According to Muhammad, "God is beautiful and He loves beauty." Yet, Islam is rarely associated with beauty, and today, a politicized Islam dominates many perceptions. This work tells a forgotten story of beauty in Islam through the writings of celebrated but little-studied Sufi scholar and saint Rūzbihān Baqlī (1128–1209). Rūzbihān argued that the pursuit of beauty in the world and in oneself was the goal of Muslim life. One should become beautiful in imitation of God and reclaim the innate human nature created in God's beautiful image. Rūzbihān's theory of beauty is little known, largely because of his convoluted style and eccentric terminology in both Persian and Arabic. In this book, Kazuyo Murata revives Rūzbihān's ideas for modern readers. She provides an overview of Muslim discourse on beauty before Rūzbihān's time; an analysis of key terms related to beauty in the Qur'ān, Ḥadīth, and in Rūzbihān's writings; a reconstruction of Rūzbihān's understanding of divine, cosmic, and human beauty; and a discussion of what he regards as the pinnacle of beauty in creation, the prophets, especially Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Muhammad.

Cemalnur Sargut, the Turkish leader of the Rifa'i Sufi order, occupies a special place in the intellectual and social landscape of contemporary Islam. This is so for multiple reasons. As a female Sufi teacher who commands a loyal and active worldwide following, especially in Turkey, Sargut's career as a scholar and Sufi leader represents an important case study in the dynamics of contemporary global Sufism. This volume represents the first text in English translation that brings together some of her major discourses and teachings as presented to her students through the genre of oral discourses. More Specifically, the discourses that form the core of this book were collected through oral interviews with Cemalnur conducted by her students as part of a weekly program aired on a national Turkish radio station. The original Turkish transcription on which this English translation is based is titled Dinle (Listen), and was published in 2012 by Nefes press.1 Cemalnur has been actively training disciples and students in the teachings and practices of the Rifa'i Sufi order for the last forty years. While her oral and written discourses are widely available in Turkish, they have until now remained inaccessible to an English language audience. This book seeks to address this lacuna by introducing key aspects of her thought and spiritual orientation in English. In this brief introduction I wish to provide readers a broad outline of the key themes and concepts that animate the lineaments of Cemalnur's thoughts as presented in this book. In addition, I also hope to provide readers with the intellectual and institutional context in which one might be able to place Cemalnur's thought and scholarly career. Moreever, I will also have the occasion to discuss the literary genre within Sufism and Islamic literature that corresponds to the kind of oral teachings and sermons that populate the pages of this book. Finally I will briefly explain the stylistic decisions and choices that were made in the presentation of this text.

Analyzes the place of beauty in the Sufi understanding of God, the world, and the human being through the writings of Sufi scholar and saint Rῡzbihān Baqlī. According to Muhammad, "God is beautiful and He loves beauty." Yet, Islam is rarely associated with beauty, and today, a politicized Islam dominates many perceptions. This work tells a forgotten story of beauty in Islam through the writings of celebrated but little-studied Sufi scholar and saint Rūzbihān Baqlī (1128–1209). Rūzbihān argued that the pursuit of beauty in the world and in oneself was the goal of Muslim life. One should become beautiful in imitation of God and reclaim the innate human nature created in God's beautiful image. Rūzbihān's theory of beauty is little known, largely because of his convoluted style and eccentric terminology in both Persian and Arabic. In this book, Kazuyo Murata revives Rūzbihān's ideas for modern readers. She provides an overview of Muslim discourse on beauty before Rūzbihān's time; an analysis of key terms related to beauty in the Qur'ān, Ḥadīth, and in Rūzbihān's writings; a reconstruction of Rūzbihān's understanding of divine, cosmic, and human beauty; and a discussion of what he regards as the pinnacle of beauty in creation, the prophets, especially Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Muhammad.

Abou El Fadl (Islamic law, UCLA School of Law) wrote the 62 brief essays here over the course of five years. Through a combination of musings and critical reflections on classical Muslim authors, he both traces Muslim intellectual history and also confronts questions of ethics, faith, law, politics, culture, and modern identity. He ranges over many facets of Islam in the contemporary world, exploring censorship, political oppression, terrorism, the veil and the treatment of women, marriage, parental rights, the dynamics between law and morality, the character of the prophet Muhammad, and other topics. About half the essays first appeared in The minaret magazine. c. Book News Inc.

Renowned scholar William C. Chittick explores the worldview of Islam in a series of essays written over thirty-six years.

Summarizing the core beliefs of the Muslim faith, this eye-opening guide counters widely held Western views of Islam as a fierce and fanatical religion by using classical texts to illustrate the truth about three key Islamic principles. Explaining that submission, faith, and beautification complement and complete each other, the study reveals that embodying all three attributes simultaneously is what Muslims strive to achieve in order to meet the Qur'an's definition of fitrah, or true nature. This drastic contrast to many issues and concerns about Muslims--especially the stereotypical attitudes that have arisen since 9/11--is fully explored in the account's quest to foster mutual understanding between cultures. Using a famous encounter between the prophet Muhammad and the angel Gabriel as its outline, this analysis presents a fully holistic view of a world religion that has thrived for more than 1,000 years.

This is a chronological history of the Sufi tradition, divided in to three sections, early, middle and modern periods. The book comprises 35 independent chapters with easily identifiable themes and/or geographical threads, all written by recognised experts in the field. The volume outlines the origins and early developments of Sufism by assessing the formative thinkers and practitioners and investigating specific pietistic themes. The middle period contains an examination of the emergence of the Sufi Orders and illustrates the diversity of the tradition. This middle period also analyses the fate of Sufism during the time of the Gunpowder Empires. Finally, the end period includes representative surveys of Sufism in several countries, both in the West and in traditional "Islamic" regions. This comprehensive and up-to-date collection of studies provides a guide to the Sufi tradition. The Handbook is a valuable resource for students and researchers with an interest in religion, Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.

The first full-length study devoted tothe life and mystical experiences of one of the outstanding figures in Persian Sufism.

A collection of essays on Sufism, written by such contemporary contributors as Seyyed Hossein Nasr, William Chittick, and Frithjof Schuon, demystifies its language, philosophies, and history, in a volume that also provides interpretations of classic and modern essays. Original.

Since their beginnings in the ninth century, the shrines, brotherhoods and doctrines of the Sufis held vast influence in almost every corner of the Muslim world. Offering the first truly global account of the history of Sufism, this illuminating book traces the gradual spread and influence of Sufi Islam through the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and ultimately into Europe and the United States. An ideal introduction to Sufism, requiring no background knowledge of Islamic history or thought Offers the first history of Sufism as a global phenomenon, exploring its movement and adaptation from the Middle East, through Asia and Africa, to Europe and the United States of America Covers the entire historical period of Sufism, from its ninth century origins to the end of the twentieth century Devotes equal coverage to the political, cultural, and social dimensions of Sufism as it does to its theology and ritual Dismantles the stereotypes of Sufis as otherworldly 'mystics', by anchoring Sufi Muslims in the real lives of their communities Features the most up-to-date research on Sufism available