Abstract Respiration holds a central place in Sufism as both a locus of metaphysical reflection and a medium of spiritual practice. This study offers a source-based examination of breath ( nafas ) in Islamic mysticism, focusing on early Sufi texts up to the fifth/eleventh century. Often overshadowed by later systematic theories, these early teachings reveal a varied yet coherent “breathscape”...
Abstract: Scholarship on the intersection of Islamic mysticism and politics often focuses on the way Sufi authors preach their mystical teachings to rulers. This article draws attention to the role of court poetry composed by authors who are not considered to have been practicing Sufis in promoting and popularizing mystical teachings at royal courts by examining Sanāʾī’s court-patronized poems...
“Snakes and Ladders” is an ancient Indian board game played by the throw of dice or cowrie shells on a grid of labelled squares. It belongs to the category of “race games” and more specifically “promotion games” of moral instruction. The player gradually moves his piece upward from the lower section of vices and hellish states to the higher section of virtues and subtle spiritual states finally...
Abstract This article presents an annotated translation of The Exposition of Devotions , a short text by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muṣtafā (1218–1280/1804–1864) about his spiritual master and maternal uncle, Muḥammad Sambo (1195–1242/1782–1826). Muḥammad Sambo was the son of ʿUthmān ibn Fūdī (also known as Usman dan Fodio), the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, one of the largest pre-colonial...
Abstract In recent scholarship the notion that dreams and visions in Islamic societies are phenomena with no relevance to historic events or societal concerns has been challenged and overturned. However, the theoretical underpinnings of Sufi oneirology in the medieval period have yet to receive a full exposition. Furthermore, the relevance of such seemingly abstract texts to Sufi organisational...