Forms of gnosis in Sulamī's Sufi exegesis of the Fāti&art1;a

This paper will look at the Sufi interpretations of Sūrat al-fāti&art1;a found in the early mystical Qur'an commentary known as the &art2;aqā'iq al-tafsīr by the well known Sufi, Abū ^c Abd al-Ra&art1;mān al-Sulamī (d. 1021). The Sufi tafsīr of this sūra will be read not only as a compilation of early mystical interpretations of the Qur'an, but also as a unique work by Sulamī himself. A close reading of the various Sufi authors' interpretations set out by Sulamī will show how his own positions concerning the fundamental Sufi concept of ma^crifa come about.     

In pursuit of the sorcerer's power: sacred diagrams as technologies of potency

Drawing upon research for a dissertation on lived religion in Myanmar as it pertains to various religious cults and followers whose devotions are directed towards Buddhist sorcerer saints (weizzā), this article examines the technologies at work in potency practices involving the production and use of in (cabbalistic squares) and sama (diagrams and drawings using specific Burmese syllables). In particular, the paper will examine how such devices are used by the devout traversing the weizzā path and explain how in and sama are employed to transform one's self into a full-fledged weizzā. The paper will conclude with a discussion on how such an examination can help us reshape our understanding of Burmese Buddhism in contemporary Myanmar.1 ?1. All Burmese and Pāli translations are mine unless stated otherwise. In the body of this article, Burmese words and phrases will be transcribed phonetically. Proper names and the titles of works in Pāli and Buddhist technical vocabulary in Pāli will be transliterated according to the Pāli Text Society convention with diacritics. Pāli words that have been domesticated in English to a certain extent, such as ‘sangha,’ will not receive diacritics except when used as technical vocabulary.      

The Interpretational Implications of Progressive Muslims' Qur'an and Sunna Manhaj in Relation to their Formulation of a Normative Muslima Construct1

This article presents a discussion on the interpretational implications of the delineating features of the Qur'an–Sunna hermeneutic of what we here term ‘progressive Muslims’ on the construction of a ‘normative Muslima’. In the first section, the article broadly defines progressive Muslims and their approach to conceptualizing, engaging and interpreting the Islamic tradition (turāth). In the second part, the criteria developed by classical scholarship for constructing the distinct religious identity of a Muslima are outlined. In the third section, the delineating features of progressive Muslims' Qur'an–Sunna model of interpretation (manhaj) are sketched out. In the fourth and final part, the interpretational implications of this manhaj are analysed on the basis of relevant Qur'an and Hadith textual evidence in relation to the construction of a normative Muslima image according to the progressive Muslim manhaj. It will be argued that the classical construct of a normative Muslima image is entirely rejected by the progressive Muslim approach. Instead, it will be contended that, on the basis of their contextualist, thematico-holistic and ethico-values- or objectives-based approach to interpretation of Qur'an and Sunna, progressive Muslims subscribe to the concept of a ‘normative’ Muslima representation which does not impose any social or spatial regulatory mechanisms. Furthermore, it will be proposed that progressive Muslims consider women as fully autonomous human beings, inherently equal to men, whose humanity is judged by their level of taqwā (God consciousness and righteous conduct).     

Pakistan Federal Shariat Court's Collective Ijtihād on Gender Equality,Women's Rights and the Right to Family Life

This article argues on the basis of recent case law that the judges of the Pakistan Federal Shariat Court (FSC) have asserted their right to ijtihād and have indeed engaged in collective ijtihād. While in some areas, such as freedom of religion, Islamic law has been interpreted rigidly in a non-human-rights-friendly fashion in Pakistan, in some other areas, the flexibility and pluralism of Islamic law has been used to improve gender equality, women's rights and the right to family life. By using its constitutional powers, with its collective ijtihād, the FSC has been tackling the traditionally illiberal interpretation and application of Muslim laws in these areas. Regardless of the methodology and process of this ijtihādic endeavor, the output shows that the FSC has been either modifying the traditional ijtihāds or coming up with totally new ijtihāds to answer contemporary questions faced by Islamic law. The findings of the article once again challenge the views of scholars such as Schacht, Coulson and Chehata, who have argued that, by the fourth/tenth century, the essentials of Islamic legal doctrine were already fully formulated and that the doctrine remained fixed.     

‘Listen to the story’: narrative and song in Rāmcand Bālak’s Sītācarit,a Jain Rāmāyaṇa in Brajbhāṣā

ABSTRACT

This article explores the different modes of song in the Sītācarit, a seventeenth-century Brajbhā?ā telling of the Jain Rāmāya?a, and suggests a general understanding of the relationship between song and narrative that sees the songs as constituting an added narrative layer. It notes how the modes of song in the Sītācarit evoke different performative settings and aesthetic influences, ranging from the educational to the courtly, and suggests how the intertwining of narrative and song lets us glimpse the poetics of devotion through the lens of the circulation of literary and devotional trends in early modern North India.     

The traveling idea of Islamic Protestantism: a study of Iranian Luthers

This article examines some religious ideas of three prominent Iranian intellectuals: Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, Ali Sharī ^c ati, and Hashem Aghajari. They are considered Iranian Luthers for their deep appreciation of Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth-century in Europe, and their calls for Islamic Protestantism in Iran. However, this article is not intended to compare two religious reformations in Europe and Iran, but rather to study the traveling idea of Islamic Protestantism from al-Afghānī and Sharī ^c ati, to Aghajari in different situations and periods, and in response to different challenges. Edward Said's ‘traveling theory’ is used to analyze the dynamic historical movement of Islamic Protestantism ‘from person to person, from situation to situation, and from one period to another’. The traveling idea of Islamic Protestantism from al-Afghānī, Sharī ^c ati, to Aghajari, then creates the chain of intellectual transmission from the old generation to a newer one. As with ‘traveling theory reconsidered’, however, there is also the possibility that the idea of Islamic Protestantism will be reinterpreted and reinvigorated by a newer generation.     

The Arabico-Islamic background of Al-Fārābī's logic

This paper examines al-Fārābī's logical thought within its Arabico-Islamic historical background and attempts to conceptualize what this background contributes to his logic. After a brief exposition of al-Fārābī's main problems and goals, I shall attempt to reformulate the formal structure of Arabic linguistics (AL) in terms of the ontological and formal characteristics that Arabic logic is built upon. Having discussed the competence of al-Fārābī in the history of AL, I will further propose three interrelated theses about al-Fārābī's logic, in terms of which I will attempt to redefine it: the logico-linguistic conception, the project of logicization, and nuclear logic. The final question that will arise is how Aristotle's logic could be built upon AL, which has a nature contrary to logic. The present paper also contributes to examining our traditional research habits in Arabic studies.     

Refuge in the Bosoms of the Mountains: A Ninth-Century Muslim Appraisal of Monastic Piety

ABSTRACT

This article examines a relatively little-known text, the Kitāb al-ruhbān/Book of Monks, from the ninth-century Muslim moralist, Ibn Abī al-Dunyā. The topical range of Ibn Abī al-Dunyā’s own literary corpus was extensive, yet the concern for ascetic practices forms a consistent thread throughout his work. As for this particular text, the esoteric wisdom associated with asceticism is specifically communicated through the teachings of Christian hermits. The Kitāb al-ruhbān, formulated as a collection of short dialogues and edifying statements regarding Christian monastic piety, profoundly demonstrates the continuing appreciation for monastic insight, particularly amongst Muslim ascetics, well into the Islamic period. There are, moreover, no explicit traces of sectarianism or confessional barriers here. Instead, the sagacious maxims for maintaining a righteous life are often passed from Christian hermits to devout Muslim listeners. This text thus further reveals the intricate connections between Christian monastic communities and medieval Islamic mystical culture.     

THE “SCIENTIFIC MIRACLE OF THE QUR’ĀN,” PSEUDOSCIENCE,AND CONSPIRACISM

This article, after tracing a precise classification of the exegetical trend known as i?jāz ?ilmī, summarizes and discusses the criticism leveled at it and examines how the “scientific interpretation” of the Qur’ān is liable to blend with pseudoscience and conspiracy theories to the detriment of a solid harmonization of science and religion and of a genuine appreciation of natural science. Furthermore, the article offers some practical ideas that can be implemented in order to effectively and fairly address i?jāz ?ilmī in the Muslim world.     

Vasubandhu's treatise on the three natures translated from the Tibetan edition with a commentary[1]

Trisvabhāvanirde?a (Treatise on the Three Natures) is Vasubandhu's most mature and explicit exposition of the Yogcācāra doctrine of the three natures and their relation to the Buddhist idealism Vasubandhu articulates. Nonetheless there are no extent commentaries on this important short test. The present work provides an introduction to the text, its context and principal philosophical theses; a new translation of the text itself; and a close, verse‐by‐verse commentary on the text explaining the structure of Yogacara/Cittamatra idealism and comparing it to Western versions of transcendental idealism. In particular, I show how the doctrine of the three natures is used to make idealism coherent in a Buddhist context and how it sheds light on the structure and evolution of transcendental idealism in Europe.     

Mettābhāvanā in Traditional and Popular Buddhist Contexts

Some have referred to relatively recent forms of popular Buddhism as an ‘engaged’ Buddhism that has revived or redirected traditional Buddhist ideas and practices found in meditation texts to reflect a greater social or worldly emphasis than suggested in earlier historical moments. One of these ideas is the quadripartite framework of the ‘immeasurable states’ (aprameya/appameya) or ‘divine abidings’ (brahmavihāra), the most prominent of which in popular Buddhism is mettā (friendliness/loving-kindness). This article traces the philosophy of the ‘immeasurable states’ found in meditation texts from various Indic traditions (Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu) and then presents the ways in which these traditional ideas (especially mettā) have informed popular Buddhist movements in the twentieth century. Points of discussion include: ‘engaged’ Buddhism's relationship with traditional Buddhist ethics; arguments concerning the coalescence of monastic-centred meditation practices with popular Buddhist notions of social service; and the distinct utilization of mettā in contemporary Buddhist societies in contrast to the mobilizing impulses of comparable religious communities (Hindu and Jain) with a similar heritage of mettā discourse in South Asia.     

Poland translated: the post-communist generation of writers

This article is concerned with writing in Poland since the collapse of Communism. It focuses mainly on the generation of Polish writers who made their debut around the time of the collapse of Communism and whose work has since begun to appear in English translation. It considers the changing focus of the post-Communist generation of writers, asks how the translations of their work represent Poland to the world and what these works might indicate about changes within contemporary Polish literary and political culture. In particular the article looks at recent fiction from Polish Women Writers and themes in recent writing including the ideas of Poland as Post-Communist, Post-nationalist, Post-Jewish and Post-German.     

Anthropocentric Obsession: The Perfuming Effects of vāsanā (Habit-energy) in ālayavijñāna in the Lan˙kāvatāra Sūtra

Many traditional Western ethical perspectives are anthropocentric or human-centred in that they assign intrinsic value to human beings alone. It is often said that anthropocentrism is responsible for the destruction of the environment. I intend to explain how Western anthropocentrism can be seen as a form of obsession deriving from the working function of vāsanā (habit-energy) in ālayavijñāna, based on the teachings in the Lan˙kāvatāra Sūtra. All of one's karmic bījas (seeds), stored in the ālayavijñāna, are preserved in a form of energy called vāsanā with the power of perfuming or causing habitual tendency in the lives of sentient beings. This perfuming of energy is known as sowing seeds of karma and seeds of language. Since beginningless time, sentient beings have created habitual energy through inappropriate dualistic discrimination. The habitual power of vāsanā is of great importance to understanding how anthropocentrism works. What we should be worried about is our habitual thinking patterns, which might be harmful to our relationship with the natural environment.     

Advancing Shūrā: A Social Agent for Democratization

ABSTRACT

This study is an analytical comparison between Islamic articulations of shūrā (consultation) and notions of representative democracy. It emphasizes various epistemic understandings of shūrā in light of qur’anic exegesis and historical precedents of consultative rule in Islam. In particular, it identifies shūrā as an agent for democratization in contrast to its more familiar manifestation as a top-down consultative system. This is examined together with the works of influential Muslim scholars from modernist, Islamist and pro-democratic backgrounds to elucidate what aspects of democracy they accept and/or reject. The article does not exhaustively analyze each scholar’s interpretation of democracy. Rather, it selects scholars from different historical epochs with distinctive theoretical positions on shūrā. Overall, the study finds shūrā remains largely under-utilized as a result of post-colonial discourses on Islam and authoritarian political systems in Muslim-majority countries. The article finally examines how shūrā can be better facilitated as a social agent to renew civil society and combat authoritarian rule.     

DOUBLE-VOICE IN S. Y. AGNON'S “HANIDAḤ”: OVERTURES TO A DEVELOPING DISCOURSE

It is widely acknowledged that S.Y. Agnon's story, “Hanida?” (1919), represents a significant artistic transition for the author. Beyond the transitional and inaugural aspects of the story's themes and structure, I wish to consider how its discursive style itself constitutes a significant development in Agnon's literary work. Particular qualities in the story's narrative discourse, more so than in his previous work, anticipate Agnon's later literary achievements. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of discourse in the novel, I will also seek to demonstrate how the story's dialogic, polyphonic qualities, not only anticipate these later works, but suggest some new hermeneutic avenues to reading Agnon.     

Causal theories of the moving spotlight

This paper brings together the Sarvāstivāda (a major school of Abhidharma Buddhism) and Miller's (2019) moving spotlight theory to see how presentness is explained in terms of causation. The paper argues that a causal theory of presentness like Miller's encounters a dilemma: causation is either synchronic or diachronic, but neither is safe in the presence of the challenges. On the one hand, if causation is synchronic, how does a causal chain extend over time so that the wave of causation (and hence the spotlight) can move at all? On the other, if causation is diachronic, then a present moment has a temporal extension enough to accommodate a cause and its proximate effect. The paper proposes a synchronic notion of causation that counters the first challenge. This can be done by bringing together the Sarvāstivādin grasp-production model of causation, some Stoic ideas about causation, and some Armstrong's metaphysics.     

Defining Muslims on the Afghan Frontier: T. P. Hughes and His Dictionary of Islam

ABSTRACT

Christian missionaries working in India in the nineteenth century made numerous important contributions to European and North American understandings of Islam. One such contribution was the Dictionary of Islam compiled by the Anglican missionary Thomas Patrick Hughes, who was serving in Peshawar on the border between British India and Afghanistan. Drawing upon sources such as collections of Hadith, he provided both brief definitions and some longer analyses of a wide range of aspects of Muslim beliefs, practices and history. However, his compilation was not entirely based on textual sources, but was also informed by daily contact with Muslims in and around Peshawar, particularly Maulavi Ahmad of Tangi. Hughes combined his interest in defining Islam with a passion for exploring and explaining Afghan culture and politics to his readership in Britain. Although situated on ‘the edges of empire’, Hughes nonetheless found himself at the centre of world events as the intrigue between Britain and Russia resulted in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Although located in what some considered a minor province on the periphery of the Muslim world, he nonetheless produced a major reference work on Islam that is still in print.