Sufi studies 3529366 220121519 2008-06-18T11:22:02Z MER-C 1749459 Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/86.140.166.7|86.140.166.7]] ([[User talk:86.140.166.7|talk]]) to last version by Lunarian '''Sufi studies''': a particular branch of comparative studies that uses a.o.the technical lexicon of the Islamic mystics, the Sufis, to exemplify the nature of its ideas; hence the frequent reference to Sufi Orders. It may be divided into two main branches, the [[orientalist]]/[[academic]] and the spiritual. ==Early Sufi studies in France== The earliest Europeans to study Sufism were French, associated (rightly or wrongly) with the [[Quietism|Quietist]] movement. They were [[Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville]] (1625-1695), a professor at the [[Collège de France]] who worked from texts available in Europe, [[François Bernier]] (1625–1688), the physician of the [[Mughal]] emperor [[Aurangzeb]] who spent 1655-69 in the Islamic world (mostly with Aurangzeb), and [[François Pétis de la Croix]] (1653–1713), a diplomat who spent 1674-1676 in [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]], where he studied [[Rumi]]'s ''[[Masnavi-ye Manavi]]'' and visited the [[Bektashi]] order. D'Herbelot's great work, the ''Bibliothèque orientale'' (published posthumously in 1697), included an entry on [[Sufism]] (as ''tasawwuf'') and detailed entries on [[Al-Hallaj]], [[Najmeddin Kubra]], and [[Abd-al-karim Jili]]. There were a number of references to the ''Masnavi'' and to Rumi (as Gellaledin Mohammed al Balkhi), and there may also have been entries on them. Bernier published an article on Sufism entitled "Mémoire sur le quïetisme des Indes" in the periodical ''Histoire des Ouvrages des Savans'' in September 1688. Following this article, there is said to have developed in France a view that the French expression of the creed of Pure Love (Pur Amour/[[Quietism]]) was in fact a disguised form of [[Islam]]. The debate over Quietism between the bishops [[Fénelon]] and [[Bossuet]] was remembered as the "Querelle du Pur Amour". Many Quietists (including [[Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon]]) were imprisoned. Others exercised caution and self-censorship. Pétis de la Croix did not publish himself, but his son (writing later under a pseudonym) gave reasons why he thought "the [[Mevlevi]] are perfect Quïetists" (Ahmed Frangui, ''Lettres critiques de Hadgi Effendi à la Marquise de G... au sujet des mémoires de M. le Chevalier d'Arvieux'', Paris, 1735). D'Herbelot de Molainville's ''Bibliothèque orientale'' went through several editions, one of the last of which was the 1777 edition printed in the Hague. It has been suggested that some entries on Sufi topics that were present in the 1697 edition were absent from the 1777 edition. The word "Sufi" appears (vol 3, p. 329). ==Early translations== In 1671, Edward Pococke (1648-1727), the son of Oxford professor [[Edward Pococke]] (1604-1691), published a Latin translation of the ''Hayy Ibn Yakhthan'' of [[Ibn Tufayl]]. This led to a number of other translations, including the English translations of 1674 (by George Keith) and 1686 (by George Ashwell), and a Dutch translation of 1701. The anonymous Dutch translator, "S.D.B.," gave a concise biographical review of the philosophers related to the text: [[Al Farabi]], [[Avicenna]], [[Al Ghazali]], [[Ibn Bajjah]], [[Ibn Rushd]], [[Junayd]], and [[Mansur Al-Hallaj]] (with a description of his death and a reference to his famous "Ana al-Haqq"). ''Hayy Ibn Yakhthan'' may have partly inspired [[Robinson Crusoe]]. In 1812, [[Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall]] published a translation of the ''divan'' of [[Hafez]], which was received with delight by [[Goethe]], who was inspired by it to publish in 1819 his ''Westöstlicher Diwan''. A Sufi appears in [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing]]’s play ''[[Nathan der Weise]]'', first produced in 1779, though it is not clear from where Lessing learned of Sufism, perhaps through his association with [[Johann Jakob Reiske]]. In 1821, F.A.G. Thölluck published ''Ssufismus sive Theosophia persarum pantheistica'' in Berlin (in Latin). ==Early sociological studies== One of the earliest sociological treatments of Sufism is to be found in Sir [[John Malcolm]]'s 1825 work, ''The History of Persia, From the Most Early Period to the Present Time, Containing an Account of the Religion, Government, Usages and Character of the Inhabitants of that Kingdom''. Malcolm's treatment, though interesting, is not well informed. In ''An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians written in Egypt during the years 1833-1835'' (1836) [[Edward William Lane]] noted, and illustrated with his own woodcuts, his close observations of the [[Rifa'i]] derwishes while living in Cairo "in disguise". The success of his work also introduced the success of the "disguise". [[Sir Richard Burton]]'s ''Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah'' (3 vol.1855-1856) was undertaken while travelling as a [[Qadiri]], and [[Armin Vambéry]] reached Baveddin near [[Bokhara]] to visit the shrine of [[Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari]] in 1863 in the guise of a [[murid]]. ''Voyage dans l'Asie Centrale, de Téhéran a Khiva, Bokhara et Samarkand, par Arminius Vambéry, savant Hongrois déguisé en derviche'' was the subject of four instalments of the popular and copiously illustrated "Le Tour Du Monde, Nouveau Journal Des Voyages (Edouard [[Charton]])" Paris, Londres, Leipzig 1865, deuxième semestre -Hachette et Cie ed. The "disguise" was by no means superficial and necessitated a variety of resources in linguistics and social integration that left marks far beyond the mere popular success of [[Travel literature|travelogues]]. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the resistance to the European conquest of North Africa was often led by Sufis, notably [[Abd al-Qadir]] and later the [[Sanusi]] order. This drew further attention to Sufis and Sufism, and a number of studies were performed and published. These generally suffered from their authors' preoccupations with security. ==Aguéli to Guénon== One line of 20th century Sufi studies that came to fruition in the West appears to have been born from many [[colors]] in a painters workshop.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Idries_Shah#Shah_on_Naqshbandi] It was the Swedish painter [[Ivan Aguéli]] [http://www.sala.se/turism/aguelimuseet/e-index.html] who -inspired by the quasi occult tradition ([[Symbolist painters]], [[Les Nabis]]) developing ''en marge'' of the great workshops of [[Paul Gauguin]] and [[Emile Bernard]]- took his intellectual search into the realm of [[Sufism]] proper. This culminated into his initiation, in [[Egypt]], by Sheikh Rahman Elish Kabir into the [[Shadhili]] [[tariqa]]. When he returned to [[Paris]] from his travels in the East in 1909, he found a mind receptive to his own spiritual affiliation in the [[person]] of [[René Guénon]] whom in turn he initiated into the [[Shadhili]] Order (1912).[[René Guénon]] -who finally settled in [[Cairo]] where he died (1951) a convert to Islam under his adopted name of Abdel Wahid Yahia- had an enormous influence on a circle of friends centered around the periodical "La Gnose", that he had started in 1909. This circle pooled the resources of a.o. [[Frithjof Schuon]], [[Titus Burckhardt]], [[Marco Pallis]], [[Ananda Coomaraswamy]], [[Martin Lings]] e.a., each with his own focus on [[Islam]], [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]] ... (see also: [[Gershom Scholem]] on [[Judaism]], [[Kabbalah]]) [[René Guénon]] focused on a measure of criticism towards what he called "solidified" (petrified) forms of initiation in the West; [[Freemasonry]] in particular which he sought to revive in reference to Emir [[Abd Al-Qadir]] whose name was widely respected among Masons. If one looks at the aspect of Sufi initiation proper the following background to [[René Guénon]]'s brand of "Perennial Tradition" emerges. Through his affiliation with the [[Shadhili]] Order he was branched to the Akbari chain, going back to the "Greatest Sheikh" -Shaykh Al-Akbar- [[Ibn Arabi]]. ==Abd Al-Qadir and al-Tijani== The Akbari already had a history of initiation in Western Europe in the person of Emir [[Abd Al-Qadir]], the noble opponent of the French in their colonial struggle over Algeria, who they had held sequestered at the [[Château d'Amboise]] (1848-1853). In 1858 the Imprimerie Nationale (Paris) had printed his "Rappel à l'Intelligent; avis à l'Ignorant", an essay he had sent to the Société Asiatique in 1855. The Emir [[Abd Al-Qadir]] had been initiated into the [[Naqshbandi]] by Sheikh Diya al-Din Khalid Al-Sharazuri and into the [[Qadiri]] by his own father Sidi Muhiuddin who led a North African branch of the Qadiri Order. In 1863, during his Hajj, he met with Muhammed al-Fasi al-Shadili, who became his last living teacher, in Mekka. Muhammad al-Fasi al-Shadili's proper teacher had been initiated into the [[Shadhili]] by al-Arabi ad-Darqawi, some of whose letters were translated by [[Martin Lings]] (1961); they form the background to [[Martin Lings]]' outline of the autobiographical writings of [[Ahmad al-Alawi]], who was linked to the [[Shadhili]] through ad-Darqawi. Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi died in 1932. An approach from a different angle may be traced to Sheikh [[Tijaniyyah|Ahmad al-Tijani]] who died in [[Fes, Morocco|Fez]] in 1815 and was said to be the inheritor of the "paths" of his time, a.o. Qadiri and Shadili. Sheikh Hammalah ben Mohammed ben Sidna Omar, who died in forced exile to France, lies buried in Montluçon, [[France]]. He was the former Qutub al Zaman of the [[Tijaniyyah]]. A moving account of the circumstances of his death is given by the great African traditionalist and cultural ambassador [[Amadou Hampâté Bâ]], himself a Tijani, in the biography of his own sheikh, [[Tierno Bokar]]. ==Massignon to Nasr== Thus the current into which the friends of the [[Traditionalist School]] had tapped proved to be a lively one. [[René Guénon]]'s wish to edit a series of Sufi translations was frustrated, but in the meantime [[Louis Massignon]] had prepared himself for the task. By 1922, his introduction to the technical lexicon of Sufism and the Passion of [[Al-Hallaj]] initiated the first line of textual study, translation and publication of sources that developed into the watershed of which the chief engineers were [[Henry Corbin]] and [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]]. Since the observation is pertinent that thus far the watershed is fed from a distinct French sphere of influence, a mental exercise is needed to broaden the view. It is clear that [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]]'s participation in the collaboration with [[Henry Corbin]] infused this field with a genuine consideration for some of the finer aspects ([[Irfan]]) of Islamic culture as seen from a proper native source – [[Iran]] – and adding a distinct contemporary sting to [[ecology]]. It may be interesting to compare two contributions to Sufi studies from this same angle -1°)Seyyed Hossein Nasr "Revelation, Intellect and Reason in the Qu'ran" in "Sufi Essays" -London and Albany, New York 1972. -2°)Reza Arasteh:"Psychology of the Sufi Way to Individuation." in "Sufi Studies East and West" Rushbrook Williams ed. New York 1973. Both describe the control over the "nafs", the spiritual "breaths" that color man's essential character; a study comparing intelligence in its western and eastern traditional form. Pr. Arasteh had already introduced this "Sufi Way" in his academical work on psychiatric theory ("Final Integration in Adult Personality" Brill Leiden 1965). ==Idries Shah== Professor Reza Arasteh M.D.(remembered for his correspondence [http://www.merton.org/Research/index.asp] with [[Thomas Merton]]) wrote in honour of Sayyid [[Idries Shah]], whose stature as a scholar was as fiercely disputed as his communication to a general public was successful. Nevertheless Sayyid [[Idries Shah]] caused the English feed of the watershed to be explored – through his own accessible style of writing, by providing affordable publications of great classical texts, and rebelliously askew on the niceties of an Oxford/Cambridge kind of rivalry over Pr. [[Reynold A. Nicholson|Nicholson]] and Pr. [[Arthur John Arberry|Arberry]] – and to exactly what extent can now easely be verified by the student willing to compare for himself the 11 naqshbandi Rules/Exercise-aims listed by Sayyid [[Idries Shah]] in "Oriental Magic"(chapter VII) in 1957(!) with those presently divulged through the proper channel [http://www.uga.edu/islam/11Naqsprin.html]. They are indeed the same. "Oriental Magic" was read as a comparative study at the London [[Ethnological]] Institute. [N.B. The claim on the English book jacket that Shah was a member of an unidentified 'Institute of Ethnology' has not been verified – see also [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Sufi_studies]. Sufi studies in general are directed as comparative studies of human understanding, and can be read as essays in psychosociology (see: [[Albert Hourani]] on "[[Marshall Hodgson]] and the Venture of Islam" in "Islam in European Thought" – Cambridge University Press 1991). ==Margaret Smith== Special note could be taken of the little cited but brilliant academic [[Margaret Smith (author)|Margaret Smith]] who wrote (1925-1935) on the history of mysticism in the Near and Middle East from a woman's perspective leading to classic pages on early Christian mysticism, women in the early Christian Church, Christianity and Islam at the beginning of the Islamic era (see:[[Hanif]]), the rise of Sufism and the early ascetic ideal. Two exemplaries of her subject matter she studied in closer detail: [[Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya]] and Harith al-Muhasibi. The summary of her work reposes in her: : " ''Studies in Early Mysticism in the Near and Middle East. Being an account of the rise and development of Christian mysticism up to the seventh century, of the subsequent development of mysticism in Islam, known as Sufism, and of the relationship between Christian and Islamic Mysticism with references, a bibliography and two indexes'' " :: Dedicated to the memory of [[Thomas Walker Arnold]] : London, 1931 -The Sheldon Press; reprinted 1973 by Philo Press cv, Amsterdam. ==Later academics== By the end of the twentieth century, the academic study of Sufism was well established in university departments of [[religious studies]]. The perspectives of these later scholars varied. Some were purely scientific, while some followed in the line of [[Louis Massignon|Massignon]], or (sometimes privately) in the line of [[Guénon]] and the [[Traditionalist School|Traditionalists]], modified somewhat for an academic environment. For a contemporary academical "state of the art" see: " Sufism in the West", bibliography pp 190-202 ( Jamal Malik and John Hinnells ed. Routledge: London and New York, 2006 ) ==References== *Robin Waterfield: "René Guénon and the future of the West" -Crucible/The Aquarian Press, 1987 *Abd Al-Qadir: "Lettre aux Français" (=Avis à l'Ignorant) -ed.du Seuil, 1982 *Martin Lings: "A Muslim Saint of the XXth Century" -Allan and Unwinn, 1962 *Martin Lings: "Letters of a Sufi Master" -Perennial Books, ? *Amadou Hampâté Bâ: "Vie et enseignement de Tierno Bokar" ed.du Seuil, 1980 *Ernst Bannerth: "Aspects humain de la Shadhilliya en Egypte" -M.I.D.E.O. 11, le Caire 1972 *René Guénon: "Aperçus sur l'esoterisme islamique et le Taoisme" -Gallimard, 1973 *Idries Shah: "The Sufis" -Doubleday New York, 1964 (introduction by Robert Graves) *Idries Shah: "Oriental magic" -Paladin, 1973 *Seyyed Hosseyn Nasr: "Sufi Essays" -London and Albany New York, 1972 * Prof. L.F.Rushbrook Williams ed. "Sufi Studies: East and West" -The Octagon Press, 1974 *Seyyed Hossein Nasr: "Islamic Countries" in Handbook of World Philosophy -John Burr ed. London, 1980 *Laleh Bakhtiar: "Sufi: expressions of the mystic quest" -Thames and Hudson, 1976 * Thierry Zarcone: "Mystiques, Philosophes et Franc-Maçons en Islam" -Jean Maisonneuve ed. Paris, 1993 *Butrus Abu-Maneh: "The Naqshbandiyya-Mujaddidiyya in the Ottoman lands in the early 19th century" in "Die Welt des Islams XXII (1982 erschienen 1984) * Jamal Malik and John Hinnells ed: "Sufism in the West" London and New York: Routledge, 2006 ==External links== * Sergio Fritz Roa: *[http://estudiossobresufismo.blogspot.com/ Estudios sobre Sufismo] Sitio web dedicado al Tasawwuf (Sufismo), con material acerca de las diversas turuq (cofradías sufíes). {{Islamic studies}} {{Sufism}} [[Category:History of ideas]] [[Category:Sufism]]