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Beautifully written. The best and most comprehensive study on Islamic mysticism in the English language.
Religious Studies Review
Students of Islam and of comparative religion--as well as those who respond to mysticism--are deeply in the author`s debt for giving us what will surely be the standard treatment of Sufism for a long time to come.
America
Mystical Dimensions of Islam presents, for the first time, a balanced historical treatment of the transnational phenomenon of Sufism—Islamic mysticism—from its beginnings through the nineteenth century. Through her sensitivity and deep understanding of the subject, Annemarie Schimmel, an eminent scholar of Eastern religions, draws the reader into the mood, the vision, and the way of the Sufi in a manner that adds an essential ingredient to her analysis of the history of Sufism.
Besides exploring the origins of the mystical movement and its development through different stages, the author also examines the various aspects of mystical poetry in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Sindhi, Panjabi, and Pashto. The author skillfully demonstrates how Sufi ideals permeated the whole fabric of Muslim life, providing the average Muslim—villager or intellectual—with the virtues of perfect trust in God and the loving surrender to God`s will.
Professor Schimmel`s long acquaintance with Turkey, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent provides a unique emphasis to the study, and the author`s personal knowledge of Sufi practice in these regions lends a contemporary relevance to her work.
ISBN: 8190363492
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Pages : 538
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