Sufism in Islam
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The Mystical Element in Mikhall Lku6aymah's Litesary Works and Its Affinity to Islamic Mysticism
The Mystical Element in Mikhall lKu6aymah's Litesary Works and Its Affinity to Islamic Mysticism BY Yeni Ratna Yuuingsib, A thesis submitted to the Facul* of Graduate Studies and Research in partial ialflllment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Institute of Islamic Studies MCGLU University Montreal June 1999 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 ofCanada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Strmt 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfom, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation, ABSTRACT Author : Yeni Ratna Yuningsih Title : The Mystical Element in MikhaU Nucaymah's Literary Works and Its AfEmity to Islamic Mysticism Department : Institute of Islamic Studies Degree : Master of Arts This thesis investigates the mystical elements in MikhS'ïl Nu'ayrnah's literary works and their affiity to Islamic mysticisrn, elaborating in particular on the notions of oneness of being and the transmigration of soul. -
A SUFI ‘FRIEND of GOD’ and HIS ZOROASTRIAN CONNECTIONS: the Paradox of Abū Yazīd Al-Basṭāmī ______Kenneth Avery
SAJRP Vol. 1 No. 2 (July/August 2020) A SUFI ‘FRIEND OF GOD’ AND HIS ZOROASTRIAN CONNECTIONS: The Paradox of Abū Yazīd al-Basṭāmī ____________________________________________________ Kenneth Avery ABSTRACT his paper examines the paradoxical relation between the T famed Sufi ‘friend’ Abū Yazīd al-Basṭāmī (nicknamed Bāyazīd; d. 875 C.E. or less likely 848 C.E.) and his Zoroastrian connections. Bāyazīd is renowned as a pious ecstatic visionary who experienced dream journeys of ascent to the heavens, and made bold claims of intimacy with the Divine. The early source writings in both Arabic and Persian reveal a holy man overly concerned with the wearing and subsequent cutting of the non- Muslim zunnār or cincture. This became a metaphor of his constant almost obsessive need for conversion and reconversion to Islam. The zunnār also acts as a symbol of infidelity and his desire to constrict his lower ego nafs. The experience of Bāyazīd shows the juxtaposition of Islam with other faiths on the Silk Road in 9th century Iran, and despite pressures to convert, other religions were generally tolerated in the early centuries following the Arab conquests. Bāyazīd’s grandfather was said to be a Zoroastrian and the family lived in the Zoroastrian quarter of their home town Basṭām in northeast Iran. Bāyazīd shows great kindness to his non-Muslim neighbours who see in him the best qualities of Sufi Islam. The sources record that his saintliness influenced many to become Muslims, not unlike later Sufi missionaries among Hindus and Buddhists in the subcontinent. 1 Avery: Sufi Friend of God INTRODUCTION Bāyazīd’s fame as a friend of God is legendary in Sufi discourse. -
An Analysis of Al-Hakim Al-Tirmidhi's Mystical
AN ANALYSIS OF AL-HAKIM AL-TIRMIDHI’S MYSTICAL IDEOLOGY BASED ON BOOKS: BADʼU SHAANI AND SIRAT AL-AWLIYA Kazem Nasirizare, Ph.D. Candidate in Persian Language and Literature University of Zanjan, Iran Mehdi Mohabbati, Ph.D. Professor. at Department of Persian Language and Literature University of Zanjan Abstract. Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Hasan bin Bashir Bin Harun Al Hakim Al-Tirmidhi, also called Al- Hakim Al-Tirmidhi, is a Persian mystic living in the 3rd century AH. He is important in the history of Persian literature and the Persian-Islamic mysticism due to several reasons. First, he is one of the first Persian mystics who has significant works in the field of mysticism. Second, early instances of Persian prose can be identified in his world and taking the time that he was living into consideration, the origins of post-Islam Persian prose can be seen in his writings. Third, his ideas have had significant impacts on Mysticism, Sufism, and consequently, in the Persian mystical literature; thus, understanding and analyzing his viewpoints and works is of significant importance for attaining a better picture of Persian mystical literature. The current study attempts to analyze Al-Tirmidhi’s mystical ideology based on his two books: Bad’u Shanni Abu Abdullah (The Beginning of Abu Abdullah’s Journey) and Sirat Al-Awliya (Road of the Saints). Al-Tirmidhi’s ideology is going to be explained through investigating and analyzing his viewpoints regarding the manner of starting a spiritual journey, the status of asceticism and austerity in a spiritual journey, transition from the ascetic school of Baghdad to the Romantic school of Khorasan. -
From Rabi`A to Ibn Al-Färich Towards Some Paradigms of the Sufi Conception of Love
From Rabi`a to Ibn al-Färich Towards Some Paradigms of the Sufi Conception of Love By Suleyman Derin ,%- Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy Department of Arabic and 1Viiddle Eastern Studies The University of Leeds The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own work and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. September 1999 ABSTRACT This thesis aims to investigate the significance of Divine Love in the Islamic tradition with reference to Sufis who used the medium of Arabic to communicate their ideas. Divine Love means the mutual love between God and man. It is commonly accepted that the Sufis were the forerunners in writing about Divine Love. However, there is a relative paucity of literature regarding the details of their conceptions of Love. Therefore, this attempt can be considered as one of the first of its kind in this field. The first chapter will attempt to define the nature of love from various perspectives, such as, psychology, Islamic philosophy and theology. The roots of Divine Love in relation to human love will be explored in the context of the ideas that were prevalent amongst the Sufi authors regarded as authorities; for example, al-Qushayri, al-Hujwiri and al-Kalabadhi. The second chapter investigates the origins Of Sufism with a view to establishing the role that Divine Love played in this. The etymological derivations of the term Sufi will be referred to as well as some early Sufi writings. It is an undeniable fact that the Qur'an and tladith are the bedrocks of the Islamic religion, and all Muslims seek to justify their ideas with reference to them. -
A Communication for Students of Folklore
FOLKLORE FORUM A COMMUNICATION FOR STUDENTS OF FOLKLORE FOLKLORE FORUM A Conlrnunication for Students of Folklore Bibliographic and Special Series, No. 9 1972 ~ - Table of Contents Foreword Introduction...... ~..c.........................,...................... i Maps of Folklore and Folklife.........................................l Bibliographies$ Dictionaries, Indexes, ad a Guide to Fieldwork ..................1............................2 Peoples, Cultures, and CUS~O~S........................................~ Hik~y-e................................................................. 7 Drma................................................,...............l 3 Epic and Romance .....................................................14 Proverbs and Riddles.. ................... .......................... .18 Magic, Superstition, and Medicine....................................21 Islam, Sufism and Philosophy .........................................28 Folktale CoZlections.................................................30 Author Inde~..................................~.................~....3~ Area Index ........................................................... 38 Chief Editor: John M. Vlach Manuscript Editors: Ben Adam Kroup, Dick Sweterlitsch Reviews Editor : Howard Wight Marshall Managing Editor: Janet Gilmore Bibliographic and Special Series Editor: W. K. McNeil " Corresponding Editors : R. Gerald Alvey (University of ~ennsylvania) Bruce Giuliano (UCWL) Advisory Board: Gerald Cashion, Philip Brandt George, Andrea Greenberg The Folklore -
Understanding Sufism
Abstract This thesis addresses the problem of how to interpret Islamic writers without imposing generic frameworks of later and partly Western derivation. It questions the overuse of the category “Sufism” which has sometimes been deployed to read anachronistic concerns into Islamic writers. It does so by a detailed study of some of the key works of the 13th century writer Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah (d. 709/1309). In this way it fills a gap in the learned literature in two ways. Firstly, it examines the legitimacy of prevalent conceptualisations of the category “Sufism.” Secondly, it examines the work of one Sufi thinker, and asks in what ways, if any, Western categories may tend to distort its Islamic characteristics. The methodology of the thesis is primarily exegetical, although significant attention is also paid to issues of context. The thesis is divided into two parts. Part One sets up the problem of Sufism as an organizational category in the literature. In doing so, this part introduces the works of Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah, and justifies the selection from his works for the case study in Part Two. Part Two provides a detailed case study of the works of Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah. It opens with some of the key issues involved in understanding an Islamic thinker, and gives a brief overview of Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah’s life. This is followed by an examination of materials on topics such as metaphysics, ontology, epistemology, eschatology, ethics, and soteriology. In each case it is suggested that these topics may be misleading unless care is taken not to import Western conceptuality where it is not justified by the texts. -
The World of the Sufi
Books by Idries Shah Sufi Studies and Middle Eastern Literature The Sufis Caravan of Dreams The Way of the Sufi Tales of the Dervishes: Teaching-stories Over a Thousand Years Sufi Thought and Action Traditional Psychology, Teaching Encounters and Narratives Thinkers of the East: Studies in Experientialism Wisdom of the Idiots The Dermis Probe Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way Knowing How to Know The Magic Monastery: Analogical and Action Philosophy Seeker After Truth Observations Evenings with Idries Shah The Commanding Self University Lectures A Perfumed Scorpion (Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge and California University) Special Problems in the Study of Sufi Ideas (Sussex University) The Elephant in the Dark: Christianity, Islam and the Sufis (Geneva University) Neglected Aspects of Sufi Study: Beginning to Begin (The New School for Social Research) Letters and Lectures of Idries Shah Current and Traditional Ideas Reflections The Book of the Book A Veiled Gazelle: Seeing How to See Special Illumination: The Sufi Use of Humour The Mulla Nasrudin Corpus The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin The World of Nasrudin Travel and Exploration Destination Mecca Studies in Minority Beliefs The Secret Lore of Magic Oriental Magic Selected Folktales and Their Background World Tales A Novel Kara Kush Sociological Works Darkest England The Natives are Restless The Englishman‟s Handbook Translated by Idries Shah The Hundred Tales of Wisdom (Aflaki‟s Munaqib) THE WORLD OF THE SUFI An anthology of writings about Sufis and their work Introduction by IDRIES SHAH ISF PUBLISHING Copyright © The Estate of Idries Shah The right of the Estate of Idries Shah to be identified as the owner of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. -
Copyrighted Material
Chapter 1 Origins, Foundations and Rivalries (850–1100) The Context The place is Baghdad and the year is around 850. It is over eight hundred miles of desert from where the Prophet announced his revelation in Mecca and more than two hundred years since he died. Although the word sufi (“wool-wearer”) has been around for many years as a nickname or even a reproach for the hermits of the surrounding wilderness, for the first time it is being used to refer to people in the city itself. And unlike the obscure and self- effacing renouncers in the mountains and desert, these men in the city not only wrote books telling others how to behave, but also achieved enough prominence in the eyes of their contemporaries and successors to have their books discussed and preserved. In one of the familiar paradoxes of religious history, the sheer fact that we know about these men tells us that they were not reclusive or anti-social figures who kept themselves apart from the world, but public men with public lives in perhaps the wealthiest and most cos- mopolitan city in the world. By the mid-ninth century, eight generations of fathers and sons have lived since Muhammad established his community of Muslims and in its third capital the pious and the scholarly among the heirs of that foundational community were more conscious than ever of the responsibilities of preserving the Prophet’s message in his absence. It is a time of unprecedented productivity, legal and moral, spiritual and intellec- tual; from the legacyCOPYRIGHTED of the Prophet and the first MATERIAL generations of Muslims, the many meanings of Islam are being created (and debated and sometimes suppressed). -
The Shah Movement Idries Shah and Omar Ali-Shah
The Shah Movement Idries Shah and Omar Ali-Shah PDF generated using the open source mwlib toolkit. See http://code.pediapress.com/ for more information. PDF generated at: Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:52:24 UTC Contents Articles Idries Shah 1 Omar Ali-Shah 16 Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge 18 The Institute for Cultural Research 21 Saira Shah 24 References Article Sources and Contributors 26 Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 27 Article Licenses License 28 Idries Shah 1 Idries Shah Idries Shah Born Simla, India Died 23 November 1996London, UK Occupation Writer, publisher Ethnicity Afghan, Indian, Scottish Subjects Sufism, psychology Notable work(s) The Sufis The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin Thinkers of the East Learning How to Learn The Way of the Sufi Reflections Kara Kush Notable award(s) Outstanding Book of the Year (BBC "The Critics"), twice; six first prizes at the UNESCO World Book Year in 1973 Children Saira Shah, Tahir Shah, Safia Shah Signature [1] also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries ,(هاش سیردا :Idries Shah (16 June, 1924 – 23 November, 1996) (Persian was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen ,(يمشاه سيردإ ديس :el-Hashimi (Arabic Idries Shah 2 critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies. Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His early writings centred on magic and witchcraft. In 1960 he established a publishing house, Octagon Press, producing translations of Sufi classics as well as titles of his own. -
The Case of American Sufi Movements1
HYBRIDIDENTITY FORMATIONS IN MUSLIMAMERICA Hybrid Identity Formations in Muslim America: The Case of American Sufi Movements’ Marcia Hermansen Loyola University Chicago, Illinois he minimal attention given to Sufi movements in much previous scholarship on Muslims in America’ is indicative of the assumption T that these movements were marginal to the concerns of most Muslims living in the United States and insignificant in terms of their impact on American culture and institution^.^ At the same time, organizations and publications sponsored by the American Muslim community have largely ignored S~fism.~One academic study called Sufis “the hidden Muslims” of America since they had been largely overlooked by the few sociological studies of American Muslim communities, and because, in many cases, adherents do not attend mosques or belong to mainstream Islamic organi- zations .5 The following study contends that these movements are worthy of attention and that their impact in terms of both the Muslim community and American culture is significant and increasing. The literary output of American Sufi movements is by now so vast that it would require a volume rather than an essay to adequately present the history and doctrines of each of the groups in detail. I therefore aim to provide an overview of major groups, their history and their activities. There is a range of movements that can be considered Sufi-oriented, or that have been influenced to various degrees by the tradition of Islamic mysticism. It is not within the scope of this paper to evaluate the authentici- ty of any movement or individual. However, if the standard for terming a movement “Sufi”were to mean the practice of Islamic law, not all of these movements would be included. -
Islām and Sūfism
Isl ām and S ūfism © Copyright 1991/2006 by Timothy Conway, Ph.D. Brief Overview (for more on specific persons, starting with Prophet Muhammad, see next section) [Note: The saying or writing of the names of Prophet Muhammad and the other prophets [Jesus, Abraham, et al.] and certain eminent saints, but most especially that of Prophet Muhammad, when spoken by pious Muslims are always followed by inclusion of the reverential saying, Sall-All āhu ‘alayhi wa sallam , “God’s peace and blessings be upon him” (sometimes abbreviated in English as p.b.u.h.). For ease of readability, I have omitted that pious custom here.] [Note: The official Muslim calendar, which I have also not used here, is based on the lunar year of 354 days, twelve months of 29 and 30 days, beginning with Prophet Muhammad’s emigration from Mecca to Med īna in 622. To compute a year in the Common Era (C.E. / A.D.) from a Muslim year (h.), multiply the Muslim year by 0.969 and add this to 622. Example: 300 h.= 912-3 CE; 600 h.= 1203-4 CE; 1300 h.= 1881-2 CE.] * * * * * * * * * * sl ām, meaning “submission to All āh/God,” was founded by Prophet Muhammad (571-632) and seen by his fast-growing community as God’s way of bringing a revealed religion to the Arabian people. It all I began one day in the year 610 CE, when Muhammad, who had been orphaned in youth and raised by a series of relatives to become a respected figure in the community, was with his wife Khad īja on Mt. -
Sufism and the Way of Blame
Sufism and the Way of Blame: Hidden Sources of a Sacred Psychology By Yannis Toussulis, Foreword by Robert Abdul Hayy Darr Quest Books, 2011 Reviewed by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos “The People of Blame [Malāmatiyya] are the masters and leaders of the folk of God’s path. Among them is the master of the cosmos, that is, Muhammad, the Messenger of God— God bless him and give him peace!”1 – Ibn ‘Arabī hile the wide proliferation of Sufism (tasawwuf, W the inner dimension of Islam), has brought much needed attention to this rich spiritual tradition which plays a critical role in circumventing the phe- nomenon of Islamophobia in the West and extremism within the Muslim world itself, the downside is that Sufism has become another commodity for Western consumption. Sufism, like other traditional spiritualities, has not been able to easily deflect the waging insurgence of the New Age movement which introduced pseudo-Sufis2 who 1 William C. Chittick, “The People of Blame” in The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Meta- physics of Imagination (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1989), p. 372. 2 See L.P. Elwell-Sutton, “Sufism and Pseudo-Sufism”, Encounter, Vol. XLIV, No. 5, (May 1975), pp. 9-17; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “What Does Islam Have to Offer to the Modern World?” in Sufi Essays (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1972), p. 169; Elizabeth Sirriyeh, “Sufi Thought and its Reconstruction” in Islamic Thought in the Twentieth Century, eds. Suha Taji-Farouki and Basheer M. Nafi (London: I.B. Tauris & Company, 2004), pp. 104-127; Peter Lamborn Wilson, “The Strange Fate of Sufism in the New Age” in New Trends and Developments in the World of Islam, ed.