Introduction to Sufism

Translator's Foreword

Transliteration System for Arabic Characters

Preface

CHAPTER I: Fundamentals

DEFINITIONS ANO OBJECTIVES

A Mysticism?

Knowledge and Love

Who is the Sufi?

A Reality without a Name

The Science of Spiritual States

The Initiatory Path

Goals of the Sufi

• Purifying the Soul

• Knowing God

• Union with God, or "Extinguishing Oneself" in Him?

• Dying to Oneself, and Living Again Through Him

DIVERSITY IN SUFISM

A Rich Pallet of Spiritual Types

Sufi Literature

Inward Alchemy

SUFISM AND SHI'ISM

Doctrinal Affinities

Two Rival Esoterisms

THE ROLE OF THE FEMININE IN SUFISM

The Eternal Feminine in Islamic Mysticism

The Effects of the Male Ambience

SOME PREJUDICES REGARDING SUFISM

Sufism is a Kind of Quietism, and is the Egotistical Search for Individual Salvation

Sufism is a Popular Religion, Conceived as a Reaction to the Legalism of "Orthodox" Islam

CHAPTER 2: Sufism and Islam

TWO NAMES FOR A SINGLE REALITY

The Fundamentally Koranic Character of Sufism

THE KORANIC MODEL

"To Combine One 's Flesh and Blood with the Koran"

The Sufi Travels His Path Through the Book

A Multitude of Meanings: Sufi Exegesis

The Hadīth Qudsī, or "Divine Utterance"

THE MODEL OF MUHAMMAD

"Sufis are Those Who Follow the Path of the Messenger of God and Strive to Acquire His Noble Virtues"

The Prophet as Primordial Light

The Reality of Muhammad, Mediator between the Divine and Human Realms

The Inner Sunna

Sufism and Prophetic Tradition (Hadīth)

The Master of Masters

Devotion to the Prophet

THE ISLAM OF "EXCELLENCE"

Islam, Īmān, Ihsān

Sufism Illuminates the Five Pillars

Sufism, or Plenary Islam

THE LAW (SHARĪ'A), THE WAY (TARIQA), AND THE REALITY (HAQIQA)

A Law for Sufis Only?

The Science of "Unveiling", the Science of Sharīa

A Living Law

CHAPTER 3: Sufism in Islamic Culture: Historical Perspective

THE PATH OF THE PIONEERS

A Foundational Attitude: The Ascetic Renunciation of the World

The "Path of Blame" (Malāma): From Concealment to Provocation

From Asceticism to Mysticism

Bistāmī, the Archetype of "Intoxication"

The Baghdad "School" of Sufism (Ninth- Tenth Centuries)

• Hallāj

• Junayd

Hakim Tirmidhī: Between Prophecy and Sainthood

Persecutions

Successors of Junayd and Hallaj

The Four Founders of the Legal Schools and Sufism

THE CENTURIES OF MATURATION (Tenth- Twelfth Centuries)

Legal Scholars, Traditionnists, Sufis: Assertion of Identities

Radiance from Khurasan (Tenth-Eleventh Centuries)

• Sufism and Shafi' ism

• Manuals of Sufism

Ghazzali: The Supremacy of Spiritual Intuition over Reason

The Persistence of the Mysticism of "Intoxication"

POETRY AND METAPHYSICS

Iranian Mystical Poetry (Twelfth-Fifteenth Centuries): 'Attār, Rūmī, and Others Rūmī: Music and Dance

Turkish Mystical Poetry: Yunus Emre

Arabic Mysticai Poetry: Ibn 'Arabī and Ibn al-Fārid

The Necessity of Interpreting Mystical Poetry

Sufi Terminology

Ibn 'Arabī and the Metaphysics of Being

Ibn Sab'īn, or Oneness Without Compromise

CREATING A STRUCTURE FOR SUFISM (Twelfth-Fifteenth Centuries)

The Formation of the "Initiatory Paths" (Tarīqa)

• Iraq

• Central Asia and Iran

• India

• Muslim Spain and the Maghreb

• Egypt and Syria

• Anatolia

• The Caucasus

INTEGRATION AND EXPANSION: "SUFISM, THE HEART OF ISLAM"

Recognition of Sufism by the Ulama

Sufism is Prominent as the Spirituality of Sunni Islam

Hanbalism and Sufism

Places of Sufi Social Interactions

The "Cult of Saints"

The Esoteric Governance of the World

SUFISM AND REFORMISM (Eighteenth-Twentieth Centuries)

A Decline of Sufism?

The Search for Original Purity (Eighteenth-Nineteenth Centuries): Sufism and Wahhabism

The Muhammadian Path

Renewed Paths and New Paths

Lesser Jihād and Greater Jihād

• The Sudanese Mahdi

• Emir 'Abd al-Qādir

Sufi Reformism at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Amadou Bamba and the Shaykh al-'Alawi

Sufism: A Fertile Ground for "Salafī" Reformism

Sufism and Islamicism in the Twentieth Century: Politicization

"Sufi Scholars" in Contemporary Times

CHAPTER 4: Sufism As It Is Lived

MASTER AND DISCIPLE

A Necessary Relationship

An Excessive Veneration?

A Reciprocal Code of Conduct A Single Master

A Second Birth

Sufi Psychology, or the "Science of the Soul" Succession and Delegation of Authority

METHODS AND RITES OF AFFILIATION

Initiatory Rites

• The "Investiture of the Cloak" (Khirqa)

• "Making the Pact" ('Ahd, Bay' a)

• "The Secret Teaching of Formulas of Invocation" (Talqīn)

From True Aspirant to Simple Associate A Fluid World: Multiple Affiliations

Uwaysi Initiation

CODES OF CONDUCT

Correct Inner Attitudes

• Food

• Clothing

• Sleep

• Travel Between Brothers

A Rule for Community Life

INITIATORY METHODS The Invocation (Dhikr)

• The Highest Form of Worship

• Formulas of the Invocation

• From the Dhikr of the Tongue to that of "Inner Consciousness"

The Invocation of the Tongue (Dhikr al-Lisān)

The Invocation of the Heart (Dhikr al-Qalb)

The Invocation of the Inner Consciousness (Dhikr al-Sirr)

• Aloud, or in Silence?

• Group Sessions of Dhikr

SPIRITUAL POETRY AND MUSIC: SAMĀ'

The Echo of the Divine Word

• Subtlety and Ambiguity of Samā'

• A Joyful and Widespread Practice Litanies and Prayers

The Retreat (Khalwa)

• Rules of the Retreat

• Not to Stop at Supernatural Phenomena

• The "Retreat in the Midst of the Crowd"

CHAPTER 5: Sufism and Interreligious Openness

Religious Pluralism in Islam

The Transcendent Unity of Religions

The Legacy of Prophetic Pluralism

The "Hidden Idolatry" of Common Believers

The Temptation of Syncretism

The Pressures of Exoterism and History

CONCLUSION: Sufism Yesterday, Sufism Today The "Degeneration of Time"

The Illness of "Brotherhoodism"

Adapting to Cyclical Conditions

Towards a Restructuring of the Roles of Sufism

The Messianic Adventure

Sufism in the West

Maps

Glossary and Index of Technical Terms

Index of Proper Names

Biographical Notes

• Accettiamo i seguenti pagamenti: - Carta di credito - Paypal - Bonifico bancario - Conto corrente postale - Contrassegno
• Spedizione tramite Poste Italiane s.p.a.