<<The>> Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality

A ground-breaking and comprehensive collection on various facets of Islamic spirituality throughout history and in the modern world The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality is an authoritative reference work comprising twenty-eight scholarly essays that explore the expressive and performative dimensions of Islamic spirituality. Edited by two of its most prominent scholars, and bringing together a stellar cast of contributors, this wide-ranging volume covers religious practices, sacred texts, history and places, gender, music, poetry, the visual arts, and politics. Spirituality has had a long and important history in Islam, where a focus on spirituality is required of every believer. Each Muslim is asked to achieve a state of devotion through prayer, fasting, supplications, recitations, pilgrimage, and ascetic practices. The essays in this volume explain the role of spirituality in Islam―from its beginnings, through the development of its institutions, and into the present day. They also reflect important new research, and discuss contemporary debates and issues affecting Islamic spirituality such as the Internet, social justice, the role of women, ethics, and religious fundamentalism. Offering readers a thought-provoking way to engage with the topic, this comprehensive work includes: The spirituality of words and letters, including the Qur’an, prophetic traditions in Islam, and litanies, invocations, and devotional texts Devotional practices in Islam, including the spirituality of prayer, ascetic spirituality, Qur’an recitation, and spirituality of the Sufi path Spirituality in literature, including Arabic and Persian poetry, spirituality in the modern novel, and the art of translation Spirituality in the arts, including the visual arts, music, song, and film Islamic spirituality and post-modern practices, including the Internet, Islamic hip-hop, and Salafism From the personal to the political, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality offers a fresh and revitalized view of all aspects of spirituality in Islam. It is a must-have scholarly resource for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, instructors and scholars studying Islam, spirituality, and Asian and Middle Eastern history as well as general readers with an interest in the subject. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality 2 Contents 6 List of Contributors 10 General Introduction 12 Part I Expressive Dimensions of Islamic Spirituality 26 Introduction to Part I 28 IA The Spirituality of Words and Letters 46 1 The Spirituality of the Qurʾān 48 2 The Spirituality of Hadith 69 3 The Spirituality of Invocations and Litanies in Islam 86 4 The Many Spirits of the Islamic Past 99 5 Translating Sainthood in Islamic Hagiography 116 IB The Spirituality of Places and Spaces 136 6 The Spiritual Meaning of Mecca, the Ka‘ba, and the Ḥajj 138 7 The Spiritual Meaning of Medina 155 8 Jerusalem in Islamic Spirituality 172 9 The Spirituality of the Sufi Shrine 190 IC The Spirituality of People and Human Relations 206 10 The Spiritual Meaning of Muḥammad and the Prophets of Islam 208 11 The Spiritual Meaning of Devotion to the Shī‘ī Imams 227 12 Spirituality and Gender in Islam 242 13 Spirituality and Social Justice in Islam 259 Part II Performative Dimensions of Islamic Spirituality 272 Introduction to Part II 274 IIA Devotional Practices in Islam 286 14 The Spirituality of Prayer in Islam 288 15 The Spirituality of Qurʾān Recitation 302 16 Ascetic Spirituality in Islam 322 17 The Spirituality of the Sufi Path 341 IIB Spirituality in Literature, Poetry, and the Visual Arts 356 18 Narrating Transcendence in the Modern Novel 358 19 The Spirituality of Arab Islamic Poetry 377 20 The Spirituality of Persian Islamic Poetry 397 21 Islamic Spirituality in English Translation 420 22 Islamic Spirituality and the Visual Arts 437 IIC Spirituality in Music, Song, and Cinema 458 23 Spirituality in Art Musics of the Islamic World 460 24 The Spirituality of Qawwali: Lyrics and Ritual in the Sufi Music of South Asia 479 25 One Light: Cinema and Islamic Spirituality 501 IID Islamic Spirituality in the Anthropocene Age 520 26 Islamic Spirituality and the Internet 522 27 The Islamic Spirituality of HipHop 540 28 Ibn Taymiyya and the Case for a Salafism of Mercy 556 Index 570 EULA 602 "The major feature of the Qurʼān is its holistic value as a revealed, recited and enacted text. The self-disclosure of the Qurʼān underscores its eternity, unboundedness, and embodiment in the lives of Muslims. Particular phrases, verses, and sūras also have acquired spiritual value in the everyday performance of most devout Muslims. Beyond understanding their commonality, one must also note the discrete distinctions made between these phrases, verses and chapters in a variety of contexts. Equally important, but usually overlooked, is the scholarly attention to the Qurʼān as itself an act of devotion prompted by the sacred lure of the text. Whether through recitation or interpretation, in calligraphy or the act of translation, the Qurʼān as a spiritual magnet, in Rūmī's words "an amazingly jealous piece of magic" (Rūmī1994), becomes evident from medieval to modern times, from Senegal to Sumatra, in the creative labor of artists as well as scholars"-- Provided by publisher This is an authoritative reference for the field, edited by two of its most prominent scholars. The essays explain the historical role of spirituality from the founding of Islam, to the rise of Sufism, through to present day concerns.