The designation of non-Muslims as People
of the Book has experienced a revival in recent
decades. Progressive and modern-minded Mus-
lims have invoked its egalitarian connotations
to further their efforts at interreligious dialogUe
and greater religious and cultural pluralism. On
the other hand, radical Islamist movements have
drawn from the more polemical verses in the
Quran concerning the People of the Book to jus-
tify attacking and subjugating them. For many
Muslims the concept today is primarily an aspect
of the heritage of the past, one that must give way
to modern secUlarism, nationalism, and the con-
struction of individual identities that differ from
those of confessional religious communities.
See also christianity and islam; dhimmi; hin-
dUism and islam; idolatry; JUdaism and islam;
kafir; umma.
Further reading: Ali S. Asani, “ ‘So That You May
Know One Another’: A Muslim American Reflects on
Pluralism and Islam.” Annals of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science 588 (July 2003): 40–51;
Abd al-Aziz Sachedina, “Jews, Christians and Muslims
According to the Quran.” Greek Orthodox Theological
Review 31 (1986): 87–105; Zeki Saritoprak and Sydney
Griffith, “Fethullah Gülen and the People of the Book:
A Voice from Turkey for Interfaith Dialogue.” Muslim
World 95, no. 3 (2005): 329–340.
Perfect Man (Arabic: al-insan al-kamil)
The concept of the Perfect Man, or Universal Man,
was most fully developed by the great 12th–13th
century Sufi mystic and teacher mUhyi al-din ibn
al-arabi (d. 1240). According to Ibn al-Arabi,
humanity and the cosmos are two separate but
intimately connected constructions of the same
Universal Spirit (God), like two mirrors facing
each other. The Perfect Man, therefore, is that indi-
vidual who, in embarking on the Sufi path toward
self-annihilation, or fana, discards his own quali-
ties and attributes and enters fully into the quali-
ties and attributes of God. In doing so the Perfect
Man fully realizes his oneness with the Universal
Spirit, becoming the medium through which God
is made manifest. As “the copy of God,” to quote
Ibn al-Arabi’s disciple, Abd al-Karim al-Jili (d. ca.
1423), the Perfect man’s individuality is merely
his “external” form, while his “inward” reality is
the universe itself. Although sUFism considers all
prophets and messengers, as well as the imams
and the pirs (Sufi shaykhs), to be representatives
of the Perfect Man, the paradigm of this unique
being for all Sufis is none other than mUhammad
(d. 632) himself.
See also baqa and fana; creation; mUlla
sadra; theology.
Reza AslanFurther reading: Titus Burckhardt, An Introduction to
Sufi Doctrine (Wellingsborough, England: Aquarian
Press, 1976); Annemarie Schimmel, And Muhammad
Is His Messenger (Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1985); Idries Shah, The Sufis (New York:
Anchor, 1964).Persia See iran.
Persian Gulf See gulf states; gulf wars; iran;
iraq; saudi arabia.Persian language and literature
Persian (also known as Farsi) is one of the lead-
ing languages, together with Arabic and Turkish,
known to the Islamicate cultures and civilizations.
It has been the medium for writing history, poetry,
philosophy, science, and religious literature among
Persian-speaking peoples in the Middle East and
Central and South Asia for more than one thou-
sand years. Today it is estimated that there are
more than 100 million Persian speakers. It is an
official language in iran, aFghanistan, and Tajiki-
stan, but there are also sizeable Persian-speak-
ing populations in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, andPersian language and literature 549 J