The Ilkhanid Book of Ascension

The juxtaposition of the words ‘Persian’ and ‘Sunni’ in the title of the book under review reminds us that for many, the memory of a Sunni Persia is a far distant one even though ‘Sunnism’ was the predominant form of Islam in that land for almost two-thirds of Islamic history to date. For Dr Gruber, part of function of the Mi[raj narrative or ‘Book of Ascension’ presented here is to assert the mainstream doctrines of the subject, so that the work is in effect ‘a kind of catechism’; and indeed there is sufficient evidence here to support this view.

The reader’s indulgence is sought for an introductory reflection, before we enter upon a description and critique of the book. Both the editor-translator and her main adviser, Paul Losensky, are non-Muslim American academics, and yet the tone of their presentation of Islamic doctrines is almost wholly without bias. That is something that would have been almost unthinkable just three or four decades ago, on pain of losing academic respectability; yet now it is more the rule than the exception. There are some aspects of postmodernism for which Muslims have reason to be thankful.

The Ilkhanid Book of Ascension presents a text composed towards the end of the 7th/13th century, at a time when the Mongol rulers of Iran, known as the Il-Khans (or Ilkhanids), alternately embraced Sunni and Shi[i Islam, depending upon their personal preference. The unknown author wrote a short treatise and narrative in plain and simple Persian prose in which he argues the case for the mainstream Sunni account of the Isra’ and Mi[raj (sometimes, as here, termed simply the Mi‘raj), embellishing and reinforcing the narrative with Qur’anic verses and with Hadiths acknowledged as authentic by the highest standards (Satiiti).