About the Book
Over the centuries and across the globe, Muslim authors and artists have given moving testimony to their experience of being members of the Islamic community. Their many vantage points come together in this collection, one that represents major Islamic groups from the past through the present and covers a range of themes essential to understanding Islamic spirituality and religious life. More than thirty leading Islam scholars present translations originating from a dozen languages, including Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Indonesian. Texts include samples of virtually every major literary form of significance to the Muslim faith: the Qur'an, hadith, scriptural commentary, letters, treatises, lyric and didactic poetry, hagiography, historical chronicle, aphorism, endowment deeds, and personal diary entries. In addition, over five dozen illustrations thematically document a full range of artistic forms and historical periods, from ritual objects and architecture to manuscripts of religious texts. This volume and its companion, John Renard's 1996 book, Seven Doors to Islam, are the only books available that integrate such a wide range of Islamic literary and visual forms. Together they offer a superb introduction to the primary religious sources as well as a general understanding of Islamic spirituality and culture.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
ONE FOUNDATIONS: PROPHETIC REVELATION
TEXTS FROM THE QUR'AN
Surat ar-Rahman, The Merciful
Writing Sacred Text
SuratYusuf
Hadith: Prophetic and Sacred
Sacred Text and Architecture
VARIETIES OF QUR'AN INTERPRETATION
Three Commentaries on Surat al-Fatiha, The Opening
Ibn Taymiya: Treatise on the Principles of Tafsir
Sacred Text and the Mihrab
Al-Ghazali: The Canons of Ta 'Wil
EXPERIENCING QUR'AN
Nawawi: Etiquette in Recitation
TWO DEVOTION: RITUAL AND PERSONAL PRAYER
ON THE FIVE PILLARS
Sharaf ad-Din Maneri: On the Necessity of Proper Intention
Nurcholish Madjid: Worship as an Institution of Faith
Tabari: Hadith on the Five Daily Ritual Prayers
Ritual and Creed in Moses' Conversation with God
Hamka: Qur'an Commentary on Pilgrimage Ritual
DEVOTION BEYOND DUTY
Prayers of Holy Women
Rites of Passage and Popular Practice
Marthiya: Imam Husayn's Conversation with God
Madih: Three Contemporary Poems Honoring Imam Riza
Na't: Poem in Praise of Muhammad
Ginan: Isma'ili Petition of a Yearning Soul
Sermon for a Special Occasion
A Radio Mawlid Sermon
THREE INSPIRATION: EDIFICATION AND ETHICS
EXEMPLARY MODELS
The Prophet: From Devotion to Edification
Acrostic Poem in Praise of Muhammad
Na't in Praise of Muhammad
Taha Hussein: Interpreting Muhammad's Life in Modern
Times
Collections of Holy Lives
Asiya, an Exemplary Woman in Tha'labi's Stories
of the Prophets
Munawi's Life of Rabi'a al-'Adawiya
Three Women of Iberia
Holy Women of Morocco and Egypt
The Life of Sufi Badhni
Jabarti's Account of 'Ali al-Bayyumi
WISDOM LITERATURE
The Qur'anic Paradigm of Wisdom: Surat Luqman
Morals for the Masses
Aphorisms of 'Ali
Sayings Attributed to Mu'in ad-Din Chishti
ENCOUNTERING THE EXEMPLARY PERSONS
Storytelling as Entertainment
Telling Tales: A Miracle of Mulla Hadda
Edifying Anecdotes: Ziya' ad-Din Nakhshabi
FOUR AESTHETICS: FROM ALLEGORY TO ARABESQUE
LITERATURE AND SPIRITUALITY
Interpreting Religious Poetry
Mir 'Ali-Shir N~wa'i: A Poet's Intentions
Shams ad-Din Lahiji: Commentary on Shabistari's Garden of Mystery
Allegory
Yahya Suhrawardi Maqtul: Allegory of Beauty and Love
PRINCIPAL POETIC FORMS
Didactic Poetry
Sana'i of Ghazna: Two Teaching Parables
Mude Kala: Gayo Didactic Religious Poetry
Lyric Poetry
Ibn al-Farid: Ruba<iyat, Ghazal, Qasida
Munawi's Literary Hagiography of Ibn al-Farid
Jalal ad-Din Rumi: Ghazal
Muhammad Shirin Maghribi: Ghazal
Nuri and Shad: Na<ts
Bibi Hayati: Ghazal
FIVE COMMUNITY: SOCIETY, INSTITUTIONS, AND PATRONAGE
SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS
Religion, Society, and Culture
Shaykh Luqman: A Contemporary Life in a Traditional
Context
INSTITUTIONAL TEXTS
Public Support
Historical Epigraphy of Mamluk Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq
Two Waqf Documents: Sultan Barquq and Khwaja Ahrar
Mamluk Sultan Barquq's Waqf
A Central Asian Waqf of Naqshbandi Sufi Master Khwaja
Ahrar
Private Discipline
Shihab ad-Din 'Umar Suhrawardi: Treatises on Sufi Chivalry
PATRONAGE AND THE ARTS
Women as Patrons of Architecture
Sitt ash-Sham of Damascus
Works of Timurid and Ottoman Women
Building Community and Community Patronage
Architectural Past, Present, and Future in America
Chronicles of Royal Patronage
Ibn Marzuq: Sultan Abu 'L-Hasan 'Ali's Architectural Patronage
Khwandamir: The Rediscovery and Refurbishment of 'Ali's Tomb
Sultan-Husayn Mirza: Apologia
SIX PEDAGOGY: FANNING SPARK INTO FLAME
ADVANCED INTERPRETATION OF FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES
Teaching Islam in Medieval Iran: Ahmad Sam'ani's
Refreshment of Spirits
Teaching across Cultures
Islam in China: Wang Daiyu's Real Commentary on the True Teaching
From Arabic into Javanese: The Gift Addressed to the Spirit of the Prophet
FROM THE GREAT TEACHERS
Between Sermon and Seminar
Women as Scholars and Teachers
Teaching with Pictures: Three Paintings of Bawa
Muhaiyaddeen
Borrowed Notes
Muhammad Husayni Gesu Daraz on Love
Keeping in Touch
Shaykh Husayn: A Letter on the True Names of God
REQUIRED READING FOR MYSTICS
Advice for Inexperienced Travelers
Majd ad-Din Baghdadi: Treatise on Journeying
Mystical Geography
Vahidi: The Seven Invocations and the Seven Journeys
Languages of the Spirit
Sayyid Ja'far Sajjadi: Lexicon of Mystical Terms
SEVEN EXPERIENCE: TESTIMONY, PARADIGM, AND CRITIQUE
HEART SPEAKS TO HEART
Soul on Pilgrimage
The Diary of Ahmad Wahib
Muhammad as Mystical Model
Tabari: Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension
BEYOND STORYTELLING
Saying the Unsayable
Rabi'a' s Dream
Amir Khusraw of Delhi's Poetic Vision
Gesu Daraz's Vision of Jesus
Visionary Experiences of 'Ali al-Bayyumi
Ahmad Wahib's Dream
Explaining the Unexplainable
Tabari: The Correct Interpretation of the Mi'raj Narrative
Al-Ghazali: Treatise on the Intimate Knowledge of God
EVALUATING EXPERIENCE
The Science of Hearts
Sharaf ad-Din Maneri: A Letter on the Qualities
of Spiritual Guides
Sayyid Ahmad Khan: Treatise on Visualizing the Shaykh
Traveling Companions
Hasan Palasi's Encounter with Shaykh Kujuji
Appendix 1: Text Distribution
Appendix 2: Art Program Distribution
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
About the Contributors
Index of Quranic Citations
General Index
