Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi (Routledge Library Editions: Islam) (Volume 7) (Hardcover)

Product Description: In this volume Henry Corbin emphasizes the differences between the exoteric and esoteric forms of Islam. He also reveals that whereas in the West philosophy and religion were at odds, they were inseparably linked, at least during this period, in the Islamic world. A valuable section of notes and appendices includes original translation of numerous Sufi treatises.
Amazon.com

Sufi Rituals in the Middle East and the Balkans

This book offers intimate and moving portraits of Sufism as practiced in five countries. Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, is as far from the strident and often violent fundamentalist strain of the religion that has so captured world attention as it is possible to be. Sufis in all parts of the Islamic world are broad-minded, tolerant, and non-violent, their quest only to find and approach God through all means, including poetry, music, and dance. Historian Nicolaas Biegman has been observing and photographing Sufi practice and ritual in different Muslim lands for many years, and here in this collection of extraordinary photographs he feels the pulse of the Sufi experience, with its enormous variety in discipline and exuberance, intellectualism and spontaneity, in Egypt, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia. In accompanying texts he explores what lies behind the rituals, and explains aspects of Sufi life and practice such as the position of women.

Author Biography:
NICOLAAS (NIEK) BIEGMAN holds a Ph.D. in Balkan history, and is an expert on Islam. He has produced a number of photographic books on Egypt, Haiti, Manhattan, and most recently a Sufi community in Skopje (God's Lovers)

 

BOOK REVIEW: Miracle of language in Quran —by Robert B Reich

 

From: Daily Times

 

The Quran in its Historical Context; Edited by Gabriel Said Reynolds
Routledge 2008
Pp294; Price £75
Available at bookstores in Pakistan
For Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century, the Nabataeans were the native inhabitants of Mesopotamia before the Islamic conquest of Iraq. Assyrians, Babylonians and Chaldaeans are called Nabataeans. They were renowned for their magical practices
No one has studied the Arabic language better than the Arabs in history. In the field of etymology they have done immeasurably better than the Iranians with regard to Persian and Pakistanis with regard to Urdu. In Pakistan, interest in lexicography excludes any interest in the origin of Urdu words. But the Arabs always showed inquisitiveness about the origin of the words of the Quran.
The first person who focused on the foreign words in the Quran was none other than Islam’s foremost exegete, Imam Al Shafei, who came to the conclusion that no one knew exactly how many words had come in from other languages. He says: “Of all tongues, that of the Arabs is the richest and the most extensive. Knowledge of this tongue to the Arabs is like the knowledge of the sunna to the jurists. We know of no one who possesses knowledge of all the sunna without missing a portion of it. In like manner is the knowledge concerning the tongue of the Arabs by the scholars and the public. No part of it will be missed by them all, nor should it be sought from other people; for no one can learn this tongue save he who has learned it from the Arabs.” (Al-Shafei, Risala, 27-8).
Persian words were soon discovered because of the Arab-Persian contact in Iraq. For instance, ‘istabraq’ meaning ‘silk brocade’; ‘barzakh’, meaning ‘barrier’, used three times; and ‘firdaws’, meaning ‘paradise’. Other Quranic words that were deemed derived from other languages included ‘tannur’ in the sense of ‘oven’; ‘jibt’ meaning ‘idol’; and ‘rahiq’ meaning ‘wine’.
Many languages are isolated by the classical grammarians and lexicographers as sources of Arabic words. Among them is Syriac. Syriac, referred to as suryani or nabati, appears to have been well-known as a spoken language according to anecdotes found in the works of Ibn Qutayba and Ibn Durayd, both living in the tenth century. The association of Syriac with Christianity is also clear in the work of the eleventh century writer Al Biruni.
For Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century, the Nabataeans were the native inhabitants of Mesopotamia before the Islamic conquest of Iraq. Assyrians, Babylonians and Chaldaeans are called Nabataeans. They were renowned for their magical practices. Other writers make it apparent that this designation was not linguistic exclusively but rather an ancient group of people distinguished by their agricultural practice, as opposed to pastoral or military life. (p.255)
Al-Suyuti, who died in 1505, edited in several different versions lists of foreign words in the Quran. One of his works is called al-Mutawakkil fima warada fil-Quran bil-lughat. The treatise, named after the caliph al-Mutawakkill who died in 943/1536 who ordered the author to compile the work, is a list of Quranic words that are ‘to be found in the speech of the Ethiopians, the Persians or any other people other than the Arabs’. (p.256)
Another list has nineteen Hebrew words, including two from the Suryani list. The vocabulary is as follows: ‘Ran’ meaning ‘river’; ‘taha’ meaning ‘O Man’; ‘annat’ meaning vineyard and grapes. ‘Hawn’ meaning ‘wise men’ ‘layta laka’ meaning ‘come here’; ‘wa-lata’ meaning ‘and there is not’; ‘ahwan’ meaning ‘tranquil’; ‘Sujjad’ meaning ‘with uplifted heads’; ‘qayyum’ meaning ‘one who does not slumber’; ‘asfar’ meaning ‘books’; ‘qummal’ meaning ‘fly, bee’; ‘shahr’ meaning ‘month’; ‘yamm’ meaning ‘sea’; ‘salawat’ meaning ‘synagogues’; ‘qintar’ meaning ‘bull’s hide full of gold or silver’, etc.
Early references to Arabic by Christians are traced. For example, fourth-century writer Uranius notes that the place name Motho means death ‘in the speech of the Arabs’ (he arabon phone). His near contemporaries Ipiphanius of Salamis and Jerome also make reference to Arabic, the former in connection with a virgin goddess whom the inhabitants of Petra and Elusa praise in the arabike dialektos and call her in Arabic Kaabou (‘buxom maiden’). And the Jewish Talmud adduces a number of words said to be from the speech of the Arabs, and a few Arabicisms enter the Syriac language of this period. (p.54)
It is noteworthy that the Quran itself is self-conscious with respect to the language in which it is written stressing that it is an ‘arabi recitation’ (12:2), an ‘arabi decree’ (13:37), composed in the ‘arabi tongue’ (20:195), which has been made easy for Muhammad (19:97, 44:58) and is the language of his people (14:4). (p.63)
When Muhammad (PBUH) had his first revelatory experience, his wife Hazrat Khadija took him to her cousin Waraqa bin Nawfal. The passage on this event is given in the Maghazi of the historian Ibn Ishaq (d. 150/767), in the section on Muhammad’s ‘invocation to mission’ or ‘call’ (al-mab’ath), within a longer narrative on his call, translated here according to the version (transmission) of Ibn Hisham (d. 218/834), in the account of the storyteller (qass) ‘Ubayd b. Umayr b. al-Laythi (d. 68/687). (p.91)
In another report Hazrat Khadija gives to Abu Bakr RA the order to go with Muhammad (PBUH) to Waraqa, and when Waraqa hears the account of Muhammad he cries: ‘All-Perfect! All-perfect!’ (sabbuh or subbuh). These events are given as proof of contact with a person who knew languages other than Arabic.
A great part of the technical terms on the Quran as a book are also not of Arabic origin, according to the book. The word ‘quran’ is a loanword, as is ‘mushaf’ (codex). One of the supposed collectors of the Quran, Salim bin Ubayd (or: bin Ma’qil), mawla of abu Hudhayfa, is supposed to have been the first to give the name ‘mushaf’ (codex) to the Quran as a collected book, a word he learned in Ethiopia. Finally, neither ‘sura’, nor ‘aya’ are of Arabic origin (Claude Gilliot on page 94).
The Quran’s evocation of the legend of the ‘Companions of the Cave’ comes close to the beginning of Surat al-Kahf (18:9-26), where Allah addresses Muhammad PBUH with the following question: “Do you reckon that the companions of the cave (ashab al-kahf) and of the inscription are wondrously among Our signs?”
The parable is also known through Jacob of Serugh in Syriac who called the story The Youths of Ephesus (p.122). The word ‘aya’ is a keyword in Islamo-Christian revelation. One finds it 77 times in the New Testament, especially in the Gospel of John, and 287 times in the Quran (however somewhat rarely in the first Meccan suras). (p.145)
It is the gnostic gospels where the echo of the Quran is felt more strikingly. 1) Jesus was not crucified; someone who looked like him was crucified in his place. 2) He is therefore not dead, but was raised up to God. 3) At the end of the world, he will return to earth, fight the Antichrist, proclaim Islam as the true religion. 4) He will proclaim the coming of the Hour of Judgement, and die. 5) He will be raised on the day of the final resurrection. The text most evocative of the Quranic passage is that of the Gnostic Judaeo-Christian Basilides, reported by Irenaeus of Lyon at the end of the second century.
Suleiman Nadwi was the Indian Muslim scholar who had enough knowledge of Arabic to write about the Sanskrit words appearing in the Quran. He thought that since these words occurred where the Quran describes Paradise, the idea of Paradise must be located in India. But the word Paradise was taken from the Persians by the Greeks, and as Muhammad Hussain Azad would confirm if he were alive today, the Aryans of Persia and the Aryans of India would agree on the very mundane Hindi word Pradesh also meaning a far-off country. But for us the word has become Firdaws, the best of the many versions of Eden described in the Quran. *

 

 

Another ebook added to “Pearls of Wisdom” section

 

TASAWWUF- SPIRIT OF SUFISM

 

by TAOSHOBUDDHA

INTRODUCTION BY DR. VISIER SANYÜ
RENOWNED SCHOLAR, MELBORNE, AUSTRALIA

FOREWORD MAULAWI JALALUDDIN AHMAD AR ROWI, MALASIYA

If you desire to read this ebook, it is at the “Pearls of Wisdom” section, on right pane of this blog.

 

Ya Haqq!

 

Maryam

 

 

New Ebooks uploaded

 

I have uploaded seven pdf books about Sufism. They are at the “Pearls of Wisdom” section, on this blog’s right pane. You might check there for these and other previously uploaded files.

 

Enjoy

 

. The Persian Sufis. by Cyprian Rice, O.P.,
George Allen, London, 1964

 

. Sufism: The Formative Period. By AHMET T. KARAMUSTAFA

 

. Schimmel. “What is Sufism? – Historical Outlines of Classic Sufism

 

. William C. Shittick. “Sufism: A Beginner’s Guide”

 

. “The Reality of Sufism in Light of the Qur’aan and Sunnah”. Shaikh Muhammad ibn Rabee’  ibn Hadee al-Madkhalee

 

. The Sufi Message of Inayat Khan. Vol. VIIIa

 

. In Arabic: Sufism. By Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi. Patriarch Azeemia Sufi Order.

 

 

A Glimpse of the Divine

By Karen Armstrong, "The Hope of Sufism" - The Washington Post On Faith - Washington, DC, USA
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Pakistan's chief problems are political and need a political solution. But political malaise and conflict affects people emotionally, imaginatively, in their relationships, desires and aspirations, and often religion gets sucked into a bad situation and becomes part of the problem.
It is not surprising therefore that some Pakistanis have turned to a somewhat rigid form of Islam. Yet on my visits to the country I have found that people are so open, friendly, eager to hear a friendly voice from the West, and to explore new ways of living an Islamic life.
Sufism is a marvelous form of Islam and would do anybody good anywhere. I came across it very early in my career as a religious historian and was especially drawn to its pluralism.

CONTINUE READING

Sufism, the Heart of Islam

 

On the evening of April 23rd, 2009, author Sadia Dehlvi was beaming like a happy child in her Nizamuddin East drawing room. Finally, she had her first book, Sufism, The Heart of Islam, clasped tightly in her hands. Earlier in the day, Harper Collins India, Ms Dehlvi's publisher, had sent her a copy of the book hot off the press. Notwithstanding her excitement, The Delhi Walla pestered her for an interview over a cup of green tea.

 

READ MORE

 

 

Paolo Coelho tells Syria’s Forward Magazine he is influenced by mystical Islam brewing in Syria

“No doubt about it. During my journey and my encounter with Sufism, the books I had read by Paulo’s came to my mind a few times, not the stories themselves but the way he writes them. When I came back and started to use the internet to find articles about Sufism, the more I read the more I felt he has a Sufi heart and soul. And… I love that…”

Here is an article where he tells Forward Magazine how this mysticism has influenced his works.

FORWARD MAGAZINE

 

The Other Islam: Sufism and the Road to Global Harmony (Kindle Edition)

From Publishers Weekly
Schwartz, a journalist and convert to Islam, offers Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, as an aid to the United States' efforts to fight extremism. He provides an incomparable history of Sufism, covering in one short book all the major Sufi saints, schools, and the persecution of Sufis by Wahhabis. Deeply anti-Wahhabi, Schwartz encourages U.S. policymakers to ally with Sufis to undermine the Wahhabi influence. Schwartz believes the Wahhabi philosophy, which is literal and extreme in its interpretation of the Islamic faith, to be the motivation behind Muslim terrorism, with Wahhabi Saudis providing the financing. Wahhabis abhor Sufis for centuries-old traditions they label as idolatrous. Schwartz critiques the Western media for inaccurately dismissing Wahhabi attacks on Sufis, including the insurgency in Iraq, as Sunni-Shia disputes. In reality, Schwartz argues, they are part of the centuries-long Wahhabi campaign to destroy Sufism and moderate Islam. Schwartz's opinion—that Sufis are the natural allies of the U.S. in the ongoing war on terror—is well presented and worth considering. (Sept. 16) ""
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."
Review

Advance Praise for The Other Islam
Stephen Schwartz is internationally known as a serious student of Islam and its mysticism and as a special friend of the Bektashi Sufi order. The Other Islam is an important work that will, I sincerely hope, open the minds of non-Muslims as well as Muslims to the heritage and present reality of spiritual Islam. Let this book help spread the message and enlightenment of Hajji Bektash Veli throughout the world. —H.E. Hajji Dedebaba Reshat Bardhi, World Supreme Head of the Bektashi community
The Other Islam is more than an engaging introduction to Sufism in full. Stephen Schwartz has also sketched a suggestive roadmap for the kind of inter-religious dialogue that can move the world beyond the clash of civilizations to a mutually enriching encounter of noble religious traditions. Schwartz’s Sufi-inspired conviction that it is, finally, God’s world, not one in which nihilism married to distorted monotheism will have the final word, can and should be embraced by serious Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. —George S. Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center, and biographer of Pope John Paul II
The Other Islam presents a different side of the Muslim world and Islam, at a time when Islam is identified in the West with militancy, violence, radicalism, and terrorism. Stephen Schwartz gives readers a good picture of how we should look at Islam’s full spectrum of doctrines and interpretations, and understand that Jihad can be interpreted and implemented by peaceful and spiritual ways. His contribution to the understanding of the other dimensions of this worldwide religion and culture, especially now, is very significant. We should all wish for a greater role for the various Sufi orders in the socio-political culture of the Muslim world. —Reuven Paz, Director, Project for the Research of Islamist Movements (PRISM) of The Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel

This book can be found at www.amazon.com

Mystical Dimensions in Islam

Hello Sufism

Visit



sufism

tasawwuf

sufi poems

sufi masters


tasawwuf

Revelations of the Unseen (Futuh al-Ghaib)