Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali

by Reza Shah-Kazemi

Ali b. Abi Talib, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, first Shi'i imam and fourth caliph, is a monumental figure within the Islamic tradition. But despite the immense importance of Imam Ali, there is a dearth of literature in Western languages about his life and thought. This book - the first serious engagement in English with the intellectual principles underpinning his teachings - is therefore a welcome and valuable addition to the sources available. It consists of three parts. Part one introduces the person of Ali in a general manner, and focuses particularly on the spiritual and ethical content of his teachings. Part two evaluates Ali's 'sacred conception of justice'. Part three addresses the theme of spiritual realization through the remembrance of God, the central mystical practice of the Sufis. "Justice and Remembrance" will be of great value to students and scholars of Islamic thought, as well as to those interested in the relationship between spirituality and ethics.

Genres: Islam, Religion, Nonfiction, Spirituality, History, Philosophy, Iran

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi writes on a range of topics from metaphysics and doctrine to contemplation and prayer. He is presently a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, where, amongst other projects, he has been working on a new, annotated translation of Nahj al-Balagha, the discourses of Imam ‘Ali. Dr. Shah-Kazemi is also the founding editor of the Islamic World Report. His degrees include International Relations and Politics at Sussex and Exeter Universities, and a PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Kent in 1994. He later acted as a consultant to the Institute for Policy Research in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

Dr. Shah-Kazemi has authored and translated several works, including Paths of Transcendence: Shankara, Ibn Arabi and Meister Eckhart on Transcendent Spiritual Realization (World Wisdom Books, 2006), Doctrines of Shi‘i Islam (I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2001), Avicenna: Prince of Physicians (Hood Hood, 1997) and Crisis in Chechnya (Islamic World Report, 1995). Reza Shah-Kazemi has edited several books, including Algeria: Revolution Revisited (Islamic World Report, 1997). He has also published numerous articles and reviews in academic journals.

Reviews

[Mostafa abdelzaher · Rating 5 out of 5]

يبدو الكتاب من عنوانه للوهلة الأولى كأي كتاب دعوي عادي ، عند من لا يعرف مؤلفه ، يستدر التراث ، أو يستجدي الماضي ، كأي كتاب يحمل الحاضر إلى الماضي أو العكس بلا هدف واضح ، والحق أن عامة الأعمال الدعوية ، وخاصة الدوغمائية منها ، لاتسلم من تلك المثلبة ، إلا أن كتابنا هذا ، كتاب متميز بحق ، سعى فيه المؤلف رضا شاه كاظمي لتحليل مجموعة رئيسية من نصوص تراث الإمام علي ليفهم منها ، ويفهمنا معنيين من أكثر المعاني أهمية في التراث الإسلامي ، هما العدل والذكر ، بشكل ميتافيزيقي يشكّل نظرية عامة للنظرة الأخلاقية عند الإمام علي ، وفي الإسلام عامة . الميزة التي تجعل من الكتاب عملاً هاماً على طريق إستكناه نظرية عامة في الأخلاق الإجتماعية والباطنية في الإسلام ، وعلاقة ذلك بالمفهوم الأكبر في الإسلام وهو "التوحيد" ، فالكاتب كمن سبقه من مدرسته ، مثل رينيه جينون وفريتيوف شوون و سيد حسين نصر ، يحمل روح الميتافيزيقا الدينية الشرقية – الإسلامية والتراثية في الآن نفسه لفهم الوجود مع إلمام مدهش بالتراث الديني الهندي والبوذي والإبراهيمي .

[Khanam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading this book for a long time and finally got to the third and last part which was the one that I was keenest to read as it deals with the mystical aspects of Islam - in particular the practice of Dhikr, the veils of creation, Sufism, and so on. Reading this, by chance, in conjunction with the first part of Metzinger's "Ego Tunnel" which deals with the ineffable in consciousness theory (drawing on philosophy and neuroscience) made this reading all the more enriching. I'd strongly recommend this book as an insight into Islam as a faith of the intellect and the esoteric.

[hadyeh | هَدیه · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shah-Kazemi meditates powerfully on the spiritual and material dimensions of the Imam—as a political harbinger of divine justice, as a portal through which divine names flow, as a mirror reflecting the divine face. This was a slow, dense read for me, and sometimes difficult to metabolize—I think I’ll be revisiting this one again.

[Ali Ashkanani · Rating 5 out of 5]

هو الكتاب الأول لي في العرفان, لم يكن بالأمر الهين ولا السهل قراءته ولا أدعي فهمه كله, وإن كانت قراءته تحمل القلب على طمانينة غريبة. به وجهات نظر تستحق التفكر والتأمل. أن ترى ما كنت تراه لسنوات طوال بزاوية أخرى أمر له لذته.

[Azharulkhan]

A little hard to read. Takes a long time to understand many of the topics. However, a perfect companion for the lonely traveler.

[Ejaz Husseini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet what remains the aim of this deep, elusive, mystic, and at times joyous book isn’t expanding on Ali’s wisdom, but rather to reach to God, the One, the Real, through Ali’s transcendental wisdom and understanding about Him. Kazemi hasn’t only achieved in revealing why Ali is so revered for his wisdom, but has also succeeded in writing an excellent book about the concept of union with God Himself – what’s asked of you is patience and an empty mind.

Full review:
https://ejaz159.blogspot.com/2021/05/...

[Ahmed Lary · Rating 4 out of 5]

قراءة جديدة مع نادي الرضوان للقراءة ..
هالمرة بتأني أكثر ..

مقاربة المؤلف للعدالة و ربطها بذكر الله عزوجل و التعلق الروحاني به جميل ..

[Azam Ch. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I am the city of knowledge and ʿAlī is its gate;
so whoever desires knowledge, let him enter the gate."

"‘There is one amongst you who will fight for the esoteric interpretation] of the Qurʾān as I have fought for its literal revelation.’"

~ two saying attributed to the prophet




https://youtu.be/DoGgas-Cci0?feature=...
the youtube link will take you to a piece of music written in 1300s by a north indian sufi as a tribute to ali's greatness, it is amazing and i suggest you give it a listen (its got subtitles in english)

ali is the most beloved person in the post-muhammadan history of the islamic world after the prophet himself and seen as his appointed successor,
a man loved for both his ideas and the way he lived, a warrior and a thinker extraordinaire - on the intellectual plane things attributed to him include "sciences such as jurisprudence (fiqh), theology (kalām), Qurʾānic exegesis (tafsīr), rhetoric (balāgha), grammar (naḥw) and calligraphy (khaṭṭ), the mystical knowledge associated with Sufism, as well as such arcane sciences as numerology (jafr) and alchemy (al-kīmiyāʾ)"
his life and the way he lived was extremely touching, and after giving a tiny pov on why ali was so important and about his life, the book begins dealing with the ideas taught by ali as as the title says on "justice and rememberance"

well my thoughts may not be relateable to the average reader as ive been someone from a esoteric muslim and already knew most of the ideas that reza shah here present, and reading it felt extremely repetitive to me, like taking some few sentences and going on over and over for 50 pages at a time,
and the writing style felt very obtuse for some reason (no im not a typical junk reader, im pretty well read in classics and philosophy including universally accepted obtuse things like tractatus and yet it gave me extreme difficulty), the writing style felt so weird and obtuse that getting through every 15 pages felt like a challenge on this

the book he wrote later titled "Spiritual Quest: Reflections on Quranic Prayer According to the Teachings of Imam Ali" felt 10x better written than this book, and spoke of more content with way lesser words in a better way.
the latest book hes written after all that - a biography of imam ali, reza shah the author was explicitly requested by the publishers to keep the book as less obtuse as possible and to keep it short - maybe for the same reasons ive wrote about that made this book be absurd.

well yeah good stuff anyways if you can tolerate it however i would still suggest just reading spiritual quest instead of this and listening to the qawaali ive linked at the top.

3.5/5

[Adilah Hassan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite excerpt:

“Without grace, the soul tends towards evil; but with the assistance of God, the soul is liberated from its own base inclinations and is guided back to its true, primordial nature, its fitra, to which the Qur’an refers in the following verse:

So set thy purpose for religion with unswerving devotion—the nature [framed] of God (fitrat Allah), according to which He hath created man. There is no altering God’s creation. That is the right religion (al-din al-qayyim), but most men know not.

The actual state of the fallen soul, then, is to give way to the ideal state of original human nature, an ideal state which is both origin and end of the human condition, but also the true substance of every human soul, and is thus always accessible in principle, even if, for the majority, it remains clouded by fallen human nature in practice.”

[Nausheen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In God, justice means that everything is in its right place, whereas for man justice entails the *effort* to put everything in its right place: an immutable metaphysical quality on the divine side, and a dynamic, volitive effort on the human side."

The crystal clear affirmation that religion without social and personal justice is not religion, that you cannot opt out when you see injustices happening -- one of the best things about this entire analysis.

[Amin Dayekh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book that I enjoyed reading, could be shorter and better

[Faisal Jamal · Rating 5 out of 5]

لمحات من العدل والروحانية بسيرة الامام علي بن ابي طالب عليه السلام

[SAJAD. · Rating 5 out of 5]

حقيقة لا أعلم كيف لي أن أصنف هذا المحتوى.
أهوَ ديني؟ توعوي؟ عقائدي؟ فلسفي؟ ميتافيزيقي؟ تاريخي؟
ولكن يمكننا القول أن جميع هذه التصانيف صحيحة وهي عبارة عن أنهار متفرعة تصب في بحر الموضوع الرئيسي للكتاب وهو روحانية الإمام.

ايضًا، يمكننا تصنيف الكتاب بأنهُ تحليل وتفسير ومناقشة وإيجاد خصائص ومضامين بعض خطب وأقوال الإمام في بُعدها الروحاني التأويلي المُبطّن وربطها بالآيات القرآنية والذات الإلهية.

ومن جهة أخرى، توضيح أوجه " الشبه و الاختلاف " وإيجاد التداخلات والتفاعلات بينها وبين معتقدات وفكريات أخرى كالافلاطونية بشكل عام والصوفية بشكل خاصة.

لغة الكاتب فلسفية تفصيلية عميقة وغير مباشرة من الدرجة الأولى ، إذ أن الكتاب لا يُصلح بتاتًا لمن لا يقرأ خلف السطور. يحتاج عقل باطن و وعي وإدراك سواء من الناحية الثقافية أو اللغوية أو حتى القلبية والعقائدية.

بالإضافة أنهُ مُلم جدًا في جوانب أخرى كالأديان والتاريخ والشعر والغيبيات والمذاهب الفكرية. لذلك نجدهُ يكثر من المقارنات والربط.  

محتوى صعب وغليظ، لكن مختلف وثري.
استعد عزيزي القارئ إلى رحلة من العيار الثقيل!

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

brillinat book. talks about sufism a greata deal. the justice he refers to is about putting thing in their right place. our vertical relationship with god if in the right palce will put our horizontal relationships with the rest of mankind in their right palce. remembrance is about remembering god so much that you are forgotten, let the caller adn the called disappear. be lost in the call. some amazing lines from Imam Ali in this ... one of the best philosophers, if not the best that i have ever read.

[Salman Alfort]

من يعرف علي (ع) عرف الحكمة كيف لا وهو بابها المؤدي إليها ..الكتاب قسم إلى عدة اجزاء تتكلم عن أقوال و خطب علي (ع)بوجهات نظر مختلفة عدامنها الصوفية و الأفلاطونية و الإنجيلية ..الكتاب مثري وتحتاج إلى قراته مرات عدة