A survey of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian debates and mystical discussions about Muhammad's heavenly journey that took place in early medieval Spain.
This book demonstrates how Muhammad's heavenly journey, as discussed throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries in the western Mediterranean, was the site both of polemical religious debates and of a rich and varied tradition of mystical commentary. Out of these fertile contexts sprang two very influential sets of ascension discourses: First, the growth of the "Perfect and Complete" version of the Islamic ascension tale that spread throughout the Muslim world; second, the complex and multidimensional mystical interpretations of Muhammad's journey by one of the most famous Sufis of all time, the "Grand Master" Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi (d. 1240 CE). This work surveys key sources of this Andalusi contemplative tradition and also includes a complete translation of one of its very earliest written texts, preserved in a unique fragmentary Arabic manuscript, making this important historical document accessible to scholars, students, and general audiences alike for the very first time.
Recenzijos
"This remarkable study introduces a little-known body of Islamic ascension literature. Colby's nuanced approach, which situates this literature in relation to Sufism of the central Islamic lands along with a careful exploration of the theological and philosophical milieu of medieval Spain, makes this a valuable contribution to the study of Sufism and the western pietistic Islamic traditions." Richard J. A. McGregor, Vanderbilt University
Daugiau informacijos
A survey of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian debates and mystical discussions about Muhammad's heavenly journey that took place in early medieval Spain.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Antecedents, Commentaries, and Fragments
2. Shared Discourses and Polemics of Ascent
3. Emerging Andals Mlik Traditions
4. Intertextual Qurn and Prophetic Reports: Ibn Barrajn
5. Contemplation of the Visionary Experience: Ibn Qa
Conclusion
Appendix: Translation of Real Academia de la Historia MS Codera 241
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Frederick S. Colby is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon. He is the author of Narrating Muhammad's Night Journey: Tracing the Development of the Ibn Abbs Ascension Discourse, also published by SUNY Press, and the editor and translator of The Subtleties of the Ascension: Lataif al-Miraj: Early Mystical Sayings on Muhammad's Heavenly Journey..
