Islamic Mysticism and Interreligious Dialogue
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2020.237Keywords:
Islamic mysticism, Interreligious dialogue, Sufism, Ibn ‘ArabiAbstract
My aim in this paper is to investigate Islamic Mysticism and find out how and to what extent mystical views can build good grounds for a productive and fruitful interreligious dialogue. First, I provide a brief clarification of what I mean by the notions of ‘interreligious dialogue’ and ‘Islamic mysticism.’ Then, I explain three mystical principles as three bases for the promotion of interreligious dialogue. These are the metaphysico-theological principle of ‘the unity of existence’ (waḥdat al-wujūd), the anthropological thesis of fitra (primordial nature), and the hermeneutic method for interpreting the Qur’an. Finally, I explore the implications of these principles for interreligious dialogue and discuss the role of mystical teachings in promoting interreligious dialogue in two different, though interrelated, areas: doxastic and moral.
References
Abdul-Raof, Hussein. Schools of Qur’anic Exegesis: Genesis and Development. Oxon: Routledge, 2010.
Akbari, Reza, and Mohammad Qafurinezhad. “Fetrat dar Andisheye Ebn Arabi wa Ertebate An ba E’eteqad be Wojude Khoda [Ibn ‘Arabi on Fīṭra and its Relation to the Belief in God].” Pazhuheshnameye Erfan (Spring and Summer 1389/2010): 23–42.
Arberry, A. J. Sufism, An Account of the Mystics of Islam. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Chittick, William C. Sufism: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: Oneworld, 2008.
Chittick, William C. Imaginal Worlds: Ibn Al-‘Arabi and the Problem of Religious Diversity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
Chittick, William C. The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn Al-Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination. New York: SUNY Press, 1989.
Chodkiewicz, Michel. An Ocean without Shore; Ibn ‘Arabi, the Book and the Law. Translated by David Streight. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
Cook, D. “Mysticism in Sufi Islam.” Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Religion. May 4, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.51.
Fadiman, James, and Robert Frager. Essential Sufism. New Jersey: Castle Books, 1998.
Fakhri, Majid. A History of Islamic Philosophy, Third Edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
Friedmann, Y. Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi: An outline of His Thought and a study of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity. Montreal: McGill University Press, 1971.
Geoffroy, Eric. Introduction to Sufism: The Inner Path of Islam. Translated by Roger Gaetani. Indiana: World Wisdom, Inc., 2010.
Ibn ‘Arabi, Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali. al-Futūḥat al-Makkiya [Meccan Revelations]. Beirut: Dar al-Sader, n.d.
Ibn ‘Arabi, Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali. Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam [The Bezels of Wisdom]. Beirut, 1946.
Kahteran, Nevad. “Fīṭra.” In The Qur’an: An Encyclopedia, edited by O. Leaman. London & New York: Routledge, 2006.
Kakaie, Ghasem. “Interreligious Dialogue: Ibn `Arabi and Meister Eckhart.” The Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. Accessed September 7, 2017. http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/interreligious-dialogue.html.
Naraqi, Mulla Mohammad Mahdi. “Qurrat al-‘Oyoon” In Muntakhabati az Athar-e Hukama-ye Ilahi-e Iran, edited by Seyyed Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani, second edition, vol. 4. Qum: Markaz-e Intisharat-e Dafter-e Tabliqat-e Eslami, 1378/1999.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. “Islam and the Encounter of Religions.” In Sufi Essays, third edition, 123–151. Chicago: ABC International Group, Inc., 1999.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. “Introduction to the Mystical tradition.” In History of Islamic Philosophy (part 1), edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, 367–373. Oxon: Routledge, 1996.
Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.
Newman, Tay. “The Idea of Religious Tolerance.” American Philosophical Quarterly 15, no. 3 (1978): 187–195. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20009713.
Sands, Kristin Zahra. Sufi Commentaries on The Qur’an in Classical Islam. Oxon: Routledge, 2006.
Schuon, Frithjof. The Transcendent Unity of Religions. Introduction by Huston Smith. Wheaton: Quest Books, 1984.
Shah-Kazemi, Reza. “The Metaphysics of Interfaith Dialogue: Sufi Perspectives on the Universality of the Qur’anic Message.” In Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East, edited by James S. Cutsinger, 140–189. Indiana: World Wisdom, inc., 2004.
Stoddart, William. Outline of Sufism: The Essentials of Islamic Spirituality. Foreword by R. W. J. Austin. Indiana: World Wisdom, Inc., 2012.
Strahovnik, Vojko. “Humility, Religions, and Dialogue.” Poligrafi 22, no. 87/88 (2017): 3–21.
Swidler, Leonard. “Interreligious and Interideological D: The Matrix for All Systematic Reflection Today.” In Toward a Universal Theology of Religion, edited by Leonard Swidler, 6–30. New York: Orbis Books, 1987.
Thangaraj, M. Thomas. The Common Task: A Theology of Christian Mission. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999.
