Tag: Sufism

Ibn Arabi’s Sufism: Islamic Theoretical Mysticism

Ibn Arabi, one of the world’s great spiritual teachers, was a prominent mystic and visionary who enriched the Sufi tradition of Islam with his numerous and profound spiritual writings. This course explores Ibn ‘Arabi’s methodology (divine speech, deiformity, and names & relations), ontology (wahdat al-wujud, non-delimitation, imagination, and the barzakh), things and realities (fixed entities, the reality of realities, and entification [ta‘ayyun]), the return (the circle of existence, stages of ascent, and the two commands), and human perfection (the station of no station, perfect man, and divine presences).

Philosophy of Shah Wali Allah

Shah Waliullah Dehlavi (1703-1762) was an Indian theologian, Sufi of the Naqshbandi order, and promulgator of modern Islamic thought who first attempted to reassess Islamic theology in the light of modern changes. This course explores his philosophy, including the philosophy of religion, theology, and mysticism. We focus on a critical analysis of three of his masterworks that were translated into English and discuss his major principles and key terms in theoretical mysticism: Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha (The Conclusive Argument from God), and The Lamaḥāt (Flashes/Glimpses of Philosophy), and The Sataʿat (Illuminations).

Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism (Sufi’s Approach to Philosophy)

This course focuses on Sufi’s approach to philosophy, especially on the Philosophy of Illumination of Suhrawardi and The Transcendent Philosophy of Mulla Sadra. The course starts with an introduction to the philosophy of Suhrawardi, and Mulla Sadra as well as the mystical works of Avicenna, al-Gazali, and Ibn Tufail. The main body of the course is studying and analyzing symbolic and mystical recitals of Avicenna, Suhrawardi, Gazali, Ibn Tufail, and others. We try to examine the key themes of philosophy, Sufism, and philosophical Sufism through these symbolic and mystical recitals.