_book_id: 0 _book_language: en _book_alttitle: 0 _dedication_title: Dedication _publisher_id: 0 _collection_id_series: sufi i The Journeys of a Taymiyyan Sufi © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004377554_001 Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access ii Studies on Sufism Edited by Rachida Chih Erik S. Ohlander Florian Sobieroj VOLUME 6 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sufi Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access iii The Journeys of a Taymiyyan Sufi Sufism through the Eyes of ʿImād al-Dīn Aḥmad al-Wāsiṭī (d. 711/1311) By Arjan Post LEIDEN | BOSTON Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access iv This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Cover illustration: Antique photograph of a cemetery on the slopes of Mount Qāsyūn in Damascus, which is where al-Wāsiṭī is said to have been buried. Photo: istockphoto.com/ilbusca. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2020026828 Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 2468-0087 isbn 978-90-04-43129-4 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-37755-4 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by Arjan Post. Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. Koninklijke Brill NV reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access v To My Wife, Chaimae & Our Children, Eleonora & Jacob ⸪ Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access vi Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access ContentsContents vii Contents Acknowledgments XI List of Illustrations xIV Transcription Table xV List of Abbreviations xVI xiv Introduction 1 1 A Contextual Approach to Studying Sufism(s) 2 2 Situating Ibn Taymiyya’s Circle in Its Context 6 3 Sufism, Traditionalists, and the Circle of Ibn Taymiyya 9 4 Book Outline: al-Wāsiṭī’s Two Journeys 15 Part 1 The Physical Journey (al-Riḥla) Introduction: Al-Wāsiṭī’s Autobiography 21 1 Leaving Home, Bastion of the Spectacular Rifāʿīs 27 1 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Early Context 27 1.1 Wāsiṭ under the Ilkhanids 30 1.2 An Ilkhanid–Rifāʿī Friendship? 33 2 Al-Wāsiṭī Versus The Rifāʿiyya 36 2.1 Shaykhdom in the Rifāʿiyya 39 2.2 Rifāʿī Practice: Samāʿ and Miracle-Working 48 2.3 Depictions of the Rifāʿiyya: Antinomians or Mainstream Sufis? 53 3 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Final Years in Iraq 58 3.1 The Sober Shāfiʿī Jurists 59 3.2 The Baghdadi Sufis 62 Appendix 1: The Line of Rifāʿī Shaykhs in Umm ʿUbayda and Wāsiṭ 68 2 Scholastic Sufism of the Alexandrian Shādhiliyya 70 1 The Egyptian Context 70 1.1 Stagnation and War 71 1.2 Egypt’s Sufi Capital? 76 2 Enter the Shādhiliyya of Alexandria 82 2.1 The Network of the Early Shādhiliyya 85 2.2 The Doctrine of the Early Shādhiliyya 94 Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access Contents Acknowledgments Illustrations Transcription Table Abbreviations of Arabic Invocations xvi Introduction 1 1 A Contextual Approach to Studying Sufism(s) 2 2 Situating Ibn Taymiyya’s Circle in Its Context 6 3 Sufism, Traditionalists, and the Circle of Ibn Taymiyya 9 4 Book Outline: al-Wāsiṭī’s Two Journeys 15 viii Contents Part 1 The Physical Journey (al-Riḥla) Introduction Part 1 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Autobiography 21 2.3 The Success of the Shādhiliyya 103 Chapter 1 Leaving Home, Bastion of the Spectacular Rifāʿīs 27 1 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Early Context 27 1.1 Wāsiṭ under the Ilkhanids 30 3 The Final Steps: From Heretics to the Saved Sect 118 1.2 An Ilkhanid–Rifāʿī Friendship? 33 2 Al-Wāsiṭī versus the Rifāʿiyya 36 1 Cairene Convents and Monistic Sufis 118 2.1 Shaykhdom in the Rifāʿiyya 39 1.1 The Sufis of Convention 119 2.2 Rifāʿī Practice: Samāʿ and Miracle-Working 48 2.3 Depictions of the Rifāʿiyya: Antinomians or Mainstream Sufis? 53 1.2 The Heresy of the Ittiḥādiyya 125 3 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Final Years in Iraq 58 3.1 The Sober Shāfiʿī Jurists 59 2 Conversion to the Saved Sect: Ibn Taymiyya’s Damascene Circle 134 3.2 The Baghdadi Sufis 62 Appendix 1: The Line of Rifāʿī Shaykhs in Umm ʿUbayda and Wāsiṭ 68 2.1 Sufism and Ḥanbalī Piety in Damascus 134 Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. ʿAbd −̶−̶−̶→ ʿIzz al-Dīn Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm 68 Chapter 2 2.2 In the Company of Ibn Taymiyya: Ṣuḥba under the Shaykh Scholastic Sufism of the Alexandrian Shādhiliyya 70 1 The Egyptian Context 70 al-Islām 142 1.1 Stagnation and War 71 1.2 Egypt’s Sufi Capital? 76 2.3 A Shaykh of Sufism for the Taymiyyan Circle 155 2 Enter the Shādhiliyya of Alexandria 82 2.1 The Network of the Early Shādhiliyya 85 Appendix 2: The Ḥadīth-Scholars Attended By The Taymiyyan Circle 169 2.2 The Doctrine of the Early Shādhiliyya 94 2.3 The Success of the Shādhiliyya 103 Appendix 3: Biographies of al-Wāsiṭī’s Companions from Ibn Taymiyya’s Chapter 3 The Final Steps: From Heretics to the Saved Sect 118 Circle 170 1 Cairene Convents and Monistic Sufis 118 1.1 The Sufis of Convention 119 1.2 The Heresy of the Ittiḥādiyya 125 2 Conversion to the Saved Sect: Ibn Taymiyya’s Damascene Circle 134 2.1 Sufism and Ḥanbalī Piety in Damascus 134 2.2 In the Company of Ibn Taymiyya: Ṣuḥba under the Shaykh al-Islām 142 Part 2 2.3 A Shaykh of Sufism for the Taymiyyan Circle 155 Appendix 2: The Ḥadīth-Scholars Attended by the Taymiyyan Circle 169 Appendix 3: Biographies of al-Wāsiṭī’s Companions from Ibn Taymiyya’s Circle 170 The Spiritual Journey (al-Sulūk) Part 2 The Spiritual Journey (al-Sulūk) Introduction Part 2 Introduction: Sulūk as Sufism 177 Sulūk as Sufism 177 Chapter 4 Traditionalist Sufism: Outlining the Foundations of the Journey 182 1 Introduction 182 4 Traditionalist Sufism: Outlining the Foundations of the Journey 182 2 The Muḥammadan Way (al-Tarīqa al-Muḥammadiyya) 183 2.1 The Origins of the Ṭarīqa Muḥammadiyya 184 1 Introduction 184 2.2 How to Practice the Muḥammadan Way 190 2.3 The Role of the Shaykh in the Muḥammadan Way 197 2 The Muḥammadan Way (al-Tarīqa al-Muḥammadiyya) 183 3 Sound Maʿrifa of God and His Attributes 200 3.1 What is Maʿrifa of God? 201 2.1 The Origins of the Ṭarīqa Muḥammadiyya 184 3.2 Affirmation versus Metaphorical Interpretation 204 3.3 The Critical Importance of Direction 208 2.2 How to Practice the Muḥammadan Way 190 4 What Sufism is Not: Refuting the Deviations of Sufis 214 4.1 Sufi Audition (Samāʿ) 215 2.3 The Role of the Shaykh in the Muḥammadan Way 197 4.2 Philosophy and Kalām 220 4.3 The Monistic Akbarians 225 3 Sound Maʿrifa of God and His Attributes 200 5 Conclusion 231 Chapter 5 3.1 What is Maʿrifa of God? 201 Progressing Towards the Beloved through the Degrees of Witnessing 233 3.2 Affirmation versus Metaphorical Interpretation 204 1 Introduction 233 2 Putting Maʿrifa into Practice 236 3.3 The Critical Importance of Direction 208 2.1 Servitude through the Divine Names and Attributes 238 2.2 The Heart as the Locus of Witnessing 243 4 What Sufism is Not: Refuting the Deviations of Sufis 214 3 The Sequence of the Degrees of Witnessing (Tartīb al-Mashāhid) 248 3.1 The Heart’s Witnessing of Divinity (Mashhad al-Ilāhiyya) 250 4.1 Sufi Audition (Samāʿ) 215 3.2 The Heart’s Witnessing of Lordship (Mashhad al-Rubūbiyya) 255 3.3 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Shaykhs and Their Teachings Regarding Divinity and Lordship 260 4.2 Philosophy and Kalām 220 3.4 Other Degrees of Witnessing by the Heart 262 3.5 The Spirit’s Witnessing of Union (al-Jamʿ) and Singularity (al-Fardāniyya) 264 4.3 The Monistic Akbarians 225 4 Conclusion 274 Conclusion 5 Conclusion 231 How does the Journey Continue? 277 Bibliography 284 Index of Qur’an and Ḥadīth References 307 Index of Technical Terms 308 Index of Persons, Groups, and Places 315 Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access Contents ix 5 Progressing Towards the Beloved through the Degrees of Witnessing 233 1 Introduction 233 2 Putting Maʿrifa into Practice 236 2.1 Servitude through the Divine Names and Attributes 238 2.2 The Heart as the Locus of Witnessing 243 3 The Sequence of the Degrees of Witnessing (Tartīb al-Mashāhid) 248 3.1 The Heart’s Witnessing of Divinity (Mashhad al-Ilāhiyya) 250 3.2 The Heart’s Witnessing of Lordship (Mashhad al-Rubūbiyya) 255 3.3 Al-Wāsiṭī’s Shaykhs and Their Teachings Regarding Divinity and Lordship 260 3.4 Other Degrees of Witnessing by the Heart 262 3.5 The Spirit’s Witnessing of Union (al-Jamʿ) and Singularity (al-Fardāniyya) 264 4 Conclusion 274 Conclusion 277 Bibliography 285 Index of Qur’an and Ḥadīth References 308 Index of Technical Terms 309 Index of Persons, Groups, and Places 316 Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access x Contents Arjan Post - 978-90-04-37755-4 Downloaded from Brill.com10/12/2020 10:24:28AM via free access AcknowledgmentsAcknowledgments xi Acknowledgments The book before you is a slightly altered version of my doctoral dissertation, which I wrote over the course of three years at Utrecht University and success- fully defended on 27 November 2017.