Death of al-Hallaj The: A Dramatic Narrative

Although not widely known in the Western world al-Hallaj is one of the great figures in the history of the Muslim religion. Martyred in 922 by the government for his teachings al-Hallaj has lived on through the centuries in the legends and memories of Muslims the world over. The reader who meets al-Hallaj for the first time in this book will be impressed by the striking similarities he shares with Jesus Christ Socrates and the Jewish Hasidic masters. Al-Hallaj is a man so caught up in Gods love that he speaks with the wisdom of a mystic. Yet he is worldly and down-to-earth in his affection his wit and his joy. In this dramatic narrative of the last days of al-Hallaj Herbert Mason has distilled the essence of al-Hallaj in moving beautifully drawn scenes with his son his protectress and a devoted disciple. The timeless confrontation between freedom and political expediency between faith and fatalism ends here in love that is stronger than death. So finely has Mason presented al-Hallaj that the fire of his love reaches across the centuries to glow again on these pages. This is a book to read and to re-read.