Although the thought of the Andalusian Sufi Muhyi al-Din ibn ‘Arabi (d.1240) has become increasingly popular in the West during the last century,only very recently has there been any attempt to analyze his contemporary reception.Isobel Jeffery-Street’s recent study on Ibn ‘Arabi in the West – withits dual focus on the Beshara School “for the study...Read More

Muhammad Rustom’s outstanding The Triumph of Mercy is a beautifullywritten study on the celebrated Islamic philosopher Mulla Sadra (d.1050/1640). The author presents the essence of Sadra’s thought in the contextof Tafsīr Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, his commentary on the Qur’an’s opening chapter,and discusses his methodology, influences, and spiritual outlook. From themyriad discussions in each chapter, which display...Read More

Many scholars, among them Omar S. Kasule (“Islamic Epistemology andIntegration of Knowledge in the Islamic University” [2009]) and Fathi HasanMalkawi (Epistemological Integration: Essentials of an Islamic Methodology[2014]) call for the epistemological integration of knowledge. I seek to answerthis call, in part, by demonstrating the relevance of Pierre Bourdieu’s(d. 2002) theory to the study of Islam,...Read More

During a discussion in my “CPRL 373 Women in Islam” class, students werebaffled by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s (d. 1111) candid discussion of sex in hisIḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn.1 I was not surprised, because many assumptions are takenfor granted about medieval Muslim scholars due to their religious and sectarianreputations, cultural environments, and eras. However, without highlightingany sexual...Read More