Windows on the House of Islam: Muslim Sources on Spirituality and Religious Life / Edition 1

by John Renard

Overview

Over the centuries and across the globe, Muslim authors and artists have given moving testimony to their experience of being members of the Islamic community. Their many vantage points come together in this collection, one that represents major Islamic groups from the past through the present and covers a range of themes essential to understanding Islamic spirituality and religious life. More than thirty leading Islam scholars present translations originating from a dozen languages, including Arabic, Persian, Chinese, and Indonesian. Texts include samples of virtually every major literary form of significance to the Muslim faith: the Qur'an, hadith, scriptural commentary, letters, treatises, lyric and didactic poetry, hagiography, historical chronicle, aphorism, endowment deeds, and personal diary entries. In addition, over five dozen illustrations thematically document a full range of artistic forms and historical periods, from ritual objects and architecture to manuscripts of religious texts. This volume and its companion, John Renard's 1996 book, Seven Doors to Islam, are the only books available that integrate such a wide range of Islamic literary and visual forms. Together they offer a superb introduction to the primary religious sources as well as a general understanding of Islamic spirituality and culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520210868
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	06/18/1998
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	450
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

John Renard is Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. His previous books include All the King's Falcons: Rumi on Prophets and Revelation (1994) and Seven Doors to Islam: Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims (California, 1996).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface

ONE FOUNDATIONS: PROPHETIC REVELATION

TEXTS FROM THE QUR'AN
Surat ar-Rahman, The Merciful
Writing Sacred Text
SuratYusuf
Hadith: Prophetic and Sacred
Sacred Text and Architecture

VARIETIES OF QUR'AN INTERPRETATION
Three Commentaries on Surat al-Fatiha, The Opening
Ibn Taymiya: Treatise on the Principles of Tafsir
Sacred Text and the Mihrab
Al-Ghazali: The Canons of Ta 'Wil

EXPERIENCING QUR'AN
Nawawi: Etiquette in Recitation

TWO DEVOTION: RITUAL AND PERSONAL PRAYER
ON THE FIVE PILLARS
Sharaf ad-Din Maneri: On the Necessity of Proper Intention
Nurcholish Madjid: Worship as an Institution of Faith
Tabari: Hadith on the Five Daily Ritual Prayers
Ritual and Creed in Moses' Conversation with God
Hamka: Qur'an Commentary on Pilgrimage Ritual

DEVOTION BEYOND DUTY
Prayers of Holy Women
Rites of Passage and Popular Practice
Marthiya: Imam Husayn's Conversation with God
Madih: Three Contemporary Poems Honoring Imam Riza
Na't: Poem in Praise of Muhammad
Ginan: Isma'ili Petition of a Yearning Soul
Sermon for a Special Occasion
A Radio Mawlid Sermon

THREE INSPIRATION: EDIFICATION AND ETHICS

EXEMPLARY MODELS
The Prophet: From Devotion to Edification
Acrostic Poem in Praise of Muhammad
Na't in Praise of Muhammad
Taha Hussein: Interpreting Muhammad's Life in Modern
Times

Collections of Holy Lives
Asiya, an Exemplary Woman in Tha'labi's Stories
of the Prophets
Munawi's Life of Rabi'a al-'Adawiya
Three Women of Iberia
Holy Women of Morocco and Egypt
The Life of Sufi Badhni
Jabarti's Account of 'Ali al-Bayyumi

WISDOM LITERATURE
The Qur'anic Paradigm of Wisdom: Surat Luqman
Morals for the Masses
Aphorisms of 'Ali
Sayings Attributed to Mu'in ad-Din Chishti

ENCOUNTERING THE EXEMPLARY PERSONS
Storytelling as Entertainment
Telling Tales: A Miracle of Mulla Hadda
Edifying Anecdotes: Ziya' ad-Din Nakhshabi

FOUR AESTHETICS: FROM ALLEGORY TO ARABESQUE

LITERATURE AND SPIRITUALITY
Interpreting Religious Poetry
Mir 'Ali-Shir N~wa'i: A Poet's Intentions
Shams ad-Din Lahiji: Commentary on Shabistari's Garden of Mystery
Allegory
Yahya Suhrawardi Maqtul: Allegory of Beauty and Love

PRINCIPAL POETIC FORMS
Didactic Poetry
Sana'i of Ghazna: Two Teaching Parables
Mude Kala: Gayo Didactic Religious Poetry
Lyric Poetry
Ibn al-Farid: Rubáiyát, Ghazal, Qasida
Munawi's Literary Hagiography of Ibn al-Farid
Jalal ad-Din Rumi: Ghazal
Muhammad Shirin Maghribi: Ghazal
Nuri and Shad: Nats
Bibi Hayati: Ghazal

FIVE COMMUNITY: SOCIETY, INSTITUTIONS, AND PATRONAGE

SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS
Religion, Society, and Culture
Shaykh Luqman: A Contemporary Life in a Traditional
Context

INSTITUTIONAL TEXTS
Public Support
Historical Epigraphy of Mamluk Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq
Two Waqf Documents: Sultan Barquq and Khwaja Ahrar
Mamluk Sultan Barquq's Waqf
A Central Asian Waqf of Naqshbandi Sufi Master Khwaja
Ahrar
Private Discipline
Shihab ad-Din 'Umar Suhrawardi: Treatises on Sufi Chivalry

PATRONAGE AND THE ARTS
Women as Patrons of Architecture
Sitt ash-Sham of Damascus
Works of Timurid and Ottoman Women
Building Community and Community Patronage
Architectural Past, Present, and Future in America
Chronicles of Royal Patronage
Ibn Marzuq: Sultan Abu 'L-Hasan 'Ali's Architectural Patronage
Khwandamir: The Rediscovery and Refurbishment of 'Ali's Tomb
Sultan-Husayn Mirza: Apologia

SIX PEDAGOGY: FANNING SPARK INTO FLAME

ADVANCED INTERPRETATION OF FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES
Teaching Islam in Medieval Iran: Ahmad Sam'ani's
Refreshment of Spirits
Teaching across Cultures
Islam in China: Wang Daiyu's Real Commentary on the True Teaching
From Arabic into Javanese: The Gift Addressed to the Spirit of the Prophet

FROM THE GREAT TEACHERS
Between Sermon and Seminar
Women as Scholars and Teachers
Teaching with Pictures: Three Paintings of Bawa
Muhaiyaddeen
Borrowed Notes
Muhammad Husayni Gesu Daraz on Love
Keeping in Touch
Shaykh Husayn: A Letter on the True Names of God

REQUIRED READING FOR MYSTICS
Advice for Inexperienced Travelers
Majd ad-Din Baghdadi: Treatise on Journeying
Mystical Geography
Vahidi: The Seven Invocations and the Seven Journeys
Languages of the Spirit
Sayyid Ja'far Sajjadi: Lexicon of Mystical Terms

SEVEN EXPERIENCE: TESTIMONY, PARADIGM, AND CRITIQUE

HEART SPEAKS TO HEART
Soul on Pilgrimage
The Diary of Ahmad Wahib
Muhammad as Mystical Model
Tabari: Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension

BEYOND STORYTELLING
Saying the Unsayable
Rabi'a's Dream
Amir Khusraw of Delhi's Poetic Vision
Gesu Daraz's Vision of Jesus
Visionary Experiences of 'Ali al-Bayyumi
Ahmad Wahib's Dream

Explaining the Unexplainable
Tabari: The Correct Interpretation of the Mi'raj Narrative
Al-Ghazali: Treatise on the Intimate Knowledge of God

EVALUATING EXPERIENCE
The Science of Hearts
Sharaf ad-Din Maneri: A Letter on the Qualities
of Spiritual Guides
Sayyid Ahmad Khan: Treatise on Visualizing the Shaykh

Traveling Companions
Hasan Palasi's Encounter with Shaykh Kujuji

Appendix 1: Text Distribution
Appendix 2: Art Program Distribution
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
About the Contributors
Index of Quranic Citations
General Index