Religion and Mysticism in Early Islam: Theology and Sufism in Yemen (Library of Middle East History)

297 Pages·2011·1.5 MB·English

by  Muhammad Ali Aziz

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Muhammad Ali Aziz holds a PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor. He has taught at Princeton University and the University of
Michigan. He currently teaches at Yale University and is translating
some of the medieval treatises of Ibn ‘Alwān.
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RELIGION AND
MYSTICISM
IN
EARLY ISLAM
Theology and Sufism in Yemen
The Legacy of Ahmad Ibn ‘Alwān
Muhammad Ali Aziz
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Published in 2011 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada
Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2011 Muhammad Ali Aziz
The right of Muhammad Ali Aziz to be identified as the author of this work has been as-
serted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof,
may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Library of Middle East History 26
ISBN: 978 1 84885 450 5
This book was published with the assistance of the Frederick W. Hilles Publication Fund
of Yale University.
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress catalog card: available
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham
from camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author
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To the memory of my father
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Note on Transliteration and Dates ix
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
1. Islam in Medieval Yemen 7
2. Sufism in Yemen prior to the Seventh/Thirteenth Century 35
3. The Life and Works of Ibn ‘Alwān 51
4. Ibn ‘Alwān’s Theological Views 73
5. Ibn ‘Alwān and the Sufi Tradition 91
6. The Fundamentals of Ibn ‘Alwān’s Sufi Thought 109
7. The Islamic Concept of Sainthood and Ibn ‘Alwān as a Saint 137
8. Zaydī Imams and the Sufi Tradition in Yemen 165
9. Sufism in Yemen after the Age of Ibn ‘Alwān 183
Conclusion 219
Notes 225
Bibliography 259
Index 272
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ILLUSTRATIONS
List of Maps
Map 1. Yemen before the arrival of the Ayyūbids, 569/1174 52
List of Tables
Table 1. Ayyūbid rulers of Yemen 9
Table 2. Rasūlid rulers of Yemen 13
List of Images
Image 1. A contemporary poem by Muhammad al-Junayd in
praise of Ibn ‘Alwān 50
Image 2. Ibn ‘Alwān’s tomb renovated and covered by a cloth 136
Image 3. The pond that used to be for healing is expanded and
is now used for ablution 152
Image 4. A woman lying outside Ibn ‘Alwān’s tomb in wait for
a cure for her illness 182
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NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
AND DATES
In transliterating Arabic words, I have followed the system of the Inter-
national Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES). For the sake of
brevity, I have dropped the Arabic closed “tā.” However, if it appears in
a construct status, I retain the original “tā.” I differentiated between the
sun letter “lām” (i.e., al-lām ash-shamsiyya) and the moon letter “lām”
(i.e., al-lām al-qamariyya) according to spoken Arabic. I dropped the
two “lams” completely from the Bibliography.
All dates are given according to the Muslim lunar calendar (hijra),
which are followed by a backlash and the Common Era (C.E.) equiva-
lents. Occasionally, if the lunar year is not mentioned, I rely on C.E.
F inally the word “Ibn” in Arabic, which means son,will be abbreviated
as (b.). For example, Ahmad Ibn ‘Alwān will be (Ahmad b. ‘Alwān).