Tag Archive for: Islamic Mysticism

Fasting in Early Sufi Literature [Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies] – Atif Khalil

Abstract:

In Plato’s Phaedo we encounter a dialogue between Socrates and Cebes around the nature of the soul and its relation to the body. The soul we learn is divine-like, deathless, intelligent, uniform, indissoluble and of course invisible, while the body in contrast is mortal, multiform, changing, soluble and visible. If the body gains mastery over the soul it is bound to drag it down into the sludge and sediment of the lower, material world through the tentacles of desire, and embroil it in confusion and dizziness. On the other hand, if the soul frees itself from the allure of the transient pleasures offered to it by the senses, and in turn gains mastery over the body by assuming its proper and naturally ordered relation to it, then the soul will be prepared for its own inevitable departure and ascent, and thereby, its eternal felicity. Philosophy

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“White Death: Ibn ‘Arabi on the Trials and Virtues of Hunger and Fasting,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 141, no. 3 (2021): 577-586. – Atif Khalil

Abstract

“The article presents an analysis of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s (d. 1240) treatment of fasting and hunger as it appears in chapters 106 and 107 ofal-Futūḥāt al-makkiyya (Meccan revelations). In the process of examining this very short section of the encyclopedic text, the essay both draws out the deeper theological significance of hunger and fasting and highlights the virtues and trappings of the spiritual exercise in the mystic’s thought. An attempt is also made to situate some of Ibn al-ʿArabī’s ideas within the broader context of the earlier Sufi tradition to which he was heir”

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Review of The Pure Intention: On the Knowledge of the Unique Name by Ibn `Aṭā’ Allāh (trans. K. Williams; Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society) in JIMS 6, no. (2021): 108-114

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Review of Sainthood and Authority in Early Islam: Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi’s Theory of wilaya and the Reenvisioning of the Sunni Caliphate by Aiyub Palmer in JIMS 5, no. 2 (2020): 88-93

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Introduction to Islamic Metaphysics: A Contemporary Sufi Treatise on the Secrets of the Divine Name – Yousef Casewit

Abstract:

“In this masterful treatise of Sufi spirituality and metaphysics, Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari maps out the mystical journey to God as an initiatic progression through seven degrees of realization, or readings, of the divine Name Allāh. These seven degrees encapsulate what it means to read in the Name of the Lord, letter by letter, syllable by syllable, until the Hu, Lahu, Lillāh, ilāh, Allāh, Alif, and the Treasure-Dot are inwardly realized in the heart of the wayfarer. The Shaykh guides the reader from secret to secret, or reading to reading, devoting ten subchapters to each degree of the divine Name. Written with both metaphysical rigor and poetic elegance, the book comprises seventy short chapters that correspond to the seventy veils of Light and darkness between God and creation. Throughout the book, he emphasizes the centrality of directly witnessing the Divine Light, the indispensability of a living spiritual master, the dynamic between transcendence and immanence, the purification of the heart, and wholehearted commitment to practicing the Sunna and continuous invocation as a means of attaining direct knowledge of God. Describing the fruit of wayfaring, the Shaykh proclaims: “[It is] a matter of sheer fruitional experience, tasted only by those who plunge the depths of the kernel of the heart..”

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Actionless Action – Mohammed Rustom

Abstract:

“It has indeed been a blessing to sit with the great Kenan Rifai’s commentary 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 Mesnevi  centered around ‘Ali b. Abi Talib tale is retold from Islamic tradition and is cast in Mevlana’s unique terms and worldview. The long and short of the story is as follows: in the heat of a one-on-one encounter with an enemy of Islam, ‘Ali gained the upper hand and thru this opponent to the ground. Just as he was about to finish him off withone blow from his sword, the enemy spat at ‘Ali’s face. When this happened, ‘Ali immediately dropped his sword and walked away. This per-plexed his enemy, and led him to ask ‘Ali in earnest why he had not killed him at that very moment. ‘Ali then speaks, telling the enemy that he only fights for the sake of God. But, when the man insulted him by spitting at him, the possibility that it would become a personal affair had presented itself to him. So he walked away from the situation. ‘Ali then explains that he never acts out of self-interest, but only for, in, and through God“

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