Title: Muhammad Ali Aziz. Religion and Mysticism in Early Islam: Theology and Sufism in Yemen.
Abstract:While researching the historical development of Sufism, one's attention is immediately drawn to the influence of prominent early figures who shaped the growth of mystical communities and paved the way...While researching the historical development of Sufism, one's attention is immediately drawn to the influence of prominent early figures who shaped the growth of mystical communities and paved the way for the future development of Sufi orders (ṭarīqahs) in the post-classical period.One of the most important of these individuals in Yemen was Aḥmad b. 'Alwān (d.665/1266).Although he was not the first Sufi scholar to come out of Yemen and no order was ever formed in his name, his intellectual and spiritual contributions came at a time when the region was at its political and cultural peak during the rule of the Rasulids (626-858/1228-1454).Ibn 'Alwān also lived when the mystical works of other scholars such as Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d.505/1111) and Ibn 'Arabī (d.638/1240) were being synthesized, debated, and transferred to the general population.Ibn 'Alwān, therefore, is one of the most critical formative Sufi figures from the southern Arabian Peninsula whose thought continues to resonate in Yemen to this day.In this work by Muhammad Ali Aziz, readers are introduced to the world of Ibn 'Alwān and the importance of re-evaluating our view of Yemen as a centre for Muslim intellectual and mystical discourse.Western scholarship, according to Aziz, "emphasizes [Yemen's] lack of central authority, rugged terrain, inhospitable climate, and political instability" (p.219).The truth, however, was that during the Ayyubid and subsequent Rasulid dynasties, Sunni educational institutionsRead More