Suppressed in Iran during the reign of the Shah, this book for the first time in a careful, annotated translation was published after the Islamic Revolution. It is a strong and emotional statement by an Iranian intellectual deeply concerned with what he saw as his country’s succumbing to "A plague from the West" or "occidentosis." Offering observations, insights, reasons for pride in Iran’s past and culture, and critical analyses of the Western role in th world. Jalal Al-i Ahmad expresses many of the concerns that agitated the intelligentsia during the two decades before the Islamic Revolution. 
The author begins by explaining his term "occidentosis: and describing how he sees the world: as divided between the poles of East and West. The division is not so much a geographical or an ideological schism, as a division between the produces and the consumers of machines. A brief review of history helps explain how and why Iran grew occidentotic. He cannot and does not ignore the role of oil. 
The many contradictions that result from the forced consumption of Western machines and goods in Iran are the subject of the longest and most carefully considered chapters in the book. Westerners, who industrailized step by step over hundreds of years, never saw such sharp contrasts as "a man grading Kharg Island with a monstrous bulldozer with blue bead hanging from the steering wheel." 
Breaking the spell of occidentosis is the subject of another chapter. The author rejects both the options of remaining passive consumers of the machine and eschewing the machine and reverting to pre-industrial modes of existence. Rather, he advocates gaining control of the machine so Iranians can use it as a means, not an end, "to abolish poverty and put material and spiritual welfare with the reach of all." 
As an educator Jalal Al-i Ahmad was particularly concerned with ow Iran's schools preserve its occidentotic society. He points out in this book how leaders whose first interest was not the welfare of the Iranian people or the preservation of its cultural traditions were turned out year after year by Iranian universities or returned to their country from American and European educational institutions. 
The book closes with a plea for everyone not just Iranians or Easterners, to awaken to the dangers of mechanosis, the ultimate end of which will be destruction of the world with a nuclear bomb.

Occidentosis: A Plague From the West

Ahmad, Jala Al-i

Religion & Spirituality

Islamic Pubns Intl

Surat Al-Fatiha: Foundation of the Qur'an

Algar, Hamid

Islam

Sufism: Principles & Practice

There can be few topics in the religious and intellectual history of Islam that have aroused as much controversy and misunderstanding as Sufism. This is due partly to the multiform and elusive nature of Sufism itself and partly to the profusion of fale claimants to Sufism, particularly in recent times. This lecture attempts to clarify the principal conceptual bases of Sufism and the way in which it may legitimately claim to be derived from both the Qur'an and the Sunnah; the varying levels of religious understanding and practice and of moral progress that can be deduced from those two sources of Islam; and the key practive of dhikr.

A feature of the Quran that deserves careful attention is that while it unambiguously asserts the finality of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and the divine abrogation by means of the revelation entrusted to him of all preceding books, it also devotes considerable attention to the prophets that cam before him. This is not by way of ecumenical goodwill to the followers of religious other than Islam for the prophets in question are all legitimately regarded as prophets of Islam are portrayed, moreover, in ways radically different from the relevant biblical narratives. This is especially true of Jesus, upon whom be peace; his true character is revealed to us by the Quran to have been that of a prophet sent to reaffirm the law of the Torah, while modifying certain parts of it, and to proclaim the coming of the last and most perfect of the messengers, Muhammad (SAW). He was born without paternity, whether human or divine, and he was neither killed on the cross, nor even p! laced on it, being instead raised by Allah unto Himself. Both his entry to this world and his departure from it are, then, of a strictly mysterious nature. The Quran alludes, in addition, to his return to earth at the end of time, a theme more fully elaborated in hadith. Given the fallible nature of the Gospels, it may safely be asserted that the Quran, as revelation, is the only source of true and certain knowledge concerning this messenger of Allah..

Jesus in the Qur'an: His Reality Expounded in the Qur'an

"Social Justice in Islam" is perhaps the best known work of Sayyib Qutb, a leading figure in the Muslim Brethen of Egypt who was executed by the regime of 'Abd al-Nasr in 1966. Despite the years that have passed since Sayyid Qutb's death, the imprint of his thought on the contemporary Islamic movements of the Arab world remains profound. The Arabic original of "Social Justice in Islam" was first published in 1949, but this book in particular retains its relevance in many respects: the persistence of gross socio-economic inequality in most Muslim societies; the need for viewing Islam as a totality, imperatively demanding comprehensive implementation; and the depiction of the West as a neo-Crusading force.

Social Justice in Islam

Politics & Social Sciences

Quṭb, Sayyid

Social Sciences

Roots of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (Four Lectures)

In the summer of 1979, at a time when the viability of the Islamic Republic of Iran was being widely questioned in the Western media and the historical background of the revolution that had led to its establishment was largely unknown, Hamid Algar delivered four lectures on the Islamic Revolution at the Muslim Institute in London. In clear and concise fashion, he examined the historical links between Iran and Shi’a Islam; the life and personality of Imam Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution; the career and ideas of Ali Shari’ati, "religious intellectual;" and the course of the events that in little more than a year led to the overthrow of one of the most deeply entrenched dictatorships in the Muslim world. Now reissued in substantially revised form, the text of these lectures remains a useful introduction to the revolution, arguably the most important event in modern Muslim history. New translations made by the author from the writings of Imam Khomeini and Ali Shari’ati enhance the utility of the work.

History

Middle East

In the summer of 1979, at a time when the viability of the Islamic Republic of Iran was being widely questioned in the Western media and the historical background of the revolution that had led to its establishment was largely unknown, Hamid Algar delivered four lectures on the Islamic Revolution at the Muslim Institute in London. In clear and concise fashion, he examined the historical links between Iran and Shi’a Islam; the life and personality of Imam Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution; the career and ideas of Ali Shari’ati, "religious intellectual;" and the course of the events that in little more than a year led to the overthrow of one of the most deeply entrenched dictatorships in the Muslim world. Now reissued in substantially revised form, the text of these lectures remains a useful introduction to the revolution, arguably the most important event in modern Muslim history. New translations made by the author from the writings of Imam Khomeini and Ali Shari’ati enhance the utility of the work.

Wahhabism: A Critical Essay

Wahhabism, a peculiar interpretation of Islamic doctrine and practice that first arose in mid-eighteenth century Arabia, is sometimes regarded as simply an extreme or uncompromising form of Sunni Islam. This is incorrect, for at the very outset the movement was stigmatized as aberrant by the leading Sunni scholars of the day, because it rejected many of the traditional beliefs and practices of Sunni Islam and declared permissible warfare against all Muslims that disputed Wahhabi teachings. Nor can Wahhabism be regarded as a movement of “purification” or “renewal,” as the source of the genuinely revivalist movements that were underway at the time. Not until Saudi oil money was placed at the disposal of its propagandists did Wahhabism find an echo outside the Arabian Peninsula. The author discusses the rise of Wahhabism at the hands of Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab, a native of Najd in the eastern part of the Arabian peninsula, the doctrines he elaborated to serve as the basis of the Wahhabi sect, and the alliance he concluded with the Saudi family, then rulers of the principality of al-Dir’iya. An early result of this union was a creeping conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, misnamed as jihad; it culminated in the sacking of Taif and the occupation of Mecca in 1803. This first Wahhabi occupation was short-lived but Wahhabism triumphed anew with the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1925. Among the extensions of Wahhabism beyond Arabia must be accounted the perverse and brutal regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Literature & Fiction

Essays & Correspondence

As unusally comprehensive survey of the main concerns of Sufism, The Path of God's Bondsmen from Origin to Return is a summation of the Sufi tradition as it had developed by the seventh/thirteenth century. It first discussed the theoretical bases of Sufism, showing in conclusive detail their grounding in the Qur'an and the exemplary model of the Prophet Muhammad. It then turns to an examination of man's inner morphology -- the soul, the heart, and the spirit -- the means of advancement on the Sufi path, and the suprasensory phenomena that accompany spiritual progress. The work concludes with a section on the wayfaring of different classes, valuable for the light it sheds on the structure of classical Perso-Muslim society.

Path of God's Bondsmen: From Origin to Return

Najm Razi

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Books by Islamic Pubns Intl

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Occidentosis: A Plague From the West

Surat Al-Fatiha: Foundation of the Qur'an

Sufism: Principles & Practice

Sufism: Principles & Practice

Jesus in the Qur'an: His Reality Expounded in the Qur'an

Social Justice in Islam

Roots of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (Four Lectures)

Roots of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (Four Lectures)

Wahhabism: A Critical Essay

Path of God's Bondsmen: From Origin to Return