[Fana 'in the Sufi Discourse of the Archipelago: An Overview of the Sufi Thought of Sheikh Daud Al-Fatani] Fana’ dalam Wacana Sufi Nusantara: Tinjauan Terhadap Pemikiran Sufi Sheikh Daud Al-Fatani

A matrilineal Sufi shaykh in Sri Lanka

This article explores the influence of local concepts of matrilineal kinship and descent through women in the construction of a modern Sufi silsila (an authorized ‘chain’ of spiritual and genealogical ancestry) in Sri Lanka. Makkattar Vappa, a popular Sufi shaykh in the Tamil-speaking eastern region of the island, asserts hereditary maulana (sayyid) status as a member of the Prophet’s household...

What is Early Arabic Sufi poetry? Prologomenon to a translation of the Poety of al-Hallaj

The Feminine vs. the Masculine : A Sufi Perspective of Life

In Sufism, one may find a very interesting feminine approach according to which the feminine is the source of life. Though it is roughly distinguished from modern feminism in principle and aim, it would be very critical to see how this perspective overcomes the masculine dominated world. The overall aim of this paper is to give only a remark and an entry to this perspective without involving in...

Shiʿi-Sufi Relations: The Imams of the Shiʿa in the Works of the Sufis of Khurasan

The relation between Shiʿism and Sufism has been long a matter of discussion among scholars, leading to a spectrum of views: some maintain that the two are identical, and, on the other extreme, some believe that they are totally divergent. However, the love for the Imams of the Shiʿa is shared by all Sufi orders, including the Sufis of Khurasan. As the paragons of spirituality and representativ...

The Sufi Position with Respect to the Problem of Universals

The Sufi position on the existence of universals cannot be discussed except as part of the problem of universals in Islamic thought as a whole. I should like, therefore, by way of introduction, to summarize the positions of the various Islamic schools on this question. Muslim works on logic distinguish between three kinds of universal: the natural universal (al-kull̄ı al-t .ab̄ı‘̄ı), the logical u...