This volume discusses the origin and structure of the universe in mystical Islam (Sufism) with special reference to parallel realms of existence and their interaction. Contributors address Sufi ideas about the fate of human beings in this and future life under three rubrics: (1) cosmogony and eschatology (“where do we come from?” and “where do we go?”); (2) conceptualizations of the world of the here-and-now (“where are we now?”); and (3) visualizations of realms of existence, their hierarchy and mutual relationships (“where are we in relation to other times and places?”).

Contributors are Christian Lange, Alexander Knysh, Noah Gardiner, Stephen Hirtenstein, Saeko Yazaki, Jean-Jacques Thibon, Leah Kinberg, Sara Sviri, Munjed M. Murad, Simon O’Meara, Pierre Lory, Mathieu Terrier, Michael Ebstein, Binyamin Abrahamov and Frederick Colby.
Copyright Year:
2023
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-39261-8
Publication:
28 Dec 2022
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-38982-3
Publication:
05 Jan 2023
Cover Sufi Cosmology

Prices from (excl. shipping):

€289.07€274.00 excl. VAT
Add to Cart
Christian Lange is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Utrecht University and Director of the Netherlands Interuniversity School of Islamic Studies. His research focuses on premodern Islamic intellectual and cultural history, particularly in the areas of Islamic eschatology, Islamic law and legal theory, Islamic mysticism, and the Muslim sensorium.

Alexander Knysh is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan and Director of an Islamic studies project at the St. Petersburg State University, Russia. He specializes in Sufism, Qur’anic studies, Muslim theological, philosophical and juridical thought, and modern Islamic movements in comparative perspective.
Contents
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors

Introduction: What Is Sufi Cosmology?
 Christian Lange and Alexander Knysh

Part 1: Sufi Cosmogony and Eschatology


1 Cosmo-Eschatology in Sufi Thought and Practice
 Noah Gardiner

2 Cosmogonic Myths in Sufism
 Stephen Hirtenstein

3 Classes of Beings in Sufism
 Saeko Yazaki

4 Sufi Views on Time and History
 Jean-Jacques Thibon

5 Sufi Views of Life in the Grave
 Leah Kinberg

6 Paradise in Sufi Thought
 Christian Lange

7 Hell in Sufi Thought
 Christian Lange

Part 2: Sufi Views of the World


8 Zuhd in Islamic Mysticism
 Sara Sviri

9 Sufi Views of Nature
 Munjed M. Murad

10 Mecca and Other Cosmological Centres in the Sufi Universe
 Simon O’Meara

11 Macrocosm and Microcosm in Sufi Thought
 Pierre Lory

12 The Cosmo-Eschatology of Saints and Mahdīs
 Noah Gardiner

Part 3: Levels of Being in Sufi Thought


13 Sufi Hierarchies of the Worlds or Levels of Existence: Mulk, Malakūt, Jabarūt, and Related Concepts
 Mathieu Terrier

14 Emanation (Fayḍ) in Classical Islamic Mysticism
 Michael Ebstein

15 Levels of Being in Sufi Thought
 Richard Todd

16 Imagination in Islamic Mystical Philosophy: The Eschatological and Ontological Case
 Binyamin Abrahamov

17 Otherworldly Journeys in Pre-Modern Sufism
 Frederick Colby

Index
Readers interested in philosophical and cosmological aspects of Islamic mysticism and mystical traditions in other world religions. Readers interested in the spatial study of human culture.
  • Collapse
  • Expand

Manufacturer information:
Koninklijke Brill B.V. 
Plantijnstraat 2
2321 JC
Leiden / The Netherlands
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com