Reading Jewish Religious Texts introduces students to a range of significant post-biblical Jewish writing. It covers diverse genres such as prayer and liturgical poetry, biblical interpretation, religious law, philosophy, mysticism and works of ethical instruction. Each text is newly translated into English and accompanied by a detailed explanation to help clarify the concepts and arguments. The commentary also situates the work within its broader historical and ideological context, giving readers an enhanced appreciation of its place in the Jewish religious experience. This volume includes a comprehensive timeline, glossary and bibliography.

In recent years, many historians of Islamic mysticism have been grappling in sophisticated ways with the difficulties of essentialism. Reconceptualising the study of Islamic mysticism during an under-researched period of its history, this book examines the relationship between Sufism and society in the Muslim world, from the fall of the Abbasid caliphate to the heyday of the great Ottoman, Mughal and Safavid empires.

Treating a heretofore under-researched period in the history of Sufism, this work establishes previously unimagined trajectories for the study of mystical movements as social actors of real historical consequence. Thematically organized, the book includes case studies drawn from the Middle Eastern, Turkic, Persian and South Asian regions by a group of scholars whose collective expertise ranges widely across different historical, geographical, and linguistic landscapes. Chapters theorise why, how, and to what ends we might reconceptualise some of the basic methodologies, assumptions, categories of thought, and interpretative paradigms which have heretofore shaped treatments of Islamic mysticism and its role in the social, cultural and political history of pre-modern Muslim societies.

Proposing novel and revisionist treatments of the subject based on the examination of many under-utilized sources, the book draws on a number of disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches, from art history to religious studies. As such, it will appeal to students and scholars of Middle East studies, religious history, Islamic studies and Sufism.

The Book of Mirdad, the timeless allegorical story which has touched the hearts of so many readers, continues to show new generations how it is possible to expand one's consciousness, to uncover God in man by dissolving man's sense of duality. Mikhail Naimy, in a similar style to Gibran, unravels one layer after another, showing that the words of his message have descended from some mysterious source. The book is essentially a set of question and answer between Mirdad and his disciples, especially his chief disciple, Naronda. These dialogues occurred during the time he was admitted as a servant in the monastery of Altar Peak, built where Noah's Ark came to rest after the flood waters subsided. Mirdad's teachings cover all the important life issues such as love, the master-servant relationship, creative silence, money, the moneylender and the debtor, the cycle of time and death, repentance, old age, and so on. The culmination, and indeed the message, is that Mirdad's own Ark is the Ark of Holy Understanding, which will bring humankind through another deluge, greater than Noah's, when Heaven will be revealed on Earth. Mirdad's words are the words of an enlightened Sufi master.

The two theories of divine love that are examined in this book have their foundations in Greek, Jewish, Christian and Muslim ideas. Al-GhazA[lA(R) (twelfth century) was influenced mainly by Plato and Ibn Sina's teachings, while al-DabbA[gh (thirteenth century), who accepted some GhazA[lA(R)an notions, developed a theory of divine love that can be traced back to Neoplatonism. Both scholars created complete theories of divine love that include definitions of love, its causes and signs, the ways to love God, God's love for man, and kinds of love. The book will interest students of theology, philosophy and mysticism in general, and students of Islam in particular.

Focusing on the Maijbhandari movement in Chittagong, south-eastern Bangladesh, which claims the status of the only Sufi order originated in Bengal and which has gained immense popularity in recent years, this book provides a comprehensive picture of an important aspect of contemporary Bengali Islam in the South Asian context.

Expertise in South Asian languages and literatures is combined with ethnographic field work and theoretical formulations from a range of disciplines, including cultural anthropology, Islamic studies and religious studies. Analysing the Maijbhandaris tradition of Bengali spiritual songs, one of the largest popular song traditions in Bengal, the book presents an in-depth study of Bengali Sufi theology, hagiography and Maijbhandari esoteric songs, as well as a discussion of what Bengali Islam is. It is a useful contribution to South Asia Studies, as well as Islamic Studies.

Original Arabic, transliteration and translation. It is said that the author of Dala'il ul-Khayrat, Imam Muhammad al-Jazuli, went on a journey. He found himself in great need of water for making ablutions required before prayers. He came upon a well but could not reach the water far below, as there was no bucket and rope. He became very worried . A young girl saw this and came to his assistance. She spat into the well whereupon the water rose to the top of its own accord. Seeing this miracle, he asked the girl, "And how is that possible?" She replied "I was able to do this due to my invoking excessive blessings upon Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be Allah's blessings and peace." Having thus seen the benefit of invoking blessings upon the Prophet, Imam Jazuli decided to write Dala'il ul-Khayrat. In it, he compiled litanies invoking peace and blessings upon the Prophet. It is by far the most popular and universally-acclaimed collection of prayers upon the Prophet, used throughout the Muslim world and recited individually and in groups, in homes and in mosques, silently and aloud.

The Bahir is one of the oldest and most important of all classical Kabbalah texts. Until the publication of the Zohar, the Bahir was the most influential and widely quoted primary source of Kabbalistic teachings. The Bahir is quoted in every major book on Kabbalah, the earliest being the Raavad's commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, and it is cited numerous times by Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) in his commentary on the Torah. It is also quoted many times in the Zohar. It was first published around 1176 by the Provence school of Kabbalists; the first printed edition appeared in Amsterdam in 1651. The name Bahir is derived from the first verse quoted in the text (Job 37:21), "And now they do not see light, it is brilliant (Bahir) in the skies." It is also called the "Midrash of Rabbi Nehuniah ben HaKana," particularly by the Ramban. The reason might be that Rabbi Nehuniah's name is at the very beginning of the book, but most Kabbalists actually attribute the Bahir to him and his school. Some consider it the oldest kabbalistic text ever written. Although the Bahir is a fairly small book, some 12,000 words in all, it was very highly esteemed among those who probed its mysteries. Rabbi Judah Chayit, a prominent fifteenth-century Kabbalist, writes, "Make this book a crown for your head." Much of the text is very difficult to understand, and Rabbi Moshe Cordevero (1522-1570), head of the Safed school of Kabbalah, says, "The words of this text are bright (Bahir) and sparkling, but their brilliance can blind the eye." One of the most important concepts revealed in the Bahir is that of the Ten Sefirot, and careful analysis of these discussions yields much of what will be found in later kabbalistic works, as well as their relation to anthropomorphism and the reason for the commandments. Also included is a discussion of reincarnation, or Gilgul, an interpretation of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the Thirty-two Paths of Wisdom, and the concept of Tzimtzum, the s

Sufism is often understood to be the mystical dimension of Islam, and many works have focused on the nature of "mystical experiences" and the relationship between man and God. Yet Sufism was a human response to a wide range of contexts and circumstances; the fact that Sufis lived in society and interacted with the community necessitating guidance on how to behave.

This book examines the development of Persian Sufism, showing it to be a practical philosophy of the everyday rather than just a metaphysical phenomena. The author explores the ethic of futuwwat (or jawanmardi), an Iranian code of honour that emphasised loyalty, humility, generosity and bravery. Although inevitably some Sufis spiritualised this code of honour and applied it to their own relationship with God, the ethic continued to permeate Sufi behaviour on a more mundane level, typified by the strong links between Sufis and certain trades.

Drawing on field research in Iran, as well as detailed analysis of both Arabic and Persian texts and new materials that have been published in Iran in recent years, this is the first book in English to provide a history of Persian Sufi-futuwwat, As such, this book is an important contribution to the study of Persian Sufism, and to the fields of Islam, history and religion.

Friedrich von Hugel's Mystical Element of Religion remains the authoritative study of the spirituality of Catherine of Genoa. First published in 1908, this seminal work develops the authoris major theory of the three basic elements of religion, institutional, intellectual and mystical. Von Hugel shows how Catherineis mysticism relates to her life and thought, making his comprehensive and masterly two-volume analysis a classic in the study of Western mysticism.

Can the seeker after Truth wholly depend on the guidance found in books on Sufism or are the oral teachings of a spiritual master necessary? This was a heated debate in fourteenth-century Andalusia that extended beyond the confines of Sufi circles. Ibn Khaldun (d. 808/1406), the celebrated social theorist and historian, ventured into this debate with a treatise that is as relevant today as it was then. Ibn Khaldun on Sufism: Remedy for the Questioner in Search of Answers is the first ever translation into English of Shifa' al-Sa'il li-Tahdhib al-Masa'il.Though Ibn Khaldun is renowned for the Muqaddima and the 'Ibar-which are considered milestones in the fields of medieval sociology and the philosophy of history-little is known about his religious and spiritual life. In her introduction to Ibn Khaldun on Sufism, Dr Yumna Ozer seeks to restore Ibn Khaldun and his work to the context from which his theories arose, both in intellectual and religious terms; she also draws a vivid painting of Sufism in the fourteenth century and rethinks Ibn Khaldun's relationship with Sufism. The translation itself addresses the dichotomies or synergies between religious law and the Sufi path, the roles played by jurists, and that played by Sufis, and the particular position of the Sufi shaykh or spiritual master. Dr Yumna Ozer gained a PhD in Islamic Studies from Indiana University and is an independent scholar specialising in Sufism.

The Mystical Exodus in Jungian Perspective explores the soul loss that results from personal, collective, and transgenerational trauma and the healing that unfolds through reconnection with the sacred. Personal narratives of disconnection from and reconnection to Jewish collective memory are illuminated by millennia of Jewish mystical wisdom, contemporary Jewish Renewal and feminist theology, and Jungian and trauma theory. The archetypal resonance of the Exodus story guides our exploration. Understanding exile as disconnection from the Divine Self, we follow Moses, keeper of the spiritual fire, and Serach bat Asher, preserver of ancestral memory. We encounter the depths with Joseph, touch collective grief with Lilith, experience the Red Sea crossing and Miriam's well as psychological rebirth and Sinai as the repatterning of traumatized consciousness. Tracing the reawakening of the qualities of eros and relatedness on the journey out of exile, the book demonstrates how restoring and deepening relationship with the Sacred Feminine helps us to transform collective trauma. This text will be key reading for scholars of Jewish studies, Jungian and post-Jungian studies, feminist spirituality, trauma studies, Jungian analysts and psychotherapists, and those interested in healing from personal and collective trauma. Cover art: 'Radiance' by Elaine Greenwood

This book analyses the development of Sufism in Ottoman Egypt, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Examining the cultural, socio-economic and political backdrop against which Sufism gained prominence, it looks at its influence in both the institutions for religious learning and popular piety. The study seeks to broaden the observed space of Sufism in Ottoman Egypt by placing it within its imperial and international context, highlighting on one hand the specificities of Egyptian Sufism, and on the other the links that it maintained with other spiritual traditions that influenced it. Studying Sufism as a global phenomenon, taking into account its religious, cultural, social and political dimensions, this book also focuses on the education of the increasing number of aspirants on the Sufi path, as well as on the social and political role of the Sufi masters in a period of constant and often violent political upheaval. It ultimately argues that, starting in medieval times, Egypt was simultaneously attracting foreign scholars inward and transmitting ideas outward, but these exchanges intensified during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as a result of the new imperial context in which the country and its people found themselves. Hence, this book demonstrates that the concept of 'neosufism' should be dispensed with and that the Ottoman period in no way constituted a time of decline for religious culture, or the beginning of a normative and fundamentalist Islam. Sufism in Ottoman Egypt provides a valuable contribution to the new historiographical approach to the period, challenging the prevailing teleology. As such, it will prove useful to students and scholars of Islam, Sufism and religious history, as well as Middle Eastern history more generally.

In Daniel's Mysticism of Resistance in Its Seleucid Context, Timothy L. Seals proffers a postcolonial interpretation of the book of Daniel, investigating certain texts that constitute Daniel's mystical way or practice. Daniel uses mysticism to resist the repressive script of Antiochus IV outlawing the Jewish religion in 167 BCE. In his use of non-violence to resist the imperial power of the Seleucids, Daniel stands in the non-violent, passive-resistant tradition of both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Daniel uses mysticism both to resist imperial intrusions into his humanity and to decolonize his mind in the aftermath of colonization. In this endeavor, mysticism proves to be world-affirming.

Originally published in 1948. Moses Maimonides was one of the most powerful philosophers of the Middle Ages. The philosophical basis which he elaborated for Judaism had a profound influence on mediaeval Christian thinkers. This volume describes the full background of Maimonides's thinking in its twelfth-century historical and religious context.

Originally published 1867. This volume describes not only the basic tenets of the Sufis but also the Ahl i wahdat which was a branch of Sufism. The author's use of a Persian manuscript treatise by 'Aziz bin Mohammed Nafasi' is an indispensable tool, particularly because the author did not merely translate it but gave a clearer and more succinct account of the system. The volume contains an Appendix containing a glossary of allegorical and technical terms in use among Sufiistic writers.

This book explores the organic lives of popular Sufi shrines in contemporary Northwest India. It traverses the worldview of shrine spaces, rituals and their complex narratives, and provides an insight into their urban and rural landscapes in the post-Partition (Indian) Punjab. What happened to these shrines when attempts were made to dissuade Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus from their veneration of popular saints in the early twentieth century? What was the fate of popular shrines that persisted even when the Muslim population was virtually wiped off as a result of migration during Partition? How did these shrines manifest in the context of the threat posed by militants in the 1980s? How did such popular practices reconfigure themselves when some important centres of Sufism were left behind in the West Punjab (now Pakistan)? This book examines several of these questions and utilizes a combination of analytical tools, new theoretical tropes and an ethnographic approach to understand and situate popular Sufi shrines so that they are both historicized and spatialized. As such, it lays out some crucial contours of the method and practice of understanding popular sacred spaces (within India and elsewhere), bridging the everyday and the metanarratives of power structures and state formation. This book will be useful to scholars, researchers and those engaged in interdisciplinary work in history, social anthropology, historical sociology, cultural studies, historical geography, religion and art history, as well as those interested in Sufism and its shrines in South Asia.

"Al-Ghazali on Conduct in Travel" is a translation of the seventeenth book of the "Revival of the Religious Sciences" (Ihya Ulum al-Din), which is widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality. In "Al-Ghazali on Conduct in Travel", Abu Hamid al-Ghazali uncovers, as elsewhere in the "Revival", the mystical and religious dimension of one of humanity's most basic needs: in this instance, travel.---In Chapter One, Ghazali begins by providing the reader with the four reasons for travel, which include for the quest for knowledge and to flee from harm and danger. The advantages gained from travelling are also described by Ghazali-for example, the disciplining of the soul through exposure to the harsh conditions of travel as well as the acquisition of virtue and self-knowledge. Ghazali then explains what the seven proper conducts of travels-both outward conduct and inward conduct-consist of. In Chapter Two, Ghazali provides a practical chapter on the use of religious concessions while travelling, and concludes with a final chapter on how the traveller is to establish the proper direction and times for prayer. "Al-Ghazali on Conduct in Travel" will be of interest to all those wishing to explore the disciplining qualities of everyday activities applied here to the spiritual dimension of travelling.---In this new edition, the Islamic Texts Society has included the translation of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's own Introduction to the "Revival of the Religious Sciences" which gives the reasons that caused him to write the work, the structure of the whole of the Revival and places each of the chapters in the context of the others.

Recentering the Sufi Shrine is a study of ritual, Sufi eschatology, and vernacular theopoetics of pilgrimage to Sufi shrines in the Indus region of Pakistan. The book examines the distinction between two different ritual contestations over pilgrimage to Sufi tombs: (1) an exposition of Tariqa-i Muhammadiyya's millenarian Scripturalist reform of Sufism, and (2) Bulleh Shah's (d. 1767) vernacular Sufism, a hard-hitting Sufi-poet of textual ("bookish") knowledge of religious scholars. This is the first work examining the legal theology of ritual intervention in using scripture to regulate the resurrected bodies of saints, on the one hand, and the ritual metaphysics of presence in understanding the significance and meaning of Sufi shrines, on the other.

A common objective of saint veneration in all three Abrahamic religions is the recovery and perpetuation of the collective memory of the saint. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all yield intriguing similarities and differences in their respective conceptions of sanctity. This edited collection explores the various literary and cultural productions associated with the cult of saints and pious figures, as well as the socio-historical contexts in which sainthood operates, in order to better understand the role of saints in monotheistic religions. Using comparative religious and anthropological approaches, an international panel of contributors guides the reader through three main concerns. They describe and illuminate the ways in which sanctity is often configured. In addition, the diverse cultural manifestations of the cult of the saints are examined and analysed. Finally, the various religious, social, and political functions that saints came to play in numerous societies are compared and contrasted. This ambitious study covers sanctity from the Middle Ages until the contemporary period, and has a geographical scope that includes Europe, Central Asia, North Africa, the Americas, and the Asian Pacific. As such, it will be of use to scholars of the history of religions, religious pluralism, and interreligious dialogue, as well as students of sainthood and hagiography.

The secret to inner harmony can be uncovered in "Quietism, Dynamic Passivity and the Void", yet what is the essential difference between these three concepts? Within a highly original and wide-ranging discussion of the concept of Quietism and its divergents, Trevor Boiling investigates a profoundly metaphysical concept, whose precise definition has eluded scholars. Implied in any study of Quietism are the problematic notions of spiritual peace, power and passivity, which are subsumed by the author under his own concept of 'dynamic passivity', the central concern of the study. Boiling does this by asserting the essentially dynamic passivity of Quietism's central text, the "Spiritual Guide" by the 'Father of Quietism', Miguel de Molinos. Molinos is shown to be the heir to the vibrant mystical tradition of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Additionally, the author presents a penetrating analysis of Molinos' concept of the Void (nada), which is very similar to that of Taoists and Buddhists. This impressively detailed study makes an ideal companion to Dr Boiling's new translation of "The Spiritual Guide" by Miguel de Molinos, to be published by The Lutterworth Press. The author: Trevor Boiling took his doctorate at Birmingham University on the "Spiritual Guide" of Miguel de Molinos. He has spent his working life as a lecturer in languages in various colleges of further and higher education. He is married with a grown-up daughter.

Sufism is typically thought of as the mystical side of Islam. In recent years, it has been held up as a supposedly peaceful alternative to the spread of forms of Islam associated with violence, an embodiment of democratic ideals of tolerance and pluralism. Are Sufis in fact as otherworldy and apolitical as this stereotype suggests? Modern Sufis and the State brings together a range of scholars, including anthropologists, historians, and religious-studies specialists, to challenge common assumptions that are made about Sufism today. Focusing on India and Pakistan within a broader global context, this book provides locally grounded accounts of how Sufis in South Asia have engaged in politics from the colonial period to the present. Contributors foreground the effects and unintended consequences of efforts to link Sufism with the spread of democracy and consider what roles scholars and governments have played in the making of twenty-first-century Sufism. They critique the belief that Salafism and Sufism are antithetical, offering nuanced analyses of the diversity, multivalence, and local embeddedness of Sufi political engagements and self-representations in Pakistan and India. Essays question the portrayal of Sufi shrines as sites of toleration, peace, and harmony, exploring cases of tension and conflict. A wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection, Modern Sufis and the State is a timely call to think critically about the role of public discourse in shaping perceptions of Sufism.

Arthur Edward Waite writes "The Book of Ceremonial Magic" as a newer and more accurate edition of his previous title "The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts," written in 1898. As most ancient texts on magical literature are rare and hard to come by, it becomes very difficult for modern scholars to ascertain an accurate knowledge of ancient spells and rituals. Waite responds to this lack of accessible literature and approaches this text as a methodical and systematic account of magical procedures of the past. He remains faithful to the original sources before making any conclusions by way of his thorough research methods.

Part I provides the reader with essential passages from leading magical texts from the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. Part II is a more systematically organized version of these ancient texts, adapted by A.E. Waite to the ways of the modern academic. This volume remains one of the best sources of magical procedure, touching on such topics as gods, costume, and the planets and their relation to the supernatural. Although disapproving of the application of magic and the black arts in his introduction, Waite nonetheless defends those victims persecuted throughout history because of their participation in these superstitious beliefs. He also speaks positively about astrology and alchemy, noting them as more important categories of the magical arts. Through this volume, the contemporary reader can finally begin to understand the beliefs in the black arts that were so deeply rooted in our civilization's past.