selling Rumi by @DrArjana

A phenomenal examination of the way Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam is commodified and appropriated in the religious marketplace.
She traces the uncomfortable but all to real relationship between capitalism, orientalism, and western New Age appropriation. The book is brilliant!

oneworld-publications.com/buying-buddha-…
Abusing Religion by @mpgPhD

Deeply relevant with a trenchant analysis of the relationship between sex abuse, religious communities, and the power dynamics between the American public and minority religious groups.
Dr. Goodwin handles this difficult subject with care, consideration, and searing analysis. An absolute must read.

rutgersuniversitypress.org/abusing-religi…
Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the 21st Century by @kecia_ali with contributions by @ZahraAyubi and many others

Newly released & available for download, Half of Faith is a collection of articles and writings looking at the diversity of thought & practice
around Muslim marriage. From divorce to guardianship to sharia to mahr, this book is an amazing and deeply relevant resource.

open.bu.edu/handle/2144/42…
The Arabic Influence on Early Modern Occult Philosophy by @MaslamaQ

A book I reread frequently, Dr. Saif’s work is an amazing history of the astral theories of the Islamicate world and their translation and influence in European occultism.
This book is a brilliant intervention into the history of science, occultism, and philosophy and continues to inspire me in my own work. My copy has hundreds of little bookmarks which I turn to regularly.

palgrave.com/us/book/978113…
New Approaches to Islam and Film by @BabaKristian

A highly relevant edited volume diving into representation, narratives, and Islam in film.
The past few years has seen an important conversation around Muslims in media and these collection of essays and articles furthers that conversation in brilliant and insightful ways.

routledge.com/New-Approaches…
I’m also hoping I get time to read some fiction.

I finished the latest installment of @SAChakrabooks fantastic Daevabad trilogy and it was everything I hoped for, poignant and powerful:

harpervoyagerbooks.com/book/978006267…
Going to dive into the latest from @waraqamusa the Jealous, which continues her brilliant historical fiction set in the medieval Islamic world. Full of mystery and deeply researched history.

amazon.com/Jealous-Sufi-M…
Excited about @pdjeliclark latest A Master of Djinn set in a alternate Cairo with magic, jinn and mystery! A brilliant writer and a captivating world.
publishing.tor.com/amasterofdjinn…
What books are you reading this summer? Drop them below!

If you’ve released a new book drop the link below too!

Let’s get a collective reading list going.

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More from @aaolomi

Ali A Olomi Profile picture
16 Jun
Throughout Islamic history we have records of legendary oracles, seers, and soothsayers predicting what is to come.

Their stories reveal a complicated and interesting history.

A thread -
In pre Islamic Arabia the soothsayer or Kahin was an important figure in society.

The most legendary was Satih the Boneless. He was described as having only a skull with the rest of his body flat

When angered he would inflate.
According to Muslim accounts he predicted the coming of Muhammad.

When the Sassanian king woke from a dreadful nightmare he called for soothsayers to interpret the dream.

Only Satih the Boneless knew. He warned the king his empire would soon fall to the Muslims
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Ali A Olomi Profile picture
11 Jun
today Mars finally leaves its fall in Cancer and enters Leo

medieval astrologers of the Islamic world interpreted this as:

-Contest of wills
-Danger in the land of the Turks and Babylon
-Danger to and from beasts
-The rise of warmongers
-Danger and death to rulers old and new
-Excessive heat and drought
-Fires and burning
-Corruption among rulers
-Unrest among the people
-danger and death of youth
-Open conflict
This tells us a few things:

Firstly that despite advancements in calculations, astrology still was heavily observational in this time period.

They tracked Mars’ motion physically
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Ali A Olomi Profile picture
9 Jun
Tomorrow is an eclipse.

For medieval people these celestial events were dramatic moments rife with anxiety.

One such eclipse was used by a prince to predict his own death.

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According to Ibn Zakariyya in the 9th century there was a prince named, Muhammad Ibn Abdallah Ibn Tahir. He was a regional governor and the commander of the elite forces of Baghdad.

He was also, like many elite and scholarly inclined Muslims of the era, an astrologer
One day while casting his annual horoscope, a solar revolution chart astrologers use to forecast the year ahead usually on their birthday, he noted a “qat”

This was a specialized technique combining calculated points known as Arabic lots, transits of planets, and the horoscope
Read 16 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
2 Jun
Throughout the centuries the jinn were said to inspire poets to verse and madness. As an elemental and invisible race, the jinn were master poets themselves and in turn taught their craft to others becoming mentors and muses to human poets.

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The jinn-inspired poet was a pre-Islamic feature as we have references to various poets and their invisible companions.

The “sha’ir” or poet often overlapped with the figures of the soothsayer and sorcerer.
One such figure was Fatima bint al Nu’man who was a seer and poet with a jinn lover.

Recorded by Ibn Sa’d, one day her jinn lover would not draw near her and she asked him what was the matter.

The jinn replied: the prophet who forbids adultery and wine has arrived.
Read 28 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
29 May
psychic phenomena in medieval Islamic writing is under more broadly spiritual powers. The things we call “psychic” are linked to either mystics or the practice of magic.

Ibn Khaldun mentions the purified heart of a mystic lifts the veil which grants them hidden knowledge
they are able to read the hearts of humans, to enter dreams, and are granted a hint of what is to come by the grace of God.

Many of these karamat are what we’d call psychic acts

We also see it in his description of magic and sorcerers
He provides several classifications of “magic” one of which is influencing the world without any tool or ritual but purely with the power of the mind

The mystic achieves spiritual and psychic power as a side effect of their purity while the magician from occult knowledge
Read 5 tweets
Ali A Olomi Profile picture
26 May
In Islamic cosmology, the universe is populated by angels and the earth is the home of humans and jinn alike. A race of intelligent, shape-shifting invisible beings, the djinn/jinn have a unique relationship to animals.

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The idea of jinn taking the form of animals is a pre-Islamic belief which was then Islamized.

Snakes, cats, camels, deer, and even types of birds were all linked to jinn.
A narration of Muhammad from Abu Tha’labah al Khashani relates jinn come in many forms: with wings, in the form of snakes, and those that wander.
Read 35 tweets

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