The Requirements of the Sufi Path : A Defense of the Mystical Tradition / Ibn Khaldun and edited and translated by Carolyn Baugh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Khaldun, Ibn, author.

Baugh, Carolyn, author.

Series:

Library of Arabic Literature Series ; Volume 73.

Library of Arabic Literature Series ; Volume 73

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sufism--Doctrines--Early works to 1800.

Sufism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (276 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2022]

Summary:

Sufism through the eyes of a legal scholarIn The Requirements of the Sufi Path, the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn Khaldūn applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldūn is widely known for his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in particular for the Muqaddimah, the introduction to his massive universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes up the the question of the need for a guide along that path. In doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars, including al-Qushayrī, al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb. Even as Ibn Khaldūn warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go—including practicing magic—his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa, asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path.The Requirements of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism’s greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldūn’s own insights, acquired through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Letter from the General Editor

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Map: The Geography of Ibn Khaldūn’s Lifetime

Note on the Text

Notes to the Introduction

The Requirements of the Sufi Path

1 An Accurate Definition of the Sufi Path and How It Differs from the Paths Associated with the Divine Law; What the Term “Sufi” Meant to Members of the Early Muslim Community

2 Discussion of the Spiritual Struggles into Which the Sufis Were Led by Their Ardor, What Motivated These Struggles, and Why “Sufism” Had Originally Meant the First Spiritual Struggle but Came to Mean All of Them; an Accurate Definition of this Path

3 Discussion of the Spiritual Struggles, Their Divisions, and Their Prerequisites: Based on Our Study of Their Ideas and Perusal of Their Opinions, the Sufis Have Three Distinct Levels of Spiritual Struggle in a Fixed Hierarchy

4 Discussing—and Refuting—How Modern Sufis Have Manipulated the Term “Sufism”

5 When Is a Teacher Required, Recommended, or Unnecessary in the Spiritual Struggle?

6 Presentation of the Two Sides of the Debate, of What Is Correct, and of My Verdict

Notes

Glossary of Names and Terms

Bibliography

Further Reading

Index

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute

About the Typefaces

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature

About the Editor–Translator

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4798-0634-X