Book Description

This book aims to discuss religious scrupulousness (al-wara') - an important phenomenon in Islamic spirituality and tradition in the 3rd/9th century. Through the study of hadith compilations devoted to piety the author tries not only to define the concept of scrupulousness itself, but also to present the world of Muslim scholars who composed these collections of traditions. An important aspect of the book will be a discussion of a possible social impact of religious scrupulousness as well as of its cultural context. Thus, another examined subject will be the link of religious scrupulousness with the Islamic eschatology, as well as with the visions of the Hereafter.On the whole, religious scrupulousness will be analysed as one of the portents of changes occurring in the Islamic society and civilisation in the 3rd/9th century, when new forms of piety are accompanied by apocalyptic fears and anxieties.