“Sufi Reform and the Mystical Ideology of Divine Unity,” Peshawar Islamicus 4, 2012 (original) (raw)
Referring to theoretical, practical and institutional transformation in Sufism during the eighteenth century, the concept of Sufi reform has prompted much debate in recent scholarly literature. Concentrating on the Indian subcontinent after the late sixteenth century, this paper ventures to reveal a confusion, among both those who affirm the occurrence of such Sufi reform and those who refute it, between the two notions of wa╒dat al-wuj┴d ("Unity of Being") and hama ┴st ("Everything is He"). The former notion originated in the thought of the medieval Sufi, Ibn al-' Arabi (d. 1240), while the latter was primarily an Indian response to the former concept. Through analyzing the semantics of these two notions within the context of Indian Sufism, the current paper argues that what is criticized by Sufi reformists from the seventeenth century onwards was not exactly the doctrine of the Unity of Being, as it had been formulated by Ibn al-'Arabi and his commentators, but rather, it was the Indian reception of it represented in the idea of hama ┴st. Accordingly, it is argued that reference to the continuity of the idea of wa╒dat al-wuj┴d in the modern era by the opponents of the appearance of a Sufi reformism in the eighteenth century cannot adequately justify their position.
Related papers
The eighteenth and nineteenth Centuries : Sufism Under Challenge
2019
Sufi thinking came to represent a theological default in Islamic Southeast Asia from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. There were severe polemics at times, with reformist Sufi scholars seeking to reconcile mystical practice with the Shari`a. The nineteenth century represented a watershed for Southeast Asian Islam with the consolidation of European colonialism. Old paradigms gradually gave way to new approaches among Malay-Indonesian Muslims. There was a gradual shift away from Sufi writing, whether theosophical or reformed, towards non-Sufi modernist thought. This process was consolidated in the twentieth century. Traditionalist scholars responded with streamlined organisations and activist policies. However, the stage came to be dominated by modernists and neo-modernists, who sought to interpret the primary sacred scriptures in terms of modern world challenges. Furthermore, Sufism itself responded with its own modernist response. At the turn of the 21st century, radical Is...
sianJPerso-Islamic philosophy. The two volumes, while reprinting a fair amount of material (some of which is of dubious quality), do present much new material to the reader. They do facilitate teaching and understanding, as long as they are used carefully and critically. The Anthology is thus a major contribution and once it is complete (in five or six projected volumes), it will no doubt transform the way in which we perceive and study philosophical traditions in Persia.
Sufism in the Western History : A Primary Outline
FALSAFEH, The Iranian Journal of Philosophy, 2009
The phenomenon of Western Sufi teachers is unique, not just because of the individuals themselves, though they are certainly fascinating, but because of what they represent: the flowering of the Western genius, which has discovered Eastern traditions, absorbed them and in the process changed them and been changed by them. This paper is a primary outline of the main contours of this phenomenon, trying to brief its history and attempt an explanation of what it means.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.