Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; Beliefs in spirits among the pre-Islamic Arabs, Joseph Henninger; Hermes and Harran: the roots of Arabic-Islamic occultism, Francis E. Peters; The theory of magic in healing, Michael W. Dols; The rod of Moses in Arabic magic, A. Fodor; The decipherment of Arabic talismans, Tewfik Canaan; Islamic seals: magical or practical?, Venetia Porter; Weather forecasting in the Arabic world, Charles Burnett; Islamic geomancy and a 13th-century divinatory device: another look, Emilie Savage-Smith and Marion B. Smith; Ibn Taymiyya on astrology: annotated translation of three fatwas, Yahya J. Michot; The role of the astrologer in medieval Islamic society, George Saliba; Index.

About the Author

Dr Emilie Savage-Smith is Senior Research Associate at The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, UK Joseph Henninger, Francis E. Peters, Michael W. Dols, A. Fodor, Tewfik Canaan, Venetia Porter, Charles Burnett, Emilie Savage-Smith, Marion B. Smith, Yahya J. Michot, George Saliba.

Reviews

'Overall, this volume represents a significant source material for students of Islamic occult sciences and will doubtless provide a veritable research book for comparativists.' Journal of Islamic Studies ’There is, as far as I know, no general survey of Islamic occultism in print. In the meantime, the fifty-two page introduction specially written for this book by Savage-Smith will do very well, particularly as there is a fairly comprehensive bibliography, as well as copious referencing in the footnotes.... Magic and Divination in Early Islam is the most valuable and useful survey of Islamic occultism yet to have been printed.’ Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft