Abstract: “Rumi’s teachings, whether in the Maṯnawi or his other works, focus on “the roots of the roots of the roots of the religion” (o ṣul o ṣul o ṣul al-din, Ma ṯ nawi I intro.). By “the religion” he means the Islamic tradition, not religion generically; he is saying that his works go to the heart and soul of the Quranic message and do not get mired […]
Abstract: “Anyone, whether he or she be a Muslim, a follower of another religion, ormore generally anyone who is seriously interested in the relation between Is-lam and the West and Islam in the West, cannot but be attracted to this volume, which is the fruit of the thought of some of the best minds of the younger generation […]
Abstract: “The article examines early Sufi notions of rida, usually translated as ‘‘contentment,’’ ‘‘satisfaction,’’ and ‘‘good-pleasure.’’ It does so through a close textual analysis of some of the most important works of the tradition authored up until what has been identified as the ‘‘formative period of Sufi literature,’’ a period which ends in the 11th century. In the process, the article situates rida within the larger context of […]
Abstract: “The incantation of the Simurgh awakens those who are asleep and its abode is on the cosmic mountain (Qāf ). Its incantation reaches everyone but few listen to it. Everyone is with it and yet the majority are without it. . . . This Simurgh flies without moving and takes to the air without wings, and approaches without […]
Abstract: “When William C. Chittick published his encyclopedic Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-‘Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination almost thirty years ago, he made readily available to the English speaking world,for the first time, lengthy excerpts drawn primarily from the thirteenth century Andalusian thinker’s most comprehensive summation of Sufi thought in the Meccan Revelations. Chittick’s most significant contribu-tion, arguably, lay in the virtually unparalleled lucidity with […]
Abstract: “Love and beauty have been defining elements of Islam from its inception. The introduction to each sūrah of the Qurʾān,Bismill āh al-raḥmān al-raḥī m, repeats two Divine Names that convey God’s omnibenevolence. These names are usually rendered using the terms “Mercy”and “Compassion,” but as some have argued, “In the Name of God, The Ever-Loving,the All-Loving” better captures the […]
Abstract: “The medieval history of Sufism in Multan is relatively well known. A figure such as the famous Suhrawardi Shaykh Baha’ al- Dn Zakariyya from the thirteenth century embodies this prestigious period. Our article shows that the Sufi brotherhoods have continued to flourish until today, far beyond what traditional historiography describes. Using unexplored sources mostly […]
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 but […]
Abstract: “The terms, “Sufism” and “the Science of the Letters” ( ilm al-ḥurūf)’ mentioned together frequently awaken associations with the most widely known work on magic in Islam, Shams al-ma’arifwa-lata’i], al-‘awiirif(“The Brilliance of Knowledge and the Subtleties of its Gift”) of Abii l-‘Abbas Ahmad b. ‘Ali al-Buni ( d.622/1225).The author was a native of the […]
Abstract: “Consciousness is perhaps the most basic, and therefore impossible to describe or define, reality – a conception, which in most schemas, is presupposed by all conceptions (there must be a consciousness conceiving of these conceptions). Numerous scientists have called consciousness the ‘final frontier’ of their discipline, but those of us who study religion (and […]
Abstract: “Only rarely does a publication such as this offer scholars the opportunity to explain what they hope to accomplish, and why they are motivated to do it. In this jubilee edition, our department of religious studies has invited each of us to ask the question: why? For my own part, the answer begins with […]
“At the end of July, I was amongst 60 people who retreated from our daily lives, in a valley called Pontbriand, high in the Appalachians of Quebec. There, for six days, we followed a rhythm of existence that centred around devotion, reflection, and seeking of wisdom and meaning. We gathered early morning to pray and […]