1. REL 102 World Religions: Near East “Islamic Theology and Mysticism” Professor Rick Colby May 26, 2010

2. Outline for Class on 05/26/10 Issues in Islamic Theology (kalam)  Grave sinner? Free will? God does evil? Status of divine attributes? Qur'an created? Islamic Philosophy (falsafa)  Key thinkers, tried to reconcile revelation and reason Islamic Mysticism (tasawwuf = Sufism)  Famous early figures, famous mystical poets  Sufi ritual and mystical orders REMINDER: Turn in your papers on Friday at 11 am

3. Islamic Theology (kalam) and Islamic Philosophy (falsafa) Indebted to Greek metaphysics, to Jewish and Christian "dialectical theology" Translations into Arabic in the Abbasid capital of Baghdad Not mere "preservers" of Plato and Aristotle Flourished among elites in the first six centuries of Islamic history

4. Issues in Early Theology (kalam) Status of the grave sinner: still a Muslim? God as creator of evil? Free will vs. predestination Qur'an as God's speech – created or eternal?

5. Mu'tazili Responses to Issues in Early Theology (kalam) Status of the grave sinner: still a Muslim?  INTERMEDIATE STATUS (neither in nor out) God as creator of evil?  GOD IS GOOD, CANNOT BE SOURCE OF EVIL Free will vs. predestination  HUMANS MUST HAVE FREE WILL Qur'an as God's speech – created or eternal?  QUR'AN IS CREATED, NOT GOD

6. Ash'ari Responses to Issues in Early Theology (kalam) Status of the grave sinner: still a Muslim?  GOD KNOWS; THE MATTER POSTPONED UNTIL JUDGMENT DAY God as creator of evil?  GOD RESPONSIBLE FOR GOOD AND EVIL Free will vs. predestination  HUMANS PREDESTINED, BUT.... Qur'an as God's speech – created or eternal?  QUR'AN IS UNCREATED, DIVINE ATTRIBUTE

7. Islamic Philosophy (falsafa) Sought to harmonize revelation & philosophy  use reason to prove the truths of the Qur'an and example of the Prophet (sunna)  Prophet as a type of "philosopher king," dispensing truths in symbolic form palatable to and comprehensible by the masses Came under attack, decline in many lands

8. Famous Muslim Philosophers from the Formative Period AL-FARABI (d. 950) = "Alpharabius" IBN SINA (d.1037) = "Avicenna" IBN RUSHD (d.1198) = "Averroes"

9. AL-GHAZALI (d.1111) known as "Proof of Islam" ; Algazel Defender of Sunni Islam in Nizamiya madrasa Ash'ari theologian Spiritual crisis, journey, enlightenment Key works:  The Incoherence of the Philosophers  Deliverance from Error  Revival of the Religious Sciences

10. Definitions of Islamic Mysticism Recall the definition in World Religions, 404-406 Remember that Sufism is NOT a theological school NOT a legal school NOT a "sect" Insider terms and definitions; controversies

11. Famous Early Sufi Figures RABI'AH (d.801) BAYAZID ( =Abu Yazid Bistami, d.ca.848) HALLAJ (d.922) JUNAYD (d.910) SULAMI (d.1021) QUSHAYRI (d.1074)

12. Muhyidin IBN 'ARABI (d.1240) Known as “al-Shaykh al-Akbar” Educated in al-Andalus, went to central lands Human beings as manifestation of God's attributes  God: "I was a hidden treasure...." His major works:  Meccan Revelations  Ring-settings of Wisdom  Interpreter of Desires

13. ATTAR (d.1220): The Conference of the Birds Hoopoe leads the rest of the birds on a quest for their King, the Simurgh Only 30 birds complete the quest and arrive at the King’s palace

14. Jalal al-Din RUMI (d.1273) Born near Balkh, he and his family came West  Became established in Anatolia  Came to be called "Mevlana" Contemporary hagiography His major works, composed in Persian:  Masnavi  In It is What is In It  Divan of Shams

15. Mevlevi Ritual & the Mevlevi Order as an Example of later Sufism Mevlevi sama’: one type of “remembrance” (dhikr) Foundation of the Mevlevi order Rumi's tomb complex in Konya, Turkey  veneration of "saints" as intermediaries