Download or read book Re visioning Sufism written by Jonas Atlas and published by Yunus Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-28 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sufism is often described as ‘the mystical branch of Islam’. Giving some more attention to this underexposed spiritual side, it is often proposed, could help us to ease certain contemporary societal tensions. One finger then points toward the rigorous religious aggression of fundamentalism as ‘the problem’, while another points toward the soft beauty of mysticism as ‘the solution’. Yet, no matter how well-intended the contemporary focus on Sufism might often be, in the end, it repeatedly portrays a lack of comprehension when it comes to Islamic mysticism. The typical descriptions are full of mistakes, and the conclusions they lead to need much nuance. Those misunderstandings do not simply stem from innocent ignorance. They are misunderstandings with more profound origins and implications. They’re closely tied to enormous blind spots in the contemporary view of religion and deeply entwined with pressing political issues. In fact, the way we deal with mysticism in general and with Sufism in particular actually kindles many contemporary conflicts. This book thus seeks to add the necessary nuances, correct the misunderstandings and unveil the contemporary ‘politics of mysticism’. It seeks to clarify how the growing interest in what is called ‘Sufism’ is connected to both the contemporary demonization of Islam and the modern destruction of profound spirituality in the East as well as the West.
Download or read book Outline of Sufism written by William Stoddart and published by World Wisdom, Inc. This book was released on 2012 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Followed by many millions of Muslims throughout the world, Sufism is the heart of Islamic spirituality. This succinct, yet comprehensive book offers an overview of Sufism's fundamental doctrines and spiritual practices. Book jacket.
Download or read book Religion and Mysticism in Early Islam written by Muhammad Ali Aziz and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-03-30 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholar, mystic and visionary, Ibn 'Alwan lived through the transition from Ayyubid to Rasulid rule in thirteenth-century Yemen. He was well known in his time for his critique of the ruling elites and their governance, and left behind a substantial body of writings on Islamic mysticism, theology, law and exegesis of the Qur'an. Here Muhammad Aziz presents a comprehensive portrait of Ibn 'Alwan, delineating the religious and political background in Yemen, the development of Sufi orders, the interplay between Sufi, Shi'i and Sunni traditions, and the impact of Ibn 'Alwan on the history of Sufism and Islam. The first study of Ibn 'Alwan in English, "Religion and Mysticism in Early Islam" is essential reading for all those interested in mysticism, early Islam, Sufism, and religion and history more generally.
Download or read book Early Islamic Mysticism written by Michael Anthony Sells and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume makes available and accessible the writings of the crucial early period of Islamic mysticism during which Sufism developed as one of the world's major mystical traditions. The texts are accompanied by commentary on their historical, literary and philosophical context.
Download or read book Mystics and Saints of Islam written by Claud Field and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-09-16 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Mystics and Saints of Islam" by Claud Field. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
Download or read book Islamic Spirituality written by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-05 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published 1987. The first part of the volume is concerned with "The Roots of the Islamic Tradition and Spirituality". These are seen to include the Qu’ran as the central theophany of Islam, the Prophet who received the word of God and made it known to mankind and the rites of Islam. The second part examines the divisions of the Islamic community with their distinctive pieties and emphases: Sunnism and Shi’ism and female spirituality. Part III is devoted to Sufism – its nature and origin, its early development, its various spiritual practices and its science of the soul.
Download or read book Sufism written by Alexander Knysh and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-31 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pathbreaking history of Sufism, from the earliest centuries of Islam to the present After centuries as the most important ascetic-mystical strand of Islam, Sufism saw a sharp decline in the twentieth century, only to experience a stunning revival in recent decades. In this comprehensive new history of Sufism from the earliest centuries of Islam to today, Alexander Knysh, a leading expert on the subject, reveals the tradition in all its richness. Knysh explores how Sufism has been viewed by both insiders and outsiders since its inception. He examines the key aspects of Sufism, from definitions and discourses to leadership, institutions, and practices. He devotes special attention to Sufi approaches to the Qur’an, drawing parallels with similar uses of scripture in Judaism and Christianity. He traces how Sufism grew from a set of simple moral-ethical precepts into a sophisticated tradition with professional Sufi masters (shaykhs) who became powerful players in Muslim public life but whose authority was challenged by those advocating the equality of all Muslims before God. Knysh also examines the roots of the ongoing conflict between the Sufis and their fundamentalist critics, the Salafis—a major fact of Muslim life today. Based on a wealth of primary and secondary sources, Sufism is an indispensable account of a vital aspect of Islam.
Download or read book Sufi Institutions written by Alexandre Papas and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-11-30 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume describes the social and practical aspects of Islamic mysticism (Sufism) across centuries and geographical regions. Its authors seek to transcend ethereal, essentialist and “spiritualizing” approaches to Sufism, on the one hand, and purely pragmatic and materialistic explanations of its origins and history, on the other. Covering five topics (Sufism’s economy, social role of Sufis, Sufi spaces, politics, and organization), the volume shows that mystics have been active socio-religious agents who could skillfully adjust to the conditions of their time and place, while also managing to forge an alternative way of living, worshiping and thinking. Basing themselves on the most recent research on Sufi institutions, the contributors to this volume substantially expand our understanding of the vicissitudes of Sufism by paying special attention to its organizational and economic dimensions, as well as complex and often ambivalent relations between Sufis and the societies in which they played a wide variety of important and sometimes critical roles. Contributors are Mehran Afshari, Ismail Fajrie Alatas, Semih Ceyhan, Rachida Chih, Nathalie Clayer, David Cook, Stéphane A. Dudoignon, Daphna Ephrat, Peyvand Firouzeh, Nathan Hofer, Hussain Ahmad Khan, Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen, Richard McGregor, Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, Alexandre Papas, Luca Patrizi, Paulo G. Pinto, Adam Sabra, Mark Sedgwick, Jean-Jacques Thibon, Knut S. Vikør and Neguin Yavari
Download or read book Islamic Spirituality and Mysticism sufism written by Muhammad Tahir (General) and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Sufism Mystics and Saints in Modern Egypt written by Valerie J. Hoffman and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2023-06-30 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries Sufism—Islamic mysticism—held a major place in Islamic spirituality, intellectual life, and popular religion. While many scholars have commented on Sufism's decline, few have delved deeply into present-day Egyptian Sufism or considered it as a system in its own right. Drawing on her detailed fieldwork and a variety of little known literary sources, Valerie J. Hoffman presents Sufism as it exists in Egypt today, in the vivid experiences of its adherents. With an array of conclusions that overturn widely held beliefs about modern Sufis, Hoffman argues that the apparent assimilation of Egyptian Sufism masks a thriving movement hidden from the Western world. From her experiences as a quasi disciple of a Sufi master, she offers new insights into the movement's evolution, the vital role of women in Sufism, and Sufi perspectives on gender and sexuality.
Download or read book The Mystics of Islam written by Reynold A. Nicholson and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2023-11-24 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sūfism, the religious philosophy of Islam, is described in the oldest extant definition as 'the apprehension of divine realities,' and Mohammedan mystics are fond of calling themselves Ahl al-Haqq, 'the followers of the Real.' In attempting to set forth their central doctrines from this point of view, the author draws to some extent on materials which he has collected for a history of Islamic mysticism. This edition provides an easy approach to the study of Islamic mysticism. Apart what the general reader requires to be told at first about Sūfism; the book includes a large amount of material that will be new even to professional Orientalists. Dr. Nicholson sets before us the results of twenty years' unremitting labour, and that, too, with remarkable simplicity and clarity for such a subject; at the same time he lets the mystics mostly speak for themselves and mainly in his own fine versions from the original Arabic and Persian.
Download or read book Sufism written by Reynold A. Nicholson and published by Indoeuropeanpublishing.Com. This book was released on 2009-06 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts: Sufism, the religious philosophy of Islam, is described in the oldest extant definition as the apprehension of divine realities, and Mohammedan mystics are fond of calling themselves Ahl al-Haqq, 'the followers of the Real.' In attempting to set forth their central doctrines from this point of view, I shall draw to some extent on materials which I have collected during the last twenty years for a general history of Islamic mysticism-a subject so vast and many-sided that several large volumes would be required to do it anything like justice. Here I can only sketch in broad outline certain principles, methods, and characteristic features of the inner life as it has been lived by Moslems of every class and condition from the eighth century of our era to the present day... The Sufi who sets out to seek God calls himself a 'traveler' (salik); he advances by slow 'stages' (maqamat) along a 'path' (tariqat) to the goal of union with Reality...
Download or read book In the Garden of Myrtles written by Tor Andræ and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here are the early Sufis themselves. Here are their ascetic practices; their attitudes toward women and marriage, toward food and drink, and toward music and poetry; and here is their ecstatic experience. This is a study in holiness and the love of God, but it is even more a study of men and women overcome by that holiness and love, and locked in the paradox of loving a God who makes vast demands on them. The early Sufis were not seeking consolation. Who they were and what they were after, the reader will discover here. Topics discussed include the historical background of early Muslim mysticism and the relations between Muslim and Christian ascetics. Andrae suggests parallels drawn from his vast reading in the literature of religious experience, both East and West.
Download or read book What is Sufism written by Martin Lings and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1975 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Mystics of Islam written by Reynold Alleyne Nicholson and published by . This book was released on 1963 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Sufi Path of Love written by William C. Chittick and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 1984-06-30 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the most accessible work in English on the greatest mystical poet of Islam, providing a survey of the basic Sufi and Islamic doctrines concerning God and the world, the role of man in the cosmos, the need for religion, man's ultimate becoming, the states and stations of the mystical ascent to God, and the means whereby literature employs symbols to express "unseen" realities. William Chittick translates into English for the first time certain aspects of Rumi's work. He selects and rearranges Rumi's poetry and prose in order to leave aside unnecessary complications characteristic of other English translations and to present Rumi's ideas in an orderly fashion, yet in his own words. Thorough, nontechnical introductions to each chapter, and selections that gradually present a greater variety of terms and images, make this work easily accessible to those interested in the spirituality of any tradition.
Download or read book Before Sufism written by Christopher Melchert and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2020-06-08 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Melchert proposes to historicize Islamic renunciant piety (zuhd). As the conquest period wound down in the early eighth century c.e., renunciants set out to maintain the contempt of worldly comfort and loyalty to a greater cause that had characterized the community of Muslims in the seventh century. Instead of reckless endangerment on the battlefield, they cultivated intense fear of the Last Judgement to come. They spent nights weeping, reciting the Qur’an, and performing supererogatory ritual prayers. They stressed other-worldliness to the extent of minimizing good works in this world. Then the decline of tribute from the conquered peoples and conversion to Islam made it increasingly unfeasible for most Muslims to keep up any such régime. Professional differentiation also provoked increasing criticism of austerity. Finally, in the later ninth century, a form of Sufism emerged that would accommodate those willing and able to spend most of their time on religious devotions, those willing and able to spend their time on other religious pursuits such as law and hadith, and those unwilling or unable to do either.
