Sunni Revival

The Sunni Revival was a period in

Islamic history marked by the revival of the political fortunes of Sunni Islam, a renewed interest in Sunni law and theology and the spread of new styles in art and architecture. Conventionally, the revival lasted from 1055 until 1258.^[1]

ijmāʿ (consensus).^[2] Some scholars have argued that the Sunni Revival led to the decline of scientific output in the Islamic world.^[3]

Timing

The Sunni Revival followed a period of Shia ascendancy, sometimes called the "

Abbasid Caliph, the supreme Sunni leader, was under the control of the Buyids, who governed Baghdad, while the Sharif of Mecca was under the authority of the Fatimids.^[4]

The religious revival began under the Abbasid caliph

Mu'tazilite) beliefs with which previous Abbasid caliphs had partially sympathized. The so-called "Qadiri Creed", formulated in 1018, was the first articulation of Sunni beliefs in their own right, rather than defined in opposition to the Shia.^[5]^[6]

The Sunni Revival became a political movement when the Sunni

sacked Baghdad in 1258.^[7]

Spread

The chief architect of the political and legal Sunni revival was

nizamiyya fashioned after that in Baghdad were founded wherever the Sunni revival spread. They were a major factor in the homogenization of Sunnism during the revival.^[8]

The figure most associated with the Sunni Revival in Syria is

Nur ad-Din (d. 1174), who built twenty madrasas in Damascus. In 1171, Saladin, originally a general of Nur ad-Din, abolished the Fatimid Caliphate and brought Egypt into the Sunni fold. His Ayyubid dynasty vigorously strengthened Sunnism in Syria, Palestine and Egypt.^[8]

References

^ Marks 2010, p. 168.
^ ^a ^b Berkey 2003, p. 189.
^ Chaney 2016.
^ Tabbaa 2011, pp. 13–14.
^ ^a ^b Griffel 2006, p. 782.
^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 239–240.
^ Tabbaa 2017, p. 308.
^ ^a ^b Azzam 2016.

Works cited

Azzam, Abdel Rahman (2016). "Sources of the Sunni Revival: Nizam u-Mulk and the Nizamiyya: An 11th-Century Response to Sectarianism". The Muslim World. 106 (1): 97–108.
doi:10.1111/muwo.12126
.

Berkey, Jonathan P. (2003). The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800. Cambridge University Press.
Chaney, Eric (2016). Religion and the Rise and Fall of Islamic Science (PDF) (Dissertation chapter). Harvard University.
Griffel, Frank (2006). "Sunni Revival". In Meri, Josef W. (ed.). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. New York and London: Routledge. pp. 782–783.
ISBN 978-0-415-96690-0
.

ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7
.

Marks, Laura U. (2010). Enfoldment and Infinity: An Islamic Genealogy of New Media Art. MIT Press.

Tabbaa, Yasser (2011). The Transformation of Islamic Art during the Sunni Revival. University of Washington Press.

Tabbaa, Yasser (2017). "The Resurgence of the Baghdad Caliphate". In Finbarr Barry Flood; Gülru Necipoğlu (eds.). A Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture, Vol. 1: From the Prophet to the Mongols. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 307–326.

v t e History of Islam
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600–700 AD	Muhammad Succession to Muhammad Rashidun Muslim conquests First Islamic civil war (Fitna) Second Islamic civil war (Fitna)
Early caliphates	Rashidun Caliphate Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Revolution Abbasid Caliphate Shi'a Century Fatimid Caliphate Islamic Golden Age Sunni Revival
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Anatolia, Balkans and Italy	Sultanate of Rum Anatolian beyliks Ottoman Empire Expansion into Europe Bosnia Southern Italy
Central Asia and Eastern Europe	Kara-Khanid Khanate Khwarazmian dynasty Chagatai Khanate Golden Horde Nogai Horde Kazakh Khanate Khanate of Kazan Khanate of Khiva Khanate of Sibir Crimean Khanate
South Asia	Islamic rulers in the Indian subcontinent Delhi Sultanate Bengal Sultanate Deccan sultanates Mughal Empire Bahmani Sultanate Jaunpur Sultanate Muzaffarids (Gujarat) Gujarat Sultanate Sultans on the Comoros
Southeast Asia	Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia Spread of Islam in Indonesia Kedah Sultanate Brunei Sultanate Johor Sultanate Malacca Sultanate Aceh Sultanate Banten Sultanate Maguindanao Sultanate Sulu Sultanate Ternate Sultanate Mataram Sultanate
Africa	Angoche Sultanate Sultanate of Aussa Dar Sila Sultanate of Dahlak Funj Sultanate Sultanate of Ifat Sultanate of Bagirmi Mali Empire Sultanate of Adal Sultanate of Darfur Sultanate of Zanzibar Sokoto Caliphate Songhai Empire
Modern states	Islamic Republic of Iran Pakistan Movement Sultanate of Oman

Timing

Spread

References

Works cited

Further reading