Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts (Suny Series in Islam) (Suny Series, Islam) [Paperback]

William C. Chittick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Persian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (October 22, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791413683
• ISBN-13: 978-0791413685
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,872,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual quest for origin., April 11, 2008

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Uzma Sharaf "Bookheaven" (PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts (Suny Series in Islam) (Suny Series, Islam) (Paperback)

It is a great book to read especially for those who are not satisfied with merely ritual of islam.Rituals are structure (a building) and spiritual teaching of Mohammed(pbuh) is foundation, which sufis explore. Those who have a inner seach for truth ,life ,seeking spiritual elevation while living in this world must read this book. Sufism is a spiritual quest ,journey through which we try to achieve nearness (qurbh) of God. Not every thing can be proven by scientific facts. Those who never desire such journey can never look at sufism or spiritual path as inner quest. Many of sufi claims cannot be proven by science, just like existance of soul.
One can only discover those claims to be true or false by (experiencing) and by following the spiritual path of islam. sufis try to uplift those who have potential to rise higher. Aim of sufism is elevation and evolution of soul.This book inspire growth ,progress towards higher realism where human soul originated from. Spiritual beings trapped in earthly form. Discover your origin.

1 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The other hidden dimension of Sufiism, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts (Suny Series in Islam) (Suny Series, Islam) (Paperback)

Sufiism is an attempt to bring a universal peace among all, at all cost. In sufiism everyone is right except God who seems to be the source of all evil. Some Sufis even excuse and praise Satan for his refusal to obey the " hypocritical" command by God to prostrate before Adam. Sufis talk about "witnessing" and give elaborate account of that. But the problem is that none of these accounts can be verified directly. At time though they make the mistake of making a few statements that seem to have some empirically verifiable contents. Whenever this happens one can prove, with modern science, that they were way off and missed the mark greatly. Their social and political theories can be a source of Stalin style "tyranny" given a "theosophical" justification. There is no wonder that Sufis " witness" the stations of Abu Bakr, Umar, Othman, and Ali in heaven in the exactly same order as it appears in their holding of political office.. The early bloodshed, fight over power, etc. seems not to bother our Sufis at all and should neither be addressed nor questioned. Sufiism has no social or political theory, nor does it offers no solution to any social-political problems. Sufiism on the other hand is a great tool to justify the ruling power and prevents people from questioning "authority" by giving them "divine" backing and justification. What more justification would one need to stay in power than our Sufis telling people that the political order in earth is a mirror image of divine order and divine will. One reason that a book like Nahjul balaghe of Ali is dismissed is exactly because it brings out serious questions about the " heavenly status" of many of these figures. If Sufiism is to find a place among the present and future generations, it needs to do a house cleaning, and make clear where they stand on some of these very relevant issues, unverifiable fancy claims won't cut it anymore, that era is long gone ( sorry for the bad news).