Sufism is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, and asceticism.
Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsiyy al-Ghazali, known commonly as Al-Ghazali, known in Medieval Europe by the Latinized Algazelus or Algazel, was a Persian Sunni Muslim polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theoreticians, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics in Islamic history.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr is an Iranian-American philosopher, theologian and Islamic scholar. He is University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University.
The Kneeling, is the 45th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an with 37 verses (ayat). It is a Meccan chapter, believed revealed according to the Islamic tradition during the Meccan phase of Muhammad's prophethood. This is one of the seven chapters in the Qur'an that start with the Muqattaʿat Hāʼ Mīm. It contains discussions of "signs of God" for humankind to reflect on, and describes punishments for those who deny God despite the signs. It also contains the only Quranic verse mentioning sharia, a term which Muslims later use to refer to the Islamic law.
Al-Mumtaḥanah is the 60th chapter (sura) of the Quran, a Medinan sura with 13 verses.
In Islamic philosophy, the qalb or heart is the center of the human personality. The Quran mentions "qalb" 132 times and its root meaning suggests that the heart is always in a state of motion and transformation. According to the Quran and the traditions of Muhammad (SAW), the heart plays a central role in human existence, serving as the source of good and evil, right and wrong. In Islam, God is more concerned with the motives of one's heart than their actions. The heart is also a medium for God's revelations to human beings, and is associated with virtues such as knowledge, faith, purity, piety, love, and repentance. Without purification, however, the heart can become plagued with negative attributes such as sickness, sinfulness, evil, and hate.
William Clark Chittick is an American philosopher, writer, translator, and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, and Islamic cosmology. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at Stony Brook University.
Sirat al-Mustaqim is an Arabic term that means 'the straight path'. It is commonly understood as the path that leads to God. In Islamic thought, the straight path is variously used as a reference to the Quran or Muhammad, or Islam as a whole.
Fitra or fitrah is an Arabic word that means 'original disposition', 'natural constitution' or 'innate nature'. The concept somewhat resembles natural order in philosophy, although there are considerable differences as well. In Islam, fitra is the innate human nature that recognizes the oneness of God. It may entail either the state of purity and innocence in which Muslims believe all humans to be born, or the ability to choose or reject God's guidance. The Quran states that humans were created in the most perfect form (95:4), and were endowed with a primordial nature (30:30). Furthermore, God took a covenant from all children of Adam, even before they were sent to Earth's worldly realm, regarding his Lordship (7:172–173). This covenant is considered to have left an everlasting imprint on the human soul, with the Quran emphasizing that on the Day of Judgment no one will be able to plead ignorance of this event (7:172–173).
Fasād is an Arabic word meaning rottenness, corruption, or depravity. In an Islamic context it can refer to spreading corruption on Earth or spreading mischief in a Muslim land, moral corruption against God, or disturbance of the public peace.
Ahmad Ghazālī was a Sunni Muslim Persian Sufi mystic, writer, preacher and the head of Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad. He is best known in the history of Islam for his ideas on love and the meaning of love, expressed primarily in the book Sawāneḥ.
Decapitation was a standard method of capital punishment in pre-modern Islamic law. By the end of the 20th century, its use had been abandoned in most countries. Decapitation is still a legal method of execution in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It is also a legal method for execution in Zamfara State, Nigeria under Sharia. In Iran, beheading was last used in 2001 according to Amnesty International, but it is no longer in use. In recent decades, extremist Salafi jihadist groups have used beheading as a method of killing captives and terror tactic.
Laylat al-mabit refers to the night in 622 CE in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad fled Mecca for Yathrib, apparently to foil an assassination plan. His escape from Mecca followed the exodus of his persecuted followers to the safe haven of Yathrib, a city that was later renamed Medina in his honor. Laylat al-mabit is often associated in Islamic literature with the reports that Muhammad's cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib risked his life to facilitate Muhammad's safe escape from Mecca.
The Revival of the Religious Sciences is a 12th-century book written by the Muslim scholar al-Ghazali. The book was composed in Arabic by al-Ghazali on his spiritual crises that stemmed from his appointment as the head of the Nizzamiyya University in Baghdad, which led to his eventual disappearance from the Muslim world for over 10 years.
The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary is a 2015 English-language edition of the Quran edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and published by HarperOne. Fellow Muslims Joseph Lumbard, Caner Dagli and Maria Massi Dakake, prepared the translation, wrote the commentary, and also served as general editors, and Mohammed Rustom contributed as an assistant editor by checking the translation and writing some of the commentary. Alongside a new English translation and extensive commentary, The Study Quran features numerous essays, maps, and other material.
Maria Massi Dakake is an American scholar of Islamic studies and associate professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. Her research mainly focuses on Islamic intellectual history, Quranic studies, Shi`ite and Sufi traditions, and women's spirituality and religious experience. She was a contributor to The Study Quran - a modern verse-by-verse commentary of the Quran.
Zailan Moris is a Malaysian scholar of Islamic philosophy and former professor of the School of Humanities at the University Sains Malaysia. Her main interests are Islamic philosophy, comparative religion and Sufism.
Mohammed Rustom is a Canadian Islamic studies scholar. He is professor of Islamic thought and global philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and Director of the Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam. His research interests include Arabic and Persian Sufi literature, Islamic philosophy, Qur’anic exegesis, translation theory, and cross-cultural philosophy.
Caner Dagli is a Circassian-American Islamic scholar and associate professor of Religious Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
