Search

Anti-Ṣūfī polemics have existed nearly as long as Ṣūfism itself. Ṣūfism has been an element of Islamic history almost from the beginning and forms an integral part of Islam, but it has also faced opposition throughout its history. That opposition has frequently been expressed in clichés, as, for instance, in the charge of antinomism. As Ṣūfism has evolved, so have the objects of criticism. Although little is known of the earliest history of Ṣūfism and little scholarly attention has been paid to it, the issues that were necessarily to upset mainstream Islam a…

Abū l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Idrīs (1760–1837) was an influential Moroccan mystic and scholar, to whom more than fifty works are attributed. His students have established several Ṣūfī orders. 1. Biography Aḥmad b. Idrīs was born in Maysūr, near Fez, in Morocco, in 1173/1760. He studied at the university of al-Qarawiyyīn, in Fez, and later taught there, as may be inferred from a remark he made later in life. Although he does not mention his theology teachers by name, they are known to us from other sources, for instance, from his di…

[German Version] (1207–1273, Konya, Turkey), Persian poet, whose son, Sulṭān Walad, founded the Mawlawi order (“dancing dervishes”). Rūmī’s style is distinguished by a fervor previously unknown in the Persian language; at times it even leads him to violate the classic forms of Persian poetry. His most important works include: (1) Dīwān, also called Dīwān-i Šams-i Tabrīzī, (2) Maṯnawī, a mystical and edifying epic that enjoys great esteem throughout the Persian-speaking world, and (3) Fīhi mā fihi, in prose. Many of his letters have also been preserved. Bernd Radtke Bibliography W.C…

[German Version] I. Origin and Spread – II. Doctrine – III. Islamic Philosophy – IV. Islamic Art (Architecture and Book Art) – V. Islamic Studies – VI. Christianity and Islam – VII. Judaism and Islam – VIII. Islam in Europe – IX. Islam in North America – X. Political Islamism I. Origin and Spread 1. Muḥammad and his message In 569 ce, Muḥammad was born in Mecca, a city with the shrine of the Kaʿba at its center. Mecca enjoyed good relations with the Sasanian Empire and its Arab vassal princes in Ḥīra, but considered itself politically independen…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Examination of repentance from the perspective of religious studies must confront the problem that the term itself has no culturally neutral meaning. Many of the phenomena in other religions that Christians tend to call repentance appear in a different light when viewed in the context of different anthropological presuppositions, ¶ so that due weight must be given to the religious anthropology in question. Generally speaking, it is true to say that in almost all non-Christian religions the notion of repentance c…

[German Version] I. Old Testament – II. New Testament – III. Christianity – IV. Judaism – V. Islam I. Old Testament 1. God's love The notion of YHWH's love (in Heb. primarily derivatives of the root אהב/ ʾhb) for his people first appears in the book of the prophet Hosea, where God's love is cited as the “ground of divine election” (Jenni) in response to challenges to the election (I) of Israel by God (Hos 1:9). Hosea uses the image of a father's love (11:1; cf. also 11:4); despite his son's disobedience, he cannot give him up …

[German Version] I. The Concept Pre-existence refers to the existence of deities, persons, or objects prior to the world or the earth. All religions in which the deity is not subsumed into time espouse the notion of the deity’s real pre-existence, because entrance into the course of time brings forth only knowledge of the deity without affecting the deity’s being. It is in this context that we also speak of the pre-existence of Christ. In Greek philosophy, which influenced early Christianity, the no…

[German Version] I. The Concept – II. Religious Studies – III. History – IV. Philosophy of Religion – V. Practical Theology – VI. Islamic Mysticism – VII. Hindu Mysticism – VIII. Taoist Mysticism I. The Concept The concept of mysticism is closely linked to the development of the history of religion in Europe and the term must not be taken and applied uncritically as a general term for a phenomenologically determined group of phenomena in other religions (see also II, 3 below). Attempts at definition are either phenomenolog…

[German Version] 1. Gerhard (Apr 6, 1888, Sooden/Werra – Jul 1, 1967, Freiburg im Breisgau). This historian and son of a pastor was a teacher, like his brother Karl Bernhard (see 2. below); he served from 1915 to 1919 as a soldier. In 1925 he became professor in Freiburg. He translated T. More’s Utopia, wrote a history of Heidelberg University in the Middle Ages, and, as editor, opened the ARG to international research in 1938. Ritter was Baden’s delegate to the Barmen Confessing Synod. Because of the memoranda for D. Bonhoeffer, Ritter was imprisoned in 1944. He…

[German Version] I. Philosophy of Religion The phenomenon of unio mystica within mysticism is of interest to the philosophy of religion because recent analytical approaches in religious studies and the psychology of religion permit a more precise assessment of the philosophical issues involved, and also because it brings to light (so much better) a philosophically discussable connection between religious behavior or experience and rational cognition (Epistemology). Although the term itself is not always u…

[German Version] I. Names and Terms – II. Religious Studies – III. Ancient Near East and Old Testament – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Philosophy of Religion – VII. Fundamental Theology – VIII. Dogmatics – IX. Judaism – X. Islam – XI. History of Art and Literature I. Names and Terms 1. Devil The secular Greek noun διάβολος/ diabolos comes from one of the meanings of the verb διαβάλλω/ diaballō, “separate, sever,” which led to meanings such as “accuse, slander, deceive.” From the Greek noun came Latin diabolus, from which the English …

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff P. heißt »früheres Dasein« und meint eine vorweltl. oder vorirdische Existenz von Gottheit, Personen oder Gegenständen. Alle Rel., bei denen die Gottheit nicht in der Zeit aufgeht, vertreten die Vorstellung einer realen P. der Gottheit, weil das Erscheinen in der Zeit nur die Erkenntnis, nicht aber das Sein der Gottheit hervorbringt; in diesen Zusammenhang gehört auch die Vorstellung der Präexistenz Christi. In der griech. Philos., die auch die frühe Christenheit bee…

[English Version] 1.  Gerhard , (6.4.1888 Sooden/Werra – 1.7.1967 Freiburg i.Br.). Der Historiker und Sohn eines Pastors war wie sein Bruder Karl Bernhard (s.u. 2.) Lehrer und diente 1915–1919 als Soldat. 1925 wurde R. Prof. in Freiburg. Er übers. die »Utopia« des Th. Morus, vf. eine Gesch. der Universität Heidelberg im MA und öffnete seit 1938 als Hg. das ARG der internationalen Forschung. R. war badischer Delegierter der Bekenntnissynode zu Barmen. Wegen der Denkschriften für D. Bonhoeffer wurde R…

Ability to understand deeply and judge soundly. God is wise (ḥakīm). He is, however, never described by this characteristic alone, but always in conjunction with another characteristic. Ḥakīm is most frequently connected with ʿazīz, “almighty” (forty-seven times; see power and impotence ), and almost as frequently is God described as ḥakīm and ʿalīm, “omniscient” (thirty-six times; see knowledge and learning; intellect). Ḥakīm with khabīr, “knowing,” is rare (three times) and even rarer are the occurrences of ḥakīm with “forgiving” (tawwāb), “all-embracing” (wāsiʿ), “praisew…

[English Version] I. Namen und Begriffe 1.  TeufelProfangriech. δια´βολος/diábolos, von διαβα´λλω/diabállō, »auseinanderbringen«, daher Bedeutungen wie »anklagen, verleumden, täuschen«, lat. diabolus, daraus dt. T. In der LXX wird hebr. שָׂטָן/śāṭān mit diábolos übers., was am besten mit »Widersacher« wiedergegeben wird. In den Apokryphen finden sich sowohl T. (3Bar 4,8; AssMos 10,1) wie Satan, weiters Beliar (zumeist TestXII), Mastema (Jub 10; 11), Samma'el (3Bar 4,8; bes. rabb. Schriften). Das NT kennt keinen inhaltlich…

[English Version] Rūmı̄, Muḥammad Gˇalāluddı̄n-i (1207–1273 Konya, Türkei), pers. Dichter. Sein Sohn, Sulṭān Walad, gründete den Orden der Mevlevis (»tanzende Derwische«). – R.s Stil zeichnet sich durch eine bis dahin in der pers. Sprache unbekannte Leidenschaftlichkeit aus, die ihn gelegentlich sogar die klassischen Formen der Dichtung übertreten läßt. Zu seinen wichtigsten Werken zählen 1. Dı̄wān, auch genannt Dı̄wān-i Šams-i Tabrı̄zı̄, 2. Mat̲nawı̄, ein myst. und belehrendes Epos, das sich in d…

[English Version] I. Religionsphilosophisch Innerhalb der Mystik ist das Phänomen der u. m. von religionsphilos. Interesse, erstens weil die neuere religionswiss. und religionspsychologische Analyse eine präzisere Erfassung der darin liegenden philos. Fragen erlaubt und zweitens weil es (dann um so besser) einen philos. benennbaren Zusammenhang von rel. Verhalten oder Erleben (Erfahrung) und rationalem Erkennen (Erkenntnistheorie) zutage treten läßt. Auch ohne daß der Begriff immer gebraucht würde,…