Knowledge before Action : Islamic Learning and Sufi Practice in the Life of Sayyid Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī Makhdūm-i Jahāniyān

263 Pages·2012·2.15 MB·English

by  Amina M. Steinfels

Knowledge before Action
Studies in Comparative Religion
Frederick M. Denny, Series Editor
Knowledge
U
before Action
Islamic Learning and Sufi Practice in the Life of
Sayyid Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī Makhdūm-i Jahāniyān
Amina M. Steinfels

The University of South Carolina Press
© 2012 University of South Carolina
Published by the University of South Carolina Press
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
www.sc.edu/uscpress
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Steinfels, Amina M.
Knowledge before action : Islamic learning and Sufi practice in the life of Sayyid Jalāl al-dīn
Bukhārī Makhdūm-i Jahāniyān / Amina M. Steinfels.
p. cm. — (Studies in comparative religion)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61117-073-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Makhdūm Jahāniyān Jahān Gasht, Jalāluddīn, d. 1383. 2. Sufis—Biography. 3. Muslim
scholars—Biography. 4. Sufism—History. I. Title.
BP80.M29S74 2012
297.4092—dc23
[B]2011048947
ISBN 978-1-61117-194-5 (ebook)
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Series Editor’s Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Transliteration xiii
Introduction 1
Part One  The Education of a Sufi Shaykh
One Initiation into the Sufi Path 15
Two Pilgrimage and Travel 37
Part Two  Teaching and Practice
Three Book-Learning and Islamic Law 63
Four Ritual and Practice 81
Five Money, Non-Muslims, Women, and Saints 103
Part Three  Served by the Inhabitants of the World
Six A Public Figure 125
Seven Legacy 144
Conclusion 154
Appendix A: Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī’s Khirqas 157
Appendix B: The Malfūzāt of Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī 165
˙
Appendix C: Works Attributed to Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī 169
Appendix D: Tazkira Entries on Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī 173
ˉ
Appendix E: Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī’s Bibliography 181
Notes 191
Bibliography 221
Index 223
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Illustrations
Maps
South Asia 11
Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī’s Travels 38
Tables
Table 1: Genealogy of the Bukhārī Sayyids 18
Table 2: Books Read under Bukhārī’s Supervision 67
Table 3: Suhrawardī Khirqas from the Shaykhs of Multan and Uch 157
Table 4: Suhrawardī Khirqas from the Shaykhs of Hejaz, Yemen and Iran 158
Table 5: Suhrawardī Khirqa from Amīn al-dīn al-Balyānī 159
Table 6: Chishtī Khirqas 160
Table 7: Kubrawī Khirqas 161
Table 8: Qādirī Khirqas 162
Table 9: Kāzarūnī Khirqas 163
Table 10: Rifā‘ī Khirqas 164
Table 11: Ahistorical or Miraculous Khirqas 164

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series editor’s preface
This is the “first ever critical academic evaluation of a figure exceedingly significant
for understanding Islamic intellectual history in South Asia,” according to a distin-
guished scholar of Sufism in an external review of the manuscript as it was being
considered for publication. Another leading scholar’s external review stated that “the
main contribution of this work to the field is twofold: (1) it provides a detailed and
richly textured portrait of a major Sufi figure of South Asia on the basis of careful and
searching analysis of appropriate primary sources, and (2) it offers the readers quite
possibly the most focused and comprehensive glimpse into the daily lives of insti-
tutionalized Sufis of the medieval period that I have read. Once published, this will
easily become one of the major ‘go-to’works for anyone interested in social, economic,
political, and especially ritual aspects of Sufism of the early Middle Period (roughly
the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries). This is quite an accomplishment, and
the manuscript makes a key contribution to scholarship on this score.”
It is always a delight for a series editor to read supportive external reviews of pro-
posed manuscripts that are based on rigorous analysis and profound understanding
of what the author has been aiming to achieve. The main title phrase, “Knowledge
before Action,” clearly characterizes both the great Sayyid Jalāl al-dīn Bukhārī’s dedi-
cation to disciplined and thorough study leading to action in his context as a major
Sufi master and the author’s rigorous and extensive research, which one reader char-
acterized as “exceptionally thorough, both in terms of her coverage of all the relevant
dimensions of Bukhārī’s long life and career as a Sufi master and in her thorough
attention to all previous scholarship on the topic.” This final comment particularly
applies to her productive use of “hitherto unutilized or underutilized primary sources
on this major Sufi master,” as the reviewer concludes.
This book fills a huge gap in our understanding of Islam and Muslims, and par-
ticularly Sufi Muslims in South Asia during the period when al-Bukhārī (1308–1384)
was a principal player there.
It stands as a solid companion to a range of excellent works on Islam and Muslims
that have been published over the past quarter century in this series.
Frederick M. Denny
ix