Podcasts about Qutb

Esta columna reflexiona sobre el islamismo político que tuvo lugar en las décadas de los 70 y 80 y que se apoya en la figura de pensadores como Hassan Al Banna o Sayyid Qutb, quienes intentaron silenciosamente unir la política y religión. Este movimiento a su vez denuncia que todos los aspectos de la vida humana como la política, educación, y economía, son gobernadas por la voluntad de Alá. Este movimiento también tiene un gran desprecio hacia la secularización y el modo de vida occidental. Qutb, por su parte, empleó un “occidentalismo inverso” para mostrar la baja cultura de occidente y al mismo tiempo, desafiar a los musulmanes a los peligros del materialismo y el individualismo. La filosofía islámica se basa en el concepto de Maqasid Al-Shariah, que permite cierto grado de interpretación de las reglas del islam según las exigencias del momento. Esto ha permitido la racionalización de una serie de acciones políticas y militares bajo el pretexto de salvaguardar la comunidad islámica y sus activos, lo que a su vez ha resultado en tanta lucha interna y relaciones complicadas dentro del mundo musulmán, como acciones de carácter ilícito y hasta contradictorias con respecto al islam y su interpretación tradicional.Fuente: Radio Sefarad.

In this episode, FAQ is: What if I don't like the food? Today's Destination is: Hyderabad, India Today's Misstep- Wrong color nail polish Travel Advice: Grateful before happy FAQ: What if I don't like the food?   Answer:  You mostly will, but if not, have a plan. If you find yourself not enjoying the food in a travel destination, there are several things you can do to make your dining experience more enjoyable: Explore hyper-local options: Try different restaurants and eateries in your immediate neighborhood that offer a variety of local dishes. Sometimes, a dish or cooking style may not suit your taste, but other options might. Ask Locals for Recommendations: Locals often know the best places to eat. Don't hesitate to ask for recommendations from hotel staff, tour guides, or friendly locals you meet during your travels. Tell them your limitations. Look for Familiar Cuisines: If you're having trouble adjusting to local flavors, look for restaurants that serve familiar cuisines. Many tourist destinations have various international restaurants catering to diverse tastes. Check Reviews: Use online review platforms like TripAdvisor, Yelp, or Google Reviews to find highly-rated restaurants. These platforms often provide insights into the food quality and overall dining experience. Communicate Your Preferences: If dining at a local establishment, consider politely communicating your preferences or dietary restrictions to the staff. They may be able to offer alternatives or modify dishes to suit your taste. Visit Markets or Grocery Stores: Explore local markets or grocery stores to find fresh produce, snacks, or even pre-packaged meals that you might enjoy. This allows you to have some control over your food choices. Opt for Self-Cooking Options: If you have access to a kitchen, consider preparing simple meals for yourself. You can buy ingredients from local markets and try cooking, providing a more personalized dining experience. Pack Snacks: Bring some of your favorite snacks from home to supplement your meals, especially if you're in a place where your preferred foods might be hard to find. I brought Peanut Butter to many places where I knew that Chilis was on every menu. That gave me protein and confidence. Be Open-Minded: Sometimes, embracing the local culinary culture and being open-minded about trying new foods can lead to unexpected discoveries and a more positive dining experience. Today's destination: Hyderabad, India I arrived from Kerala to Hyderabad and had a phone number of someone to call that I would be staying with. We had a few texts to each other. Basically, a friend of a friend allowed me to stay with them and I was grateful.. They had their worker pick me up in the family car at the airport. My new friend, Soujanya, came along for the ride, which was special. We visited her parents' apartment, and I rested. Then we explored places such as her dad's 7-acre farm, about an hour away, with ripe fruits like mangos and vegetables near a beautiful lake. it was nature in one of the finest moments. then we went to my host's home and met the other family members, husband, daughter, and then finally, brothers and sisters of the hosts, who all seemed to live in the same development. They also have a “family “ business, and they showed me the office space and several employees working on projects.  One of the highlights was seeing the Golconda Fort, with its architecture and panoramic city views. They had an impressive sound and light show in the evening. Seeing this in the evening, it was not crowded when things cooled down.  We went to dinner afterward. Then, we drove around the city, including across the bridge. I could see the icons of tech here on parade in neon. Every company I could think of and more, including Qualcomm, is clearly part of the Hyderabad skyline, based in San Diego. Here are some recommendations for things to do in Hyderabad: Charminar: This iconic monument is a must-visit. You can explore the surrounding markets for traditional bazaars and enjoy the local street food. Qutb (ku-teb)Shahi Tombs: Visit the Qutb Shahi Tombs to experience the serenity of the surrounding gardens and explore the intricate architecture of these historic structures. For my next visit, here's what I will see: Salar Jung Museum: If you're interested in art and history, the Salar Jung Museum houses one of the largest private collections of artifacts worldwide. Ramoji Film City: If you enjoy the world of cinema, spend a day at Ramoji Film City, one of the largest film studios in the world. It's a fascinating experience with film sets, gardens, and entertainment. Birla Mandir: This stunning white marble temple dedicated to Lord Venkateswara offers a peaceful atmosphere and a beautiful city view. Hussain Sagar Lake: Take a boat ride on Hussain Sagar Lake and visit the Buddha Statue on an island in the middle of the lake. Eat at Paradise Restaurant: Hyderabad is famous for its biryani, and Paradise Restaurant is renowned for serving delicious biryani. It's a must-visit for food enthusiasts. Remember to prioritize your safety, especially when exploring new places alone. Inform someone about your whereabouts, use reliable transportation, and be aware of your surroundings. Enjoy your solo trip to Hyderabad!   Today's Misstep- Wrong color nail polish. Make it clear or natural. Use natural or clear colors instead of bright or bold colors. They get cracked, and you don't want to spend time fixing them.   Today's Travel Advice- Be grateful before you seek happy as a traveler.   If you do this in order you will have both. Gratitude comes first, before happiness. So be grateful for what you have now.  In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.   “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide “Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman   Connect with Dr. Travelbest 5 Steps to Solo Travel website Dr. Mary Travelbest X Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast Dr. Travelbest on TikTok Dr.Travelbest onYouTube In the news  

Summary Dina Rezk (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Egyptian intelligence. Dina is an Associate Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Reading.  What You'll Learn Intelligence Egyptian leadership & intelligence The intelligence landscape of Egypt Egypt's relationship with neighboring countries Ashraf Marwan's story from the Egyptian perspective Reflections Leadership, power, and opposition International perspectives and changing views And much, much more … Quotes of the Week “I think that's one of the ways in which the Egyptian Intelligence Service sort of conceives of its primary responsibility. It's about maintaining internal security, and particularly at the moment you know, since 2014, I would say sort of eliminating any sort of political opposition, any possibility of political opposition.” – Dina Rezk. Resources  SURFACE SKIM *SpyCasts* The Intelligence Legacy of the Yom Kippur War with Uri Bar-Joseph (2023)  Former Senior Indian Intelligence Officer with R&AW Special Secretary Vappala Balachandran (2023) Kenya, East Africa, and America with African Intelligence Chief Wilson Boinett (2023) Israeli Military Intelligence with IDF Brig. General (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser (2023) *Beginner Resources* Egypt Profile, BBC News (2019) [Timeline] Abdul Fattah al-Sisi - in 60 seconds, BBC News, YouTube (2014) [1 min. video] Why Was The Suez Crisis So Important?, Imperial War Museum (n.d.) [Short article] *Featured Resource* The Arab World and Western Intelligence: Analysing the Middle East, 1956-1981 (Intelligence, Surveillance and Secret Warfare), D. Rezk (Edinburgh University Press, 2018)  DEEPER DIVE Books Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East, F. A. Gerges (Princeton University Press, 2018)  Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to Mubarak, T. Osman (Yale University Press, 2011) Nasser: The Last Arab, S. K. Aburish (Thomas Dunne Books, 2004) Orientalism, E. W. Said (Vintage Publishing, 1979)  Primary Sources  Mining of the Red Sea (1984)  CBS Broadcast “The Assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat” (1981) ‘The Most Dangerous Game' In Mideast (1980)  Special Assessments on the Middle East Situation (1967)  “Cairo Hails Nasser as Situation Sends Dulles to England” Newsreel (1956)  Meeting at the White House to Discuss Suez Crisis (1956) *Wildcard Resource* “Intelligence” in Egypt goes back as far as the ancient times of pyramids and pharaohs. One of the earliest accounts of the impact of spies and propaganda in Ancient Egypt is the Battle of Kadesh, a major conflict against the Hittite Empire around 1275 BC.  Check out this relief seen inside the Great Temple of Ramses II depicting an ancient view of interrogation. 

If the start of Sayyid Qutb's life was defined by the evolution of his thought, the second part was defined by a calcification of his beliefs. With revolution brewing in Egypt following the Second World War, Qutb turned from analysing the aesthetics of the Quran to Islamism, explicitly calling for a new socio-political and economic order based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Following a trip to America, where he saw decadent Western society in stark relief, he returned to preach it at home, joining the Muslim Brotherhood and eventually coming up against the new regime of Gamal Abdul Nasser. It was in prison that he would write his most famous works. In this second episode on Sayyid Qutb's life, we plot the end of his journey, showing how he became the most influential Islamic thinker of the modern era. We also round off our series looking at the antecedents to modern Salafi Jihadism, showing how their thought has come together to influence terrorists in the modern era. Because to understand the mind of fundamentalists today, we have to understand their legacy. Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418 Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to the modern era, no Islamic intellectual has influenced modern Salafi Jihadism more than Sayyid Qutb. This unlikely Egyptian, steeped in Western literature and poetry, would come to define the ideological basis for modern Islamism. He was a poet, a writer and an aesthete who was a classic product of the tumult of the early twentieth century. How he became the most significant Islamist thinker today is quite the story… In this first of two episodes on this radical romantic, we take a look at Qutb's formative years in Egypt, a time which saw his anti-Western thought grow and his intellectual prowess and writing flourish, as Egyptian nationalism went into full throttle and the spectre of the Second World War began to rear its head. Join our FB Discussion group to get exclusive updates:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/450486135832418 Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nous nous retrouvons ce soir, jeudi 27 avril à 20h, à la conférence : Chiisme et soufisme, avec Mathieu Terrier, spécialiste du chiisme imâmite et de ses liens avec la philosophie et le soufisme. Chiisme et soufisme: intimité et rivalité de deux courants spirituels de l'Islam Si le soufisme est fréquemment présenté comme la dimension spirituelle de l'islam sunnite, il entretient aussi des relations anciennes et profondes avec le chiisme. Pour nombre de penseurs chiites, le soufisme est une part essentielle de leur identité spirituelle, qu'ils n'ont eu de cesse de défendre contre les attaques des juristes-théologiens. En particulier, l'intégration du soufisme d'Ibn 'Arabî à partir du 14ème siècle a permis au chiisme de conserver sa dimension proprement spirituelle, ésotérique et herméneutique, notamment dans le commentaire du Coran. Une intimité qui n'empêche pas une certaine rivalité dans la désignation du souverain maître. Des débuts du soufisme aux confréries soufies chiites contemporaines, nous retracerons l'histoire des relations entre ces deux grands courants de l'islam spirituel. Mathieu Terrier est chargé de recherches au CNRS, membre du Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes (LEM), spécialiste du chiisme imâmite et de ses liens avec la philosophie et le soufisme. Il a publié Histoire de la sagesse et philosophie shi'ite; l'Aimé des coeurs de Qutb al-Dîn Ashkevarî (Paris, Le Cerf, 2016) et avec Denis Hermann, Shi'i Islam and Sufism: Classical Views and Modern Perspectives (Londres, Bloomsburry, 2020). Pour plus d'informations visitez notre site: https://consciencesoufie.com/

Nous nous retrouvons ce soir, jeudi 27 avril à 20h, à la conférence : Chiisme et soufisme, avec Mathieu Terrier, spécialiste du chiisme imâmite et de ses liens avec la philosophie et le soufisme. Chiisme et soufisme: intimité et rivalité de deux courants spirituels de l'Islam Si le soufisme est fréquemment présenté comme la dimension spirituelle de l'islam sunnite, il entretient aussi des relations anciennes et profondes avec le chiisme. Pour nombre de penseurs chiites, le soufisme est une part essentielle de leur identité spirituelle, qu'ils n'ont eu de cesse de défendre contre les attaques des juristes-théologiens. En particulier, l'intégration du soufisme d'Ibn 'Arabî à partir du 14ème siècle a permis au chiisme de conserver sa dimension proprement spirituelle, ésotérique et herméneutique, notamment dans le commentaire du Coran. Une intimité qui n'empêche pas une certaine rivalité dans la désignation du souverain maître. Des débuts du soufisme aux confréries soufies chiites contemporaines, nous retracerons l'histoire des relations entre ces deux grands courants de l'islam spirituel. Mathieu Terrier est chargé de recherches au CNRS, membre du Laboratoire d'études sur les monothéismes (LEM), spécialiste du chiisme imâmite et de ses liens avec la philosophie et le soufisme. Il a publié Histoire de la sagesse et philosophie shi'ite; l'Aimé des coeurs de Qutb al-Dîn Ashkevarî (Paris, Le Cerf, 2016) et avec Denis Hermann, Shi'i Islam and Sufism: Classical Views and Modern Perspectives (Londres, Bloomsburry, 2020). Pour plus d'informations visitez notre site: https://consciencesoufie.com/

In this episode, Hizer Mir sits with Murad Idris for the second part of their discussion on his book “War for Peace”. In this part, ideas pertaining to war for peace in the thought of Al-Farabi and Qutb are discussed.

The Mamluk dynasty or Slave dynasty was the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate. Qutb ud-Din Aibak, a Turkic Mamluk slave-general of the Ghurid Empire from Central Asia, founded the Mamluk dynasty in Northern India. The Mamluk dynasty governed the Delhi Sultanate from 1206 until 1290. Qutb al-Din Aibak served as a Ghurid dynasty governor from 1192 to 1206. During this time, he led incursions into the Gangetic plain and gained control over some of the new territories. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/venus-jain3/message

In the first of a two-part series on the plight of women in Afghanistan, Dr Sajjan Gohel is joined by Meetra Qutb to discuss the Taliban's misogynistic rule of the country. This episode of NATO DEEP Dive covers the recent banning of Afghan women and girls from education as well as the Taliban's links to al-Qaeda and allies in Pakistan. For the episode transcript please visit: deepportal.hq.nato.int/deepdive

The death of Özbeg, Khan of the Golden Horde, in 1341 marked the end of an era for the Jochid Khanate. The thirty year reign of Özbeg had been one of relative internal stability; a stability his successors were not to enjoy. Bloody succession struggles, plague and economic woe were now to be the news of the day within the Horde. And it was Özbeg's sons Tini Beg and Jani Beg Khan who were to face the front of it. Today we take you through the reigns of Özbeg's sons, the eve of the great anarchy which would rip asunder at the very foundation of the Golden Horde. I'm your host David, and this is Kings and Generals: Ages of Conquest.   Özbeg Khan, during his long life, seems to have initially desired his eldest son Temür to succeed him. Having violently purged the Jochid lineage upon his own accession in 1313, Özbeg had the luxury to decide on a successor. But Temür's death around 1330 left Özbeg bereaved, and forced him to make due with his other two sons, Tini Beg and Jani Beg. Born to his wife Taydula Khatun, Tini Beg and Jani Beg were well educated princes. Ibn Battuta noted numerous islamic advisors for both princes, and Jani Beg is specifically described as knowledgeable in Islamic laws. Their names both came from Turkic and Persian words for “spirit,” making them “lords of the spirit.” Tini Beg, as the elder, was preferred by Özbeg to succeed him. During his trip to the Golden Horde, Ibn Battuta describes Özbeg showering Tini Beg in preferences and honours for this purpose. Additionally, Ibn Battuta describes Tini Beg as one of the most handsome of men. There is slight indication that Özbeg and Tini Beg fell out towards the end of his life, when Jani Beg's name begins to appear alongside Özbeg's on coinage, suggesting perhaps the second son was being groomed to be heir.   On Özbeg's death in late 1341, Tini Beg still maneuvered his way onto the throne, likely to the displeasure of Jani Beg. We know little of his reign. There is some suggestion that he was not a Muslim, and had some close links with Franciscans, whom he sent as his envoys to the Pope. One of the earliest pieces of surviving Golden Horde literature dates to his reign, too; a Turkic language poem by the Horde poet Qutb, adapting the Persian language “Khosrow and Shirin” by Nizami. Dedicated to Tini Beg and his wife, it remains a fascinating, if brief, look at the courtly life and social structure of the Horde in the mid-fourteenth century.   We can tell you little else of Tini Beg's reign with any certainty. Jani Beg never took kindly to Tini Beg's ascension; we may suspect he felt that Tini Beg had stolen the throne from him. The order of events is conflicting in the sources; potentially their mother, Taydula, preferred Jani Beg and whispered into his ear while Jani Beg's Islamic advisers may have encouraged him, in reaction to the possibly non-Muslim Tini Beg's enthronement. In some versions, Jani Beg first kills one of their brothers, Khidr Beg, in very uncertain circumstances. In Tini Beg's anger, he raises an army to confront his brother Jani Beg, only to be defeated in battle, taken captive and executed. In other versions, Jani Beg only kills Khidr Beg after Tini Beg's death. The fact of the fratricide of two of his brothers though, is well attested.   So, Jani Beg became Khan in 1342. There can be little doubt of Jani Beg's islam. We are told he even set out orders for his troops to all don turbans and cloaks. Neither could there be any hesitation among the Rus' princes about recognizing Jani Beg's rule; one of Jani Beg's first orders was sending an army to install a new prince in Pereiaslavl'. The meaning was clear. Jani Beg was going to continue his father's policy of firm mastery over the Rus'. In quick order the Rus' princes all travelled to the Horde to recognize Jani Beg's overlordship; the Grand Prince, now Simeon Ivanovich, too made clear his subservience to Jani Beg Khan. Simeon was a close ally to the Khan, and over his reign made regular trips to the Horde, always returning with gifts, honours and Jani Beg's favour. A smart move, lest the Khan remove him from his post. In doing so, they continued the slow if steady consolidation of Moscow's influence regarding the other Rus' cities.        There is also indication that Jani Beg held loftier pretensions. By the start of Jani Beg's reign, he was essentially the last remaining Chinggisid khan with authority. The Blue Horde khans were his vassals, and the Chagatai Khanate and Ilkhanate were either divided or dissolved. In the Yuan Dynasty, with whom contact was infrequent, the Great Khan Töghön Temür was  a figurehead in comparison to his Chancellors. In reaction, it seems to an extent Jani Beg went about presenting himself not just as successors to Özbeg, but the rightful heir to Chinggis Khan. Not Jani Beg was not just the Jochid Khan, but the supreme Khan. Özbeg himself seems to have used in some instances the title of “khan of khans,” as did Jani Beg. In letters to the Ilkhanid successors in the Caucasus, Jani Beg calls himself the “khan of the three ulusus,” and references to “great Khan,” as a Jochid title continued among his successors for centuries. A subtle shift in ideology, but one indicating a recognition, perhaps, that the Mongol Empire was dead, and now the Jochid Khan was supreme monarch by the grace of Eternal Heaven.    Jani Beg did not quite share Özbeg's tolerance to other religions.  While he mellowed later in his reign, initially Jani Beg seemed rather set on reducing privileges enjoyed by Franciscans and the Orthodox Church in Rus', normally a strong supporter of Mongol rule. “Idol temples,” —that is, Buddhist or shamanist sites— were specified for destruction. And as we will see shortly, Jani Beg reacted with particular ire when Christians within his empire caused trouble. But even this animosity should not be too overstated; there is no recorded attempt by Jani Beg, or other Jochid khans, to try and convert the Rus' and other Christian populations to Islam. In the 1350s a Rus' Metropolitan, Alexii, healed the eyes of Jani Beg's mother, Taydula, for which he earned great reward. On Jani Beg's death in 1357 the Rus' Nikonian Chronicle describes the late Jani Beg as a friend to Christians, a  monarch who had given the Rus' many privileges. We might suspect that Jani Beg took the throne with a zealousness to prove his Islamic bona fides, and cooled in this fervour as the years passed.   Unfortunately for the Italian merchants in the Horde, in 1343 Jani Beg was still very much full of zeal.  That year, the second of Jani Beg's reign, news came to him of a murder of a Mongol notable in Tana. Tana was the Italian name for Azov, a trading community Özbeg had granted to the Venetians on the mouth of the Don River, nestled on the edge of the Azov Sea east of the Crimea. In September of 1343, an argument between an Italian and a Mongol, Hajji ‘Umar, resulted in the Italians murdering him in the street.  Jani Beg was white hot with rage directed at the Italians. His father Özbeg had generally handled the Italian traders relatively well, playing them off each other and making the Golden Horde a good deal of money. Initially, Jani Beg had reconfirmed the privileges of the Italians. However, Jani Beg took umbrage with the autonomy of the port cities, and felt they had too much control over the Jochid state's trade. The Italians' continued dealing in nomadic slaves may also have frustrated the Khan. After the poor relationship between Özbeg  and the Mamluk Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, Jani Beg basically let the relationship with the Mamluks die. With the disintegration of the Ilkhanate, there was little need for such worthless allies, as far as Jani Beg was concerned. He only sent two embassies to the Mamluks; one alerting them of his enthronement, and one informing them of his conquest of Tabriz. There was no interest or desire to allow the Mamluks their continued access to Qipchap troops, and little patience for Italians selling perfectly good potential warriors to distant Egypt. Not surprisingly, it is about this time that Circassians were gaining prominence as the source of Mamluks in Egypt.    The murder of the Mongol in Tana was either the final straw, or simply a good pretence to rid himself of the Italians, and perhaps put his own men in charge of the trade. No more could the Italians enrich themselves at the expense of the Horde! In quick order Jani Beg had the westerners in the Black Sea trade cities of  Tana and Solkhat expelled or killed, and an army bearing down on Caffa in 1343. As the chief of the port cities, and the primary Geneose settlement, Caffa was the prize of the campaign. But it would be no easy nut to crack. Caffa's harbour allowed it to be resupplied by sea no matter how strong the land blockade. Caffa had also learned lessons from sieges suffered during the reign of Toqta Khan thirty years prior. The city walls were stout, its supplies well stocked. Khan Jani Beg found the city withstood his initial assaults over 1343 and 1344. On one occasion a night foray resulted in the Genoese burning down Jani Beg's siege machines. All Jani Beg could do was cut it off by land, for the Genoese could continue to bring in provisions.    A further issue had developed too. While the Venetian-Genoese rivalry was normally strong, in the midst of this emergency they had put aside their differences, the Venetians seeking shelter in Caffa and the city-states putting a trade embargo on the Golden Horde. Recall in our previous episodes, how we described the ways in which the economy of the Golden Horde relied on the overland Asian trade. Much of this funneled through the Golden Horde's Black Sea coastline, and booned with the relative stability of inner-Asian travel. But by the 1340s, this economic system was already reeling with the collapse of the Ilkhanate and Chagatai Khanate, and now with this embargo due to the war with Genoa and Venice, the Horde was effectively cut out of the international trade routes. As early as 1344, a Franciscan observer remarked in a letter that protests were breaking out in the Horde's city with the unintended economic strangulation. The consequences were felt across Europe, with the doubling of the prices of silk and spices. The Horde was a major grain exporter for much of the Black Sea region, and the war was now resulting in famine in Constantinople, as Jani Beg prevented Italian access to the grain harvests.   In an effort to bring about a resolution, Jani Beg needed a new ploy. He found just the ticket. In an unusual for any Mongol khan, with the exception of Khubilai, Jani Beg decided to build a navy. Harbouring it in the Sea of Azov, Jani Beg was going to attack Caffa land and sea, or at least choke it out. Unfortunately for Jani Beg, such an effort could not go unnoticed as sailors, labourers and materials were called into the region. Once the Genoese learned of it in 1345, a specialty raiding fleet was organized in Genoa, sailed across the Mediterranean and literally dashed Jani Beg's dreams to pieces; the Golden Horde's fledgling navy was nipped in the bud, burnt and sunk.    Jani Beg was denied his swift victory. In 1346 he maintained siege lines but undertook no assaults, and in 1347 concluded separate treaties with Genoa and Venice. Once more the Genoese were able to sail their cargo out of Caffa's harbour, and the Venetians returned to their colony at Tana. The entire campaign in the end was nought but an expensive failure, returning to status quo ante bellum. The situation remained tense, particularly when Genoese and Venetian rivalry reasserted itself, and not until the late 1350s do things appear to have normalized, and Caffa remained the preeminent trade center of the northern Black Sea coast. But by then, a much more significant crisis now faced the international market, in the form of that intolerable little bugaboo, Yersinia pestis. Or as you may know it by its more colloquial name, the Black Death.    Wherever its origins were, the Black Death had reached the Golden Horde's cities by 1346, travelling along the Central Asian trade lines.  It likely began ravaging Jani Beg's army outside of Caffa in 1346, and it is here that we get one of the most infamous cases of biological warfare ever recorded, wherein Jani Beg ordered his troops to catapult the plague bodies of their fallen men into Caffa, causing it to spread among the defenders. Fleeing Genoese thus took it back to Europe with them. The rest, as they say, is history.   Except maybe it's not. There's a number of issues with this popular story. Firstly, it's described in only a single, by Gabriele de Mussi, who was not an eyewitness. At the time of the siege, de Mussi was in northern Italy, and may have only learned of the information, at-best secondhand, but perhaps only after it passed through multiple informants. The manuscript itself is a matter of question: not only do no other medieval accounts reference Jani Beg launching corpses like this, but no other source mentions de Mussi's account in particular. In fact, it was unknown until it was discovered in the mid-19th century in what is now Poland! The document itself shows a poor understanding of the chronology, which is suspect for a supposedly educated lawyer like de Mussi. Caffa appears depopulated and abandoned by the end of the siege, though this was far from the case; it also portrays ships coming directly to Genoa from Caffa and spreading the plague thusly. But we know this to be false: the siege ended in 1346, but plague did not come to Genoa until early 1348, and from ships which had come from Sicily. As you probably know, not a lot of plague victims managed two years with it.    Further issues come from the logic presented in the text. The Mongols' deep reverence for their own dead, compounded by their conversion to Islam means that launching the bodies of their own fellows into Caffa seems an extraordinary taboo in their culture to break. In fact, there are effectively no historical anecdotes of an army tossing bodies of its own men into a city in order to spread plague; you'll find very few cultures in history in which soldiers would be willing to disrespect the bodies of their fallen comrades in such a manner. It's one thing to do it to bodies of the enemy, but the desecration of friends and allies is another matter entirely. The Mongols had a very well established reaction to disease outbreaks; leaving a site entirely, rather than stopping to continually handle the plague bodies. This makes a prolonged proximity to plague victims in order to load them into trebuchets even more unlikely. There have also been arguments that this would be a very ineffective means to actually spread plague!  We can even comment on the fact that, had Caffa been so decimated, why did the Mongols not simply overrun it?    Suffice to say, very few modern scholars accept de Mussi's version of events, if the manuscript is even authentic. At best, we might wonder if the Mongols had thrown bodies of prisoners, or even animals, into the city at some point during the siege, which through a game of telephone turned into lobbing thousands of Mongol cadavers into Caffa, as de Mussi suggests. An accidental conflation of timelines and events in the midst of monumental horror of the Black Death is an understandable mistake to make.    The more likely explanation is that the citizens of Caffa picked up the plague after the siege ended. Either looting the abandoned Mongol siege camp, or when the blockade was lifted and trade restarted with the Golden Horde. With the plague already running rampant in the Horde's cities, it was only a matter of time before it entered Caffa through  normal means. The port of Caffa began sending ships out for trade again in spring 1347; by the late summer, the plague was in Constantinople, and by early 1348 in Genoa.  Caffa may very well have been the launching point for the plague into the Mediterranean, but the launching point for plague into Caffa was probably not a Mongol siege weapon.       We have very little information on the effect the Black Death had on the Golden Horde. It seems to have had, just as it did everywhere, a devastating impact on urban centres. As we already established, there were a number of great cities in the steppes which had grown rich on the trans-continental trade. They had already been hurting in previous years with the fall of the other khanates and the Black Sea embargo; now the plague seemed a mortal blow.  The only references we have are vague mentions of thousands upon thousands of losses in these cities. The Rus' Nikonian Chronicle states that so many died in the Horde's cities, that there was noone left to bury them.    For the nomadic population, plague seems to have had a lesser impact. Steppe nomads essentially had a cultural system of quarantine for sick persons; gers would be marked off, and none allowed to enter which a sick person was inside. Those who had been in the presence of a person who died in a ger were forbidden from the khan's presence entirely. Areas where infected animals or persons were seen were strictly avoided. Such systems remain in place even in modern Mongolia, where Yersinis pestis occurs normally in some animal populations. There, the normally sparse population allows the disease to be avoided like the plague. And it seems it proved beneficial for the Mongols; while Jani Beg had around a dozen children alive by the time of his death, at the same time in the Rus' principalities numerous princes, notables and even the Grand Prince, Simeon, succumbed to the plague.        Yet most assuredly, the 1340s and 50s marked a downward path for the Horde. While occupied with the Crimean venture, Jani Beg's western bordering was further slipping from his grasp. In 1345 a Mongol army was defeated by the Hungarian King, Louis the Great. Lithuania continued its expansion into Galicia-Volhynia in competition with the Polish King Casimir III. Jani Beg was frustrated by them, and his mood proved fickle. Initially he granted consent for Casimir's campaigning in Galicia against the Lithaunains, but then in the early 1350s Mongol troops raided as far as Lublin.  In the end, Jani Beg ceded control of Galicia to Poland, and Volhynia to the Lithuanians, in exchange for the continuation of tribute for rights to both lands. While raids by Tatar troops would follow irregularly, Jani Beg's reign marks the surrendering of the western frontier of the Golden Horde.       Sinking the resources and men of his empire into Crimea, meant Jani Beg had been unable to take advantage of the disintegration of the Ilkhanate. Though we might wonder if this was in part a reluctance to press that frontier, given the troubles his father had faced attempting to do so. It was not until the end of the 1350s that Jani Beg finally threw his weight against the Ilkhanate's successors. For years, individuals had fled the Chobanid state to the Golden Horde, bringing news of the poor rulership of Malik Ashraf. For a bit more context, check out episode 58 of this podcast for these post-Ilkhanid states. But in short, the Chobanids were a non-Chinggisid dynasty based in what is now Azerbaijan. Their final ruler was Malik Ashraf, a cruel and violent man who alienated essentially everyone he could. Jani Beg must have felt that the greatly weakened Malik Ashraf would be a pushover. His intentions were clear in the letter he sent to Malik Ashraf in Tabriz:       “I am coming to take possession of the ulus of Hülagü. You are the son of Choban whose name was in the yarligh  of the four uluses. Today three uluses are under my command and I also wish to appoint you emir of the ulus; get up and come to meet me.” At best, as a non-Chinggisid, Malik Ashraf could rule as a governor on behalf of a khan. Malik Ashraf asserted in his response that this is what he was doing, ruling on behalf of Hülagü's line. The fact that Malik Ashraf by that point had no Ilkhanid puppet khan was glossed over. Additionally, Malik Ashraf sought to ease worries among his men by stating that as the ruler of the lands of Berke, Jani Beg had no right to the lands of Hülegü. Such an argument did little good as Jani Beg's host entered the Caucasus in 1357. After a single battle the Chobanid army disintegrated, and the fleeing Malik Ashraf was caught and executed. After almost a century of on and off warfare, Tabriz finally came under Jochid rule. Jani Beg was victorious as none of his ancestors had been. After years of reverses, difficulties and other trials, Jani Beg finally had his great victory. He appointed his son Berdi Beg as governor of the region, and returned triumphant to the Golden Horde… only to die two months later. The blame is usually attributed to Berdi Beg, who in various sources was convinced into the action by poison-tongued emirs. In one account, Berdi Beg strangles his father himself.  Berdi Beg quickly followed this up with murdering many of his brothers, including one who was only eight months old. He is alleged to have killed this one with his own hands. This, as we will see next week, was very far from being the end of the killing.        So ended the reign of Jani Beg Khan, and with it, the golden age of the Horde. Jani Beg appears as an almost pale imitation of Öz Beg, ambitious enough for the throne, but not the man to steer the ship in a time of crisis. He wasted men and resources on his effort to expel the Italians, and achieved nothing for the outburst, preventing him from sooner seizing opportunity in the Caucasus. The Black Death and unraveling of the overland trade was of course outside of his power, but Jani Beg's clumsy hand did nothing to assuage the situation. The fact that he did not face a real threat to his power until 1357 though, speaks to the strength of the Jochid political system that it could essentially coast through these years without major disaster. Such a thing could not be said of Berdi Beg's reign, or those who were soon to follow him, as the Golden Horde entered its period of bulqhaq: anarchy. Our next episodes will detail the steady collapse of the Golden Horde, so be sure to subscribe to the Kings and Generals Podcast to follow. If you enjoyed this and would like to help us continue bringing you great content, consider supporting us on patreon at www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. This episode was researched and written by our series historian, Jack Wilson. I'm your host David, and we'll catch you on the next one. 

Suppose we put a mirror against the sun, a second mirror against this, a third one against the second one, and a fourth one against it...; the sun will be seen in each of the thirty mirrors put in such an order. For, each mirror reflects the sun to the other. By the same token, the heart of each of the Ashâb-i kirâm ‘'alaihimurridwân' was brightened like a mirror by the nûr radiated by the blessed heart of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam'. Seeing his beautiful moral qualities, hearing his sweet words, witnessing his mu'jizas, and watching his luminous face, they loved him very much. They tried to be like him in everything they did. Each of them would have sacrificed his life upon one signal on his part. By spreading abundant nûr, which they thus received, to the young hearts attached to them, they purified these hearts. This nûr was passed from these hearts to those of other youngsters who were attached to them. Thus, for thirteen hundred years, being radiated by the hearts of the Awliyâ, his same nûr purified the hearts attached to these hearts and thereby brightened them like mirros. That is, the eyes of their hearts were opened. The fortunate people who were blessed with this lot were called Walî or Awliyâ (those whom Allah loves). Mazhar-i Jân-i Jânân, the ‘Qutb' of his time and a great Walî, says: “I attained all of what I gained by loving my murshids (religious teachers) very much. The key to all kinds of happiness is to love those whom Allah loves.” And Hadrat 'Alî Râmitenî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta'âlâ sirrahul'azîz' says: “The hearts of people who devoted themselves to Allah are nazarghâh-i-ilâhî, (i.e. place where Allâhu ta'âlâ turns His Attention to.) People who have managed to enter those hearts will get a share from that Attention.” Endless Bliss First Fasicle | Page 281-282

Back in our 15th episode of this series, we looked at Khwarezmian prince Jalal al-Din Mingburnu's exploits in India in the early 1220s. Having fled there after Chinggis Khan's devastating invasion of the Khwarezmian Empire, Jalal al-Din's flight brought India to the attention of the Mongols. While Chinggis Khan did not invade the subcontinent, this was not the last that India would see of the Mongols. In today's episode, we return to northern India, dominated by the Sultanate of Delhi, and look at its interactions with the Mongols who repeatedly raided its borders. Why the Delhi Sultans, from Iltutmish, Balban to Alauddin Khalji were able to largely successfully resist the Mongols will be examined, over nearly the century of Mongol-Delhi interactions. I'm your host David, and this is Kings and Generals: Ages of Conquest.   The Delhi Sultanate arose from the ruins of the Ghurid Empire which had stretched from Afghanistan to Bengal. The Ghurids, or Shansabanids,  had been a regional power in central Afghanistan emerging in the ninth century but were subdued by the Ghaznavids, also known as the Yamanids, a persianised Turkic dynasty which dominated much of the Iranian world up to the borders of India from the tenth to the twelfth centuries. The Ghaznavids under their great expander, the mighty Mahmud of Ghazna, reduced the Ghurids to a subject state early in the eleventh century, though in turn the Ghaznavids were pushed from Iran by the Seljuqs with the famous battle of Dandanaqan in 1040, and became tributary to the Seljuqs under their Sultan Sanjar at the start of the twelfth century. In this time, the Ghurid elite converted from Buddhism to Islam, and could be said to have bided their time. The Seljuqs weakened over the twelfth century with the arrival of  the Qara-Khitai, the Ghuzz Turk invasions and independence of the Khwarezmian Empire in the north. In turn, the weakness of the Seljuqs advanced the weakness of the Ghaznavids, which provided an opportunity for the Ghurids to rise in the second half of the twelfth century. Under the brilliant leadership of Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad Ghuri, better known simply as Muhammad of Ghor, and his brother Ghiyath al-Din, the Ghurids conquered the remnants of the Ghaznavids. Repulsing invasions by the Ghuzz  Turks and proving a staunch foe to the Qara-Khitai and Khwarezm-Shahs, Muhammad of Ghor received backing from the Caliph and expanded across the region. By the end of his life, he had forged an empire stretching from eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan across Northern India to Bengal.   Muhammad of Ghor's military might rested in large part on his loyal ghulams, Turkic slave soldiers, though over the thirteenth century the term gave way to mamluk. A similar institution existed in the form of the Ottoman janissaries. While it was common for any good regional warlord to employ nomadic Turkic tribes due to their military prowess, they often proved unreliable and self-interested. For the conquest-minded Muhammad of Ghor, he could not put much stock on nomad chiefs  who may value their own advancement over Muhammad's glory. Instead, Muhammad looked to the classic islamic institution of slave soldiers. Ghulams and Mamluks were young boys, generally sold by enemy Turkic tribes, that were brought into the Islamic world and raised from birth to be elite soldiers. Generally having already some horse and archery skills from their youth, these boys were converted to Islam and given the finest training in military matters, with top of the line equipment, weapons and horses, in addition to receiving education and even salaries. The result was a core of fierce warriors loyal not to any tribal or family ties, but to their fellow ghulams and their master, who sheltered and provided for them. No shortage of Islamic princes lamented on how their ghulams tended to be more loyal than their own sons; the sons awaited only the death of the father, while the ghulams wanted only his glory. Famously, the child-less Muhammad of Ghor is supposed to have remarked that, while other monarchs could have a few sons, he had thousands in the form of his ghulams.   The source of many of Muhammad of Ghor's ghulams were various Qipchap Turkic tribes from the great steppe. As in late Ayyubid and early Mamluk Egypt, and indeed much of the islamic world, the Cuman-Qipchaqs were prized as warriors. His ghulams proved themselves in combat repeatedly. Though supported by local tribes, both Turkic and Pashtun, Muhammad of Ghor over his life increasingly relied on his ghulams, and in time they commanded his armies and acted as his governors. Attacking the Hindu kingdoms of northern India at the close of the twelfth century, Muhammad of Ghor had to return to Afghanistan to face the Khwarezm-Shah Tekish, and Tekish's son Muhammad. Muhammad bin Tekish, of course, we know best as the gentleman who antagonized Chinggis Khan some two decades later. In Muhammad of Ghor's absence fighting the Khwarezmians, his ghulams like Qutb ad-Din Aybeg were left to command his troops and govern his territories in India. And these same loyal ghulams, upon the childless Muhammad of Ghor's assassination in 1206, then quite loyally tore the Ghurid empire to pieces, each one declaring himself master of his own domain.    Qutb ad-Din Aybeg claimed Delhi, and though he tried to establish a dynasty, his early death in 1210 in a polo accident resulted in his young son pushed out by one of his own ghulams, his son-in-law Shams-ud-Din Iltutmish. Iltutmish, a Qipchaq like Aybeg, consolidated the Delhi Sultanate as one of the chief powers of northern India. So began the first of five separate Turko-Afghan dynasties that would rule the Delhi Sultanate over the next three centuries. Because of the ghulam, or mamluk origin of the first dynasty, the first dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate is sometimes known as the Mamluk Sultanate of Delhi, sometimes to mirror the contemporary Qipchaq founded Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. For the next two hundred years, their foreign policy on their northern border was defined by the Mongol Empire and its successor states.    Relations between the Delhi Sultanate and Mongols began in the 1220s, in the middle of Iltutmish's reign, when Chinggis Khan himself rode to their borders chasing the Khwarezmian Prince Jalal al-Din Mingburnu, son of the late Khwarezm-Shah Muhammad II. Chinggis did not invade India, though he sent some forces to pursue Jalal al-Din in India. According to the Persian writer Juvaini, Chinggis actually did advance some days into the Punjab, having hoped to find a route that would allow him to march around the Himalayas and attack the Jin Dynasty from the south, but could not find such a road. Other medieval sources and modern historians offer alternative explanations for Chinggis' refusal to spend more time in India, with reasons ranging from respect for Delhi's neutrality, the heat of northern India, bad omens, Delhi's diplomacy appeasing the Khan through token submission, to the simple fact that Chinggis may not have had interest expanding into a new, unknown territory while already dealing with much of Iran, Central Asia and China, with Chinggis intending all along to return to China and deal with the Jin and Tangut. We discussed the matter more in episodes 9 and 15. As it was, Chinggis returned to the east, and died while on campaign against the Tangut in 1227. As we saw in episode 15, Jalal al-Din spent a few years in India making a mess of things, nearly attacking Delhi before withdrawing to Iran after a massive coalition of the post-Ghurid and Hindu forces threatened him.  The great consequences of Mingburnu's time in India was that he and the Mongols sent to pursue him  greatly undermined Iltutmish of Delhi's other Ghurid rivals in the northwest and the Punjab. Thanks to wars between the Khwarezmian and Mongol forces, Iltutmish over the late 1220s and 1230s gradually absorbed the other post-Ghurid powers up to the Indus River. In addition, he became overlord of a number of regional Hindu kingdoms; some have for this region compared the Delhi Sultanate to a collection of subkingdoms. By Iltutmish's death in 1236, the Delhi Sultanate was the great power of northern India and the Gangetic plain, from the Indus to Bengal, with recognition from the Caliph as the only Muslim sovereign in India, and indeed, one of the mightiest Muslim rulers in the world.   However, in Iltutmish's final years the Mongol presence on his border increased. When Chormaqun Noyan and his army entered Iran at the start of the 1230s to complete the conquest of the region and finish off Jalal al-Din -something we discussed in detail in episode 15- a portion of his force was sent into southeastern Iran and Khurasan, which included modern Afghanistan. The remnants of the empire Jalal al-Din Mingburnu had left in Afghanistan and India submitted to the Mongols, and the Mongol Empire now directly bordered the Delhi Sultanate. A tamma force under Dayir was stationed in Afghanistan, and part of the duty of the tamma was to disrupt the states along the borders of the Mongol Empire. As such, Mongol raids into the Punjab and Sind began with increasing regularity in the late 1230 and 40s, which proved difficult for Iltutmish's troubled successors.   Iltutmish's eldest son and heir had been groomed for the throne, but his premature death in Bengal was a severe blow to the Sultan. A younger son, Rukn ud-Din Firoz Shah, ultimately succeeded Iltutmish, but the youth enjoyed alcohol and good times more than the complicated court machinations and governance. The boy's mother acted as the true governor, using her power to take out her grievances. It was not a winning combination. Within months a rebellion removed Firoz Shah and his mother from the scene, which placed Iltutmish's daughter Raziyya on the throne. Famous as the only female Muslim monarchs in India's history, and popularly known as Raziyya Sultana, her ascension owed much to the strong Turkic force in the government, many of whom were only recent converts to Islam. Some are known to have been denizens of the former Qara-Khitai empire, which had influential women empresses, and therefore the prospect of a woman ruling in her own name was not as dreadful to them.    Apparently Raziyya had been expected to act as a figurehead, though proved herself, in the vein of all good Qipchap women, to be very assertive and insisted on a prominent, public role. Enjoying horseback archery and riding elephants in public, she supposedly even dressed as a man. Seeking to expand her powerbase, she sought to create additional sources of support in competition to the Turkic ghulams. Her appointees to power included Ghuris, Tajiks, Hindus and even Africans. The ghulams did not appreciate it, and by 1240 Raziyya was deposed and, after a brief attempt to restore her to the throne, killed in favour of her brother, Bahram Shah. So ended the brief reign of perhaps the most well known female Muslim monarch. Her brother and successor Bahram Shah did not long enjoy the throne. A brave and often blood thirsty individual, his effort to totally remove the powerful Turkic aristocracy, increasingly showing itself a rival to power to the Sultan, resulted in his commanders storming Delhi and killing him only two years into his reign.  Bahram Shah's most notable act was appointing Juzjani, a refugee from Khwarezm, as grand qadi of Delhi. Minhaj-i-SIraj Juzjani is one of the most important sources for the period, writing a mammoth history in the 1250s. We've visited it often in the course of this series to generally remark on his well known hatred of the Mongols but it is a key for the early history of the Delhi Sultanate. His great history, the Tabaqat-i-nasiri, was translated into English in the late nineteenth century by Major Raverty, and can be found in two volumes free to download by archive.org.   After Sultan Bahram Shah's death, he was succeeded by Rukn ud-Din Firoz's son, ‘Ala al-Din Mas'ud Shah. Despite having gained the throne with the support of the Turkic aristocracy,  like his predecessors Mas'ud shah sought to weaken them. His four year reign ended with his death at the hands of the youngest surviving son of Iltutmish, Mahmud Shah. From 1246 until 1266, Mahmud proved the longest reigning of Iltutmish' sons. He was though, the most ineffective, and gradually found himself reduced to puppet by his na'ib, Balban, who we will return to shortly.   While these political upheavals rocked the capital, the Mongols pressed on the northwestern border. In 1241 a Mongol force under Bahadur Tair took Lahore, and Multan was captured in 1245, and by the 1250s, Sind and the Punjab were largely under Mongol control and Mongol raids were a nearly annual occurrence. By the reign of Mahmud Shah, the authority of the Delhi monarch, both within his court and northern India, had declined dramatically. Fortunately for the Delhi Sultan, no full Mongol invasion yet threatened, but the stream of refugees from Iran and Central Asia must have brought constant news of the Mongol terror. Juzjani certainly reported seemingly every rumour he heard, and was certainly under the impression that at least some of the Mongol leadership, particularly Chagatai, favoured the extermination of Islam. The learned and informed in Delhi must have feared greatly what would happen if the Mongols pushed the advantage while Delhi was in the midst of another coup.   Sultan Mahmud Shah bin Iltutmish was overshadowed by his wazir and eventual successor Balban, who changed Delhi policy to the Mongols. An Ölberli Qipchaq and ghulam, Balban had risen in influence over the 1240s, and finally between 1246 and 1249 was raised to the viceroyalty, his might beneath only the Sultan himself. Often, you will see him referred to as a member of the “Forty,” or the “Forty Chiefs.” These were, if you believe some modern writers, forty ghulams of Sultan Iltutmish who acted as kingmakers in Delhi since Iltutmish's death. However, as pointed out by historians like Peter Jackson, the “Forty”  are only mentioned by Ziya' al-Din Barani, an official writing in Persian in the Delhi Sultanate in the mid-fourteenth century. No other source on Delhi from the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, especially the more contemporary Juzjani, mention such a distinct coalition. It seems likely that “Forty” refers to the fact that these men commanded corps of forty elite men; such groups are mentioned in other contemporary sources, and the same organization was present in the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt at the same time.  The “Forty” was not some provisional governmental body composed of forty men who tried to exert their power over the Sultans, but rather Barani's way to refer to the influential members of the aristocracy and elite- many of whom were Qipchaq Turks, but including Ghuris, Tajiks and even Hindus-  who were associated with the military elite and had a vested interest in remaining influential, and were no monolithic body. Balban was a part of this elite, a man experienced with command and the court.   From 1249 through to 1266, with only a brief break, Balban was the #2 man in the Delhi Sultanate, the na'ib, who handled government himself, styled himself Ulugh Khan and married his daughter to the Sultan. Sultan Mahmud Shah turned into a shadowy figure behind Balban's power. In 1266, Mahmud Shah and his children died in unclear, but almost certainly not natural, circumstances, and Balban took the throne himself. So ended the line of Iltutmish. After many years in the viceroyalty, Balban had moved his allies and friends into prominent positions of power, and thus held the throne securely. He was therefore able to finally act more aggressively towards the Mongols. Initially, diplomacy under Mahmud Shah and Balban had sought to appease the Mongols, and envoys from Hulegu in the 1250s had been honoured and respected, friendly relations urged. Considering the size and might of Hulegu's army, it was a wise decision. But following Hulegu's death in 1265, the outbreak of civil war between the Mongols and Balban's direct seizure of the throne in 1266, Balban went on the offensive. On his order, the Sultanate retook Multan and Lahore by force. Balban worked to fortify India's rugged border through building forts garrisoned by the various mountain tribes. Further, Balban welcomed Mongols, Persian and Central Asian refugees fleeing the Mongol civil wars in the 1260s, and gave many of them military positions which provided the Delhi Sultans' with knowledge of Mongolian military tactics. Similar to the Mamluks of Egypt, Mongol refugees were valuable immigrants and their flight was welcomed. Supposedly entire neighbourhoods in Delhi were formed from the Mongols who fled there. Some of these men of Mongol background came to positions of great prominence, after their conversion to Islam of course. Under Balban and his successors, these neo-Muslims, as they were called by Barani,  were given command of armies and powerful positions close to the Sultan. One of these men was a member of the Khalaj tribes, named Jalal al-Din.   Beginning in the 1260s, the source of the Mongol incursions into India changed. Rather than an imperial effort, it became led by the Neguderis based in southern Afghanistan, known also as the Qaraunas. With the outbreak of war between the Ilkhanate and Golden Horde, the Ilkhan Hulagu had attacked the Jochid forces who had been a part of his army. Many fled to southern Afghanistan under their general Neguder, becoming a local and unruly power the Ilkhan and Chagatai princes sought to control. From then on, the Neguderis undertook nearly annual raids into India's northwestern frontier.   Over Balban's long reign he often still relied on diplomacy to keep the Mongols at bay in between periods of fighting. While he consolidated Delhi's hold on northern India, Balban expanded southwards and restored the Delhi Sultante's hegemony after a nadir in the 1240s. While often successful and gaining valuable experience with Mongol tactics, Balban received a great shock in 1285 when his favourite son and heir, Muhammad Shah, governor of Lahore, Multan and Dipalpur, was killed in a vicious Mongol attack on Multan. The once vigorous Balban lived the rest of his life quietly, and largely retired from governance, dying in 1287, succeeded by an inept grandson named Kayqubad. Of the eight sultans who reigned between 1236 and 1296, Sultan Balban was the only one known to have died of natural causes.   Sultan Kayqubad's reign ended quickly, and following his murder in 1290, Jalal al-Din Khalji established the second dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, the Khalji dynasty.  The name Khalji refers to their background, for their family came from Khalaj tribesmen of what is now Afghanistan.While generally later medieval and modern biographers have seen the Khalaj as a Turkic people, the indication from contemporary sources is that they were seen as a group distinct from the Turks- perhaps due to not being associated with horsemanship or ghulams. The Khalaj were originally Turkic speakers, but over  centuries had mingled with the various Pashtun peoples of Afghanistan. The Pashtun are a branch of the Iranian peoples, speaking a language from the Eastern Iranic language family. While associated with the Pashtun, the Khalaj were distinct from them; Juzjani, during his writing in the 1250s, always distinguished the Khalaj from Turks, Persians and Pashtuns. As such, you will often find the Khalji remarked as a Turko-Afghan dynasty. Individuals of Khalaj stock were certainly raised to prominent positions under the Khalji Sultans, but contrary to some statements, it was not a replacement of the existing multi-ethnic, but still largely Turkic nobility, but a mere another addition to it, just one group among Turks, Mongols, Hindus, Persians and more.   Around 70 years old when he became Sultan in 1290, Jalal al-Din Khalji first appeared in Mongol service. According to the fourteenth century Ilkhanate historian Wassaf, Jalal al-Din had held command over the Khalaj on behalf of the Mongol appointed governor of Binban, west of the Indus River. A fifteenth century source identifies Jalal al-Din's father as Yughrush, the name of the Khalaj Amir who is known to have taken part in a Mongol embassy to Delhi in 1260. In the ebb and flow of frontier fortunes, perhaps falling out with the Mongols or too ambitious for the existing climate, at some point in the 1260s Jalal al-Din and a body of his men fled to the Delhi Sultanate to offer their services to Sultan Balban, who rewarded them a position on the frontier against the Mongols. This was part of a growing trend in the second half of the thirteenth century. Whereas Iltutmish and the early Sultans had given command of the borders to men trained as ghulams or mamluks, under Balban and the Khaljis the border with the Mongols was increasingly defended by Turkic tribal leaders, who came with their own retinues and forces. Many had even been in Mongol service and therefore had intimate experience with them. It was a position for any ambitious general to develop a reputation, experience and a sizable military following.    Jalal al-Din's prominence grew over the reign of Balban as he built his reputation against the Mongols. In the reign of Balban's grandson Kayqubad, Jalal al-Din Khalji was invited to Delhi to assist against Kayqubad's court rivals. Despite becoming Kayqubad's regent, it did little good for the young sultan who was soon murdered, and  Jalal al-Din seized power in the aftermath, though faced stiff court resistance throughout his reign.    Sultan Jalal al-Din Khalji is generally portrayed as downright mild-mannered. A devout  and forgiving Muslim, often shown to be extraordinarily benevolent and generous to his subjects, he was also very capable miltiarily, personally leading armies against independent Hindu kingdoms and Mongols invaders, a great contrast to Sultan Balban who only rarely headed armies during his long dominance. One of his most notable victories came at Bar-Ram in 1292, where when a ceasefire was declared, some 4,000 of the Mongols under their Prince decided to stay in India after converting to Islam. Sultan Jalal al-Din also cultivated good relations with the Ilkhans. A notable exception to the Sultan's demeanor, an outright moral failing in the view of his medieval biographers like Barani, was the brutal murder of a famous sufi whose hospice was found to be attached to a conspiracy against him. Jalal al-Din Khalji's violent reaction was rather unusual for him, given his general clemency to others who plotted against him.    The general kindness, almost certainly overstated, made him appear weak to his ambitious nephew, Alauddin. In 1296 Alauddin Khalji killed his uncle, and arrested and blinded his sons and their allies, and thus usurped power in the Sultanate. So began the reign of the most famous Delhi Sultan. You may know him best as the primary antagonist in the recent Bollywood film, Padmavat, where he is portrayed by Indian actor Ranveer Singh.  Alauddin Khalji was not noted for any benevolence, but for his cunning, ruthlessness, and paranoia alongside an iron will and exceptional military ability. Cruel but highly capable, his reign began with a large Neguderi incursion, attacking Multan, Sind and Lahore. Alauddin's commanders Ulugh Khan and Zafar Khan were mobilized with a larger army than the Mongols, and at Jaran-Manjur defeated them, capturing many men, women and children and executing them.   Alauddin Khalji initiated a number of reforms to strengthen his control and prepare against Mongol invasions. Most of these were directed to enlarging the Delhi military and making it more effective, and building new fortifications. His army and officers were paid in cash and the Sultan had personal control over the army, rather than leaving it in the hands of his amirs. Economic reforms were undertaken as well, with high taxes, up to 50% of each crop, and efforts to prevent hoarding to keep prices low, making it cheaper to feed his men. His position was strengthened by a strong spy network and his loyal eunuch and possible lover, Malik Kefar, who secured him from court intrigues. Alauddin Khalji showed exceptional cruelty as he waged war against Mongol and Hindu alike. His wars in Gujarat were accompanied by the destruction of hundreds of Hindu temples and the massacres of men, women and children. The only extant history written in the reign of Sultan Alauddin, that of Amir Khusrau, speaks of the sultan killing some 30,000 Hindus in a single day during his 1303 campaign in Chittoor. In the words of Khusrau, he cut them down as if they were nothing but dry grass. Alauddin's conquest of the independent Hindu kingdom of Ranthambore in Rajasthan in 1301, a state which had long held out against the Delhi Sultans, was an event which has since held significance in Indian memory. A number of later poems were written on the fall  of Ranthambore which have done much to cement Alauddin's legacy for Indians as a cruel tyrant with a near genocidal hatred for Hindus. Whether Alauddin actually carried such hatred for Hindus, or this was a consequence of a violent imitation of the cruelty associated with the very successful Mongols, is of little consolation for the many thousands killed on his order.   While these developments were occurring within the Sultanate, to the north was a major shift in the Mongol territory, largely covered in our second episode on the Chagatai Khanate and on Qaidu Khan. With Qaidu's influence, Du'a was appointed as Khan over the Chagatai Khanate. Splitting rule of central Asia between them, Du'a and his oldest and favourite son, Qutlugh Khwaja, were able to finally bring the fearsome Neguderis, or Qara'unas,  under their power in the 1290s. Qutlugh Khwaja was given command over them. While Qaidu and Du'a focused on the border with Khubilai Khan in the northeast, Qutlugh Khwaja from his southern base turned the Chagatayid-Neguderi attention to India in the closing years of the thirteenth century.  The reasons for this are unclear: we lack sources from the Chagatai perspective, but Ilkhanid and Indian sources give Du'a an intense interest in India. India was famously wealthy and barring raids into the Punjab, was largely untouched by the Mongols. Further, the defeats suffered in the previous incursions into India needed to be avenged, much like Khubilai and his wrath towards Japan or the Ilkhans towards the Mamluk Sultanate. While the Chagatayids could feel they lacked the ability to make great gains against the Ilkhanate or the Yuan, they could have felt a haughtiness to the Turkic and Hindu forces that awaited them in India, and therefore anticipated easy successes.   While generally the Mongol attacks on India are termed as raids, intended for plunder and undertaken on the direction of individual Neguderi chiefs, the most serious invasions which threatened the Delhi Sultanate occurred on Du'a's order. The 1296 attack was already noted, and two years later another Mongol force was sent into India. Alauddin Khalji's army under Ulugh Khan was campaigning in Gujarat when the Mongols attacked in 1298. The commander left in Delhi, Zafar Khan, was able to raise a large army and defeat the Mongols, once more driving them back across the border. The residents of the Sultanate, despite having repulsed attacks before, were not unaware of the destruction caused by the Mongols: many of the new inhabitants of Delhi over the previous decades had been refugees fleeing Mongol terror.  Each Mongol attack was therefore a cause for panic and fear. Thus, Zafar Khan was very popular after his victory, which may have given the always suspicious Sultan Alauddin concern over his loyalty. It was not unfounded that a prominent general with enough reputation could make a claim for the throne: Alauddin's own uncle Jalal al-Din had done just that.   In late 1298 or 1299 began the most serious Mongol invasion of India. On the orders of Du'a Khan, his sons Qutlugh Khwaja and Temur Buqa marched with 50-60,000 Neguderi and Chagatai horsemen over the border. According to sources like Barani, the purpose of this assault was expressly for conquest, and even if we cannot corroborate it from the Chagatai perspective it is evident that this was a serious undertaking compared to earlier attacks. With the arrival of Qutlugh Khwaja's army, greater than any preceding it, the Sultanate erupted into panic. Qutlugh Khwaja intended to make his mark as the next great Mongol conqueror.   The sources have Qutlugh Khwaja bypassing villages to maximize speed, intending to strike directly at the city of Delhi itself while the Sultan's army was once again on campaign in Gujarat. At the River Jumna, Zafar Khan confronted Qutlugh but was defeated and forced to retreat to Delhi. News of the defeat of the heroic Zafar Khan caused thousands to abandon their homes in fear, and the capital was soon flooded with refugees flying before the oncoming army. Famine, overcrowding and fear now gripped Delhi as the swarm drained its resources, all while Qutlugh Khwaja closed in.   Alauddin held a council with his generals in the city, where he was advised to abandon the capital: the Mongols were too numerous, too powerful and too close for them to stand a chance.  Alauddin trusted his sword however, and raised what forces he could. Some 24 kilometres north of Delhi, Alauddin Khalji met Qutlugh Khwaja at a site called Kili.   While the sources give Alauddin a force of some 300,000 men with 2,700 war elephants, it is nigh impossible Alauddin suddenly put together and supplied an army of such a size on short notice. Modern estimates give a more feasible number at around 70,000 with 700 elephants, still a huge army that likely outnumbered the Mongols. Both forces deployed in the standard formation for steppe armies, a center and two wings. The Sultan took the Delhi center, while Zafar Khan commanded the right wing and Ulugh Khan the left, with elephants dispersed among the three groups. Like the Mongols, the Delhi forces relied on Turkic horse archers, light and heavy cavalry, with much of their army experienced in the same style of warfare as the Mongols.    Zafar Khan, looking to avenge his defeat on the Jumna, led the first charge, attacking the Mongol left flank, which broke before him. Zafar gave chase to drive them from the field, but as he was led further away from the rest of the army, he soon found that he had fallen for a feigned retreat. Zafar was encircled, the Noyan Taraghai leading the ambush. Zafar realized that he had been left to die: the Sultan made no effort to rescue the clearly doomed force, his mistrust of his subordinate's growing popularity being too great. Abandoned and surrounded, Zafar gave his best until he was captured. Qutlugh Khwaja was impressed by Zafar's courage, and offered to let him join the Mongols, where surely his bravery would be appreciated, even offering to make him Sultan of Delhi. Zafar Khan was to the end loyal to his Sultan, and refused, and Qutlugh Khwaja ordered the execution of him and all his men and elephants.   With this victory, Qutlugh Khwaja was poised to defeat Alauddin and conquer the Sultanate. At this point however, the Mongol forces retreated. It seems that at some point over the course of the battle, perhaps in a final struggle during the execution of Zafar Khan's troops, Qutlugh Khwaja was seriously injured, causing his army to retreat. Before he could make it back home, Qutlugh died of his injuries. The Chagatais had lost their prince and another invasion, and Du'a Khan his eldest son, with little to show for it.    This defeat did not end the Mongol invasions of India though, as Noyan Taraghai attacked in 1303 while Alauddin was returning from campaigning in Chittoor where his forces suffered heavy losses. Much of his army was still occupied besieging a major Hindu stronghold. Isolated and besieged near Delhi, inconclusive fighting continued for two months as Sultan Alauddin led a grim resistance. The approaching summer heat and the stalemate tested Taraghai's patience, and he too retreated, almost certainly unaware how tenuous Alauddin's position had been.  From 1304 until 1308 invasions were annual, but victories over major Mongol armies had broken down much of the aura of Mongol terror, Alauddin appearing divinely protected. Mongol armies were defeated in battle, their commanders trampled to death by elephants in Delhi and pillars constructed of Mongol skulls outside the city, and Alauddin undertook a massacre of the Mongols living in Delhi.   The question remains: why were the Mongols so ineffective in India? Delhi familiarity with Mongol tactics was a major factor, both from combat experience, similar army models and the presence of Mongol defectors. Alauddin's military and economic reforms allowed him to afford and quickly raise large armies, while his strong, centralized government kept his state from collapsing under the pressures of these invasions. India's hot summers were hard on the Mongols and their horses, impacting pasturage and limiting when the Mongols attacked. Finally, Alauddin and his generals were simply skilled commanders and a match for the Mongol captains, with luck on their side more often than not. Indian sources however, generally ascribed victory to divine intervention rather than skill, which may be why these Mongol defeats are not remembered like Ayn Jalut.    After Qaidu's death, Du'a helped organize a general peace between the Mongol Khanates, even suggesting they put aside their differences and launch a joint attack on India. However, the death of Du'a in 1307 and reemergence of tension with the neighbouring Khanates brought the attention of the Chagatais away from India. In 1328-1329 Du'a's son Tarmashirin undertook the final major Mongol offensive into India, with similar results desultory. Tarmashirin was briefly the Chagatai Khan from 1331-1334, but his death, as well as the collapse of the Ilkhanate, put Central Asia into chaos. Mongol forces were now focused on internal conflict rather than external assault. Much of this we covered in our third episode on the Chagatai khanate, which created the opportunity for a certain Barlas tribesman named Temur to take power in 1370.    Alauddin Khalji continued to rule with an iron hand and expanded the Sultanate. He fell ill in his final years and grew ever more paranoid and disinterested in government, giving more power to his viceroy, Malik Kafur. On Alauddin's death in 1316, he was succeeded by a young son with Malik Kafur acting as regent. Kafur was quickly murdered and Alauddin's son deposed by a brother, Mubarak Shah. Mubarak Shah ruled for only four years before he was murdered by his vizier in 1320, ending Delhi's Khalji Dynasty. The usurper was quickly overthrown by one of Alauddin Khalji's generals, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, and so began the Delhi Tughluq Dynasty, the third dynasty of the Sultanate   Like Jalal al-Din Khalji, Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq had rose to prominence as a frontier commander against the Mongols, particularly from his post at Depalpur during the reign of Alauddin. Sources of the period, including the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta who visited his court, indicate Ghiyath al-Din was of nomadic background, possibly Mongol or Neguderi, who had entered the Sultanate during the reign of Alauddin Khalji's uncle, working as a horse keeper for a merchant. The long reigns of Ghiyath al-Din's successors, Muhammad Tughluq and Firuz Shah were stable, but saw the slow decline of Delhi's power and permanent losses of Bengal and of the Deccan. Hindu and other smaller Muslim empires expanded at the expense of the Delhi Sultante. As the Tughluq Dynasty stagnated in the closing years of the fourteenth century, the great conqueror Temur cast his eye towards the jewel of northern India. In late 1398 Delhi was sacked and looted by Temur, but limped on until the 16th century when it was finally destroyed by a descendant of both Temur and Chinggis Khan, Babur.      The later interaction of the Delhi Sultanate with the heirs of the Mongols is a topic for future discussions, so be sure to subscribe to the Kings and Generals Podcast to follow. If you enjoyed this, then consider supporting us on patreon at www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals to help keep bringing you great content. This episode was researched and written by our series historian, Jack Wilson. I'm your host David, and we'll catch you on the next one.

A year after his defeat at Tarain, Moizuddin returns the next year with a new army and on the very same battlefield, emerges victorius. This episode covers the second battle of Tarain (1192 CE) and its aftermath. It ends with the death of the first Sultan of Delhi, Qutb ud Din Aibak.

Belgian/Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's debut as a choreographer was in 1999 with Andrew Wale's contemporary musical, Anonymous Society. Since then he has made over 50 full-fledged choreographic pieces and picked up a slew of awards, including two Olivier Awards, three Ballet Tanz awards for best choreographer (2008, 2011, 2017) and the Kairos Prize (2009) for his artistic vision and his quest for intercultural dialogue. Since 2015, Cherkaoui assumed the role of artistic director at the Royal Ballet of Flanders, where he has created Fall (2015), Exhibition (2016) and Requiem (2017). He combines this function with his title as artistic director of Eastman and keeps creating new work along with the artistic entourage of this company, for example Qutb (2016), a trio commissioned by Natalia Osipova, Icon (2016) for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and Mosaic (2017) for Martha Graham Dance Company. He directed the operas Les Indes galantes (2016) for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Satyagraha (2017) for Theater Basel and Pelléas et Mélisande (2018) with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramović for Opera Vlaanderen. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is also associate artist at Sadler's Wells, London and Théâtre National de Bretagne, Rennes.

Minime 100-tąsias archeologės, antropologės Marijos Gimbutienės gimimo metines. Apie svarbiausias jos idėjas, teorijas ir biografijos detales pasakoja Inesa Rinkevičiūtė.Kaune veikianti Istorinė Lietuvos Respublikos prezidentūra pristatė keliomis kalbomis ir istorinių personažų lūpomis kalbantį nuotolinį audiogidą, juo pasidomėjo Kotryna Lingienė.Sociologė Giedrė Šabasevičiūtė parašė Egipto poeto, intelektualo, islamo teoretiko Sayyid Qutb biografiją. Demonizuojama, visuomenę priešinanti ir politinėje kovoje naudojama Qutb asmenybė knygoje atsiskleidžia kaip svarbi arabų kultūros pasaulio dalis.Filosofas Aldis Gedutis komentare atlieka mintinį eksperimentą apie pomirtines paslaugas – kaip išsirinkti įmonę, kuri pasirūpins jūsų laidotuvėmis?Pasaulyje: metų dizaino titulas – sūpynėms ant Meksikos ir JAV sienos, gaisras Briuselio meno centre, nesutarimai dėl Diego Riveros freskos, skvoteriai Peru griuvėsiuose.Nespalvoti ir šmaikštūs iliustratorės Eglės Narbutaitės piešiniai vietos randa ir ant popieriaus lapo, ir ant didžiausių pastatų sienų, bet svarbioms temoms aptarti menininkei vien juodų dažų nebepakanka. Eglė ruošia muzikinį albumą ir pristato kūrinį „Atostogos“, kuriame apdainuoja nesėkmingą pervargusio žmogaus bandymą pailsėti.Ved. Juta Liutkevičiūtė

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb’s theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb’s theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb's theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb’s theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

What is truly at stake in politics? Nothing less than how we should live, as individuals and as communities. This book goes beyond the surface headlines, the fake news and the hysteria to explore the timeless questions posed and answers offered by a diverse group of the 30 greatest political thinkers who have ever lived. Notably, they blur boundaries of ancient and modern, Western, Chinese and Islamic thought, religious and seculary thinkers to provide a much wider survey than normally is the case in such overviews. Are we political, economic, or religious animals? Should we live in small city-states, nations, or multinational empires? What values should politics promote? Should wealth be owned privately or in common? Do animals also have rights? There is no idea too radical for this global assortment of thinkers, which includes: Confucius; Plato; Augustine; Maimonides; Machiavelli; Burke; Wollstonecraft; Marx; Nietzsche; Gandhi; Qutb; Arendt; Mao; Nussbaum, Naess and Rawls. In How to Think Politically: Sages, Scholars and Statesmen Whose Ideas Have Shaped the World (Bloomsbury, 2019), the authors paint a vivid portrait of these often prescient, always compelling political thinkers, showing how their ideas grew out of their own dramatic lives and times and evolved beyond them. Now more than ever we need to be reminded that politics can be a noble, inspiring and civilising art, concerned with both power and justice. And if we want to understand today's political world, we need to understand the foundations of politics and its architects. This is the perfect guide to both. James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA where he has taught since 1990. His newest book is titled Your Whole Life: Childhood and Adulthood in Dialogue (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020). Graeme Garrard has taught political thought at Cardiff University, UK since 1995 and at the Harvard Summer School, USA since 2006. He has lectured at colleges and universities in Canada, the United States, Britain and France for 25 years. He is the author of two books:  Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment (2000) and CounterEnlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present  (2006). Kirk Meighoo is a TV and podcast host, former university lecturer, author and former Senator in Trinidad and Tobago. He hosts his own podcast, Independent Thought & Freedom, where he interviews some of the most interesting people from around the world who are shaking up politics, economics, society and ideas. You can find it in the iTunes Store or any of your favorite podcast providers. You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel. If you are an academic who wants to get heard nationally, please check out his free training at becomeapublicintellectual.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is truly at stake in politics? Nothing less than how we should live, as individuals and as communities. This book goes beyond the surface headlines, the fake news and the hysteria to explore the timeless questions posed and answers offered by a diverse group of the 30 greatest political thinkers who have ever lived. Notably, they blur boundaries of ancient and modern, Western, Chinese and Islamic thought, religious and seculary thinkers to provide a much wider survey than normally is the case in such overviews. Are we political, economic, or religious animals? Should we live in small city-states, nations, or multinational empires? What values should politics promote? Should wealth be owned privately or in common? Do animals also have rights? There is no idea too radical for this global assortment of thinkers, which includes: Confucius; Plato; Augustine; Maimonides; Machiavelli; Burke; Wollstonecraft; Marx; Nietzsche; Gandhi; Qutb; Arendt; Mao; Nussbaum, Naess and Rawls. In How to Think Politically: Sages, Scholars and Statesmen Whose Ideas Have Shaped the World (Bloomsbury, 2019), the authors paint a vivid portrait of these often prescient, always compelling political thinkers, showing how their ideas grew out of their own dramatic lives and times and evolved beyond them. Now more than ever we need to be reminded that politics can be a noble, inspiring and civilising art, concerned with both power and justice. And if we want to understand today's political world, we need to understand the foundations of politics and its architects. This is the perfect guide to both. James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA where he has taught since 1990. His newest book is titled Your Whole Life: Childhood and Adulthood in Dialogue (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020). Graeme Garrard has taught political thought at Cardiff University, UK since 1995 and at the Harvard Summer School, USA since 2006. He has lectured at colleges and universities in Canada, the United States, Britain and France for 25 years. He is the author of two books:  Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment (2000) and CounterEnlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present  (2006). Kirk Meighoo is a TV and podcast host, former university lecturer, author and former Senator in Trinidad and Tobago. He hosts his own podcast, Independent Thought & Freedom, where he interviews some of the most interesting people from around the world who are shaking up politics, economics, society and ideas. You can find it in the iTunes Store or any of your favorite podcast providers. You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel. If you are an academic who wants to get heard nationally, please check out his free training at becomeapublicintellectual.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is truly at stake in politics? Nothing less than how we should live, as individuals and as communities. This book goes beyond the surface headlines, the fake news and the hysteria to explore the timeless questions posed and answers offered by a diverse group of the 30 greatest political thinkers who have ever lived. Notably, they blur boundaries of ancient and modern, Western, Chinese and Islamic thought, religious and seculary thinkers to provide a much wider survey than normally is the case in such overviews. Are we political, economic, or religious animals? Should we live in small city-states, nations, or multinational empires? What values should politics promote? Should wealth be owned privately or in common? Do animals also have rights? There is no idea too radical for this global assortment of thinkers, which includes: Confucius; Plato; Augustine; Maimonides; Machiavelli; Burke; Wollstonecraft; Marx; Nietzsche; Gandhi; Qutb; Arendt; Mao; Nussbaum, Naess and Rawls. In How to Think Politically: Sages, Scholars and Statesmen Whose Ideas Have Shaped the World (Bloomsbury, 2019), the authors paint a vivid portrait of these often prescient, always compelling political thinkers, showing how their ideas grew out of their own dramatic lives and times and evolved beyond them. Now more than ever we need to be reminded that politics can be a noble, inspiring and civilising art, concerned with both power and justice. And if we want to understand today's political world, we need to understand the foundations of politics and its architects. This is the perfect guide to both. James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA where he has taught since 1990. His newest book is titled Your Whole Life: Childhood and Adulthood in Dialogue (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020). Graeme Garrard has taught political thought at Cardiff University, UK since 1995 and at the Harvard Summer School, USA since 2006. He has lectured at colleges and universities in Canada, the United States, Britain and France for 25 years. He is the author of two books:  Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment (2000) and CounterEnlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present  (2006). Kirk Meighoo is a TV and podcast host, former university lecturer, author and former Senator in Trinidad and Tobago. He hosts his own podcast, Independent Thought & Freedom, where he interviews some of the most interesting people from around the world who are shaking up politics, economics, society and ideas. You can find it in the iTunes Store or any of your favorite podcast providers. You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel. If you are an academic who wants to get heard nationally, please check out his free training at becomeapublicintellectual.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is truly at stake in politics? Nothing less than how we should live, as individuals and as communities. This book goes beyond the surface headlines, the fake news and the hysteria to explore the timeless questions posed and answers offered by a diverse group of the 30 greatest political thinkers who have ever lived. Notably, they blur boundaries of ancient and modern, Western, Chinese and Islamic thought, religious and seculary thinkers to provide a much wider survey than normally is the case in such overviews. Are we political, economic, or religious animals? Should we live in small city-states, nations, or multinational empires? What values should politics promote? Should wealth be owned privately or in common? Do animals also have rights? There is no idea too radical for this global assortment of thinkers, which includes: Confucius; Plato; Augustine; Maimonides; Machiavelli; Burke; Wollstonecraft; Marx; Nietzsche; Gandhi; Qutb; Arendt; Mao; Nussbaum, Naess and Rawls. In How to Think Politically: Sages, Scholars and Statesmen Whose Ideas Have Shaped the World (Bloomsbury, 2019), the authors paint a vivid portrait of these often prescient, always compelling political thinkers, showing how their ideas grew out of their own dramatic lives and times and evolved beyond them. Now more than ever we need to be reminded that politics can be a noble, inspiring and civilising art, concerned with both power and justice. And if we want to understand today's political world, we need to understand the foundations of politics and its architects. This is the perfect guide to both. James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA where he has taught since 1990. His newest book is titled Your Whole Life: Childhood and Adulthood in Dialogue (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020). Graeme Garrard has taught political thought at Cardiff University, UK since 1995 and at the Harvard Summer School, USA since 2006. He has lectured at colleges and universities in Canada, the United States, Britain and France for 25 years. He is the author of two books:  Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment (2000) and CounterEnlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present  (2006). Kirk Meighoo is a TV and podcast host, former university lecturer, author and former Senator in Trinidad and Tobago. He hosts his own podcast, Independent Thought & Freedom, where he interviews some of the most interesting people from around the world who are shaking up politics, economics, society and ideas. You can find it in the iTunes Store or any of your favorite podcast providers. You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel. If you are an academic who wants to get heard nationally, please check out his free training at becomeapublicintellectual.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Qutb-ud-Din Ahmad Waliullah Ibn Abd-ur-Rahim Ibn Wajih-ud-D?n Ibn Muazzam Ibn Mansur Al-Umari Ad-Dehlawi (1703–1762), commonly known as Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, was an Islamic scholar, muhaddith, reformer, historiographer and bibliographer from Mughal India.

In the late 1940s, a middle-aged Egyptian writer & civil servant named Sayyid Qutb went to study in the United States. He had recently established himself as a critic of the Egyptian government, & was traveling abroad in part to escape a potential crackdown on political dissidents by Egypt's monarchy. However, Qutb soon found that he loathed American society even more than he disliked the Egyptian status quo. He found New York, Washington DC, & California to be dens of iniquity. He even regarded a conservative small town in Colorado that he lived in for several months to be a hotbed of materialism, racism, sexual permissiveness, & spiritual emptiness. He also condemned US foreign policy as having a pro-Israel, anti-Muslim bias. Qutb returned to Egypt in 1950 with more radical views than ever, & he soon published a written account filled with his negative observations about American society. He then joined the Muslim Brotherhood movement that sought a revolution in Egypt. A revolution arrived, but it was led by the military leader Gamal Abdul Nasser, who soon established a regime that prioritized Arab-nationalist ideology & socialist economics over Qutb's preference for reviving a more fundamentalistic version of Islam. The Muslim Brothers tried to assassinate Nasser, but failed. As a result, Qutb became one of many Islamist radicals who were tortured & eventually executed by Nasser's regime. However, Qutb's writings from prison would live on after his death. They inspired Al-Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden & Ayman Al-Zawahiri to wage "holy war" against secular Middle Eastern governments, & would eventually help to inspire the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/boomertomillennial/posts)

TESTO DELL'ARTICOLO ➜ http://www.bastabugie.it/it/articoli.php?id=5836SU AMAZON PROIBITO NICOLOSI, PADRE DELLA TERAPIA RIPARATIVA, MA NON HITLER O LENIN di Giulia TanelAmazon è capitolata di fronte alla censura arcobaleno. Riporta infatti Nbc News che, «in seguito alla crescente pressione esercitata dagli attivisti Lgbtq, Amazon ha rimosso dal suo sito i libri in lingua inglese dell'uomo considerato "il padre della terapia riparativa". Il dottor Joseph Nicolosi [morto nel marzo del 2017, ndR], fondatore della clinica psicologica Thomas Aquinas, ora chiusa, e dell'Associazione nazionale per la ricerca e la terapia dell'omosessualità (Narth), ha creato diverse guide pratiche rivolte ai genitori dei giovani LGBTQ, tra i quali: Omosessualità - Una guida per genitori».La questione non è di secondaria importanza, se si tiene conto del fatto che, dati alla mano, Amazon è il massimo rivenditore di e-book (9 su 10 vengono comprati su questo portale) e che si "mangia" anche il 42% delle vendite di libri cartacei. E se si considera inoltre che altri libri che veicolano tesi quantomeno opinabili, se non addirittura pericolose per la collettività, non subiscono lo stesso trattamento censorio. Si domanda in proposito lo scrittore Rod Dreher: «Perché le idee di Nicolosi sono più pericolose di quelle di Marx, Hitler, Lenin, Mao, Goebbels, Qutb e David Duke?». La risposta è, purtroppo, fin troppo semplice: perché Nicolosi ha scritto cose che contraddicono l'ideologia portata avanti dalla comunità Lgbt, che non ha remore nell'agire in modo totalitario, imponendo il proprio pensiero a tutti i livelli. E poco importa se nel farlo si appella, quale facciata, al fatto che la teoria di Nicolosi non sia scientifica, perché questo significherebbe solamente che Amazon dovrebbe smettere di vendere anche libri sull'omeopatia, o su chissà cos'altro... La realtà è che vi è il concreto rischio che a "finire all'indice", nel giro del breve periodo, saranno tutti i testi sgraditi alla cosiddetta Gaystapo.Inoltre, è interessante rilevare che la censura dei testi di Nicolosi è di per sé paradossale. Paradossale perché ad attuarla sono esattamente coloro che si stracciano le vesti quando qualche genitore, in nome del primario diritto a educare i figli secondo i propri valori di riferimento, chiede che nelle scuole non vengano letti a bambini e ragazzi testi contrari alla legge naturale, che parlano di bambini con due mamme o due papà, che inneggiano all'utero in affitto e via discorrendo. Testi che, peraltro, si chiede semplicemente di non leggere in contesti educativi, non di non vendere più.Ma paradossale anche perché, solitamente, quando si parla di censure e limitazioni alla libertà di stampa, oltre che ai regimi il pensiero corre subito alla Chiesa cattolica, per via dell'Indice dei libri proibiti (Index librorum prohibitorum), inaugurato nel 1558 da Papa Paolo IV e rimasto in vigore fino al 14 giugno 1966. Eppure, mai nessuno rimarca come la gerarchia ecclesiastica non sia mai stata contraria alla diffusione di libri, bensì semplicemente vigilasse affinché uno strumento di per sé neutro fosse utilizzato per il bene. Nessun fine liberticida dunque, bensì - come ebbe a scrivere la Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede nella notifica che accompagnava l'abolizione dell'Index - un ammonimento alla «coscienza dei cristiani a guardarsi, per una esigenza che scaturisce dallo stesso diritto naturale, da quegli scritti che possono mettere in pericolo la fede e i costumi». Un intento, questo, che appare ben lontano dall'agire della Lobby Lgbt e di Amazon.Nota di BastaBugie: ecco altre notizie dal "gaio" mondo gay (sempre meno gaio).ARRESTATA PERCHÉ HA DATO DEL LUI AD UN TRANSKate Scottow, una madre di 38 anni originaria dell'Hitchin nell'Hertfordshire, su Twitter si è rivolta ad un attivista LGBT maschio che sta per cambiare "sesso" come uomo. Questi l'ha denunciata e la polizia si è recata nell'abitazione della donna per arrestarla, arresto avvenuto davanti al figlio autistico di 10 anni e di un altro di 20 mesi che ancora allatta. La donna è stata sottoposta a fermo per 7 ore.Ad oggi non le sono stati ancora restituiti pc e cellulare. Rimane sotto indagine e un giudice le ha ordinato di riferirsi al transessuale come donna.Un tipico esempio di dittatura violenta da parte dello Stato ormai asservito alle logiche LGBT. La libertà di parola non vale più per certe tematiche. La parola d'ordine è allinearsi al pensiero unico.(Gender Watch News, 13-02-2019)LA MATTEL LANCIA LE BAMBOLE GENDER FLUIDL'azienda leader nel settore dei giocattoli "Mattel" ha annunciato nei giorni scorsi il lancio del progetto globale "Creatable World", una linea di bambole personalizzabili, che offre tantissime possibili combinazioni di personaggi e look tutte in un'unica confezione.Delle bambole, dunque, che hanno Differenti opzioni di abiti, accessori e parrucche ispireranno i bambini e permetteranno loro di personalizzare la bambola con capelli lunghi o corti, di vestirla con gonna, con pantaloni o con entrambi.Si potrebbe pensare ad una semplice trovata per tirar fuori la fantasia dei bambini e la loro creatività, invece ciò che sta dietro questo nuovo progetto ha a che fare con quella che la stessa Mattel ha definito "inclusività" e dunque per combattere gli "stereotipi di genere".Secondo la stessa azienda l'idea è il risultato di una ricerca condotta su un campione, appunto, di bambini, che avrebbe fatto venir fuori come «i bambini non vogliono che i loro giocattoli sia definiti da stereotipi di genere» e si invitano quindi gli stessi fanciulli a giocarci, in modo da esprimere loro stessi.Quello che, però, verrebbe da pensare - in riferimento ai bambini e ai loro giochi - non dovrebbe essere un modo per inculcare loro la fluidità dei generi, bensì lasciarli semplicemente giocare, come hanno sempre fatto, con i giochi propri di un bambino o di una bambina, con le bambole o le macchinine, con tutto ciò, quindi, che da sempre fa divertire un bambino o una bambina, lasciando stare le bambole che possono diventare maschi o femmine da un secondo all'altro. Anche perché, "inclusività" non significa - o non dovrebbe significare - appiattire tutto e tutti, facendo scomparire le diversità tra uomini e donne e quindi le singole e diverse peculiarità. Soprattutto se l'appiattimento riguarda i più piccoli.(Provita & Famiglia, 25 settembre 2019)UNA TASK FORCE DI PSICOLOGI PER NORMALIZZARE IL POLIAMOREPer ridurre lo "stigma" associato a chi pratica il "poliamore", l'American Psychological Association (APA) sta mettendo insieme una task force per studiare la "non monogamia consensuale".Gli psicologi delle università californiane, che guidano il gruppo, cercano di promuovere "la consapevolezza e l'inclusività della non monogamia consensuale e delle diverse espressioni di relazioni intime".Il sito web della task force della Divisione 44 dell'APA recita:"Trovare l'amore e/o l'intimità sessuale è una parte centrale dell'esperienza di vita della maggior parte delle persone. Tuttavia, la capacità di impegnarsi nell'intimità desiderata senza stigmatizzazione sociale e medica non è una libertà per tutti. Questa task force cerca di rispondere ai bisogni delle persone che praticano la non monogamia consensuale, comprese le loro identità emarginate che si intersecano"La Divisione 44 dell'APA è la stessa che cerca di normalizzare gli stili di vita omosessuali e transgender.La task force intende "fare ricerca, creare risorse e sostenere l'inclusione di relazioni consensuali non monogame nelle seguenti quattro aree: ricerca di base e applicata, istruzione e formazione, pratica psicologica ed interesse pubblico".Altra componente della Divisione 44 è la Religion and Spirituality Task Force, che cerca di "ridurre le barriere teologiche che spesso separano le minoranze sessuali dalle fonti delle loro credenze".Il professore dell'Università di Princeton Robert P. George ha avvertito in "Is Polyamory Next" per The American Interest nel 2015 che il "matrimonio" omosessuale apre la porta al matrimonio tra più persone."Se il genere non è importante per il matrimonio, perché dovrebbe essere importante il numero", ha chiesto. "Se l'amore fa una famiglia, come diceva lo slogan quando c'era il matrimonio gay da ottenere, allora perché la loro famiglia dovrebbe essere trattata come di seconda classe? Perché al loro matrimonio dovrebbe essere negato il riconoscimento legale e la dignità e la posizione sociale che ne deriva?"Il poliamore sta guadagnando accettazione ed interesse da parte della società. Ad esempio nella rivista Teen Vogue, per le ragazze dai tredici anni in su, è stato pubblicato un articolo in cui Willow Smith, cantante diciottenne figlia di Will Smith, ha dichiarato di sentirsi attratta da uomini e donne e che avrebbe trovato soddisfazione in una relazione con due persone."Amo gli uomini e le donne allo stesso modo, e quindi vorrei sicuramente un uomo, una donna", ha detto recentemente a Red Table Talk. "Mi sento come se potessi essere polifedele con quelle due persone". Willow ha detto: "... Mi sento come se dovessi trovare due persone di generi diversi per avere un rapporto romantico e sessuale, non mi sento come se sentissi il bisogno di trovarne di più".Smith ha detto della monogamia: "Non c'è libertà. È tutto basato sulla paura".Siamo già avanti nella finestra di Overton. E prima che ce ne renderemo conto, anche il poliamore sarà legalizzato ed il prossimo step quale sarà? La pedofilia legalizzata? Matrimoni tra uomini e animali?(Chiara Chiessi, Osservatorio Gender, 17 luglio 2019)

Bin Laden read Qutb’s books when he was a student, and he was familiar with Muhammad Qutb, regularly attending the latter’s weekly public lectures. The former CIA official who oversaw the group in charge of bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, also senior researcher at The Jamestown Foundation, described Muhammad Qutb as bin Laden’s mentor.

Bin Laden read Qutb's books when he was a student, and he was familiar with Muhammad Qutb, regularly attending the latter's weekly public lectures. The former CIA official who oversaw the group in charge of bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, also senior researcher at The Jamestown Foundation, described Muhammad Qutb as bin Laden's mentor.

Drawing from the essence of Leninism, Qutb advocated the organization of a Muslim version of the Leninist vanguard party. “Qutb made precisely the same argument for the Muslim world,” Robinson wrote.

Bin Laden read Qutb's books when he was a student, and he was familiar with Muhammad Qutb, regularly attending the latter's weekly public lectures. The former CIA official who oversaw the group in charge of bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, also senior researcher at The Jamestown Foundation, described Muhammad Qutb as bin Laden's mentor.

Drawing from the essence of Leninism, Qutb advocated the organization of a Muslim version of the Leninist vanguard party. “Qutb made precisely the same argument for the Muslim world,” Robinson wrote.

Drawing from the essence of Leninism, Qutb advocated the organization of a Muslim version of the Leninist vanguard party. “Qutb made precisely the same argument for the Muslim world,” Robinson wrote.

Drawing from the essence of Leninism, Qutb advocated the organization of a Muslim version of the Leninist vanguard party. “Qutb made precisely the same argument for the Muslim world,” Robinson wrote.

Bin Laden read Qutb’s books when he was a student, and he was familiar with Muhammad Qutb, regularly attending the latter’s weekly public lectures. The former CIA official who oversaw the group in charge of bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, also senior researcher at The Jamestown Foundation, described Muhammad Qutb as bin Laden’s mentor.

Drawing from the essence of Leninism, Qutb advocated the organization of a Muslim version of the Leninist vanguard party. “Qutb made precisely the same argument for the Muslim world,” Robinson wrote.

Bin Laden read Qutb’s books when he was a student, and he was familiar with Muhammad Qutb, regularly attending the latter’s weekly public lectures. The former CIA official who oversaw the group in charge of bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, also senior researcher at The Jamestown Foundation, described Muhammad Qutb as bin Laden’s mentor.

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb's theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb’s theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

It is no exaggeration to say that Qutb’s theories bear greater resemblance to communism than to traditional Islam. While the Islamic extremists profess a religious opposition to communism, in fact, they absorbed the pure essentials of communist revolutionary doctrine. As one scholar has noted, “The arguments made here are that the real enemy confronting the free world remains Communism and that radical Islam is nothing more than Communism cloaked in the traditional garments of Islam.”

Muqarnas Vault, Masjid-i Shah/Imam, Isfahan. Source: Daniel C. Waugh, Courtesy of Archnet.org   We talk with Architectural historian Christian Hedrick, currently working at the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT as a researcher, visiting lecturer at the School of Architecture at Northeastern University and GAHTC contributor, about the intersection of Islamic architecture with cultures in India, China, North Africa, and Europe. We explore ideas of global exchange, translation and transformation of Islamic forms and materials, such as the pointed arch, as well as brick, stucco, and ornamental ceramic tiles and techniques like haft-rangī. We touch on ideas of Orientalism, and the circulation and representation of Islamic visual material culture in the Abbasid empire and Ummayad dynasty.

About this itemProduct DescriptionThis new book takes a literary approach in its study of Sayyid Qutb, one of the most significant political thinkers for contemporary Islamists and who has greatly influenced the likes of Osama Bin Laden. Executed by the Egyptian state in 1966, his books continue to be read and his theory of jahiliyya ‘ignorance' is still of prime importance for radical Islamic groups.Through an examination of his thoughts and theories, the book explores the main concepts that are used by today's radical fundamentalist movements, tracing the intellectual origins, as well as the conceptual and methodological thinking of radical Islamist movements in the modern world. The book sheds light on Islamic radicalism and its origins by presenting new analysis on the intellectual legacy of one of the most important thinkers of the modern Islamic revival. This is an invaluable new book for our time.Review"Sayed Khatab should be commended for having taken up the responsibility of introducing Sayyid Qutb and his theory of Jahiliyyah, through this book, to the English-speaking world… The book is worth reading to know and understand a prominent ideologue of Islamic socio-political and the evolution of his thought process. The book highlights the need for an objective critique of Qutb's ideas, its conformity or otherwise with the basic philosophy of Islam, its applicability to the modern world and its implications." – Ather Zaidi, Islamic Studies, Vol: 4, Winter 2010"I highly recommend this well-researched book to scholars and student of Islamic studies and political islam. I agree with the author that to date there has been no in-depth study of this important concept. Thus, this work is a welcome contribution to the field" - Hussam S. Timani, Newport University, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 2008About the AuthorDr Sayed Khatab is a professor in the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University. His research interests focus on the politics in the Middle East, and Islamic political thought and movements in the modern world. Among his publications: 'Arabism and Islamism in Sayyid Qutb's Thought on Nationalism1, The Muslim World, 94, 2 (2004), 217-244

Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966) was an influential Egyptian ideologue credited with establishing the theoretical basis for radical Islamism in the post colonial Sunni Muslim world. Lacking a pure understanding of the leader's life and work, the popular media has conflated Qutb's moral purpose with the aims of bin Laden and al-Qaeda. He is often portrayed as a terrorist, Islamo-Fascist, and advocate of murder. This book rescues Qutb from misrepresentation, tracing the evolution of his thought within the context of his time. An expert on social protest and political resistance in the modern Middle East, as well as Egyptian nationalism, John Calvert recounts Qutb's life from the small village in which he was raised to his execution at the behest of Abd al-Nasser's regime. His study remains sensitive to the cultural, political, social, and economic circumstances that shaped Qutb's thought-major developments that composed one of the most eventful periods in Egyptian history. These years witnessed the full flush of Britain's tutelary regime, the advent of Egyptian nationalism, and the political hegemony of the Free Officers. Qutb rubbed shoulders with Taha Husayn, Naguib Mahfouz, and Abd al-Nasser himself, though his Islamism originally had little to do with religion. Only in response to his harrowing experience in prison did Qutb come to regard Islam and kufr (infidelity) as oppositional, antithetical, and therefore mutually exclusive. Calvert shows how Qutb repackaged and reformulated the Islamic heritage to pose a challenge to authority, including those who claimed (falsely, he believed) to be Muslim.Review"This rich and carefully researched biography sets Qutb for the first time in his Egyptian context, rescuing him from caricature without whitewashing his radicalism. It is no small achievement."--The Economist"In one of the first serious English-language biographices of Qutb, Calvert puts this often misunderstood figure into his historical context, situating Qutb within the turbulent intellectual and political flow of Egyptian and Arab history. He expertly shows the development of Qutb's thinking, from literary critic to Islamist, and powerfully details the impact of the repression and torture carried out by the regime of Gamal Abdel Nasser on his turn towards the stark, radical doctrines which have shaped generations of Islamist radicals. Fascinating details emerge in this book. . . . The Qutb which emerges from Calvert's even-handed history is far more complex and interesting than the caricature of him which dominates popular understanding. Anyone interested in the evolution of Islamism in the 20th century should read it."--Atlantic Monthly"The best biographies balance the person, the person's achievements, and the environment in which that person worked. This one of Sayyid Qutb (1906-66), considered by both friends and foes to be a founding father of radical Sunni Islamic thought, does just that. Calvert presents a portrait of Qutb worthy of a psychobiography, without the excesses of the genre."--Foreign AffairsAbout the AuthorJohn Calvert is Associate Professor of History at Creighton University, USA. His research focuses on social protest and political resistance movements in the modern Middle East; Egyptian nationalism; and the ideological origins of Al Qaeda. He is co-editor and translator of Sayyid Qutb's A Child from the Village.

Title: "The Battle against Liberal Democracy and the Jewish Question: From Marx to Qutb" Date: February 11, 2015 Speaker: Dr. Glen Feder Affiliation: Senior Research Fellow, ISGAP Paris Convener: Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Location: Columbia University Law School, New York Description: Dr. Glen Feder speaks about the battle against liberal democracy and the Jewish question. He highlights that the three movements that have been integral to the war against liberal democracy -- communism, Nazism and radical Islamism -- all deal with the Jewish question in a disproportionate manner. He notes that while the Jewish question appears differently in these reactionary social movements, it nonetheless often takes a central role. He goes on to focus on the writings and influence of Sayyid Qutb, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The show has a new name: Muslims Christians and the Zombie Apocalypse! You can listen at mczapodcast.com ISIS and Al Qaeda leaders have likely all read a book written by a man who went to college in Colorado! Hear Dr. Nabeel Jabbour share about Sayed Qutb’s pilgrimage from Egypt to the United States. Following his experiences as an international student in America, he returned to Egypt and wrote the primary textbook and commentary for Muslim fundamentalist. You can listen to Qutb's journey on a new podcast called Truth About Muslims. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Dr. Nabeel Jabbour earned a Th.D in Islamics from the University of South Africa. He comes from a Christian background, born in Syria and raised in Lebanon. From 1975 to 1990, he pioneered and directed the Navigators work in Cairo, Egypt. In addition to his Navigators work as a Missions Consultant, he teaches intensive courses on Islam in seminaries across the country. He has authored six books, two in Arabic and four in English. You can view his full bio and books on his website www.nabeeljabbour.com Theme Music by Nobara Hayakawa - Trail Sponsor Music by Drunk Pedestrians - Mean Interlude Music by Aeoa - 04

Militant Islam & Winston Churchill

Ustādh Mahmūd Ghafīr and band sing 'Qutb al-Aqtāb', a poem dedicated to the great Sufi Master, Imām Abul Hasan al-Shādhilī. The poem was composed by 'Allāmah Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya'qūbī during his journey to Imam Abul Hasan's shrine in Egypt in August 2004. Text of poem in Arabic with English translation can be downloaded here: www.sacredknowledge.co.uk/downloads/Poem%20to%20Imam%20Abul%20Hasan%20(Arabic%20and%20English).pdf www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8qmnTWPZf4