Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought
Sachiko Murata
Paperback
9780791409145
The Tao of Islam is a rich and diverse anthology of Islamic teachings on the nature of the relationships between God and the world, the world and the human being, and the human being and God. Focusing on gender symbolism, Sachiko Murata shows that Muslim authors frequently analyze the divine reality and its connections with the cosmic and human domains with a view toward a complementarity or polarity of principles that is analogous to the Chinese idea of yin/yang.
Murata believes that the unity of Islamic thought is found, not so much in the ideas discussed, as in the types of relationships that are set up among realities. She pays particular attention to the views of various figures commonly known as "Sufis" and "philosophers," since they approach these topics with a flexibility and subtlety not found in other schools of thought. She translates several hundred pages, most for the first time, from more than thirty important Muslims including the Ikhwan al-Safa', Avicenna, and Ibn al-'Arabi.
Contents
Part 1
Introduction
The Intellectual Tradition in Islam
The Feminist Critique of Islam
The Background of the Present Book
Chinese and Islamic Thought
Theological Polarity
Signs of God
Cosmic Correspondences
Human Equilibrium
The Plan of the Book
1 The Three Realities
Signs in the Horizons and the Souls
Qualitative Correspondence
Qualitative Levels
Human All-Comprehensiveness
Children of the Elements
The Myth of Adam's Creation
Human Becoming
The Cosmic and Human Books
Part 2: Theology
2 Divine Duality
God and the Essence
Incomparability and Similarity
Complementary Names
God and His Vassal
The One and the Two
The Creation of the Many
The Differentiation of the Undifferentiated
Being and Knowledge
Majesty and Beauty
Awe and Intimacy
Social Implications of Divine Quality
3 The Two Hands of God
Right and Left
The Views of Koran Commentators
Fingers and Feet
The Two Hands in the Futuhat al-makkiyya
The Fusus al-hikam
Mu'ayyid al-Din Jandi
'Abd al-Razzaq Kashani
Dawud Qaysari
Sadr al-Din Qunawi
Sa'id al-Din Farghani
Farghani on the Two Handfuls
Part 3: Cosmotology
4 Heaven and Earth
The Creation of the Cosmos
The Tao of Heaven and Earth
Heaven and Earth as Correlative Terms
Similitudes
Shifting Relationships
The Seven Heavens
The Four Elements
The Virtues of the Earth
5 Macrocosmic Marriage
Fathers and Mothers
Universal Marriage
Triplicity
The Pen and the Tablet
The Intellect and the Soul
Natural Children
Changing Relationships
The Faces of the Intellect
The Two Wings of Gabriel
6 Human Marriage
Marriage in Society
Man's Degree over Woman (I)
Man's Degree over Woman (II)
Mutual Love
Women Made Lovable
The Fusus al-hikam
Mutual Longing
Witnessing God in Women
Marriage and Creation
Perfect Sexual Union
The Symbolism of Grammatical Gender
Spiritual Counsel
7 The Womb
Universal Worship
The Mercy of Existence
Nature as Wife and Mother
Love for Parents
The Womb as Microcosm
The Womb as Nature
Part 4: Spiritual Psychology
8 Static Hierarchy
Principles of Ta'wil
Names of the Unseen
Signs of the Microcosm
Spirit
Soul
Intellect
The Spirit's Kingdom
Heaven and Earth
9 Dynamics of the Soul
Struggle on the Path to God
The Soul's Evil
Conflicting Character Traits
The Soul's Receptivity
Manliness and Chivalry
Negative Masculinity
Adam, Eve, and Iblis
The Soul's Animals
Purifying the Soul
10 The Heart
In the Koran and the Hadith
Between Spirit and Soul
The Heart in the School of Ibn al-'Arabi
The Birth of the Heart
The Heart's Birth According to 'Izz al-Din Kashani
The Heart's Birth According to Ibn al-'Arabi's School
The Soul as Virgin Mother
The Perfected Heart
True Men and True Women