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.
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.
Moin Mir is a London based writer of Indian origin. He began writing under the influence of his grandfather, a scholar of Sufism, Omar Khayyam and Mirza Ghalib. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Surat: Fall of a Port, Rise of a Prince. The Lost Fragrance of Infinity is his second book. Mir speaks frequently at leading international literature festivals on topics ranging from Sufism, history and travel writing.
'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 billion 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; the difficulty in defining time; why the Quran mentions different times in different verses and also 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.
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.
Can we know God or does he reside beyond our ken? In Ibn ʿArabī and ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qāshānī’s Metaphysics of the Divine, Ismail Lala conducts a forensic analysis of the nature of God and His interaction with creation. Looking mainly at the exegetical works of the influential mystic, Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240), and one of his chief disseminators, ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qāshānī (d. 736/1335?), Lala employs the term huwiyya, literally “He-ness,” as an aperture into the metaphysical worldview of both mystics. Does Al-Qāshānī agree with Ibn ʿArabī’s conception of God? Does he agree with Ibn ʿArabī on how God relates to us and how we relate to Him? Or is this where Sufi master and his disciple part ways?
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.
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.
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.
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.
