Oliver Scharbrodt
Researcher
The Salafiyya and Sufism : Muhammad 'Abduh and his Risālat al-Wāridāt (Treatise on Mystical Inspirations)
Author
Summary, in English
This
article questions certain assumptions on the intellectual history of
modern Islam and on one of the most influential modern reform movements,
the Salafiyya. By looking at the Sufi origins of one of the main Salafi
reformers, it relativizes the notion of an inherent anti-Sufism of this
reform movement. The article examines how Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905),
the famous Egyptian reformer, converted to Sufism in his youth after
experiencing a spiritual and intellectual crisis. The influence of his
paternal great-uncle Shaykh Darwīsh al-Khādir and of Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn
al-Afghānī (1837-1897) on 'Abduh's spiritual and intellectual formation
will be investigated. In his youth, Sufism provided him with an
alternative form of religiosity with which he could express his
dissatisfaction with the representatives of mainstream Islam in his
time. 'Abduh's mystical inclinations found its literary expression in
his first major work, the Risālat al- Wāridāt (Treatise on Mystical
Inspirations), whose contents will be discussed in detail.
article questions certain assumptions on the intellectual history of
modern Islam and on one of the most influential modern reform movements,
the Salafiyya. By looking at the Sufi origins of one of the main Salafi
reformers, it relativizes the notion of an inherent anti-Sufism of this
reform movement. The article examines how Muhammad 'Abduh (1849-1905),
the famous Egyptian reformer, converted to Sufism in his youth after
experiencing a spiritual and intellectual crisis. The influence of his
paternal great-uncle Shaykh Darwīsh al-Khādir and of Sayyid Jamāl al-Dīn
al-Afghānī (1837-1897) on 'Abduh's spiritual and intellectual formation
will be investigated. In his youth, Sufism provided him with an
alternative form of religiosity with which he could express his
dissatisfaction with the representatives of mainstream Islam in his
time. 'Abduh's mystical inclinations found its literary expression in
his first major work, the Risālat al- Wāridāt (Treatise on Mystical
Inspirations), whose contents will be discussed in detail.
Publishing year
2007
Language
English
Pages
89-115
Publication/Series
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
Volume
70
Issue
1
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Topic
- History of Religions
- Religious Studies
- Social Anthropology
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0041-977X