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Investigating sufi-inspired spirituality in the modern world, this multi-faceted and interdisciplinary volume focuses on Beshara, a spiritual movement that applies the teachings of Ibn ‘Arabi in a non-Muslim context. It traces the movement's emergence in sixties Britain and analyses its major teachings and practices, exploring through this case-study the interface between sufism and the New Age, and the encounter between Islam and the West. Examining from a global perspective the impact of cultural transformations associated with modernization and globalization on religion, this timely volume concludes by tracing possible futures of sufi spirituality both in the West and in the Muslim world.
This volume examines the writings of ten Muslim intellectuals, working in the Muslim world and the West, who employ contemporary critical methods to understand the Qur'an. Their work points to a new trend in Muslim interpretation, characterised by a direct engagement with the Word of God while embracing intellectual modernity in a global context. The volume situates and evaluates their work and responses to it among Muslim and non-Muslim audiences.
This book provides in-depth discussions of Islamic thought across the twentieth century, encompassing the breadth of self-expression in Muslim communities world-wide. It explores key themes in modern Islamic thinking, including the social origins and ideological underpinnings of the late nineteenth- early twentieth-century Islamic reformist project, nationalism in the Muslim world, Islamist attitudes towards democracy, the science of Islamic economics, Islamist notions of family and the role of women, Muslim perceptions and constructions of the West, and aspects of Muslim thinking on Christians and Jews. - Publisher.
Today, Arabic-speaking Muslims, in whose tongue the Qur'an was revealed, make up no more than twenty per cent of the world Muslim population. This volume explores the endeavour by Muslims using diverse languages and from different regions to explain the meanings of the Qur'an. It introduces Qur'an commentaries and translations from the twentieth century to the present day, ranging across the regions of the traditional Islamic heartlands to the new loci of global Islam. Chapters examine works in Malay, Chinese, Urdu, Swahili, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Bosnian, German, and English, each viewed in terms of the impact of modernity on the encounter with the Qur'an. This book examines defining tre...
Widely used for centuries in Sufi circles, the prayer known as "The Most Elevated Cycle" (al-Dawr al-a'la) or "The Prayer of Protection" (Hizb al-wiqaya), written by the great Sufi master Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi, has never before been available in English. This book provides a lucid English translation and an edited Arabic text of this beautiful and powerful prayer. It includes a transliteration for those unable to read Arabic, who wish to recite the prayer in the original language. Showing the importance of Ibn ‘Arabi's devotional teaching, the book explores the prayer's contemporary life, properties and historical transmission. It gives full details of generations of well-known scholars and Sufi masters who have transmitted the prayer, providing an intimate and fascinating insight into Islamic history.
This work focuses on the current situation of Balkan Muslims, their relationship with the state, and the links between their ethnic and religious identities.
"With a preface by Vincent Cornell, this volume examines Muslim intellectuals from the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, the USA, and Europe who employ contemporary critical methods to interpret the Qur'an, arriving at conclusions that challenge those of past communities of interpretation. It offers a framework for understanding their work and responses to this among Muslim and Western audiences, and illustrates the diverse struggles in which they recruit the Qur'an, read through the lens of their modernist or post-modernist positions. Pointing to the emergence of a new Muslim community of interpretation characterised by direct engagement with the word of God and the embrace of intellectual modernity in the context of an increasingly globalized world, it presents and analyses for the first time a representative selection of its voices, methods, and conclusions." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0620/2004303639-d.html.
Discusses the Caliphate in the ideas and discourse of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir and al-Qaeda.
Providing a precious glimpse into the real practice of the mystical life within the Sufi tradition, this volume marks the first time any of Ibn ‘Arabi's prayers have been translated into another language. The 14 prayers include not only the most astounding expressions of devotion and contemplation, but also an unparalleled depth of knowledge of union. The very structure of the prayers is itself a mode of contemplation, making for a unique spiritual experience.
Against the Modern World is the first history of Traditionalism, an important yet surprisingly little-known twentieth-century anti-modern movement. Comprising a number of often secret but sometimes very influential religious groups in the West and in the Islamic world, it affected mainstream and radical politics in Europe and the development of the field of religious studies in the United States, touching the lives of many individuals. French writer Rene Guenon rejected modernity as a dark age and sought to reconstruct the Perennial Philosophy - the central truths behind all the major world religions. Guenon stressed the urgent need for the West's remaining spiritual and intellectual elite t...