The Rise of the Ni‘matull.h. Order Shi'ite Sufi Masters against Islamic Fundamentalism in 19thCentury Persia

How were the <span>Ni‘matullāhī </span>masters successful in reviving <span>Ni‘matullāhī</span> Sufism in Shi'ite Persia? This book investigates the revival of <span>Ni‘matullāhī</span> Sufi order after the death of the last Indian <span>Ni‘matullāhī</span> master, Ri.. 'Al. Sh.h (d. 1214/1799) in the Deccan. After the fall of Safavids, the revival movement of the Ni'matull.h. order began with the arrival in Persia of the enthusiastic Indian Sufi master, Ma‘ṣūm ‘Alī Shāh, during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Later, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Persian masters of the <span>Ni‘matullāhī</span> Order were able to solidify the order's place in the mystical and theological milieu of Persia. Ma‘ṣūm ‘Alī Shāh and his disciples soon spread their mystical and ecstatic beliefs all over Persia. They succeeded in converting a large mass of Persians to Sufi teachings, despite the opposition and persecution they faced from Shi'ite clerics, who were politically and socially the most influential class in Persia. The book demonstrates that Ḥusayn ‘Alī Shāh, Majdhūb ‘Alī Shāh, and Mast ‘Alī Shāh were able to consolidate the social and theological role of the <span>Ni‘matullāhī </span>order by reinterpreting and articulating classical Sufi teachings in the light of Persian Shi'ite mystical theology.