Principal Figures in the Development of Sufism
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012Person Uwais Qarni (ob. 657 AD) Texts - Themes Awareness of Muhammad’s spiritual presence ‘Uwaisi’ transmission of barakah Person Rabi’a al-Basri (717-801 AD) ...
Archive for January, 2012
Person Uwais Qarni (ob. 657 AD) Texts - Themes Awareness of Muhammad’s spiritual presence ‘Uwaisi’ transmission of barakah Person Rabi’a al-Basri (717-801 AD) ...
A Note on a Second Doctrine of Worlds
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012The Koran can be used to support the claim that there are multiple worlds - but only if we take the language extremely literally (e.g at [1:1],) and it gives no real indication of how these worlds should be understood. There are several distinct cosmologies that have currency in different ...
Where are the Arguments for Constitutional Reform?
Monday, January 23rd, 2012Responding to no public call whatsoever, a ‘Panel of Experts' has prepared a proposal for constitutional reform. The proposal is for the Recognition of ATSI in the Australian Constitution. Given that Australia is hardly crying out for this amendment, and that the Constitution with the very small number of amendments ...
Race and the Constitution
Saturday, January 21st, 2012Responding to no apparent public call whatsoever, a panel of ‘experts’ has prepared a proposal for reform of the Constitution of Australia. The proposal is for the Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders in the Australian Constitution. The proposal includes these main points (p. 230:) Item 1 Repeal ...
Knowing Himself
Saturday, January 21st, 2012The captain of the Costa Concordia is accused of cowardice and dereliction of duty in the aftermath of the ship's sinking. In the Guardian (where no behavior is too appalling to find a defender) Bruce Hood, therefore steps up to his defence with the too-usual line: "Schettino will undoubtedly be ...
Sufi Schemata for Tazkiyat an-Nafs
Thursday, January 19th, 2012Tazkiyat an-nafs (‘Purification'/'Augmenation' of nafs) can be taken as the essence of the Sufi tariqat, and it has Koranic support: "By the soul and That which shaped it, and inspired it to its depravity and its godwariness. Prosperous is he who purifies it, and failed has ...
A Note on the Hadith of the Hidden Treasure
Monday, January 16th, 2012Much of the Sufi theory regarding the place of Man in the created cosmos is said to derive from the so-called ‘Hadith of the Hidden Treasure’ (hadith-e kanz-i makhfi), which is a hadith qudsi (meaning it is a statement attributed to God himself.) It is mentioned, for example, by Rumi, ...
Santorum does Reductio
Saturday, January 14th, 2012The recent incident, reported in the New York Times (Friday, January 13, 2012), of Rick Santorum trying to present an argument against same-sex ‘marriage’ to an audience of university students indicates that teaching the fundamentals of Critical Thinking remains an uphill struggle. Here’s a partial transcript. I’ve made adjustments for ...
Essential Sufi Terms; Meanings and some Explanations
Thursday, January 12th, 2012Tasawwuf ‘Sufism.’ Said to be derived from suf = wool, which the mystics wore, or from safa’ = purity. Shaykh, Pir (P) ‘Old man.’ Each Sufi is bound to a mentor who is required to guide him on a ...
Rumi on al-Hallaj; a Reductio on Tawhid
Tuesday, January 10th, 2012Consider the following argument by Rumi offered in explanation of Mansur al-Hallaj’s fevered declaration that he was God – a claim for which he was executed in 922: When Hallaj’s love for God reached it utmost limit, he became his own enemy and he naughted himself. He said, “I ...