Islam - Sufism, Mysticism, Ibn al-Arabi

Islam

Table of Contents

Introduction
The foundations of Islam
- The legacy of Muhammad
- Sources of Islamic doctrinal and social views
- Doctrines of the Qurʾān
  - God
  - The universe
  - Humanity
  - Satan, sin, and repentance
  - Prophecy
  - Eschatology (doctrine of last things)
  - Social service
- Fundamental practices and institutions of Islam
  - The five pillars
    - The shahādah, or profession of faith
    - Prayer
    - The zakāt
    - Fasting
    - The hajj
  - Sacred places and days
    - Shrines of Sufi saints
    - The mosque
    - Holy days
Islamic thought
- Origins, nature, and significance of Islamic theology
  - Early developments
  - The Hellenistic legacy
- Theology and sectarianism
  - The Khārijites
  - The Muʿtazilah
  - Sunnism
    - The way of the majority
    - Tolerance of diversity
    - Influence of al-Ashʿarī and al-Māturīdī
  - Shiʿism
    - Ismāʿīlīs
    - Related sects
  - Other groups
    - Sufism
    - The Aḥmadiyyah
- Islamic philosophy
  - The Eastern philosophers
    - Background and scope of philosophical interest in Islam
    - Relation to the Muʿtazilah and interpretation of theological issues
      The teachings of al-Kindī
      The teachings of Abū Bakr al-Rāzī
    - The teachings of al-Fārābī
      Political philosophy and the study of religion
      Interpretation of Plato and Aristotle
      The analogy of religion and philosophy
      Impact on Ismāʿīlī theology
    - The teachings of Avicenna
      The “Oriental Philosophy”
      Distinction between essence and existence and the doctrine of creation
      The immortality of individual souls
      Philosophy, religion, and mysticism
  - The Western philosophers
    - Background and characteristics of the Western Muslim philosophical tradition
    - The teachings of Ibn Bājjah
      Theoretical science and intuitive knowledge
      Unconcern of philosophy with reform
    - The teachings of Ibn Ṭufayl
      The philosopher as a solitary individual
      Concern for reform
      The hidden secret of Avicenna’s “Oriental Philosophy”
    - The teachings of Averroës
      Philosophy
      The divine law
      Theology
- The new wisdom: synthesis of philosophy and mysticism
  - Philosophy, traditionalism, and the new wisdom
    - Philosophy
    - Traditionalism and the new wisdom
    - Characteristic features of the new wisdom
    - Critiques of Aristotle in Islamic theology
    - Synthesis of philosophy and mysticism
  - Primary teachers of the new wisdom
    - The teachings of al-Suhrawardī
    - The teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī
    - The teachings of Twelver Shiʿism and the school of Eṣfahān
      The teachings of Mīr Dāmād
      The teachings of Mullā Ṣadrā
  - Impact of modernism
- Social and ethical principles
  - Family life
  - The state
  - Education
  - Cultural diversity
- Religion and the arts
  - The visual arts
  - Music
  - Literature
  - Architecture
- Islamic myth and legend
  - Sources and variations
    - The Qurʾān and non-Islamic influences
    - The mystics
  - Types of myth and legend
    - Cosmogony and eschatology
    - Tales and legends concerning religious figures
      Muhammad
      Other Qurʾānic figures
      Mystics and other later figures
    - Mythologization of secular tales
    - Tales and beliefs about numbers and letters
  - Illustration of myth and legend
  - Significance and modern interpretations

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Why Ramadan is one of the holiest months for Muslims

Find out why Eid al-Fitr is also called the Festival of Breaking Fast

Explore the history behind the Islamic shrine Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Geographical distribution of the religions of the world in the early 1980s.

For Students

Islam summary

Read Next

Eid al-Fitr

What Is the Most Widely Practiced Religion in the World?

Prayer beads on Quran or Koran written in Arabic Islam's sacred and liturgical language. text, words, Ramadan

Celebrating Ramadan

Discover

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

Eid al-Fitr

Periodical Cicada, Adult, Magicicada spp. Requires 17 years to complete development. Nymph splits its skin, and transforms into an adult. Feeds on sap of tree roots. Northern Illinois Brood. This brood is the largest emergence of cicadas anywhere

Why Do Some Cicadas Appear Only Every 17 Years?

9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

Albert Einstein in Washington, D.C. c. 1921-1923. Physicist

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Science Celebrity

The account of the doctrines of Ibn al-ʿArabī (12th–13th centuries) belongs properly to the history of Islamic mysticism. Yet his impact on the subsequent development of the new wisdom was in many ways far greater than was that of al-Suhrawardī. This is true especially of his central doctrine of the “unity of being” and his sharp distinction between the absolute One, which is undefinable Truth (ḥaqq), and his self-manifestation (ẓuhūr), or creation (khalq), which is ever new (jadīd) and in perpetual movement, a movement that unites the whole of creation in a process of constant renewal. At the very core ...(100 of 27715 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.