Sufism

Rusmir Mahmutcehajic

Anyone who has ever read any book by Bosnian academic Mahmutcehajic knows that the beauty of his prose always brings one back to the Real. His writing – be it about Bosnian War, architecture, urban planning, tolerance, nationalism, democracy, mosques, coffee – has the quality of remembrance.

‘God is always present; it is we who are in constant danger of being absent. Similarly, God is always infinitely close to us, but we are always infinitely remote from Him. Our actions, whether in silence, speech or gesture, are beautiful and good to the extent that we are conscious of the presence of God in them as Beautiful and Good. Without such consciousness, all our acts, whether in silence, speech or gesture, are in vain no matter how they may seem to us. Once we cease approaching everything “In the Name of God the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful”, concluding with “Praise belongs to God”, they cease to connect us to God, and if they do not connect us with Him, then they connect us with something else. But there is no god but Him.’

“This book investigates the relationship between knowledge of the cosmos and knowledge of the self. Conclusions are drawn regarding ignorance as a source of corruption, expulsion, and murder on the basis of the case of the Stolac čaršija, how it came into existence, how it developed as a reflection of the inner life of its people, and the destruction it suffered during the 20th century. Our original dignity cannot be restored until the relationship between knowledge of the cosmos and knowledge of the self is recognized within a discourse of the eternal principle of all existence. This is so because there is nothing in the world whose being is not in some way for us. Unless we discover that purpose, we cannot find ourselves.”

Wardah’s Pick for the Best Book of 2011

Contents:
The Garden
The Town
The Mihrab
From Left to Right
The Call
The Hour
The Guest
The Market-Square
The Book
“Recite!”
The Scales
The House
Doors and Windows
The Labyrinth
The Valley and the Mount
Earth and Heaven
The Tree
Oblivion and Recollection

This translation by the Islamic Texts Society is the 36th chapter of ‘The Revival of the Religious Sciences’ (Ihya’ Ulum al-Din). This chapter is in the last of the four sections of the Ihya, the section dealing with the virtues or what is conducive to salvation.

This work is of radical importance to the history of Sufism and the arguments that al-Ghazali sets out in it form the basis of the development of whole schools of Sufi theory and practice of mystical love, including the extensive Sufi poetry of Mevlana Rumi and Hafiz. The text starts by elucidating the love of God for humanity and the love of man for God, and proceeds to discuss the deepening of this love to include different degrees of longing, intimacy and contentment.

An Annotated Transliteration together with a Translation and an Introduction of His Exposition on the Fundamental Aspects of Sufi Doctrines

Translated by Muhammad Zainiy Uthman, professor at the Center for Advanced Studies on Islam, Science and Civilisation (CASIS), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

The Lata’if al–Asrar li–Ahl Allah al–Atyar (Spiritual Subtleties for the Swiftly Ascending People of God) is a major work of Nur al–Din al–Raniri (died 1658 A.D.), the Shaykh al–Islam of Acheh, Sumatra. It was written at the behest of Sultan Iskandar Thani of Acheh in 1050 A.H./1640 A.D. Two manuscripts (dated 1248 A.H. and 1263 A.H.) found in Terengganu were used to produce an annotated transliteration from the Jawi into Romanized Malay, a translation into English and an introduction. The current work spans 884 pages.

A key text of the Malay World, the Lata’if was written to elucidate the fundamental aspects of Sufi doctrines. It is meant as an introduction to more advanced works for the novice on the path and a reminder for the adept.

Mystical Poems of Aishah al-Bauniyah
Aishah al-Bauniyah (d. 923/1517) was one of the greatest women scholars in Islamic history. A mystic and prolific poet and writer, Aishah composed more works in Arabic than any other woman prior to the 20th century.  Often, she expressed her great devotion to God and His Prophet, and spoke of love and longing on the mystical quest.
She also alluded to her extensive education and mystical training, and her  own particular life experiences, which are often reflected in her verse. Her many writings were read and copied by later generations of admirers who  preserved her substantial literary and mystical legacies.

The selection of poems from this volume, edited and translated into English here for the first time, recount Aishah al-Bauniyah remarkable story of devotion and mystical illumination.

Michael Laffan
Excerpt:
“It was probably in Mecca that al-Sharqawi inducted two Jawis into the Sammani brotherhood, founded by the Medinese Muhammad Samman (1717-76). One of these Jawi initiates was the ecstatic Muhammad Nafis al-Banjari (1770-1820), the other was the more sober (and prolific) Da’ud al-Fatani (d. 1845).”
Also interesting to read that Singapore was such an important printing centre for the whole of the Malay World in the 19th century. Presses in the vicinity of Masjid Sultan were printing Qur’an, mawlid books, religious manuals such as the Safinah al-Najah, and even a Sufi manual for the Shattari brotherhood in 1877.

Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller

“Sea Without Shore” is a manual for those travelling the path of Sufism. The book opens with narratives of five Sufis met by the author in Syria, Jordan, and Turkey whose lives exemplified the knowledge and practice of the Sufi path. The second part is a complete handbook of the method and rule of the Shadhili order of Sufism, transmitted to the author by his spiritual mentor, Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri – from devotions, dhikr and metaphysical doctrine, to how a Sufi lives, marries, and earns a living in the modern world. A third part treats wider theological questions such as other faiths and mysticisms, universalism and the finality of Islam, the promise of God to Jews and Christians, evolution and religion, and divine Wisdom and Justice in the face of human suffering. The book provides an indelible portrait of a vibrant mystical tradition spanning seven and a half centuries of endeavour to know Allah.

Yannis Toussulis

Contents:
The Sufi Mystique
Traditionalist Critique
Quests for the Hidden Hierarchy
Further Quests for the Hidden Source
The Earlier Way of Blame
The Middle Period of Malamati Activity
The Later Malamatiyya
Twentieth-Century Representatives
Seven Stations of Wisdom
Human Completeness
Risala Salihiyya of Pir Nur al-Arabi

Shaykh Ismail Abdullah, translated by Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

Counsels of Religion of Imam Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad translated by Mostafa al-Badawi

This is the first complete translation of “An Nasaih id-Diniyya wal Wasaya al-Imaniyyah” or as most people in Southeast Asia know it in Malay, “Nasihat Agama dan Wasiat Iman”.

A book about the enduring legacy of Sheikh Amadou Bamba who founded the Mouride Way.