Early Sufism Research Articles

Erken Dönem Tasavvufunda İdeal Bir Tip Olarak Şeyh ve Misyonu / The Shaykh as an Ideal Type and His Mission in Early Sufism

Erken Dönem Tasavvufunda İdeal Bir Tip Olarak Şeyh ve Misyonu / The Shaykh as an Ideal Type and His Mission in Early Sufism

The Role of Neo-Sufism and the Ritual Phenomenon of Slawatan in Promoting Religious Tolerance

This work focuses on the role of Neo-Sufism practice and the ritual phenomenon of Slawatan in promoting religious tolerance, through the teaching of peace and social solidarity by four religious organizations and their leaders. Slawatan is a common practice in Sufism and Neo-Sufism. Evidence shows that early Sufism promoted interreligious tolerance and harmony, and co-existed with other religions, such as Hinduism, in Indonesia. The study adopts ritual theory and participants’ observation as a methodological framework. This paper argues that, the use of Neo-Sufism practice and the ritual phenomenon of Slawatan promote social solidarity which embodies the significance of religious tolerance in Central Java, Indonesia. The data also indicate that Slawatan and Neo-Sufism also have the potential to assist in the de-radicalisation and rehabilitation of religious extremists, as is evident in the work conducted by Pesantren Nur Hormain. The discussion confirms that Ahbabul Musthofa’s, Al Khidmah’s, Pesantren Nurul Haromain’s and Al Ukhuwwah’s peaceful approach to spiritual practice have promoted: social, political and educational activities among diverse communities, both in Central Java and outside Indonesia.

The Problem of Free Will and Predestination in the Light of Satan’s Justification in Early Sufism

Abstract This article examines the story of Iblīs’s disobedience in early Sufism. The motif of justifying and condemning Satan is a characteristic feature of the ideological heritage of some Sufis. The first Sufi line estimates Satan as a sufferer and a sacrifice of God’s predestination. Al-Ḥallāj’s teaching became the climax of this tradition for early Sufism. The second line of this discourse is connected with criticism of Satan’s role. The central figure in this process is Rūzbihān Baqlī. The genesis of this topic in early Sufism demonstrates certain connections with the doctrine of predestination.

The “Doctrine of Love” in ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī’s Manāzil al-sāʾirīn with Critical Paraphrase of ʿAbd al-Razzāq Kāshānī’s Commentary

This article represents a preliminary inquiry into a little known and understudied commentarial tradition upon ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī’s classic work on the stations of Sufism, the Manāzil al-sāʾirīn (Stations of the Wayfarers). After briefly taking stock of the considerably late commentarial tradition which this important text engendered, we will take as our case study one of the Manāzil ’s key topics, namely its sixty-first chapter on the station of love. This pivotal section on love gives profound insight into early Sufism and into the minds of two of its greatest exponents. Anṣārī discusses the station of love in detail, as he does with every chapter, in three aspects, each pertaining to the three types of wayfarers: the initiates, the elect, and the foremost of the elect. Then, we shall turn our attention to perhaps the most important Sufi commentary upon this work by an important follower of the school of Ibn al-ʿArabī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq Kāshānī, offering a guided reading of his commentary upon Anṣarī’s chapter on love in the Manāzil. A complete English translation of this chapter will be offered and appropriately contextualized.

A Note on Interior Conversion in Early Sufism and Ibrāhīm b. Adham’s Entry into the Way

In the early Sufi tradition tawba was conceived not simply as repentance, or returning to God from a particular sin, but as a broader and much more encompassing process of “interior conversion” in which a nominal allegiance to the religion of one’s birth was replaced by a complete and unwavering commitment to the spiritual life. Ibrāhīm’s b. Adham’s (d. 161/778–9) tawba remains perhaps the most well-known of such accounts. Found in virtually all the major biographical and hagiographical sources which deal with the formative period of Sufism, it contains elements both uncannily similar to that of Buddha’s own conversion intertwined with distinctively Islamic motifs, whether they involve a scrupulous concern for lawful sustenance, hearing a Qur’anic admonishment through the words of an invisible caller (hātif), an over-riding concern for final Judgement and the welfare of the soul after death, or an encounter with Khiḍr through whom certain mysteries of the Way are disclosed.

Comfort of the Mystics: A Manual and Anthology of Early Sufism. Edited by Gerhard Böwering and Bilal Orfali


 
 
 The Comfort of the Mystics: A Manual and Anthology of Early Sufism. Edited by Gerhard Böwering and Bilal Orfali. Islamic History and Civilization, vol. 98. Leiden: Brill, 2013. Pp. ix + 34 + 686 (Arabic). $282.
 
 

Islamic Mysticism and Ab T lib al-Makk : The Role of the Heart By SAEKO YAZAKI

Ahmet T. Karamustafa’s Sufism: The Formative Period (Edinburgh University Press, 2007) synthesized decades of research to grant Sufi studies its first rigorous, historically situated survey of classical Sufism. It highlighted how important a role Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī’s (d. 386/996) Qūt al-qulūb (‘Nourishment for the Heart’) played in ‘the emergence of a normative Sufi tradition, in the 4th/10th century[…]’, and it reflected the need to preserve, evaluate and analyse the complex legacy of the first masters’ (Sufism, p. 83). Compared to other pre-Ghazālīan manuals, the Qūt is by far the most voluminous, offering detailed insight into the praxis (muʿāmala) of one branch of early Sufism and constituting ‘an encyclopaedia of Islamic piety’ (Richard Gramlich, Die Nahrung der Haerzen [Franz Steiner, 1995], i. 17). Nonetheless, al-Makkī had received little scholarly attention; it is to Karamustafa’s credit that he managed to treat al-Makkī proportionally with other key figures. In this context, Saeko Yazaki’s work is a most welcome addition; it is the first published introduction to al-Makkī’s life and works and their reception by subsequent generations. It is based on her doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Edinburgh in 2010. Her thesis superseded those of Shukri (Edinburgh, 1976) and Amin (Edinburgh, 1991) and was joined by Bin Ramli’s excellent investigation of al-Makkī’s theology (Oxford, 2011), to which she refers.

Abū Ṭālib al‐Makkī & the Nourishment of Hearts (Qūt al‐qulūb) in the Context of Early Sufism

Abū Ṭālib al‐Makkī &amp; the <i>Nourishment of Hearts (Qūt al‐qulūb)</i> in the Context of Early Sufism

The Teaching Relationship in Early Sufism: A Reassessment of Fritz Meier’s Definition of the Shaykh Al-Tarbiya and the Shaykh Al-Ta‘Lim

A discussion of early Sufi practices and Sufis’ self-understanding of their mode of knowledge as one of the early Sunni religious sciences.

The Rise of Early Sufism: A Survey of Recent Scholarship on its Social Dimensions

AbstractBy the late mediaeval period, Sufism (sometimes defined as Islamic mysticism) was a clear presence in every Muslim town or village, and Sufis were present in many different levels of Muslim society. However, if we were to look back to the earliest centuries of Islamic history, it becomes increasingly harder to find evidence of individuals going by the description of ‘Sufi’. Individuals with the name appear around the late eighth century C.E., but we only start to see the rise of a particular group using that name in the mid‐nineth century. But how and why did Sufism rise in this period, and what were the reasons behind its growing importance for Muslim society? By looking at the contributions of scholars in recent decades, this article will try to trace the development of Sufism from its early origins, up to its consolidation as a visible social institution during the 12th century.

From Hubb to lhringIshq: The Development of Love in Early Sufism

From the first centuries of Islam until today, love has been a central theme of Sufi literature. Sufi poems and sayings from the early Islamic period focus upon the words ḥubb and maḥabba, presenting God as the Divine beloved and the spiritual wayfarer as the lover. They thus posit a duality between the lover and the beloved. In the later Persian Sufi tradition, beginning with Saw~niḥ of Aḥmad al-Ghaz~l‚ (d. 517/1123), many Sufis move from the use of ḥubb and maḥabba to the word `ishq—passionate or extreme love. `Ishq then comes to be presented as the ultimate reality itself from which both the lover and the beloved derive, and all aspects of creation and the spiritual path are viewed as aspects of it.This paper examines the move from ḥubb and maḥabba to `ishq by contrasting the understanding of love in the early and middle periods. It then examines the myriad understandings of love in the early period and the underlying controversy regarding the use of the word `ishq to identify precedents for the teachings on `ishq that arose in the early sixth century. Though important treatises on ḥubb, maḥabba and `ishq were penned by philosophers, theologians, poets and literary critics, these are beyond the scope of this study.The extant Sufi treatises from the early period suggest that there was extensive debate regarding the attribution of `ishq to God and the use of the term to define the relationship between God and human beings. While some teachings attributed to al-™all~j (d. 309/922) appear to foreshadow the later Persian tradition and there are allusions to it in several early texts, there are no extant treatises that give to `ishq the centrality it finds in the Saw~niḥ and the later Sufi tradition. This transition towards a full metaphysics of love thus marks a watershed event in the development of Sufi literature.

The Teaching Relationship in Early Sufism: A Reassessment of Fritz Meier's Definition of the shaykh al‐tarbiya and the shaykh al‐ta‘l?m

The Muslim WorldVolume 93, Issue 1 p. 69-97 The Teaching Relationship in Early Sufism: A Reassessment of Fritz Meier's Definition of the shaykh al-tarbiya and the shaykh al-ta‘l?m Laury Silvers-Alario, Laury Silvers-Alario Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, New YorkSearch for more papers by this author Laury Silvers-Alario, Laury Silvers-Alario Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, New YorkSearch for more papers by this author First published: 27 February 2003 https://doi.org/10.1111/1478-1913.00015Citations: 3Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume93, Issue1January 2003Pages 69-97 RelatedInformation

Persian Sufism in its Historical Perspective

The eight sections of the present essay are drawn from the lectures I delivered at Princeton University and at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1969-1970. Because of the diverse nature of the audience I did not go into the details that would be necessary in a new approach to a traditional problem. Instead, my principal aim was to present a brief sketch of the contents of what may be called Persian mysticism, while showing at the same time the remarkable role that this variety of Islamic mysticism has played in the cultural development of Persia.The origins of Sufism—as Islamic mysticism is generally called—presents a very controversial problem indeed, but that Persia was the cradle of early Sufism is beyond doubt. Moreover, if mysticism is taken to be—as it usually is—an expression of man's belief in direct connection with the godhead, the well-known ethical concepts of the Zoroastrians—for whom every particular deed of daily life, good or bad, is the joint product of man and either the principle of Good or of Evil—might also be considered as unconscious expressions of a pantheistic type of mysticism.

Khargūshī's Manual of Ṣūfism

Through the courtesy of the authorities of the Preussische Staatsbibliothek I have had the opportunity of reading in the India Office Library the apparently unique copy of Abū Sa'd 'Abd al-Malik b. Muhammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Wā'iz al-Khargūshī's manual of Sūfism entitled Tahdhīb al-asrār. Khargūshī, who is otherwise known for his voluminous biography of the Prophet and a treatise on the interpretation of dreams, died at Nīshāpūr in 406/1015 or 4Q7/1016. He is therefore an earlier authority than Sulamī (d. 412/1021), Abu Nu'aim al-Isfahānī (d. 430/1039), and Qushairī (d. 465/1072), but is junior to Sarrāj (d. 378/988), Kalābādhī (d. 385/995), and Abū Tālib al-Makkī (d. 386/996). These comparisons are important, for they show Khargūshī as being a sufficiently early writer in the genre of systematic Sūfism. His name is not included in Nicholson's list of eight authorities for the history of early Sufism, and he does not appear to have received the attention which he deserves; though it is true that he has been utilized by Massignon in his study of Hallaj. The purpose of the present note is to supplement the somewhat exiguous account of the work given by Ahlwardt, and also to estimate the true value of Khargūshī's manual as a primary source.