Synthesizers and Saints: Sufism in the Medieval Era
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | Synthesizers and Saints: Sufism in the Medieval Era - Unveiling Sufism |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Meena Sharify-Funk; Wilfrid Laurier University; |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | William Dickson; South Dakota State University; United States |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | Religion; Islamic Studies |
| 4. | Subject | Keyword(s) | Theology; Classical Sufism; Rumi, Ibn al-‘Arabi; ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani; al-Ghazali; al-Qushayri, Medeival; Middle East; Africa; Central Asia; pragmatism; conservatism; orthodoxy; love; poetry |
| 5. | Subject | Subject classification | Sufism |
| 6. | Description | Abstract | Moving deeper into history, in Chapter Five, we consider those Sufis who integrated Islamic law, theology and philosophy with the aesthetics and practices of Sufism to forge a holistic paradigm in the medieval era. It was between the 11th and 13th centuries that Sufism crystalized as a comprehensive worldview, one that would define Islam for centuries to follow, shaping the culture of Muslim societies and empires. The great synthesizers of Sufi thought, figures such as Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-‘Arabi (d. 1240) and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111), played paramount roles in drawing the outlines of classical Sufism. Some Sufi scholars like al-Ghazali worked within government instutions, seeking to reconcile Sufism with both Islamic jurisprudence and the political powers of his day. Philosophically, Ibn al-‘Arabi articulated a metaphysics of oneness alongside a conception of human perfectibility, leading to a cosmology of unity and sainthood. Socially, Sufism was institutionalized during this period as a series of religious orders, four of which will be explored in this chapter (the Shadhili, Qadiri, Naqshbandi, and Chishti orders), each representing a different cultural region within Islamic civilization. With Sufism’s institutionalization in a system of orders, Sufi practices became more codified, with each order developing its own particular forms of devotion, meditation, and contemplation. We see during this time the development of a sound mysticism, as Sufi devotion was integrated with musical traditions, and Sufi chanting coordinated with breath and body, producing spiritual practices of song, dance, and ecstasy. |
| 7. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Equinox Publishing Ltd |
| 8. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | |
| 9. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 15-Aug-2017 |
| 10. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 11. | Type | Type | |
| 12. | Format | File format | |
| 13. | Identifier | Uniform Resource Identifier | https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/books/article/view/26331 |
| 14. | Identifier | Digital Object Identifier | 10.1558/equinox.26331 |
| 15. | Source | Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) | Equinox eBooks Publishing; Unveiling Sufism |
| 16. | Language | English=en | en |
| 18. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) |
international, medieval period |
| 19. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | Copyright 2014 Equinox Publishing Ltd |