کتابخانه اسلامی و تصوف

Sufi Bodies: Religion and Society in Medieval Islam by Shahzad Bashir
English | 2011 | ISBN: 0231144903 | 296 pages | PDF | 4 MB

Between 1300 and 1500 C.E. a new form of Sufi Islam took hold among central Islamic peoples, joining individuals through widespread networks resembling today's prominent paths and orders. Understanding contemporary Sufism requires a sophisticated analysis of these formative years. Moving beyond a straight account of leaders and movements, Shahzad Bashir weaves a rich history around the depiction of bodily actions by Sufi masters and disciples, primarily in Sufi literature and Persian miniature paintings of the period.

Focusing on the Persianate societies of Iran and Central Asia, Bashir explores medieval Sufis' conception of the human body as the primary shuttle between interior (batin) and exterior (zahir) realities. Drawing on literary, historical, and anthropological approaches to corporeality, he studies representations of Sufi bodies in three personal and communal arenas: religious activity in the form of ritual, asceticism, rules of etiquette, and a universal hierarchy of saints; the deep imprint of Persian poetic paradigms on the articulation of love, desire, and gender; and the reputation of Sufi masters for working miracles, which empowered them in all domains of social activity.

Bashir's novel perspective illuminates complex relationships between body and soul, body and gender, body and society, and body and cosmos. It highlights love as an overarching, powerful emotion in the making of Sufi communities and situates the body as a critical concern in Sufi thought and practice. Bashir's work ultimately offers a new methodology for extracting historical information from religious narratives, especially those depicting extraordinary and miraculous events.

Satan's Tragedy and Redemption:
IBLIS IN SUFI PSYCHOLOGY
Peter J.Awn
@erfaneeslami1

Satan's Tragedy and Redemption:
IBLIS IN SUFI PSYCHOLOGY
Peter J.Awn
@erfaneeslami1

The history of Ashoura:

We remember Ashoura to live the circumstances of this occasion - on which hundreds of years have passed but still beats with spiritual meanings. When we remember the figures of Ashoura, we feel that each and every personality is a spirit by itself, one that flies and ascends above and transforms the body to a spiritual beat, joining between the intellect and the emotions and between the matter and the spirit.

Therefore, we look at Ashoura based on the spiritual values and the movement whose leaders and faithful masses are open to righteousness, instead of viewing it as a tragedy. It is a movement that has two open eyes looking at the nation and the world, and staring at the Islamic and humanitarian march as a whole.

Even when we discuss Ashoura in terms of the Imamate, we do not mean to give it a sectarian aspect, but it rather gives it a spiritual framework that is open to mankind and Islam as a whole.

From Ashoura, we enrich ourselves with its various dimensions and meanings. Our problem is that we gave Ashoura sectarian meanings and locked it in the prison of our creeds and backwardness and customs which lack any cause, because we did not see the cause Al-Husein peace be with him represents, but the person who is filled with wounds, the one who experienced thirst and the tragedy of his sons and relatives.

We looked at Al-Husein peace be with him as the person, not the mission and the cause. So we abandoned the mission and did not find Al-Husein peace be with him and we will never find him if he does not represent to us a mission, freedom, glory, dignity and an entity that represents mankind and Islam. This is the real essence of Ashoura.

But we limited the Karbala (tragic) character to the extent that our tears have become cold. Only those who consider the freedom, resistance, opposition, and challenge shed warm tears when they think of the tragedy.

The issue of Ashoura through the slogans raised by Imam Al-Husein peace be with him is a humanitarian issue. Imam Al-Husein peace be with him used to look at the human being, go into his inner feelings and concerns about his humanity from those who crush the human character of the people. What did he say when he described the rulers of Bani Umayah? He said: "They took the money of Allah as theirs, and regarded His people as their slaves." He is saying that the public money which organizes the people's lives is the money that belongs to God: "And give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you." (24:33). This money should be spent in what pleases God, and in order for the people to live in dignity and glory. But this money became the money of the prince and his entourage. In our times, the money of the nation, particularly the oil, has become the money of a certain family and a certain king and sultan and those who kiss the feet of the sultan.

Many of those who talk about the nation and Islam glorify these kings and families. They actually worship the family and its head, and then they talk to you about the belief in one God, and then hold other people as infidels through some jurisprudences, but they worship those who have money: "They took the money of Allah for themselves and enslaved His people."

The contemporary pledge and the historical pledge

During Al-Hurra battle, we saw that Yazid asked his Wali who triumphed over the people of Al-Madina to ask for their pledge in their capacity as slaves for Yazid. They used to enslave the people by the power of money and sword. If we look at history books, we see that when the pledge was obtained for Yazid, a man who has a sword in one hand, and money in the other hand, said: Who gives the pledge to Yazid will get the money, and who doesn't will get this sword. After that, Yazid was the "Commander of the Faithful."

Today, we are witnessing a contemporary kind of the pledge, one that rests on money. For example, people gave their pledge to President George Bush and today they are giving the pledge to the European Union and many Arab figures, for various considerations and ambitions.

Her sermons created a movement in Kufa and Damascus which shook the bases and roots of Yazid's kingdom and even Yazid's son refused to replace his father as the king, and after a while, quitted the government while disgracing the oppressing dynasty of Umayyads.

In her lifetime, Hadhrat Zainab (as) had endured immense pain from witnessing her loved ones martyred before her eyes, but she never objected to the destiny decreed upon her by Allah. The completeness of her submission is monumental. The grief she expressed was an outpouring of her incredible humanity.

Hadhrat Zainab’s role was exemplary. It showed how bold Muslim women were and how they played a key role in consolidating Islamic teachings with their faith and deed.

....The leadership of the family fell to Hadhrat Zainab after Karbala, and she proved to be more than what was expected of her.

... Hadrat Zainab bint Ali (as) the role model for the righteous will forever teach us all that when we undergo countless trials in our lives, we should see nothing but beauty in them.

* Marwa Osman is a Media studies university lecturer at the Lebanese International University and a political commentator from Lebanon.

@AbodeofWisdom

The history of Ashoura:

We remember Ashoura to live the circumstances of this occasion - on which hundreds of years have passed but still beats with spiritual meanings. When we remember the figures of Ashoura, we feel that each and every personality is a spirit by itself, one that flies and ascends above and transforms the body to a spiritual beat, joining between the intellect and the emotions and between the matter and the spirit.

Therefore, we look at Ashoura based on the spiritual values and the movement whose leaders and faithful masses are open to righteousness, instead of viewing it as a tragedy. It is a movement that has two open eyes looking at the nation and the world, and staring at the Islamic and humanitarian march as a whole.

Even when we discuss Ashoura in terms of the Imamate, we do not mean to give it a sectarian aspect, but it rather gives it a spiritual framework that is open to mankind and Islam as a whole.

From Ashoura, we enrich ourselves with its various dimensions and meanings. Our problem is that we gave Ashoura sectarian meanings and locked it in the prison of our creeds and backwardness and customs which lack any cause, because we did not see the cause Al-Husein peace be with him represents, but the person who is filled with wounds, the one who experienced thirst and the tragedy of his sons and relatives.

We looked at Al-Husein peace be with him as the person, not the mission and the cause. So we abandoned the mission and did not find Al-Husein peace be with him and we will never find him if he does not represent to us a mission, freedom, glory, dignity and an entity that represents mankind and Islam. This is the real essence of Ashoura.

But we limited the Karbala (tragic) character to the extent that our tears have become cold. Only those who consider the freedom, resistance, opposition, and challenge shed warm tears when they think of the tragedy.

The issue of Ashoura through the slogans raised by Imam Al-Husein peace be with him is a humanitarian issue. Imam Al-Husein peace be with him used to look at the human being, go into his inner feelings and concerns about his humanity from those who crush the human character of the people. What did he say when he described the rulers of Bani Umayah? He said: "They took the money of Allah as theirs, and regarded His people as their slaves." He is saying that the public money which organizes the people's lives is the money that belongs to God: "And give them of the wealth of Allah which He has given you." (24:33). This money should be spent in what pleases God, and in order for the people to live in dignity and glory. But this money became the money of the prince and his entourage. In our times, the money of the nation, particularly the oil, has become the money of a certain family and a certain king and sultan and those who kiss the feet of the sultan.

Many of those who talk about the nation and Islam glorify these kings and families. They actually worship the family and its head, and then they talk to you about the belief in one God, and then hold other people as infidels through some jurisprudences, but they worship those who have money: "They took the money of Allah for themselves and enslaved His people."

The contemporary pledge and the historical pledge

During Al-Hurra battle, we saw that Yazid asked his Wali who triumphed over the people of Al-Madina to ask for their pledge in their capacity as slaves for Yazid. They used to enslave the people by the power of money and sword. If we look at history books, we see that when the pledge was obtained for Yazid, a man who has a sword in one hand, and money in the other hand, said: Who gives the pledge to Yazid will get the money, and who doesn't will get this sword. After that, Yazid was the "Commander of the Faithful."

Today, we are witnessing a contemporary kind of the pledge, one that rests on money. For example, people gave their pledge to President George Bush and today they are giving the pledge to the European Union and many Arab figures, for various considerations and ambitions.

Contribution of the Sufis in Development of Persian Language and Literature in Bihar
Yasser Aslan Khan
SUFI
@erfaneeslami1

Contribution of the Sufis in Development of Persian Language and Literature in Bihar
Yasser Aslan Khan
SUFI
@erfaneeslami1