Jadid al-Islam: The Jewish "New Muslims" of Meshhed

by Raphael Patai

Overview

This study documents the history, traditions, tales, customs, and institutions of the Jadid al-Islam—"New Muslims."

In 1839, Muslims attacked the Jews of Meshhed, murdering 36 of them, and forcing the conversion of the rest. While some managed to escape across the Afghan border, and some turned into true believing Muslims, the majority adopted Islam only outwardly, while secretly adhering to their Jewish faith.

Jadid al-Islam is the fascinating story of how this community managed to survive, at the risk of their lives, as crypto-Jews in an inimical Shi'i Muslim environment. Based on unpublished original Persian sources and interviews with members of the existing Meshhed community in Jerusalem and New York, this study documents the history, traditions, tales, customs, and institutions of the Jadid al-Islam—"New Muslims."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814341858
Publisher:	Wayne State University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2015
Series:	Raphael Patai Series in Jewish Folklore and Anthropology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	344
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Raphael Patai (1911-1996) was a prominent cultural anthropologist, historian, and biblical scholar of international reputation. He was the author of more than three dozen books on Jewish and Arab culture, history, politics, psychology, and folklore.

Editorial Reviews

Through a masterful examination of many sources, the book traces the history of Jewish life in Meshed before, during and after the Allahdad...The book offers a fascinating account of a little-known branch of the Jewish family tree whose roots date back 2,500 years to ancient Persia at the time of the first exile.

The Canadian Jewish News

While much of his reconstruction of Meshhed Jewry inevitably focuses on Shi'ite Islam's dreadful persecution of a community it deemed unclean, Patai also unpacks from his narrative an absorbing mother lode of data about the folk customs, birth beliefs, education, business practices, emigration patterns, and burial customs of that little known Meshhed collective. Raphael Patai shows in this book that he was one of those rare scholar-writers who had the gift of making historical canvases come to life and speak to is directly with immediacy and pathos.

University of Waterloo - Arnold Ages