Readings from the Mystics of Islam is an anthology of writings from Islamic mysticism's greatest masters of wisdom, translated and edited by renowned scholar of Sufism Margaret Smith. The collection ranges from the beginnings of Sufism in the 8th century to the modern era, and includes jewels of mystical thought and experience from Rabi'a, al-Hallaj, Rumi, Ibn 'Arabi and Hafiz.
For centuries there has been fascination, within and beyond the Islamic world, with the mystical teachings of Sufism, and with the role of the Islamic 'saints' whose life and work were important to Islamic theology. Margaret Smith's classic work, Rabi'a the Mystic, describes the teaching, life and times of one of the great women of the Islamic tradition, Rabi'a of Basra. This study has never been bettered. It is now reissued unchanged, but with a new introduction by Professor Annemarie Schimmel. This emphasises the importance of the book - and of Rabi'a herself - and questions of major importance today: the nature of mystical belief and experience, the Sufi tradition, and the role of women in the Islamic world.
The departure point of the Islamic religion, the central article of faith from which all else flows, may be stated as follows: God (the only God there is: al-Ilāh, Allah in Arabic; El, Elohim, Jahweh in Hebrew; Khudā or Yazdān in Persian,Tanri in Turkish, ὁ Θεός in Greek, Deus in Latin, God in plain English) has spoken to man in the Qur’ān. This divine communication is seen as the final stage in a long series of divine communications conducted through the prophets. It began with Adam, the first man, who was also the first prophet, because he was the first to whom God revealed Himself. After Adam, God continued to address men through prophets, to warn them that their happiness lay in worshiping Him and submitting themselves to Him, and to tell them of the terrible consequences of disobedience. In each case, however, the message was changed and deformed by perverse men. Finally, in His mercy, God sent down His final revelation through the seal of His prophets, Muhammad, in a definitive form which would not be lost. The Qur’ān, then, is the Word of God, for Muslims. While controversies have raged among them as to the sense in which this is true--whether it is the created or uncreated Word, whether it is true of every Arabic letter or only of the message as a whole, that it is true has never been questioned by them. The Qur’ān was revealed in Arabic. It is a matter of faith in Islam that since it is of Divine origin it is inimitable, and since to translate is always to betray, Muslims have always deprecated and at times prohibited any attempt to render it in another language. Anyone who has read it in the original is forced to admit that this caution seems justified; no translation, however faithful to the meaning, has ever been fully successful. Arabic when expertly used is a remarkably terse, rich and forceful language, and the Arabic of the Qur’ān is by turns striking, soaring, vivid, terrible, tender and breathtaking. As Professor Gibb has put it, "No man in fifteen hundred years has ever played on that deeptoned instrument with such power, such boldness, and such range of emotional effect."1 It is meaningless to apply adjectives such as "beautiful" or "persuasive" to the Qur’ān; its flashing images and inexorable measures go directly to the brain and intoxicate it. It is not surprising, then, that a skilled reciter of the Qur’ān can reduce an Arabic-speaking audience to helpless tears, that for thirteen centuries it has been ceaselessly meditated upon, or that for great portions of the human race, the "High-speech" of seventh-century Arabia has become the true accents of the Eternal. The selections which follow here have been taken from Professor Arberry's translation, the only one in English which has succeeded in suggesting the extraordinary qualities of the original.
Compiled with the intention of letting Islam describe itself in its own words, this book is an important source for all students of Muslim culture and world religions. It includes an interpretation of the Qur'an, as well as portions of the Hadith--sayings and actions of the Prophet--Islamic law, mysticism (Sufism), theology, and sectarian writings.
This book introduces the literature of Islam as it is presented in English translation. For scholars in other fields who need to understand the vast and complex literary heritage of this erudite and vigorous faith community (but are unable to devote years of their lives to achieving a reading proficiency in classical Arabic), for faculty members called upon to teach introductory or survey courses outside their own disciplines, and for graduate students in theology, medieval studies, world religions, or related fields who need access to these primary sources in English translation, The Literature of Islam is a welcome resource. Even lay readers who are interested in understanding the modern Arab or Islamic world may grasp something of the currents of thought and belief through the centuries that produced these important works, which continue to exert a powerful influence upon Muslims today. The primary literatures of Islam are normally classified into several areas of study: the canonical literature, the interpretation of scripture and tradition, law, theology, philosophy, history, and mysticism. Entries here are organized into these areas of study and represent the most significant texts from important trends in the discipline. The volume also includes an extensive bibliography that lists the editions of primary sources analyzed in each chapter. There are also some suggestions for secondary reading, which might be helpful to a student seeking additional information about each genre of literature.
This book addresses several dimensions of religious revelation. These include its occurrence in various religious traditions, its different forms, its elaborations, how it has been understood by Western theologians, and differing views of revelation’s ontological status. It has been remarked that revelation is most at home in theistic traditions, and this book gives each of the three Abrahamic traditions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – its own chapter. Revelation, however, is not limited to theistic traditions; forms found in Buddhism and nondevotional (nontheistic) Hinduism are also explored. In the book’s final chapter a particularly significant form of religious revelation is identified and examined: pervasive revelation. The theistic manifestation of this form of revelation, pervasive in the sense that it may occurs in all the domains or dimensions of human existence, is shown to be richly represented in the Psalms, where God’s presence may be found in the heavens, in the growing of grass, and in one’s daily going out and coming in. Pervasive revelation of religious reality is also shown to be present in the Buddhist tradition.
This book addresses the different forms that religious belief can take. Two primary forms are discussed: propositional or doctrinal belief, and belief in God. Religious belief in God, whose affective content is trust in God, it is seen, opens for believers a relationship to God defined by trust in God. The book addresses the issue of the relation between belief and faith, the issue of what Søren Kierkegaard called the subjectivity of faith, and the issue of the relation between religious belief and religious experience. After the introductory chapter the book continues with a chapter in which features and forms of belief allowed by the general concept of belief are presented. Several of these forms and features are related to the features of religious belief examined in succeeding chapters. The book's final chapter examines God-relationships in the Christian tradition that de-emphasize belief and are not defined by belief.
The Book Is A Descriptive Analysis Of Islamic Mysticism In India In Three Phases. First Phase Of This Book Throws Light On The Advent Of Islamic Mysticism In India, Interaction Between Hindu And Sufi Mystic Tradition, And Development Of Classical Mysticism In India By The Sufis. Second Phase Of This Book Gives An Analysis Of Syncreticism And Orthodoxy Of Islamic Mystic Tradition Under The Mughal Dynasty: Secular And Logical Mystic Order Of Akbar, Dara Shikoh, And Shah Wali Allah. Third Phase Describes An Interpretation Of Islamic Mysticism By Sir Sayyid Ahmad And Mohammad Iqbal In Western Perspective.
