Abstract “Nearly a decade ago, I delivered a lecture which was part of a monthly philosophy colloquium series hosted by the philosophy department at my University. Unlike most of if not every other paper delivered in the series, my topic had to do with a non-European philosophical tradition—Islamic philosophy. The title of the lecture was […]
Abstract: In this article, I would like to offer some remarks on what Rumi has to say about love. What, in other words, is it? From his perspective,inquiring into the nature of love can only give one partial answers,since the very inquiry into what love is entails a partial question. The easiest way for Rumi […]
Abstract: It is well-known that Rumi (d. 1273) was a great lover of the Prophet Muhammad. This is best typified in such verses as the ones with which the present article begins. Given our knowledge of the devotion to the Prophet that we find in Rumi’s writings and in the works of many other Sufi […]
Abstract: Islamic traditional teachings are couched in a language which is not easily understood by many contemporary men, especially those with a modern education. The old treatises were usually written in a syllogistic language which is no longer prevalent today. What must be done is to disengage the content of Islamic philosophy from the language […]
Abstract: Modern scholars have been interested in the great Persian Sufi martyr ʿAyn al-Quḍāt Hamadānī (d. 525/1131) for over six decades. Despite this fact, many aspects of his life and thought still remain terra incognita. Our knowledge of the circumstances surrounding his death is a case-in-point. Although we have a fairly good understanding ofthe factors […]
Abstract: This is a remarkable little book. As I read it through I was astonishedat Dr. Mahmutc´ehajic´’s ability to reformulate classical positions ofMuslim thinkers and spiritual teachers in fresh and original ways. Despitehis use of a nondenominational language, he is completely inline with the Islamic intellectual tradition founded by the Qur’an andthe Prophet and echoed […]
Abstract: Abū l-Ḥasan al-Shushtarī’s (d. 668/1269) heretofore unedited and unstudied treatise, “On the Limits [of Theology and Sufism]” (R. al-Quṣāriyya) is a succinct account of the celebrated Andalusī Sufi poet’s understanding of the relationship between discursive knowledge (ʿilm) of the rational Ashʿarite theologians, direct and unitive recognition (maʿrifa) of the Sufis, and verified knowledge (taḥqīq) […]
Abstract: The origins of the academic study of Sufism in Western scholarshipmay be retraced to the second half of the 18th century, with the firstindependent work on the subject appearing in 1819 by Lt. James W.Graham (d. 1845), an officer working on the staff of Sir John Malcolm (d.1833), a scholar-general in the British colonial […]
Abstract “I tried to imagine how the authors of the old texts that I read would have reacted to the phrase “the silence of God.” Probably they would have muttered, “Try listening for once.” Or they might have quoted the Qur’anic verse, “They have hearts but they do not understand with them, they have eyes […]
Abstract: Man exists in space and time. At any space and time we can turn in any number of potential directions—but none can bring us fulfillment, for nothing that happens to us is enough in itself. But all boundedness in space and time has the potential to direct us toward the Boundless, that which lies […]
Abstract The problem of evil challenges the conception of a deity that combines the attributes of Omnipotence and Goodness: either attribute alone is compatible with the existence of evil, but the combination of the two is not. And yet it is precisely this combination of attributes that is claimed by the monotheistic God of the […]