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- Hylén, Torsten, 1956-
(författare)
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A Structuralist Reading of the Karbala Drama
- 2007
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper I will argue that the theoretical and methodological apparatus of the French structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss, with good results can be applied to much of early Islamic historiography. I will suggest that when this method is applied to the story of the death of Husayn b. `Alī at Karbalā’ in 680, one can deduce that the function of the character of Husayn in the text is that of a “mediator” in structuralist terms. This means that he acts both to keep polar oppositions apart, and that he allows for a bridging from one opposite to the other.
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- Hylén, Torsten, 1956-
(författare)
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Al-Mukhtār and the Aesthetics of Persuasion
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first Shiʿi leader with true political power – although it was limited in space and time – after the death of ʿAli b. Abī Ṭālib was al-Mukhtār b. Abī ʿUbayd (d. 67/687). In this paper, I will argue that one reason why he succeeded in his political ambitions was that he legitimized his endeavor by deferring to ʿAli. In doing this he set a precedent for all future Shiʿi leadership. Al-Mukhtār gained authority by convincing his followers about his function as mediator between the people and the deceased ʿAli, who was still supposed to be alive and active in one way or another by many Shiʿis. As a tool of analysis I use the notion of religious aesthetics as it has been developed by Birgit Meyer and others. Meyer regards religion as a practice of mediation between the temporal and the perceived transcendental worlds, a mediation that is performed by appealing to all human senses through various media. The person in control of these media has the power to distribute and withhold religious sensations generated in the devotees; what Meyer calls “the aesthetics of persuasion”. In the paper, I will investigate three instruments of mediation used by al-Mukhtār: a living human being, a religio-political action, and an artefact. The first is his claim to act on behalf of ʿAli’s son Ibn al-Ḥanafiyya, whom he called al-mahdī, “the rightly guided”; the second, his call to revenge for ʿAli’s son al-Ḥusayn; and the third, his claim that he was in possession of an ʿAlid relic, a chair that had belonged to ʿAli. I will briefly argue that the accounts of these three instruments most probably reflect a historical reality. Of these three, in particular the designation of a mahdī was a feature that became influential in shaping Shiʿite patterns of authority in the centuries to follow.
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- Hylén, Torsten
(författare)
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Berätta om Husayns död så att jag tror att jag var där
- 2011
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Ingår i: Perspektiv på islam. - Stockholm : Dialogos. - 9789175042435 ; , s. 23-28
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I artikeln behandlas nödvändigheten av att ta i beaktande de litterära och retoriska grepp som används i den tidiga islamiska historiografin för att rätt förstå den. Jag visar där vilka problem som kan uppstå om man läser den historiografiska litteraturen från denna tid alltför okritiskt.
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- Hylén, Torsten
(författare)
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Closed and open concepts of religion : The problem of essentialism in teaching about religion
- 2014
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Ingår i: Textbook Gods. - Sheffield : Equinox Publishing. - 9781781790557 - 9781781790540 ; , s. 16-42
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Essentialist concepts of religion are common in the teaching of religion in schools and to a certain extent also in the academic discipline of religious studies. In this article, a number of problems with essentialist perceptions of religion are discussed. In the first part of the article a thesis is maintained, according to which essentialist conceptions of religion or specific religions are too limited to be of value in the teaching of religion. This is done through examples of essentialist expressions on religion. The examples are grouped according to a typology of different kinds of essentialism. Two main categories, each with two sub-categories are identified. Thus, the category of essentialism regarding the substance of religion is divided into transcendental or theological essentialism (which presupposes the existence of a sacred power of some kind, the experience of which is the basis for religion), and core essentialism (where it is presupposed that certain ideas or concepts constitute religion as a general category or specific religions). Likewise, the category of essentialism regarding the function of religion has two sub-categories: positive and negative essentialism. These kinds of essentialism presuppose that religion or specific religions are inherently good or harmful respectively to human be-ings. Examples from each of these categories are given and discussed. In the second part of the article, Benson Saler’s open concept of religion is presented as an alternative to essentialist or bounded perceptions. It is based on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s idea of family resemblances and on prototype theory. In connection with this, it is argued that a certain kind of conscious ethnocentrism is needed as a point of departure in the study and teaching of religion. The metaphor of education as a journey from the familiar out into the unfamiliar and back again is suggested as a possible pattern for such teaching.
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- Hylén, Torsten, 1956-
(författare)
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Dating versions of the Karbala' Story
- 2017
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Ingår i: "Shii Studies: State of the Art." International Conference held at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ (December 7‐9, 2017).
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite its importance for Shīʿites and other Muslims, the story of the death of Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī at Karbala in 61/680 is clearly under-researched. So, for example, except for Borrut (2015) hardly any of the previous studies made have compared different versions of the story and attempted to set a relative date to them. Such a study is necessary in order to map the development of the Karbalāʾ story and the image of Ḥusayn in the emergence of Shīʿite ideology. In this paper I will discuss the relative date of two important versions of the Karbala story related by Ṭabarī: one, relatively short and lacking in detail, is ascribed to Imam al-Bāqir (d. 114/732); the other, much longer and more detailed, is compiled by Abū Mikhnaf (d. 157/774). Studies in other fields, such as “historical Jesus-studies,” have shown that brevity and lack of details is not a certain criterion for old age of a version of a story; in order to ascertain the relative age of two versions, detailed studies have to be made and conclusions drawn from case to case. By comparing three passages in the two versions of the Karbalāʾ story: Ḥusayn’s encounter with al-Ḥurr; Ḥusayn’s attempt to negotiate with the enemy; and the killing of Ḥusayn’s baby boy, I hope to demonstrate that the version ascribed to al-Bāqir is indeed the older of the two, although its authorship cannot be established with certainty. I will also share some thoughts about the historicity of the events described in the three passages analyzed.
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