Apocalypse Postponed: Interpretations of the End-Times in 20th Century Islamic Writings
Abstract
This dissertation studies how apocalyptic writings featured in ideologies and political programs representing Sunni Islam in the 20th- and 21st-century Middle East. A diverse body of writings commanding different levels of religious authority, these texts have inspired a variety of attunements to society, from investment in societal progress to the abandonment and rejection of society, and from local struggles to expansionist programs of conquest. In highlighting this diversity, I work against misconceptions of apocalyptic Islamic writings as having a single, fixed ideological program. In scrutinizing these various outlooks and the ideologies of their proponents, I also propose new categories that explain the differences and commonalities between diverging understandings of the apocalyptic in Sunni Islam, and how this divergence works with and reacts to changing political and economic conditions.
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Citation
Rikab, Waleed. "Apocalypse Postponed: Interpretations of the End-Times in 20th Century Islamic Writings." (2022) Diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/113509.