Shafique N. Virani
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195311730
- eISBN:
- 9780199785490
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311730.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Taqiyya, precautionary dissimulation, is a significant feature of Islam, and particularly of Shi'i Islam. For the Ismaili Shi'a — a minority within a minority whose creed ...
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Taqiyya, precautionary dissimulation, is a significant feature of Islam, and particularly of Shi'i Islam. For the Ismaili Shi'a — a minority within a minority whose creed emphasized the paramount importance of the esoteric dimension of the revelation — this need was even more pronounced. The destruction of their network of fortresses ushered in a period in which, more than ever, dissimulation was required for survival. Ismaili tradition maintains that when Alamut was vanquished, the Imam Shams al-Din Muhammad was smuggled away to safety. This chapter is about the life of this Imam and that of one of his disciples, the poet Nizari Quhistani, whose life and writings shed light on the practice of taqiyya.Less
Taqiyya, precautionary dissimulation, is a significant feature of Islam, and particularly of Shi'i Islam. For the Ismaili Shi'a — a minority within a minority whose creed emphasized the paramount importance of the esoteric dimension of the revelation — this need was even more pronounced. The destruction of their network of fortresses ushered in a period in which, more than ever, dissimulation was required for survival. Ismaili tradition maintains that when Alamut was vanquished, the Imam Shams al-Din Muhammad was smuggled away to safety. This chapter is about the life of this Imam and that of one of his disciples, the poet Nizari Quhistani, whose life and writings shed light on the practice of taqiyya.
Jawid Mojaddedi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195369236
- eISBN:
- 9780199933471
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369236.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Despite Rumi’s (d. 1273) recent emergence as a best-selling poet in the English-speaking world, fundamental questions about his teachings, such as the relationship of his Sufi mysticism to the wider ...
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Despite Rumi’s (d. 1273) recent emergence as a best-selling poet in the English-speaking world, fundamental questions about his teachings, such as the relationship of his Sufi mysticism to the wider Islamic religion, remain contested. This book reaches to the heart of the matter by examining Rumi’s teachings on walāya (Friendship with God) in light of earlier discourse in the wider Sufi tradition and juridico-theological Islam. Walāya is not only central to Rumi’s teachings, but also forms the basis for the celebration of intimacy, communication with the Divine, and transcendence of conventional religiosity in his poetry. And yet walāya is the aspect of Sufism which has proven the most difficult to reconcile with juridico-theological Islam. The book presents, in addition, an analysis of the historical development of the discourse on walāya in the formative centuries of Sufism. This period coincides with the time when juridico-theological Islam rose to dominance, as reflected in the harmonizing efforts of theoretical Sufi writings, especially the manuals of the tenth and eleventh century. In this way, Mojaddedi’s analysis facilitates a contextualized evaluation of Rumi’s teachings on walāya, which had already attracted a range of views before his time. In the process, the book enables a fresh evaluation of the influential early Sufi manuals in their historical context, while also highlighting the significance for juridico-theological scholars of fundamental dogma, such as “the Seal of Prophethood” (khatm al-nubuwwa) in the process of consolidating their own dominance.Less
Despite Rumi’s (d. 1273) recent emergence as a best-selling poet in the English-speaking world, fundamental questions about his teachings, such as the relationship of his Sufi mysticism to the wider Islamic religion, remain contested. This book reaches to the heart of the matter by examining Rumi’s teachings on walāya (Friendship with God) in light of earlier discourse in the wider Sufi tradition and juridico-theological Islam. Walāya is not only central to Rumi’s teachings, but also forms the basis for the celebration of intimacy, communication with the Divine, and transcendence of conventional religiosity in his poetry. And yet walāya is the aspect of Sufism which has proven the most difficult to reconcile with juridico-theological Islam. The book presents, in addition, an analysis of the historical development of the discourse on walāya in the formative centuries of Sufism. This period coincides with the time when juridico-theological Islam rose to dominance, as reflected in the harmonizing efforts of theoretical Sufi writings, especially the manuals of the tenth and eleventh century. In this way, Mojaddedi’s analysis facilitates a contextualized evaluation of Rumi’s teachings on walāya, which had already attracted a range of views before his time. In the process, the book enables a fresh evaluation of the influential early Sufi manuals in their historical context, while also highlighting the significance for juridico-theological scholars of fundamental dogma, such as “the Seal of Prophethood” (khatm al-nubuwwa) in the process of consolidating their own dominance.
David Cook
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199751198
- eISBN:
- 9780199918782
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751198.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter begins by noting that teaching “Islamic Mysticism” is problematic on several fronts. Any pedagogical strategy would do well to begin with identifying how the term mysticism can be ...
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This chapter begins by noting that teaching “Islamic Mysticism” is problematic on several fronts. Any pedagogical strategy would do well to begin with identifying how the term mysticism can be applied to Islam. This being thoroughly vetted, the course focuses primarily on Sufism—which is a vast, broad system that has come to permeate Islam over the past 1000 years, and yet remains distinct from it, often being rejected as being “non-Muslim.” In addressing how to speak of Sufism, one must include not only an overview of its central historical developments, holy figures, and practices (e.g., the creative images and metaphors of al-Ghazali, the immortal poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the mystical visions of Ibn al-`Arabi), but also a discussion of controversial debates (e.g., are the methods used by Sufi holy figures truly Islamic? Do the creative and sometimes risqué interpretations of the holy texts that they preach go beyond the boundaries of strict monotheism?). Additionally, consideration will be given to how Sufism has provided the means for mass conversions to Islam and provided a creative ground for Islamic art and culture. Sample syllabus included.Less
This chapter begins by noting that teaching “Islamic Mysticism” is problematic on several fronts. Any pedagogical strategy would do well to begin with identifying how the term mysticism can be applied to Islam. This being thoroughly vetted, the course focuses primarily on Sufism—which is a vast, broad system that has come to permeate Islam over the past 1000 years, and yet remains distinct from it, often being rejected as being “non-Muslim.” In addressing how to speak of Sufism, one must include not only an overview of its central historical developments, holy figures, and practices (e.g., the creative images and metaphors of al-Ghazali, the immortal poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the mystical visions of Ibn al-`Arabi), but also a discussion of controversial debates (e.g., are the methods used by Sufi holy figures truly Islamic? Do the creative and sometimes risqué interpretations of the holy texts that they preach go beyond the boundaries of strict monotheism?). Additionally, consideration will be given to how Sufism has provided the means for mass conversions to Islam and provided a creative ground for Islamic art and culture. Sample syllabus included.
S.J. William Harmless
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195300383
- eISBN:
- 9780199851560
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300383.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter examines Rumi (1207–1273), a leading mystic of Islam and perhaps its finest poet. Jalal al-Din Rumi was a Sufi and founded one of Islam's major Sufi orders, the Mevlevi, known in popular ...
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This chapter examines Rumi (1207–1273), a leading mystic of Islam and perhaps its finest poet. Jalal al-Din Rumi was a Sufi and founded one of Islam's major Sufi orders, the Mevlevi, known in popular parlance as the “whirling dervishes”. Rumi's mysticism was pseudonymous. Shams may have been a favorite mask, but it was not his only one. Rumi consciously drew on the Sufi distinction between the states of separation and union. As Rumi complains, his poems are the expression of separation, not union. Judging the mystical experiences that underlie them, Rumi's poems were not meant to be read. They were recited to Sufi disciples who had gathered around him and who lost themselves in the whirling dance of the samā. Rumi as shaykh sought to lead them into the ineffable silence of God, into an experience of the speech-defying union of annihilation.Less
This chapter examines Rumi (1207–1273), a leading mystic of Islam and perhaps its finest poet. Jalal al-Din Rumi was a Sufi and founded one of Islam's major Sufi orders, the Mevlevi, known in popular parlance as the “whirling dervishes”. Rumi's mysticism was pseudonymous. Shams may have been a favorite mask, but it was not his only one. Rumi consciously drew on the Sufi distinction between the states of separation and union. As Rumi complains, his poems are the expression of separation, not union. Judging the mystical experiences that underlie them, Rumi's poems were not meant to be read. They were recited to Sufi disciples who had gathered around him and who lost themselves in the whirling dance of the samā. Rumi as shaykh sought to lead them into the ineffable silence of God, into an experience of the speech-defying union of annihilation.
Seif El Rashidi
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774162442
- eISBN:
- 9781617970115
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774162442.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
The fact that nineteenth- and twentieth-century residential architecture of the historic quarters of Cairo features only in passing in the margins of Creswell's photographs is hardly surprising. ...
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The fact that nineteenth- and twentieth-century residential architecture of the historic quarters of Cairo features only in passing in the margins of Creswell's photographs is hardly surprising. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture in Historic Cairo was, by and large, shaped by the interplay of two factors. Muhammad 'Ali's influence on architecture was clear where he ushered in the so-called Rumi style, which quickly seems to have proliferated. He purportedly banned the use of mashrabiyya, indicating that his visions for the architectural image of the city were clearly defined. The nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture of Historic Cairo shows an uneven relationship between traditional building practices and new ones and this is an important lesson for the study of older buildings, where the dearth of such structures makes it extremely difficult to understand them in the context of an evolving building tradition.Less
The fact that nineteenth- and twentieth-century residential architecture of the historic quarters of Cairo features only in passing in the margins of Creswell's photographs is hardly surprising. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture in Historic Cairo was, by and large, shaped by the interplay of two factors. Muhammad 'Ali's influence on architecture was clear where he ushered in the so-called Rumi style, which quickly seems to have proliferated. He purportedly banned the use of mashrabiyya, indicating that his visions for the architectural image of the city were clearly defined. The nineteenth- and early twentieth-century architecture of Historic Cairo shows an uneven relationship between traditional building practices and new ones and this is an important lesson for the study of older buildings, where the dearth of such structures makes it extremely difficult to understand them in the context of an evolving building tradition.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This book is about the emergence of a new activist Sufism in the Muslim world from the sixteenth century onwards, which emphasised personal responsibility for putting God’s guidance into practice. It ...
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This book is about the emergence of a new activist Sufism in the Muslim world from the sixteenth century onwards, which emphasised personal responsibility for putting God’s guidance into practice. It focuses specifically on developments at the centre of the Ottoman Empire, but also considers both how they might have been influenced by the wider connections and engagements of learned and holy men and how their influence might have been spread from the Ottoman Empire to South Asia in particular. The immediate focus is on the Qāḍīzādeli movement which flourished in Istanbul from the 1620s to the 1680s and which inveighed against corrupt scholars and heterodox Sufis. The book aims by studying the relationship between Aḥmad al-Rūmī al-Āqḥiṣārī’s magisterial Majālis al-abrār and Qāḍīzādeli beliefs to place both author and the movement in an Ottoman, Ḥanafī, and Sufi milieu. In so doing, it breaks new ground, both in bringing to light al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writings, and methodologically, in Ottoman studies at least, in employing line-by-line textual comparisons to ascertain the borrowings and influences linking al-Āqḥiṣārī to medieval Islamic thinkers such as Aḥmad b. Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, as well as to several near-contemporaries. Most significantly, the book finally puts to rest the strict dichotomy between Qāḍīzādeli reformism and Sufism, a dichotomy that with too few exceptions continues to be the mainstay of the existing literature.Less
This book is about the emergence of a new activist Sufism in the Muslim world from the sixteenth century onwards, which emphasised personal responsibility for putting God’s guidance into practice. It focuses specifically on developments at the centre of the Ottoman Empire, but also considers both how they might have been influenced by the wider connections and engagements of learned and holy men and how their influence might have been spread from the Ottoman Empire to South Asia in particular. The immediate focus is on the Qāḍīzādeli movement which flourished in Istanbul from the 1620s to the 1680s and which inveighed against corrupt scholars and heterodox Sufis. The book aims by studying the relationship between Aḥmad al-Rūmī al-Āqḥiṣārī’s magisterial Majālis al-abrār and Qāḍīzādeli beliefs to place both author and the movement in an Ottoman, Ḥanafī, and Sufi milieu. In so doing, it breaks new ground, both in bringing to light al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writings, and methodologically, in Ottoman studies at least, in employing line-by-line textual comparisons to ascertain the borrowings and influences linking al-Āqḥiṣārī to medieval Islamic thinkers such as Aḥmad b. Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, as well as to several near-contemporaries. Most significantly, the book finally puts to rest the strict dichotomy between Qāḍīzādeli reformism and Sufism, a dichotomy that with too few exceptions continues to be the mainstay of the existing literature.
Roger S. Gottlieb
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199738748
- eISBN:
- 9780199979349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738748.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter shows that spirituality, understood as the pursuit of spiritual virtues, is not a recent cultural innovation but an important element within traditional religion. This claim is supported ...
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This chapter shows that spirituality, understood as the pursuit of spiritual virtues, is not a recent cultural innovation but an important element within traditional religion. This claim is supported by an examination of the role of compassion and paradox in Mahayana Buddhism; ecstatic devotion to God in Sufism; humility in the teachings of the Catholic Saint Thomas a Kempis; and joy in everyday life in Hasidic Judaism. In each case religious tradition stresses aspects of spirituality that are compatible with today's “spiritual but not religious” perspectives, and which often form the basis for many of today's spiritual teachers. In each case the spiritual power of the traditional teaching can be detached from a particular framework of religious belief about God or revelation.Less
This chapter shows that spirituality, understood as the pursuit of spiritual virtues, is not a recent cultural innovation but an important element within traditional religion. This claim is supported by an examination of the role of compassion and paradox in Mahayana Buddhism; ecstatic devotion to God in Sufism; humility in the teachings of the Catholic Saint Thomas a Kempis; and joy in everyday life in Hasidic Judaism. In each case religious tradition stresses aspects of spirituality that are compatible with today's “spiritual but not religious” perspectives, and which often form the basis for many of today's spiritual teachers. In each case the spiritual power of the traditional teaching can be detached from a particular framework of religious belief about God or revelation.
Jawid Mojaddedi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195369236
- eISBN:
- 9780199933471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369236.003.0000
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This chapter introduces the issues that the book aims to explore. In both academic and popular writings there has been much debate about Rumi’s relationship to juridico-theological Islam after he ...
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This chapter introduces the issues that the book aims to explore. In both academic and popular writings there has been much debate about Rumi’s relationship to juridico-theological Islam after he started writing mystical poetry. It is pointed out here that this is largely because the most distinctive message in his writings is proximity to God through His Friendship (walāya), which inherently challenges reliance on dogma. For this purpose, Rumi’s didactic writings, which represent his practical instruction to Sufi aspirants, can be fruitfully compared with the Sufi manuals of the tenth and eleventh century ce, which in addition engage with the relationship between mysticism and juridico-theological Islam during a period of critical importance. This comparison at the same time highlights Rumi’s distinctiveness as well as providing insight into the wider Islamic context through dynamic debates and revisions of mystical theory as juridico-theological Islam became the dominant approach for Muslim communities.Less
This chapter introduces the issues that the book aims to explore. In both academic and popular writings there has been much debate about Rumi’s relationship to juridico-theological Islam after he started writing mystical poetry. It is pointed out here that this is largely because the most distinctive message in his writings is proximity to God through His Friendship (walāya), which inherently challenges reliance on dogma. For this purpose, Rumi’s didactic writings, which represent his practical instruction to Sufi aspirants, can be fruitfully compared with the Sufi manuals of the tenth and eleventh century ce, which in addition engage with the relationship between mysticism and juridico-theological Islam during a period of critical importance. This comparison at the same time highlights Rumi’s distinctiveness as well as providing insight into the wider Islamic context through dynamic debates and revisions of mystical theory as juridico-theological Islam became the dominant approach for Muslim communities.
Arthur J. Magida
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520245457
- eISBN:
- 9780520941717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520245457.003.0023
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter focuses on the poet Coleman Barks, who translated poems by Persian mystical poet Rumi, and presents his views on Rumi's Sufism. Barks began his project to translate the poems in 1976, ...
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This chapter focuses on the poet Coleman Barks, who translated poems by Persian mystical poet Rumi, and presents his views on Rumi's Sufism. Barks began his project to translate the poems in 1976, and he has published over fifteen collections of Rumi's work. His work has turned Rumi into the best-selling poet in the United States and the Rumi–Barks collaboration into one of the most successful of all time for poets. Rumi was the founder of a branch of Sufism that celebrates ecstasy. In 1248, he became distraught, and started focusing on music and dance, eventually finding great relief by holding onto a pole that supported his tent and walking in circles around it, achieving states of ecstasy which would become the foundation of the tariqa Mawlawiya, or whirling dervishes. Rumi spent the next twelve years dictating over 27,000 verses that honor the self and the soul, warn about the limits of the intellect, and advise about spiritual life. Also in the chapter, Barks presents his views on mystical poetry, Rumi's Sufism, and the inspiration behind his translations of Rumi's poetry.Less
This chapter focuses on the poet Coleman Barks, who translated poems by Persian mystical poet Rumi, and presents his views on Rumi's Sufism. Barks began his project to translate the poems in 1976, and he has published over fifteen collections of Rumi's work. His work has turned Rumi into the best-selling poet in the United States and the Rumi–Barks collaboration into one of the most successful of all time for poets. Rumi was the founder of a branch of Sufism that celebrates ecstasy. In 1248, he became distraught, and started focusing on music and dance, eventually finding great relief by holding onto a pole that supported his tent and walking in circles around it, achieving states of ecstasy which would become the foundation of the tariqa Mawlawiya, or whirling dervishes. Rumi spent the next twelve years dictating over 27,000 verses that honor the self and the soul, warn about the limits of the intellect, and advise about spiritual life. Also in the chapter, Barks presents his views on mystical poetry, Rumi's Sufism, and the inspiration behind his translations of Rumi's poetry.
Chad Kia
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781474450386
- eISBN:
- 9781474464864
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474450386.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Some of the world’s most exquisite medieval paintings, from late fifteenth-century Herat and the early Safavid workshops, illustrate well-known episodes of popular romances––like Leyla & Majnun––that ...
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Some of the world’s most exquisite medieval paintings, from late fifteenth-century Herat and the early Safavid workshops, illustrate well-known episodes of popular romances––like Leyla & Majnun––that give prominence to depictions of unrelated figures such as a milkmaid or a spinner at the scene of the hero Majnun’s death. This interdisciplinary study aims to uncover the significance of this enigmatic, century-long trend from its genesis at the Timurid court to its continued development into the Safavid era. The analysis of iconography in several luxury manuscript paintings within the context of contemporary cultural trends, especially the ubiquitous mystical and messianic movements in the post-Mongol Turco-Persian world, reveals the meaning of many of these obscure figures and scenes and links this extraordinary innovation in the iconography of Persian painting to one of the most significant events in the history of Islam: the takeover of Iran by the Safavids in 1501. The apparently inscrutable figures, which initially appeared in illustrations of didactic Sufi narrative poetry, allude to metaphors and verbal expressions of Sufi discourse going back to the twelfth century. These “emblematic” figure-types served to emphasize the moral lessons of the narrative subject of the illustrated text by deploying familiar tropes from an intertextual Sufi literary discourse conveyed through verses by poets like Rumi, Attar and Jami, and ended up complementing and expressing Safavid political power at its greatest extent: the conversion of Iran to Shiism.Less
Some of the world’s most exquisite medieval paintings, from late fifteenth-century Herat and the early Safavid workshops, illustrate well-known episodes of popular romances––like Leyla & Majnun––that give prominence to depictions of unrelated figures such as a milkmaid or a spinner at the scene of the hero Majnun’s death. This interdisciplinary study aims to uncover the significance of this enigmatic, century-long trend from its genesis at the Timurid court to its continued development into the Safavid era. The analysis of iconography in several luxury manuscript paintings within the context of contemporary cultural trends, especially the ubiquitous mystical and messianic movements in the post-Mongol Turco-Persian world, reveals the meaning of many of these obscure figures and scenes and links this extraordinary innovation in the iconography of Persian painting to one of the most significant events in the history of Islam: the takeover of Iran by the Safavids in 1501. The apparently inscrutable figures, which initially appeared in illustrations of didactic Sufi narrative poetry, allude to metaphors and verbal expressions of Sufi discourse going back to the twelfth century. These “emblematic” figure-types served to emphasize the moral lessons of the narrative subject of the illustrated text by deploying familiar tropes from an intertextual Sufi literary discourse conveyed through verses by poets like Rumi, Attar and Jami, and ended up complementing and expressing Safavid political power at its greatest extent: the conversion of Iran to Shiism.
Reinhard Strohm
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266564
- eISBN:
- 9780191889394
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266564.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, Ethnomusicology, World Music
For many Persian poets, Sufis in particular, the ethereal modes through which music communicates with its listeners embodied the somatic ‘taste’ (ẕauq) of the suprasomatic divine realities. Through a ...
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For many Persian poets, Sufis in particular, the ethereal modes through which music communicates with its listeners embodied the somatic ‘taste’ (ẕauq) of the suprasomatic divine realities. Through a dialectic of revelation and concealment—or in the Qur’anic terms often employed by the Sufis, ẓāhir and bạ̄tin, exoteric and esoteric—proper musical experience (samāᶜ) becomes both a means of accessing the transcendent harmonies of the cosmos and conduit to the very transcendence of music itself. Proper hearing is not delimited by the audible range of the material ear, for this external sense (ḥiss-i ẓāhir) must yield to an internal sense (ḥiss-i bāṭin), signified by the gūsh-i jān and gūsh-i dil, the ‘ear of the soul’ and ‘ear of the heart’. These auricular metaphors express a deeply Pythagorean but specifically Persianate philosophy of audition, one not (only) grounded in the rationality of mathematical ratios, but (also) modelled upon Pythagoras’ cosmic auditory powers, bestowed through ritual purity.Less
For many Persian poets, Sufis in particular, the ethereal modes through which music communicates with its listeners embodied the somatic ‘taste’ (ẕauq) of the suprasomatic divine realities. Through a dialectic of revelation and concealment—or in the Qur’anic terms often employed by the Sufis, ẓāhir and bạ̄tin, exoteric and esoteric—proper musical experience (samāᶜ) becomes both a means of accessing the transcendent harmonies of the cosmos and conduit to the very transcendence of music itself. Proper hearing is not delimited by the audible range of the material ear, for this external sense (ḥiss-i ẓāhir) must yield to an internal sense (ḥiss-i bāṭin), signified by the gūsh-i jān and gūsh-i dil, the ‘ear of the soul’ and ‘ear of the heart’. These auricular metaphors express a deeply Pythagorean but specifically Persianate philosophy of audition, one not (only) grounded in the rationality of mathematical ratios, but (also) modelled upon Pythagoras’ cosmic auditory powers, bestowed through ritual purity.
Zeki Saritoprak
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780813049403
- eISBN:
- 9780813050171
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813049403.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
Chapter 8 begins by explaining why the interpretative approach is, theologically, the most useful approach for understanding the Qur’an and the Hadith as they relate to Jesus. Of particular ...
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Chapter 8 begins by explaining why the interpretative approach is, theologically, the most useful approach for understanding the Qur’an and the Hadith as they relate to Jesus. Of particular importance is the fact that the interpretive is the only approach that both accepts the veracity of the Qur’an and Hadith and does not deny humanity's God-given reason. Supporting the claim for the overall usefulness of this approach, Saritoprak brings in the writings and ideas of al-Taftazani, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Tantawi Jawhari, and Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, scholars whose readings of the sources constitute a middle way between the theological extremes of literalism and esotericism. Using the interpretive approach as a bridge, the chapter begins a discussion of Muslim-Christian dialogue and cooperation. The chapter concludes on consideration of the interpretive approaches of important Sufis: Ibn al-?Arabi, Rumi, al-Sha?rani, and Ismail Hakki Bursevi.Less
Chapter 8 begins by explaining why the interpretative approach is, theologically, the most useful approach for understanding the Qur’an and the Hadith as they relate to Jesus. Of particular importance is the fact that the interpretive is the only approach that both accepts the veracity of the Qur’an and Hadith and does not deny humanity's God-given reason. Supporting the claim for the overall usefulness of this approach, Saritoprak brings in the writings and ideas of al-Taftazani, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Tantawi Jawhari, and Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, scholars whose readings of the sources constitute a middle way between the theological extremes of literalism and esotericism. Using the interpretive approach as a bridge, the chapter begins a discussion of Muslim-Christian dialogue and cooperation. The chapter concludes on consideration of the interpretive approaches of important Sufis: Ibn al-?Arabi, Rumi, al-Sha?rani, and Ismail Hakki Bursevi.
Tobias P. Graf
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198791430
- eISBN:
- 9780191833908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198791430.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Political History
Early modern Christian-European commentators frequently noted the numerical prominence of converts in the Ottoman military-administrative elite. In doing so, these writers commonly used the blanket ...
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Early modern Christian-European commentators frequently noted the numerical prominence of converts in the Ottoman military-administrative elite. In doing so, these writers commonly used the blanket term renegade to refer to the fact that the members of this elite had been drawn from Christian communities, particularly in the Ottoman-ruled Balkans. Before examining the structure and history of the Ottoman elite and the transformations which it underwent in the wake of the Ottoman Empire’s consolidation during the sixteenth century, this chapter explores the term renegade, its history, and its relation to other contemporary categories such as Turk, Rumi, and Ottoman. The chapter thus provides the historical background against which the following chapters develop their arguments.Less
Early modern Christian-European commentators frequently noted the numerical prominence of converts in the Ottoman military-administrative elite. In doing so, these writers commonly used the blanket term renegade to refer to the fact that the members of this elite had been drawn from Christian communities, particularly in the Ottoman-ruled Balkans. Before examining the structure and history of the Ottoman elite and the transformations which it underwent in the wake of the Ottoman Empire’s consolidation during the sixteenth century, this chapter explores the term renegade, its history, and its relation to other contemporary categories such as Turk, Rumi, and Ottoman. The chapter thus provides the historical background against which the following chapters develop their arguments.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
The introduction serves as a framing chapter, delineating the purpose and significance of the study, the methodological approach, and the nature of the manuscript which forms the basis of the inquiry.
The introduction serves as a framing chapter, delineating the purpose and significance of the study, the methodological approach, and the nature of the manuscript which forms the basis of the inquiry.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter introduces Aḥmad al-Rūmī al-Āqḥiṣārī and his tome, Majālis al-abrār, as well as serving as a cornerstone for a reassessment of Qāḍīzādeli activism more generally. Al-Āqḥiṣārī’s thought ...
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This chapter introduces Aḥmad al-Rūmī al-Āqḥiṣārī and his tome, Majālis al-abrār, as well as serving as a cornerstone for a reassessment of Qāḍīzādeli activism more generally. Al-Āqḥiṣārī’s thought is situated, via a textual excavation, within the intellectual and religious milieu of Ottoman Turkey. This is in fact the only way to reconstruct al-Āqḥiṣārī’s thought since a straightforward biographical account of his life and work is hindered by a lack of sources—indeed, the only mention that he receives in the addendum (dhayl) to Kātib Çelebi’s Kashf al-ẓunūn is a brief statement, and in any case misidentifies him as a shaykh of the Khalwatī order. This chapter also introduces the themes and specific content of Majālis al-abrār, as well as the authorities cited by al-Āqḥiṣārī.Less
This chapter introduces Aḥmad al-Rūmī al-Āqḥiṣārī and his tome, Majālis al-abrār, as well as serving as a cornerstone for a reassessment of Qāḍīzādeli activism more generally. Al-Āqḥiṣārī’s thought is situated, via a textual excavation, within the intellectual and religious milieu of Ottoman Turkey. This is in fact the only way to reconstruct al-Āqḥiṣārī’s thought since a straightforward biographical account of his life and work is hindered by a lack of sources—indeed, the only mention that he receives in the addendum (dhayl) to Kātib Çelebi’s Kashf al-ẓunūn is a brief statement, and in any case misidentifies him as a shaykh of the Khalwatī order. This chapter also introduces the themes and specific content of Majālis al-abrār, as well as the authorities cited by al-Āqḥiṣārī.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter initiates the textual excavation of Majālis al-abrār, proceeding first with an inquiry into al-Āqḥiṣārī’s conception of the spiritual path. There is an examination of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s ...
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This chapter initiates the textual excavation of Majālis al-abrār, proceeding first with an inquiry into al-Āqḥiṣārī’s conception of the spiritual path. There is an examination of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s advocacy of and commitment to Sufism, and the convergence of his outlook with the Naqshbandī path. It becomes clear that, despite obvious convergences, al-Āqḥiṣārī was unlikely to have been directly affiliated with the Naqshbandī order—more probably, his appropriation of central doctrines and key devotional practices associated with the order was but an element within a broader commitment towards reforming Ottoman Sufism, and therefore an aspect of the reformist vision associated with Birgili.Less
This chapter initiates the textual excavation of Majālis al-abrār, proceeding first with an inquiry into al-Āqḥiṣārī’s conception of the spiritual path. There is an examination of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s advocacy of and commitment to Sufism, and the convergence of his outlook with the Naqshbandī path. It becomes clear that, despite obvious convergences, al-Āqḥiṣārī was unlikely to have been directly affiliated with the Naqshbandī order—more probably, his appropriation of central doctrines and key devotional practices associated with the order was but an element within a broader commitment towards reforming Ottoman Sufism, and therefore an aspect of the reformist vision associated with Birgili.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter focuses on the principal concern of the Majālis, namely the discussion of innovations (bidʿa) in ritual worship. Al-Āqḥiṣārī cites some of the most famous texts penned on the subject ...
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This chapter focuses on the principal concern of the Majālis, namely the discussion of innovations (bidʿa) in ritual worship. Al-Āqḥiṣārī cites some of the most famous texts penned on the subject but, as the chapter demonstrates, no text within this literary genre is as influential on his thinking as Iqtidā’ al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm of Shaykh al-Islām IbnTaymiyya. Since no explicit mention of the Iqtidā’ is made in the Majālis, a detailed textual comparison is undertaken in order to demonstrate the places in the text where al-Āqḥiṣārī either cites verbatim or paraphrases parts of the Iqtidā’. A further aim of the chapter is to bring to light those aspects of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s reform programme that justify him being linked to the Qāḍīzādelis.Less
This chapter focuses on the principal concern of the Majālis, namely the discussion of innovations (bidʿa) in ritual worship. Al-Āqḥiṣārī cites some of the most famous texts penned on the subject but, as the chapter demonstrates, no text within this literary genre is as influential on his thinking as Iqtidā’ al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm of Shaykh al-Islām IbnTaymiyya. Since no explicit mention of the Iqtidā’ is made in the Majālis, a detailed textual comparison is undertaken in order to demonstrate the places in the text where al-Āqḥiṣārī either cites verbatim or paraphrases parts of the Iqtidā’. A further aim of the chapter is to bring to light those aspects of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s reform programme that justify him being linked to the Qāḍīzādelis.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter constitutes a survey of the activist strand within al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writing, particularly the demand he placed on the Muslim faithful to actively engage in enjoining good and forbidding ...
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This chapter constitutes a survey of the activist strand within al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writing, particularly the demand he placed on the Muslim faithful to actively engage in enjoining good and forbidding evil. There is also an assessment of the broader implications of the research findings, including a discussion on al-Āqḥiṣārī’s influence beyond the Ottoman lands.Less
This chapter constitutes a survey of the activist strand within al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writing, particularly the demand he placed on the Muslim faithful to actively engage in enjoining good and forbidding evil. There is also an assessment of the broader implications of the research findings, including a discussion on al-Āqḥiṣārī’s influence beyond the Ottoman lands.
Mustapha Sheikh
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198790761
- eISBN:
- 9780191833250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198790761.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
The final chapter sets out the central findings of the study, delineates the centrality of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writing for our understanding of the Ottoman revivalist movement and suggests avenues for ...
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The final chapter sets out the central findings of the study, delineates the centrality of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writing for our understanding of the Ottoman revivalist movement and suggests avenues for future research.Less
The final chapter sets out the central findings of the study, delineates the centrality of al-Āqḥiṣārī’s writing for our understanding of the Ottoman revivalist movement and suggests avenues for future research.
