Han Hsien Liew’s work stakes out new ground for the study of politics in Islam. Tabling the modernist focus on power for the intricate role of preaching―emotionally rich and morally challenging―in setting norms of rulership in Islam, it is a clarion call to take pietistic ideals seriously amidst Islam’s hierarchies. -- Paul Heck, Georgetown University--------------------------------- This book is an articulate rehabilitation of the Hanbali scholar and preacher Ibn al-Jawzi, undertaken through a careful examination of his political discourse and program of reform that was a response to the circumstances of the age. An essential read, the book is an eloquent attestation to the performative ethical and political power of hortatory disquisition, a perspective rarely attended to in the field. -- Wael Hallaq, Columbia University--------------------------------- Han Hsien Liew’s study is an engaging exploration of a major premodern religious scholar’s grappling with political and social contingency. This book stands as a finely crafted reminder of the enduring political significance of religious preaching―both in the past and in our present moment. -- Hayrettin Yücesoy, Washington University in St Louis--------------------------------- A superb study of Ibn al-Jawzi, thoroughly, meticulously and insightfully conveying the integration in his writings and preaching of discourses of ethical politics on the one hand and personal piety and merit on the other. Han Hsien Liew shows how preaching brought debates over political legitimacy into the public sphere, and how the offering of political advice moved well beyond court circles into urban space. -- Louise Marlow, Wellesley College--------------------------------- Han Hsien Liew’s insightful exploration of Ibn al-Jawzi’s attempts to ameliorate the tension between Realpolitik and the Islamic ideal of pious leadership in the 12th century is a major contribution to Islamic political thought. The study has important implications for the contemporary Islamic world as well in which debates about the nature of political leadership are newly resurgent. -- Asma Asfaruddin, Indiana University in Bloomington--------------------------------- Han Hsien Liew’s book is the latest and fullest on Ibn al-Jawzi. He brings together a wide range of scholarship on Iraqi politics in the later 12th century, political thought from many centuries, and preaching. He also brings to bear recent theoretical advances from our much more numerous colleagues in European history, especially as to the history of emotions. Everyone will enjoy it who is interested in the range of premodern Islamic political thought. -- Christopher Melchert, University of Oxford