Actionless Action Mohammed Rustom It has indeed been a blessing to sit with the great Kenan Rifai’s com mentary upon book one of Mevlana’s Mesnevi Spending time with this book naturally led me to Kenan Rifai’s explanation of a famous tale in the centered around ‘Ali b. Abi Talib. The tale is retold from……… (link […]
Abstract: Philosophy’s relation to the Islamic tradition has often been debated In modern stud-ies. A good number of the experts consider the relation tenuous, and others disagree.The difference of opinion has much to do with differing understandings of the keyterms of the debate. No one seems to have doubted that at least some of the […]
Abstract Gratitude or shukr is one of the most central of Islamic virtues, the importance of which is underscored by the fact that the defining notions of “faith” and “disbelief” revolve around the pivots of shukr and kufr (= ingratitude). The article focuses on treatments of the virtue within the Sufi tradition, and even here, […]
Abstarct: It has been argued that in the tradition of Western ethics there have beentwo general approaches to gratitude. There is first of all a view found mostlyamong modern moral philosophers which treats the given virtue as a set offeelings and attitudes. The grateful person is obliged first and foremost to sincerelyacknowledge the benefaction before […]
Abstract: The role and function of gratitude or shukr in Islam has been atopic that, until recently, has been the subject of little extensiveanalysis.This is despite the central place of gratitude within the…..
Abstract: Few topics seem so pressing as the threat of war. Eager to establishpeace and prevent a world-wide conflagration, people want to “dosomething” as soon as possible. Many of them look to religion withthe idea that its help should be enlisted in accomplishing this most urgent of..
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Abstract: In an attempt to understand a well-known though often unexamined exegetical principle,this article offers a reading of the story of Joseph in light of two Quranic passages, namely 39:23and, most importantly, 95:4-6. What links these texts is the concept of beauty. In 39:23, theQuran is referred to as “the most beautiful discourse,” while 95:4 […]
Abstract: “There is a famous tradition in Islam in which an unknown man, fully clad in white and evincing no signs of travel, approaches the Prophet Muhammad and begins to ask him several questions. Prior to his last question, which has to do with eschatology, the man asks the Prophet to define three terms: Islam, […]