Entries by simar
Life after life: Mulla Sadra on death and immortality – Muhammad U. Faruque
Abstract: The purpose of this article is twofold: first, I will reconstruct Mullā Ṣadrā’s complex arguments for the soul’s immortality based on its immaterial nature. Second and finally, I will briefly probe and assess various epistemological and metaphysical objections against Ṣadrā’s immaterialist conception of the soul. Ṣadrā contends that our bodily death marks an awakening […]
Ibn ʿArabī on the Circle of Trusteeship and the Divine Name al-Wakīl – Atif Khalil
Abstract: With special reference to chapters 119 and 558 of the Meccan Revelations, the article draws out Ibn ʿArabī’s (d. 638/1240) understanding of the divine Name al-Wakīl (“The Trustee”) and the nature of trusteeship (wakāla). In the process, it demonstrates how for our mystic trusteeship forms a circle that begins with the human being entrusting […]
An Interview with Abdel Baki Meftah,Algerian Master of Akbarian Teachings
Abstract: This interview seeks to introduce English-speaking audiences to the life and work of Abdel Baki Meftah, a major contemporary interpreter of Ibn ʿArabi and his school. To date, he has published nearly thirty books in Arabic on Ibn ʿArabi, which include expositions of his life, in-depth studies of particular themes and concepts in Ibn […]
Islamic Thought and the Art of Translation Texts and Studies in Honor of William C. Chittick and Sachiko Murata Edited by Mohammed Rustom
Abstract: I have known William Chittick and Sachiko Murata for over half a century as their teacher, friend, colleague, and scholarly collaborator. It was in 1964, when I was the Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut, that I first met a young American student named Chittick in one of […]
Atonement, Returning, and Repentance in Islam – Atif Khalil
Abstract: “The aim of this article is to demonstrate how in Islam the principle mechanism for atonement lies in tawba(returning, repentance). Divided into four sections, and drawing primarily on the literature of classical Sufism, the analysis begins by defining some key terms related to the idea of atonement, with special attention to the language of […]
The Sufi Path of Light Translated by Khalid Williams & Yousef Casewit
Abstract: “Our Lord is Light; our holy Prophet is Light; our unswerving Islamic faith is Light; our Holy Qurʾān is Light; and our prayer is Light. Why then do you wish to live in darkness? Why do you aloofly imagine, with your delimited and narrow mind, that the Light is merely an abstract concept that […]