Mysteries of Purity: Ibn Al-Arabi's Asrar Al-Taharah [Hardcover]

Ibn Al-Arabi (Author), Eric Winkel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1995

In this translation of a portion of the fiqh section of the Futuhat al-Makkiyyah, at least two startling key issues emerge. Being startled, in itself, is the first key. And the second is the'arabic language' which means that language which the original audience of the Qur'an understood. Also startling are all the twists and turns, all the secrets and mysteries, all the bizarre and strange permutation of the original text.

Although the translation is quite literal and over 300 pages, with careful reading, special academic preparation is not necessary. This book is a spiritual and intellectual treat, and a great hope for a more authentic and deep Islamic discourse.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Michael A. Sells, Professor of Islam, Haverford College: This work is an important glimpse into a neglected subject: the Sufi meditation upon the meaning of Islamic law. The work will allow a more balanced understanding of Sufism and will help dispel simplistic stereotypes about alleged opposition between Sufism and law. -- Michael A. Sells, Professor of Islam, Haverford College

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: Cross Cultural Pubns/Crossroads (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0940121328
• ISBN-13: 978-0940121324
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,977,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Translation, December 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mysteries of Purity: Ibn Al-Arabi's Asrar Al-Taharah (Hardcover)

An accurate translation of a chapter from Ibn al-'Arabi's Futuhat al-Makkiyya with extensive introductory comments situating the author's own analysis within the larger field of scholarly Western Akbarian studies.

Highly recommended especially for students of Islam, sufism, comparative mysticism, or hermeneutics.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fath (Opening) into the Shaikh's Legal Universe, April 2, 2002

By 

C. King Khidr (Damascus, Syria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mysteries of Purity: Ibn Al-Arabi's Asrar Al-Taharah (Hardcover)

Eric Winkel has presented for the very first time in Western scholarship an extensive picture of Ibn Arabi's jurisprudence. The work deals with a particular legal issue, namely tahara (ritual purity), and shows how the Shaikh al-Akbar extrapolates legal rulings.

MYSTERIES is an excellent contribution to a growing corpus of literature that deals with Ibn Arabi's fiqh -- a field that had been glossed over in initial Orientalist studies of the Andalusian mystic because of the old-school misconception that Law occupied a marginal role in the Shaikh's worldview simply because he was a Sufi. Winkel's study, along with Michel Chodkiewicz's groundbreaking OCEAN WITHOUT SHORE will help dispell that myth.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystical interpretation of a single ritual Taharah, August 9, 2002

By 

Muzaffer Muctehitzade "hacibey" (Boston, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mysteries of Purity: Ibn Al-Arabi's Asrar Al-Taharah (Hardcover)

Certainly an interesting book about the mystical interpretation of taharah, purification. Ibn Al-Arabi in this first book explains the mystical concepts or rather mystical interpretations of the purification ritual. For every rule he describes what each school required and than puts forward his position and defends it both in inner and outer meaning. I found the explanations on comperative part of the rituals a littel weak and short. I believe for comperative studies and to get better understanding of the reasonings behind each school of thoughts, Ibn Rushd's book to be a better source. For the student of mystism certainly this is a must read book.