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The Requirements of the Sufi Path: A Defense of the Mystical Tradition
Sufism through the eyes of a legal scholar
In The Requirements of the Sufi Path , the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn Khaldūn applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldūn is widely known for his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in particular for the Muqaddimah , the introduction to his massive universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes up the the question of the need for a guide along that path. In doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars, including al-Qushayrī, al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb. Even as Ibn Khaldūn warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go―including practicing magic―his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa, asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path.
The Requirements of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism’s greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldūn’s own insights, acquired through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis.
A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
In The Requirements of the Sufi Path , the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn Khaldūn applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldūn is widely known for his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in particular for the Muqaddimah , the introduction to his massive universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes up the the question of the need for a guide along that path. In doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars, including al-Qushayrī, al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb. Even as Ibn Khaldūn warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go―including practicing magic―his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa, asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path.
The Requirements of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism’s greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldūn’s own insights, acquired through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis.
A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
- GenresIslam
264 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2022
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30 people want to read
About the author
Ibn Khaldun
150 books1,491 followersIbn Khaldūn ابن خلدون (full name, Arabic: أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, Abū Zayd ‘Abdu r-Raḥmān bin Muḥammad bin Khaldūn Al-Ḥaḍrami; May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH – March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH) was an Arab Muslim historiographer and historian, regarded to be among the founding fathers of modern historiography, sociology and economics.
He is best known for his book The Muqaddimah (known as Prolegomena in Greek). The book influenced 17th-century Ottoman historians like Ḥajjī Khalīfa and Mustafa Naima who used the theories in the book to analyze the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire.[2] 19th-century European scholars also acknowledged the significance of the book and considered Ibn Khaldun as one of the greatest philosophers to come out of the Muslim world.
ولي الدين أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن محمد بن الحسن بن جابر بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن عبد الرحمن بن خالد (خلدون) الحضرمي مؤسس علم الاجتماع ومؤرخ مسلم من إفريقية في عهد الحفصيين وهي تونس حالياً ترك تراثاً مازال تأثيره ممتداً حتى اليوم.
ولد ابن خلدون في تونس عام بالدار الكائنة بنهج تربة الباي رقم 34. أسرة ابن خلدون أسرة علم وأدب فقد حفظ القرآن الكريم في طفولته وكان أبوه هو معلمه الأول. شغل أجداده في الأندلس وتونس مناصب سياسية ودينية مهمة وكانوا أهل جاه ونفوذ نزح أهله من الأندلس في منتصف القرن السابع الهجري، وتوجهوا إلى تونس وكان قدوم عائلته إلى تونس خلال حكم دولة الحفصيين.
He is best known for his book The Muqaddimah (known as Prolegomena in Greek). The book influenced 17th-century Ottoman historians like Ḥajjī Khalīfa and Mustafa Naima who used the theories in the book to analyze the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire.[2] 19th-century European scholars also acknowledged the significance of the book and considered Ibn Khaldun as one of the greatest philosophers to come out of the Muslim world.
ولي الدين أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن محمد بن الحسن بن جابر بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن عبد الرحمن بن خالد (خلدون) الحضرمي مؤسس علم الاجتماع ومؤرخ مسلم من إفريقية في عهد الحفصيين وهي تونس حالياً ترك تراثاً مازال تأثيره ممتداً حتى اليوم.
ولد ابن خلدون في تونس عام بالدار الكائنة بنهج تربة الباي رقم 34. أسرة ابن خلدون أسرة علم وأدب فقد حفظ القرآن الكريم في طفولته وكان أبوه هو معلمه الأول. شغل أجداده في الأندلس وتونس مناصب سياسية ودينية مهمة وكانوا أهل جاه ونفوذ نزح أهله من الأندلس في منتصف القرن السابع الهجري، وتوجهوا إلى تونس وكان قدوم عائلته إلى تونس خلال حكم دولة الحفصيين.
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May 13, 2023
A debate was raging among the scholarly class around 1378 in the city of Fez concerning the permissibility of the Sufi path and whether a Sufi shaykh is required for wayfaring on the mystical path to God. Ibn Khaldun, being a leading scholar scholar of the time and widely known today for The Muqaddimah, which is the intro to his multivolume work on human civilization titled The Book of Lessons, took these questions head on. Interestingly—and to this work’s strength, in my opinion—he answers these questions in the form of a legal opinion. The benefit of this is that the writing is very systematic and clear. Many books explaining or articulating Sufism use highly esoteric language and then often add the disclaimer that words cannot do justice to mystical experience or the mystical path, and the result is a book that, while interesting, is often difficult to grasp and oftentimes meandering.
Ibn Khaldun considered Sufism to be one of Islam’s religious sciences which consisted of two branches: knowledge of spiritual states and the means to their attainment, and the maintenance of virtuous acts, their purifications of vice, and knowledge of the pitfalls of the lower self. He writes that all human beings have a “divine subtle entity” (al-latifah al-rabbaniyyah) which seeks knowledge of the realm from which is originated, i.e. the Divine, spiritual realm of meaning and Reality. The more that one seeks purification from the vices of the soul, the more attuned this divine subtle entity becomes to the spiritual realities of the self, the world, and existence.
In terms of the Sufi path itself, Ibn Khaldun breaks it down into three trajectories or levels. The first level is that of personal piety, in which one strives to abide by the ethical guidelines and teachings of the religion and the Prophet. Such piety is cultivated through observing the limits set by religion and being vigilant over one’s internal and external states in accordance with outward and inward law and guidance on character. He considers this level of spiritual striving as obligatory for all Muslims. The second level is that of rectitude, in which involves forcing one’s self/nafs/soul and compelling it to travel the Path towards spiritual excellent until one’s natural disposition and character becomes prophetic. His considers it permissible to travel this path without a shaykh, though a shaykh would still be very beneficial. Knowledge required for this level of wayfaring can be gleaned from books, the Ibn Khaldun himself references al-Qushayri and al-Ghazali extensively. The third level is the path of spiritual unveiling, in which one obtains knowledge of God and Reality experientially. It is this third path which Ibn Khaldun says requires a Shaykh because of the various pitfalls on this path and the difficulties of reading and interpreting spiritual states that can only come from someone who has already trekked this path. Seeking this level of the path without a shaykh can be quite ruinous.
This book is full of gems about the nature of the spiritual path, and the human heart and soul. Additionally, you get an insight into the intellectual climate of the time and the means and methods of discourse among scholars, as the book contains excerpts of the arguments from at that time who were engaging in this debate and who Ibn Khaldun was responding to. Of all the books I’ve read about Sufism, I’d say this one is the one of the best and most clear, and one that I really enjoyed and benefitted from.
Ibn Khaldun considered Sufism to be one of Islam’s religious sciences which consisted of two branches: knowledge of spiritual states and the means to their attainment, and the maintenance of virtuous acts, their purifications of vice, and knowledge of the pitfalls of the lower self. He writes that all human beings have a “divine subtle entity” (al-latifah al-rabbaniyyah) which seeks knowledge of the realm from which is originated, i.e. the Divine, spiritual realm of meaning and Reality. The more that one seeks purification from the vices of the soul, the more attuned this divine subtle entity becomes to the spiritual realities of the self, the world, and existence.
In terms of the Sufi path itself, Ibn Khaldun breaks it down into three trajectories or levels. The first level is that of personal piety, in which one strives to abide by the ethical guidelines and teachings of the religion and the Prophet. Such piety is cultivated through observing the limits set by religion and being vigilant over one’s internal and external states in accordance with outward and inward law and guidance on character. He considers this level of spiritual striving as obligatory for all Muslims. The second level is that of rectitude, in which involves forcing one’s self/nafs/soul and compelling it to travel the Path towards spiritual excellent until one’s natural disposition and character becomes prophetic. His considers it permissible to travel this path without a shaykh, though a shaykh would still be very beneficial. Knowledge required for this level of wayfaring can be gleaned from books, the Ibn Khaldun himself references al-Qushayri and al-Ghazali extensively. The third level is the path of spiritual unveiling, in which one obtains knowledge of God and Reality experientially. It is this third path which Ibn Khaldun says requires a Shaykh because of the various pitfalls on this path and the difficulties of reading and interpreting spiritual states that can only come from someone who has already trekked this path. Seeking this level of the path without a shaykh can be quite ruinous.
This book is full of gems about the nature of the spiritual path, and the human heart and soul. Additionally, you get an insight into the intellectual climate of the time and the means and methods of discourse among scholars, as the book contains excerpts of the arguments from at that time who were engaging in this debate and who Ibn Khaldun was responding to. Of all the books I’ve read about Sufism, I’d say this one is the one of the best and most clear, and one that I really enjoyed and benefitted from.
November 3, 2024
There is a path, made of journeys, you need a guide.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews