Can we know God or does he reside beyond our ken? In Ibn ʿArabī and ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qāshānī’s Metaphysics of the Divine, Ismail Lala conducts a forensic analysis of the nature of God and His interaction with creation. Looking mainly at the exegetical works of the influential mystic, Muḥyī al-Dīn ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240), and one of his chief disseminators, ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-Qāshānī (d. 736/1335?), Lala employs the term huwiyya, literally “He-ness,” as an aperture into the metaphysical worldview of both mystics. Does Al-Qāshānī agree with Ibn ʿArabī’s conception of God? Does he agree with Ibn ʿArabī on how God relates to us and how we relate to Him? Or is this where Sufi master and his disciple part ways?

The Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion provides scholarly coverage of the religion, culture and history of the Islamic world, at a time when that world is undergoing considerable change and is a focus of international study and debate. The non-Muslim world's perceptions of Islam have often tended to be dominated by unrepresentative radical extremist movements and media interpretations of events involving such movements, to the extent that many people are unaware of the depth and variety of Islamic thought. At the same time, many who have had a formal training in Islamic studies have tended to concentrate on the traditional, to the exclusion of the contemporary. The Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion covers the full range of Islamic thought, in historical depth, but it also provides substantial coverage of contemporary trends across the Muslim world. With well over a thousand entries on Islamic theology, history, arts, science, law and institutions, and coverage of Islam in individual countries and cities around the world, the Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion provides an extremely rich resource for students and researchers in religious studies and Middle Eastern studies. Entries are cross-referenced and bibliographies are provided. There is a full index. Routledge published The Qura'n: An Encyclopedia in 2005, an excellent companion to the Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization and Religion.

Examining how three medieval Sufi Qur’an commentators explained the story of Moses’ journey with al-Khidr, this volume conveys various teachings about the path of Sufism and the nature of spiritual authority. These commentaries, translated for the first time, discuss essential themes of Sufism as written by practicing Sufi masters. As the text reflects on both the social and psychological dimensions of the master–disciple relationship in Sufism and distinguish between the instructing master (shaykh al-ta’lim) and the mentoring master (shaykh al-suhba), a comparison is also made between the Sufi interpretation of death, immortality, compassion, and inner knowledge and Ernest Becker’s theory of the denial of death and the aspiration for both physical and symbolic immortality.

Assuming no prior knowledge, The Qur'an: A Philosophical Guide is an introduction to the Qur'an from a philosophical point of view. Oliver Leaman's guide begins by familiarizing the readers with the core theories and controversies surrounding the text. Covering key theoretical approaches and focusing on its style and language, Leaman introduces the Qur'an as an aesthetic object and as an organization. The book discusses the influence of the Qur'an on culture and covers its numerous interpreters from the modernizers and popularizers to the radicals. He presents a close reading of the Qur'an, carefully and clearly presenting a variety of philosophical interpretation verse-by-verse. Explaining what the philosopher is arguing, relating the argument to a particular verse, and providing the reader with the means to be part of the discussion, this section includes: - Translated extracts from the text - A range of national backgrounds and different cultural and historic contexts spanning the classical and modern period, the Middle East, Europe and North America - Philosophical interpretations ranging from the most Islamophobe to the extreme apologist - A variety of schools of thought and philosophers such as Peripatetic, Illuminationist, and Sufi. Written with clarity and authority and showing the distinct ways a variety of thinkers have sought to understand the text, The Qur'an: A Philosophical Guide introduces readers to the value of interpreting the Qur'an philosophically.

In premodern Moroccan Sufism, sainthood involved not only a closeness to the Divine presence (walaya) but also the exercise of worldly authority (wilaya). The Moroccan Jazuliyya Sufi order used the doctrine that the saint was a "substitute of the prophets" and personification of a universal "Muhammadan Reality" to justify nearly one hundred years of Sufi involvement in Moroccan political life, which led to the creation of the sharifian state. This book presents a systematic history of Moroccan Sufism through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries C.E. and a comprehensive study of Moroccan Sufi doctrine, focusing on the concept of sainthood. Vincent J. Cornell engages in a sociohistorical analysis of Sufi institutions, a critical examination of hagiography as a source for history, a study of the Sufi model of sainthood in relation to social and political life, and a sociological analysis of more than three hundred biographies of saints. He concludes by identifying eight indigenous ideal types of saint that are linked to specific forms of authority. Taken together, they define sainthood as a socioreligious institution in Morocco.

Originally published in 1969. This volume was composed by an eminent Sufi mystic whilst in prison in Baghdad, awaiting execution, in a vain attempt to overthrow his sentence; he was put to death in AD 1311 at the age of 33. This apologia is a document of great poignancy, composed in most elegant Arabic and translated with the customary skill and elegance for which A J Arberry became so well-known.