Abstract: “What happens in the brain during meditation? Neuroscientists such as Andrew Newberg, who studies religious experiences on the neural level, may provide an answer. He calls the devolution, which is similar to all mystical experiences in different faiths, self-transcendent experience (STE); in a further instance, he also calls it the feeling of Absolute Unitary […]
Abstract: “The AUB Press is pleased to announce the newest title from our Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Series in honor of Dr. Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn. For forty years, Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn’s work at the American University of Beirut revised how we understand the relations of power between the Ottoman center and its Arab peripheries. His […]
Abstract: “This dissertation examines Jalal al-din Rumi (d. 1273) hermeneutics of the Qur’an by focusing on his interpretations of the Qur’anic character of Pharaoh. Although Rumı did not write a commentary in the traditional genre of tafsır by commenting on the Qur’an in a linear verse by verse fashion, significant portions of his poetry are […]
Abstract: “After a tsunami struck Japan in 2011, I vividly recall an interview of an elderly man as he stood over the ruins of his hometown. Overcome by grief, he informed the reporter that the food had killed not only his wife but also his children, their spouses, and his grandchildren. The tragedy took from […]
Abstract: “Ever since Margaret Smith (d. 1970) published the Mystic A.D. 717- 801 and Her Fellow Saints in Islam almost a century ago, Rabi’a has remained a figure of abiding interest in the study of lslam in the West. For Muslims, she has often embodied the archetype of the selfless lover of God, the devotee […]
Abstract: “The present piece focuses on the influence of Plotinus’ understanding of time and eternity as articulated in Plotinus’ third and fifth Enneads upon Mīr Dāmād’s(d. 1631–2) conception of eternity, perpetuity, and time found in his Book of Blazing Brands(Kitab al-Qabasāt).Although Mīr Dāmād’s conception of eternity, perpetuity, and time resembles that of Plotinus’ cosmologyand ontology, […]
Near and Middle Eastern Cultures
Mystik und Vernunfterkenntnisin der Schule Ibn ʿArabī’s Abstract: “Despite the fact that some of the main followers of the famous Spanish Muslim mystic Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) were well-versed in the discipline of philosophy, the school of Ibn ʿArabī is often not regarded in Western scholarship as a philosophical school in the usual sense of […]
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 […]
Abstract: “Proceedings instituted by South Africa against the State of Israel on 29 December 2023 – Request for the indication of provisional measures – Public hearings to be held on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 January 2024”
Abstract: “As it is well-known in theology, performing miracles is the main way prophets used to show that they are honest in their claims and are the true messengers of God. In contrast to this famous opinion, some theologians have not considered miracles as proof of the truth of prophecy. Muslim thinkers such as Mullah […]