Enlightenment; modernism; Arab countries.

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ḥabīb (d. Cordova, 238/853?), Kitāb al-Waraʿ, is a series of about 350 quotations, topically organized. Most section headings name things to avoid, waraʿ referring to scrupulosity, meaning to keep away from the forbidden by avoiding even the doubtful. Quotations go back to persons of all generations, from earlier prophets to Ibn Ḥabīb himself. Particularly notable is a section on trade, in which the Prophet calls traders and cultivators the worst of his community. It presumably reflects (...) local, Andalusian concern with assimilation to the subject population. Ibn Ḥabīb, al-Waraʿ, cites the Prophet much more often than other collections on waraʿ. Altogether, scarcely one item in six in Ibn Ḥabīb’s collection lacks a parallel in other extant collections of pious sayings. Relatively numerous quotations of Asad b. Mūsā (d. 212/827) not found in his Kitāb al-Zuhd tend to confirm that the extant text is only a fragment of the original. However, the chief significance of Ibn Ḥabīb, al-Waraʿ, may be to confirm that other works at our disposal reliably represent the larger literature of piety in the ninth century CE. (shrink)

al-juzʼ 1. Min alif ilá sīn. -- al-juzʼ 2. Min shīn ilá yāʼ.

In this article, we discuss the current trend of authoritarianism in the Islamic world, especially as embodied in the institution of taqlîd, whereby a lay person blindly follows a religious scholar. We will compare this to the mystical tradition of Ibn ‘Arabî as well as the early esoteric Shî’ite tradition, where a much more “rebellious” type of Islam was offered and provided purviews of pluralism and universalism that challenge authoritarian closures of interpretation in relationship with God. By way of further (...) comparison, we will also attend to the writings of some liberal and pluralistic thinkers in the Muslim world. Maintaining cheerfulness in the midst of a gloomy task, fraught with immeasurable responsibility, is no small feat; and yet what is needed more than cheerfulness?-Nietzsche Twilight of the Idols. (shrink)

Qurʼan; hermeneutics; criticism, textual; criticism, interpretation, etc.