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Islamic Mysticism
Islam is a Middle Eastern religion originating from around the 7th century, based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. The basic paradigm of Islam focuses on the revelations and ideals given to Muhammad by Allah (God) and recorded in the Islamic Holy Text, the Qur'an. The basic focus of the Qur'an is to guide individuals to their appropriately perfect relationship with Allah through order, law and tradition. It is important to remember that the Qur'an was written during a time when most of the population was illiterate, so the cultural traditions contained within the Qur'an were designed to organize society and every aspect of life.
Islam is mystical in the sense of a tradition of both wisdom and philosophy, based primarily on the manner in which the Prophet attained the wisdom of Allah and transcribed it. In many ways, though, like other religious traditions, the idea is that Allah is an unseen being, "the outward and the inward:...
Allah is the nature of the universe, the "Light of the heavens and the earth. . . light upon lights; God guides to His light whom He will. And God strikes similitudes for man, and God has knowledge of everything" (Qur'an 24:35).
The Qur'an is a record of material dictated by God, first to Muhammad in order to correct previously revealed scripture (Tawrat/Torah and Injil/Gospels). In addition, the Qur'an is thought to be the final revelation and literal word of God. Mystically, these revelations were revealed through the Archangel Jibri (Gabriel) directly to Muhammad; written down by his companions but primarily remembered through oral memorization and tradition. Muhammad was thus the last prophet and sent to convey Allah's message to the world in a way that would be a summation of proper religious thought and a final truth for humankind.
Two central notions in Islam, both for mystical and cultural traditions, are those of…
In Islam, the duality of the revelations given to Muhammad and the mysticism revolving around Allah and the spirituality of humans is inexorably tied to the notion of society and culture. There is no separation of taking pieces of the Qur'an, but only in looking at it as a holistic document and, as one scholar put it, a template for an inner language that forms a holistic view of humanity and synthesis of spiritual and practical notions of how humans should live. Muhammad and the Qur'an, as the word of Allah, understand that life is a pathway towards perfection, and perfection is knowing God. However, the wisdom of the Qur'an also recognizes that humans are imperfect and must be guided towards this ultimate goal of perfection. Like Aristotle, happiness (perfection or oneness with God) does not always come at the end of the path, but along the way through trials and tribulations, evolving wisdom, and a dedication to faith.
Source:
Sells, M. (1996). Early Islamic Mysticism. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, pp. 1-23.
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