Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda's Sermon on the Prophet's Birthday Celebration: Preaching the Sufi and Sunni Paths of Islam

Abstract

This article focuses on the sermons and preaching method of Ibn 'Abbad of Ronda (d. 1390), a Sufi mystic and chief liturgical preacher of Fez, in order to introduce the tradition of medieval Islamic preaching to specialists of its Christian counterpart. It begins with a brief description of the formal characteristics of Islamic homiletic genres and of the social milieu in which Ibn 'Abbad preached. Particular attention will be given to an eyewitness account of Ibn 'Abbad's preaching and his own writings on the subject, the latter of which must be understood less as a preaching manual than a manifesto of the preacher's social roles and responsibilities. Finally, a detailed analysis of his most famous sermon for the Prophet's birthday celebration (mawlid al-nabi) will be undertaken to highlight the key characteristics of the 'Abbadian homily. It is argued that the rhetorical devices that he employs, namely the citation of the canonical authorities of Sunni Islam, as well as Sufi mystics; the use of semantic condensation (talkhis al-ma'ani), which allows for multiple interpretations of a concept; and his composition of sermons for canonical as well as para-liturgical occasions, clearly position him in the ongoing debate among jurists, theologians and Sufis over definitions of orthopraxy.