Download or read book Knowing the Unknown Through Science and Sufism written by Dr. Ghayur Ayub and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2016-06-09 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Knowing the Unknown Through Science and Sufism touches on the creation of the universe, starting from the Big Bang and following through the phases of evolution until the present day, discussing the appearance of life on earth after billions of years of turmoil. It looks at the early beginnings of religion in prehistoric societies and how this progressed into organized religion as we know it today. This book explores the similarities between the scientific concepts related to evolutionary change and the concepts that Sufis have highlighted with reference to verses of the Quran. It discusses the history of mankind and the journey through theological, philosophical, and spiritual phases. The book attempts to expand on the concept of time in relation to evolution and the difficulty in defining time and why the Quran mentions different times in different verses and also on an understanding of time in the present day. The subject matter is vast, but this book has attempted to address it in a more easily accessible way.
Download or read book Sufism written by Deepshikha Shahi and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-06-22 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an effort to attain a ‘global’ character, the contemporary academic discipline of International Relations (IR) increasingly seeks to surpass its Eurocentric limits, thereby opening up pathways to incorporate non-Eurocentric worldviews. Lately, many of the non-Eurocentric worldviews have emerged which either engender a ‘derivative’ discourse of the same Eurocentric IR theories, or construct an ‘exceptionalist’ discourse which is particularly applicable to the narrow experiential realities of a native time-space zone: as such, they fall short of the ambition to produce a genuinely ‘non-derivative’ and ‘non-exceptionalist’ Global IR theory. Against this backdrop, Sufism: A Theoretical Intervention in Global International Relations performs a multidisciplinary research to explore how ‘Sufism’ – as an established non-Western philosophy with a remarkable temporal-spatial spread across the globe – facilitates a creative intervention in the theoretical understanding of Global IR.
Download or read book The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Sufi Mysticism written by Hazrat Inayat Khan and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mysticism is the essence and the basis of all knowledge, science, art, philosophy, religion and literature. These all come under the heading of mysticism. When one traces the origin of medicine, which has developed into the pure science it is today, one will find that its source was in intuition. It is the mystics who have given it to the world. For instance, Avicenna, the great Persian mystic, has contributed more to medicine than any other man in the world history of medicine. We know the meaning of science to be a clear knowledge based on reason and logic; but at the same time, where did it start? Was it by reason and logic? First, there was intuition, then came reason, and finally, logic was applied to it. Furthermore, in the lower creation there are no doctors, yet the creatures are their own physicians. The animals know whether they will best be cured by standing in the sun, by bathing in a pool of water, by running in the free air, or by sitting quietly under the shade of a tree. I once knew a sensible dog who used to fast every Thursday. No doubt many people of the east would say he was an incarnation of a Brahmin; but to me, it was a puzzle how the dog knew it was Thursday! People think a mystic means a dreamer, an impractical person who has no knowledge of worldly affairs. But such a mystic I would call only half a mystic. A mystic, in the full sense of the word, must have balance. He must be as wise in worldly matters as in spiritual things. People have had many misconceptions of what a mystic is. They have called a fortune-teller a mystic, or a medium, a clairvoyant, a visionary. I do not mean that a mystic does not possess all of these qualities, but these qualities do not make a mystic. A real mystic should prove to be an inspired artist, a wonderful scientist, an influential statesman. He should be just as qualified for business, industry, social and political life as is the materially minded man. When people say to me, 'You are a mystic, I thought you would take no notice of this or that,' I do not like it. Why should I not take notice of it? I take notice of every little detail, although every little detail does not occupy my mind so much that I take notice of nothing else. It is not necessary to be unconscious of the world while being conscious of God. With our two eyes we see one vision; so we should see both aspects, God and the world, as a clear vision at the same time. It is difficult, but not impossible.
Download or read book Sufis written by Idries Shah and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2020-06-20 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sufis is the best introduction ever written to the philosophical and mystical school traditionally associated with the Islamic world.Powerful, concise, and intensely thought-provoking, it sums up over a thousand years of Eastern thought - the product of some of the greatest minds humanity has ever produced - into a single work, presenting timeless ideas in a fresh and contemporary style.When the book was originally published in 1964, it launched its author, Idries Shah, on to the international stage, attracting the attention of thinkers and writers such as J. D. Salinger, Doris Lessing, Ted Hughes and Robert Graves.It introduced to the Western world concepts which have subsequently become commonly accepted, varying from the psychological importance of attention and humour, to the use of traditional tales as teaching instruments (what Shah termed 'teaching-stories'), and the historical debt owed by the West to the Middle East in matters scientific, literary and philosophical.As a primer for the many dozens of Sufi books that Shah later produced, it is unsurpassed, offering a clear window onto a community whose system of thought and action has long concerned itself with the advancement of the whole of humankind, and whose ideas about individuals and society, their purpose and direction, need to be understood now more than ever before.
Download or read book Knowing how to Know written by Idries Shah and published by Octagon Press, Limited. This book was released on 2000-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary esoteric systems almost invariably play on the desire of mankind to seek or acquire knowledge. Almost universally neglected in such systems are the -- often unrecognised -- barriers which prevent knowledge and understanding. Before learning can take place, certain conditions and basic factors must be in place; in the individual or the group. Building on the foundations laid in Learning how to Learn and The Commanding Self, Idries Shah in Knowing how to Know illuminates those factors. Like an ultra-violet light shone onto the petals of flowers, it reveals concealed patterns, normally invisible to our customary modes of thought. -- Publisher description.
Download or read book The Scientific Sufi written by Meher Wan and published by Penguin Random House India Private Limited. This book was released on 2023-03-20 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Scientific Sufi is the most definitive English language biography of Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, the father of modern science in India. In his time, he came close to, and many believe was robbed of, his due to winning at least two Nobel Prizes, if not one, for his work on wireless communication and the discovery of nervous system in plants. This biography carefully reconstructs his life, times, work, legacy, childhood, early years, influences and paint an intimate portrait of the father of modern science in India.
Download or read book The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan Philosophy Psychology and Myst written by Hazrat Inayat Khan and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are three steps which lead the seeker to the altar of divine wisdom. One is philosophy, the next is psychology, and the third is mysticism. Philosophy is learned by the analysis and synthesis of all that we perceive through the five senses. Psychology is learned by the analysis and synthesis of all that we can feel in human nature and in our character, and mysticism is learned by the analysis and synthesis of the whole of life, both that which is seen and that which is unseen. Philosophy therefore is learned by the study of things, psychology is learnt by thinking, and mysticism is learned by meditation. The one who takes these three steps towards divine knowledge completes his life's study; but he omits the first or the second step, philosophy or psychology, and arrives directly at mysticism, he leaves behind some knowledge that could have helped him impart his knowledge to others. Therefore it is most essential that these threes steps be taken one after the other. The words philosophy, psychology, and mysticism should not be interpreted in the sense in which they are generally used today. By philosophy is not meant a certain philosophy. By psychology is not meant a certain system. By mysticism is not meant a certain occult science. But by philosophy is meant the knowledge of things perceived through the intelligence or intuition, by psychology the knowledge of the human character and of human nature, and by mysticism the knowledge of being.
Download or read book The Journeys of a Taymiyyan Sufi written by Arjan Post and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Journeys of a Taymiyyan Sufi explores the life and teachings of ʿImād al-Dīn Aḥmad al-Wāsiṭī (d. 711/1311), a little-known Ḥanbalī Sufi master from the circle of Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). The first part of this book follows al-Wāsiṭī’s physical journey in search of spiritual guidance through a critical study of his autobiographical writings. This provides unique insights into the Rifāʿiyya, the Shādhiliyya, and the school of Ibn ʿArabī, several manifestations of Sufism that he encountered as he travelled from Wāsiṭ to Baghdad, Alexandria, and Cairo. Part I closes with his final destination, Damascus, where his membership of Ibn Taymiyya’s circle and his role as a Sufi teacher is closely examined. The second part focuses on al-Wāsiṭī’s spiritual journey through a study of his Sufi writings, which convey the distinct type of traditionalist Sufism that he taught in early eighth/fourteenth-century Damascus. Besides providing an overview of the spiritual path unto God from beginning to end as he formulated it, this reveals an exceptional interplay between Sufi theory and traditionalist theology.
Download or read book West Asia and the Region written by Rajendra M. Abhyankar and published by Academic Foundation. This book was released on 2008 with total page 768 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributed articles presented at the National Conference on "West Asia and the Region: Defining India's Role" held at the Centre for West Asian Studies on Aug. 21-22, 2006.
Download or read book Science and Technology in World History Volume 2 written by David Deming and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science is a living, organic activity, the meaning and understanding of which have evolved incrementally over human history. This book, the second in a roughly chronological series, explores the evolution of science from the advents of Christianity and Islam through the Middle Ages, focusing especially on the historical relationship between science and religion. Specific topics include technological innovations during the Middle Ages; Islamic science; the Crusades; Gothic cathedrals; and the founding of Western universities. Close attention is given to such figures as Paul the Apostle, Hippolytus, Lactantius, Cyril of Alexandria, Hypatia, Cosmas Indicopleustes, and the Prophet Mohammed.
Download or read book PHYSICS AND SUFI COSMOLOGY written by Sardar Irshad Shaheen and published by Fulton Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2023-11-27 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The perennial enigma the human mind has been encountering is the meaning of life and its place in the universe. On this subject, science and spirituality remained in discord with each other particularly for the last couple of centuries. The Theory of Relativity followed by quantum mechanics changed the worldview of traditional mindset altogether. The postulates of quantum physics paved the way for growing interest in philosophical spirituality. Theoretical physicist Fritjof Capra's book The Tao of Physics explored parallels between Eastern mysticism and modern science. Toshihiko Izutsu, in his book Sufism and Taoism, found similarities between Taoism and Muslim mysticism or Sufism. The book under review attempts to discover compatibility between Sufism and modern cosmology. It is basically a research book with more than seven hundred (700) citations of authorities of various disciplines, drawing from a vast array of diverse fields, such as physics, philosophy, biology, psychology and spirituality. The book probes into the nature and value of existence which ultimately leads to the direction of interconnection of the universe and human psyche; unity and integration of all things, and ultimately the unity of the whole universe and the whole person. These views are not placed on the shaky foundations of faith but they are based on philosophical logic and scientific facts--regarding importance of man as an observer in the universe, despite appearing insignificant on a point-like planet in the stunning vastness of empty space, and magnificent integration and harmony of the human psyche with the cosmos. These aspects of the book are unique in the sense that they amazingly reveal commonalities between physical and spiritual concepts and explain the phenomenon of existence as a compact whole in a coherent and logical sequence, with a glimpse of futuristic existence. This book may be of particular interest to the academia, research scholars, and students who may find the contents of the book unique and even startling. The author of the book is a research scholar from Pakistan who has been dedicated to exploring the reality of the physical world and human life. He has accentuated quite subtle and intricate issues in his book. His contribution to the relevant subject appears to have originality and, at times, remarkable distinction. The author believes that the contents of this book may not be found in any other single book published so far.
Download or read book Sufis written by Idries Shah and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2020-06-20 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sufis is the best introduction ever written to the philosophical and mystical school traditionally associated with the Islamic world.Powerful, concise, and intensely thought-provoking, it sums up over a thousand years of Eastern thought - the product of some of the greatest minds humanity has ever produced - into a single work, presenting timeless ideas in a fresh and contemporary style.When the book was originally published in 1964, it launched its author, Idries Shah, on to the international stage, attracting the attention of thinkers and writers such as J. D. Salinger, Doris Lessing, Ted Hughes and Robert Graves.It introduced to the Western world concepts which have subsequently become commonly accepted, varying from the psychological importance of attention and humour, to the use of traditional tales as teaching instruments (what Shah termed 'teaching-stories'), and the historical debt owed by the West to the Middle East in matters scientific, literary and philosophical.As a primer for the many dozens of Sufi books that Shah later produced, it is unsurpassed, offering a clear window onto a community whose system of thought and action has long concerned itself with the advancement of the whole of humankind, and whose ideas about individuals and society, their purpose and direction, need to be understood now more than ever before.
Download or read book The Sufi Path of Knowledge written by William C. Chittick and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2010-03-31 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ibn al-'Arabi is still known as "the Great Sheik" among the surviving Sufi orders. Born in Muslim Spain, he has become famous in the West as the greatest mystical thinker of Islamic civilization. He was a great philosopher, theologian, and poet. William Chittick takes a major step toward exposing the breadth and depth of Ibn al-'Arabi's vision. The book offers his view of spiritual perfection and explains his theology, ontology, epistemology, hermeneutics, and soteriology. The clear language, unencumbered by methodological jargon, makes it accessible to those familiar with other spiritual traditions, while its scholarly precision will appeal to specialists. Beginning with a survey of Ibn al-'Arabi's major teachings, the book gradually introduces the most important facets of his thought, devoting attention to definitions of his basic terminology. His teachings are illustrated with many translated passages introducing readers to fascinating byways of spiritual life that would not ordinarily be encountered in an account of a thinker's ideas. Ibn al-'Arabi is allowed to describe in detail the visionary world from which his knowledge derives and to express his teachings in his own words. More than 600 passages from his major work, al-Futuhat al-Makkivva, are translated here, practically for the first time. These alone provide twice the text of the Fusus al-hikam. The exhaustive indexes make the work an invaluable reference tool for research in Sufism and Islamic thought in general.
Download or read book Sufi Castigator written by Lloyd Ridgeon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-09-27 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sufi Castigator investigates the writings of Ahmad Kasravi, one of the foremost intellectuals in Iran. It studies his work within the context of Sufism in modern Iran and mystical Persian literature and includes translations of Kasravi’s writings. Kasravi provides a fascinating topic for those with interests in Sufism and Iranian studies as he attempted to produce a form of Iranian identity that he believed was compatible with the modern age and Iranian nationalism. His stress on reason and the de-mystification of religion caused him to repudiate Sufism and much of the Sufi literary heritage as backwards and believed it a reason for the weakness of modern Iran. Kasravi’s historical observations were weak, and his writings indicate that he was working towards pre-determined conclusions. However, his works are of significance because they contributed to a major discussion in the 1930s to 1940s about the ideal image and identity that Iranians should adopt. Despite the academic weaknesses of Kasravi’s works he had a profound effect on the next generation of thinkers. Sufi Castigator is stimulating and meticulously researched book and includes two lengthy translations of Kasravi’s works, Sufism and What does Hafez Say? and will appeal to scholars of middle eastern studies.
Download or read book Contemporary Sufism written by Meena Sharify-Funk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-12-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is Sufism? Contemporary views vary tremendously, even among Sufis themselves. Contemporary Sufism: Piety, Politics, and Popular Culture brings to light the religious frameworks that shape the views of Sufism’s friends, adversaries, admirers, and detractors and, in the process, helps readers better understand the diversity of contemporary Sufism, the pressures and cultural openings to which it responds, and the many divergent opinions about contemporary Sufism’s relationship to Islam. The three main themes: piety, politics, and popular culture are explored in relation to the Islamic and Western contexts that shape them, as well as to the historical conditions that frame contemporary debates. This book is split into three parts: • Sufism and anti-Sufism in contemporary contexts; • Contemporary Sufism in the West: Poetic influences and popular manifestations; • Gendering Sufism: Tradition and transformation. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the challenges of contemporary Sufism as well as its relationship to Islam, gender, and the West. It offers an ideal starting point from which undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers and lecturers can explore Sufism today.
Download or read book Al Ghaz l s Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul written by Timothy J. Gianotti and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2001-08-16 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marking a close, genre-specific reading of the multiple "languages" within al-Ghazālī's writings, this book seeks to excavate his most intimate thoughts on life and death. In doing so, it takes the reader into the very heart of the master's epistemology, psychology, and eschatology.
Download or read book The Observing One written by Ahmed Hulusi and published by . This book was released on 2012-05-03 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is an overwhelming experience of perfection and beauty to witness the "oneness," i.e., the "reality," perceived as intuition or "revelation" by those in the past and relayed through allegories and metaphors, arriving at the same truth with scientific findings.. As exquisitely and descriptively as one may talk about "What beauty is," ultimately its meaning can be as diverse and numerous as its admirers. Yet no matter how infinitely various its expressions and experience may be, the concept of beauty will always remain one. In a much similar way, although God can be defined in as many different ways as His manifestations, by essence He is One. It is this Oneness, expressed in diverse ways, hence bringing about the seeming multiplicities, that is denoted by the title The Observing One. In other words, the Observing One is the essence of all the multitudinous manifestations in the corporeal world, and His infinitely various expressions is His act of observing Himself. This act of observing, according to Ahmed Hulusi, is what each individual should strive to experience. That is, to experience God, one must realize the illusionary nature of the constructed self and disable its interference, thereby becoming a conduit of God's interminable acts. Ahmed Hulusi profoundly deconstructs both the idea of a God up in the heavens, and His representative deities on earth, and urges his readers to embark on an inward quest to discover "God within." Compiled mostly of recorded conversations made in 1989, this book is a notable example of the author's ingenious and unconventional construal of classical religious teachings. Anyone, who has a spiritual yearning and an appetite for mysticism and who at the same time is an unfaltering intellectualist, is bound to enjoy reading this book. Integrating Islamic theology, in particular the esoteric teachings of Sufism, with the findings of modern science, this book enables the reader to observe the universe within. A few things the reader should take into consideration while reading this book: 1. Although God transcendentally surpasses any gender, the masculine pronoun 'He' has been employed in this book, not only because using 'It' would be inappropriate and disrespectful, but also because 'He' is the closest realistic translation of the Arabic word 'Hu', which has no connotation of gender when used in reference to the Divine. 2. The Names of God referenced throughout the book should not be understood as titles of God, but rather as the intrinsic qualities of the Essence of existence from which the infinite modalities of the manifest world are derived. Allah, being the Supreme Name, encompasses all of these qualities and attributes -both the manifest and the unexpressed- and is used in this book to denote this reality, rather than "a god" out there that is separate from the cosmos. In this light, the word God is deliberately avoided in this book and the original name Allah, as mentioned in the Quran, is used instead. However, just as it is true for the word "God," the word "Allah" also holds predetermined notions of "an external god" and this is inescapable for many people. Due to this, the author frequently uses phrases like "the existence that is denoted by the name Allah" to draw the readers' attention to the fact that Allah is merely a name indicating an infinite existence beyond all preconceived and preconditioned ideas. Thus, it is this existence that the reader is encouraged to contemplate, in reference to the name Allah.
