Islamskaya_mysl_1_2016

the position of a faqih and theologian, although there are some passages that re- fer to the Sufi problematics.

The essence of al-Ghazali’s alternative to the exclusivistic understanding of orthodoxy is to consider a Muslim anyone who acknowledges monotheism, the prophethood of Muhammad and the Day of Judgment. These fundamental principles of the doctrine (uṣūl al-ʿaqīdah) cause no controversy, whereas the debate about minor issues (furū’) should not be a cause of charging with unbe- lief. At the same time, al-Ghazali stresses that the recognition of the prophetic mission of Muhammad implies the belief in the truthfulness of everything that he was saying, whereas there are five ways of believing in the truthfulness (i. e. recognition of the reality of the explained). These five ways correspond to five levels of existence: selfhood level (dhātī); sensory (ḥissī); imaginary (hayālī); intelligible (‘aqlī); analogous (shabahī). The differences between the representa- tives of different schools can be explained by the fact that they relate the Proph- et’s sayings to different levels of existence: if Hanbalis tend to understand most sayings literally relying on selfhood meaning, Mu’tazilites increasingly turn to the intelligible meaning. According to al-Ghazali, the differences of interpreta- tion (ta’wīl) are not a sufficient cause to accuse of infidelity, if the rule of inter- pretation is observed (qānūn al-taʼwīl), which reads that one can move from a more specific to a less specific level only if literal interpretation at this level is impossible. For him, the real reason for the accusations of unbelief is the asser- tion that the Prophet lied about various matters relating to religion. Since some falāsifa and batiniyya claimed this, they are automatically withdrawn from the abode of Islam. Thus, the application of the criterion proposed by al-Ghazali gives the broadest and the most pluralistic model of Islam, which integrates all, including traditionalists, Mutakallims, Sufis and Shiites, i. e. all the groups that recognize the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of his words, but differ on minor issues relating to the interpretation of these words.

Translated from Arabic by A. V. Kudryavtsev, scientific commentary by S. Y. Boroday.

V. I. Vovchenko

Ibn Arabi and Meister Eckhart: experience of detachment and conceptualization of mystical experience

The article considers the theming of the concept of detachment according to M. Eckhart and IbnArabi. Understanding the place of the concept in the conceptual system of the two great philosophers helps reveal a fundamental similarity set by a mystical type of philosophizing, i. e. in the awareness of the nature of ‘mystical ex- perience’. This aspect is unavoidable when considering the logic of the evolution

of Sufism from early ascetic trends of the ‘people detached from the worldly’ to- wards religious and philosophical mysticism. Indeed, to trace this development as a change of logically significant forms (i. e. not in entirely externalist way that reveals nothing), one shall distinguish between two essentially different modes of the atti- tude to the world: ascetic and mystical. However, in this case we are dealing with two types of detachment, where mystical detachment is considered as a somewhat overcoming and completion of ascetic one. Here one does not choose M. Eckhart at random: indeed, the consideration of IbnArabi along with the European thinker, who was almost his contemporary and for whom the category of ‘detachment’was one of the basic concepts, appears to be productive.

The section ‘Mysticism as a guidance in the world’ presents an attempt to show in what sense one can talk about the mystical as of an experience non-elim- inatory from the totality. The author interprets the idea of ‘mystical​ experience’, its constitutive features, including ‘vertical orientation’, coincidence between knowledge and a way of being and a special attitude to the universal.

Next, in ‘Philosophical Sufism and neo-Platonism’, the author attempts to substantiate the proximity of the logic of types of that perception to the problem of the correlation between the One and many, which is typical for Plato and ma- ture philosophical Sufism, the apex of which is Ibn Arabi’s doctrine. The sec- tion criticizes the ‘emanational’ interpretation of the linkage between the One and its modalities (Nous and Anima Mundi), and develops an idea of the One uncovered through mystical experience.

The ‘Asceticism and mysticism: continuity logic’section shows that asceti- cism has never been considered in Islam as a practice valuable in itself, howev- er, a distinct awareness that it can degenerate into a ‘self-rescuing’and ‘spiritu- al self-centeredness’did not come immediately. Nevertheless, even at an early stage, the question about a possibility of seeing God arose before faithful ones: eventually asceticism without live experience of the divine is a dry moral sys- tem, but not religion. In this light, the practice of detachment from worldly can be seen as a linkage to the world through denial.

In the section covering the ideas of M. Eckhart about detachment, the author attempts to prove that the German thinker avoids the trap of negative value at- tachment to the world. Eckhart characterizes detachment as an expectation and a pure acceptance of the Creator’s activity itself by ‘passive intelligence’. Thus, detachment is a gift of the Creator in his own grace — here​ we see a direct par- allel with Ibn Arabi’s ‘detached from detachment’, which incurs the cessation of ‘personal’ activity, again through God’s grace and by letting Him inside of self as the beginning of any activity.

The section ‘The role of man in the knowledge of God according to IbnAra- bi’presents a concept of the Perfect Man as the place of aggregate presence of

all the divine names, who, thus, should not restrict himself in its perfection. The Perfect man does not run away from things to his imaginary space, rather he learns (i. e. he is correlated with them existentially) those things as if they are found in divine light. Khīra turns out to be a model of the knowledge of God —​ distraction or whirlpool, where the heart of the mystic wanderer is drawn. The question of man’s freedom makes no sense in this whirlpool. Man predestined by God for freedom and yet he is not free, for he is predetermined by God.

The next section deals with the views of IbnArabi on Jesus as a Perfect Human who really existed. Jesus is presented as God’s perfect servant, and, there- fore, as knowing the truth.As a perfect servant, begot by a virgin and embody- ing absolute passivity and receptivity, through the breath of the Creator, who represents the absolute activity, the reality, Jesus becomes a paradigm for this great sheikh, ‘a symbol of any creation’.

The Perfect Man is a certain fullness of the divine names, and his appetence for unity with God cannot be dictated by some shortage, i.e . it can be obtained only as a gift, inevitably accompanying the chosen one, whose way of being fits into the de- scriptionofthePerfectMan.Hereof,IbnArabiconcludesthatthetaskistorenounce thedesireofrenunciationitself.Thiscomesalongwithman’srelieffromtheendless tormentofGod-seeking,whichiseliminated(likeanyothertormentandincomplete- ness itself) in genuine mystical experience, realized in its completeness.

P. N. Kostylev

Quranic origins of the Sufi concept of ‘heart’ (qalb)

This article describes the Quranic contexts of the concept of ‘heart’ (qalb), its place and role in Islamic anthropology and shows the examples of the de- velopment of the contexts in Sufism. The ‘heart’(qalb) is the most common an- thropological term in the Qur’an, which represents a single organ, both feeling and thinking. It appears in the Qur’an in many different contexts, which can be grouped into six thematic blocks:

a)  axiologically negative descriptions; b)  axiologically positive descriptions; c)  fear, awe and piety;

d)  the softness and hardness of the heart;

e)  the processes of the transformation of the heart;

f)  hearts of several people and hearts of supernatural beings. Axiologically negative descriptions of the heart reveal one of the main as-

pects of Islamic hamartiology, the study of sin. Not only the heart itself is de- scribed negatively (as careless, sunken in darkness, blind, broken, sinful, ‘un- circumcised’, malicious) with what is ‘in heart’and what ‘hearts have acquired’

(‘disease’, ‘rust’, filth, anger, wrath, anger, frustration, doubt, unbelief), but also its position with regard to belief: here heart turns out to be sealed, with veils cast upon it and shutters attached to it.

Axiologically positive descriptions show immaculate heart, which, in varying degrees, can be cleared of negative content, and then goodness, meekness, mercy, faith and peace, brought by the remembrance of Allah, sakina (a special seren- ity and tranquility) and, finally, the Qur’an would find their shelter in the heart.

A particular context, also analyzed in the article, is fear, trepidation, terror, fear of God and their numerous shades (for example, the idiom ‘heart reached the throat’), some of which are negative, while others, on the contrary, are asso- ciated with positive connotations.

The article also considers the context of setting off the solid, hard-rock heart against the soft heart of a true believer.The contexts of processes and the transfor- mation of the heart are also of interest, they include the deviation from the straight path, aversion of the heart, neglect, rejection of the truths of faith, ‘embellishment’ of good or vicious intentions in man’s heart, hypocrisy, the test of hearts, and fi- nally, conversion of heart to the right path. Hearts of several people, in turn, may have similar features; they may grow close, or, on the contrary, be divided. Both humans and jinnees have hearts; it might be that angels have hearts too.

Developing its common anthropological, psychological and, of course, its practical aspects, Sufism actively utilizes and expands a sort of Quranic cardi- ology: a set of doctrines about the ‘heart’ (qalb) that in a certain way defines the further direction of research. The author believes that it is necessary to cre- ate an integral description of teachings about the place of man in Islam, relying on the Qur’an and taking into account active conceptual development of these teachings in Sufism. Therefore, the current article can be perceived as one of the large-scale elements of a future ‘Conceptual dictionary of Quranic anthro- pology’, which would include an analysis of the basic descriptive anthropologi- cal Quranic contexts: man (insān) and the first man (ādam), [carnal] soul (nafs), heart (qalb), breast (ṣadr), auricle or inner heart (fuād), heart secrets (sirr), the core [of heart] (lubb) and spirit (rūḥ).

A. Habil

Traditional esoteric commentaries on the Qur’an

The article provides an overview of a whole branch of the Qir’an interpre- tations, usually overlooked as compared to the main line of tafsirs. It is the tra- dition of esoteric (or secret) interpretations dating back to the Companions of Muhammad (Ibn Abbas, Ibn Masud, Ali ibn Abi Talib and others). The author distinguishes several periods in the development of this tradition:

The first period (7th–9th centuries) is related to the origins of the tradition. It is characterized by the explication of the basic principles of hermeneutics. The key figure here is Jafar al-Sadiq, to whom belongs an extensive commentary published in 9th century by Dhun-Nun al-Misri. There are two branches of the commentary tradition arising from al-Sadiq: Sufi and Shiite.

The second period (9th–13th centuries) is the era of early Sufi comments. It is when the monumental works of Sahl al-Tustari,Abdul Rahman al-Sulami,Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Ruzbikhan Bakli, Muhyiddin IbnArabi and others emerge.

The third period (14th–20th centuries) begins when the center of esoteric ex- egesis moves to Syria. The period is associated with the commentary made by Shia Twelvers and Ismailis. Shia principles of exegesis are developed during this period. The largest representatives of this age are HaydarAmuli, Mulla Sa- dra, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai.

The fourth period (13th–18th centuries) marks the development of the Sufi tra- dition. It is represented by the names ofAbu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi, Nizam alDin Nasaburi,Abd al-Rahman Jami and others.

Finally, the fifth period (19th–20th) is associated with modernity and it indi- cates that the commentary Sufi tradition is still alive. Here we can nameAhmad al-Alawi andAbu Bakr Siraj ad-Din.

The article also discusses the basic principles of esoteric hermeneutics and its objectives. The author notes that there is no division into knowledge and being, sacred knowledge and spiritual perfection in hermeneutic process; ultimately, to know means to be transformed by knowledge acquisition process itself. Here the result becomes the cause, and the cause becomes the result, for the knowl- edge of the Book is turned into a direct source of spiritual perfection and spiri- tual perfection leads directly to greater knowledge. Since the commentators tend to dedicate the fruits of their spiritual hermeneutic experience to creative writ- ing, the readers should try to achieve the comprehension of the source of their inspiration and attempted to live anew the experience of the authors. The true wish of the commentators is to direct the reader, rather than entertain him with the explanation of the secret meaning of​ a particular fragment.

D. V. Mukhetdinov, S. Y. Boroday

The basic principles of sufi hermeneutics

The article provides an overview of the basic principles of Sufi hermeneu- tics. It draws on several Sufi tafsirs and would-be tafsir works.

The authors note that Sufis are distinguished by their ultimate Qur’an-cen- teredness. Sufis conceptualized their experience as the expression of the pro- found essence of Tawhid, as the core of Islam. When studying the materials, we

see that the Qur’an is the source of their inspiration, and all the mystical experi- ence is conceptualized through the prism of the Qur’an. If there is any individ- ualistic reflection, it is always claimed that it is rooted in the Qur’an, i. e. it is the reflection exactly on Quranic motives and, in fact, all the texts are imbued, overtly or covertly, with these motives. Even those Sufi writings, which do not distinctly take the shape of tafsirs, nevertheless are the interpretations of the Qur’an in their essence.

One of the features of the Sufi approach to the Qur’an is the conviction that there are several semantic dimensions in the Word of God. Despite there have been attempts of developing multi-level classifications, the most widely used is the basic dual classification, according to which the Qur’an has an external (ẓāhir) and internal (bāṭin) dimensions. There are people responsible for the ex- ternal dimension, they are the core group of believers, faqihs, mutakallims etc., i. e. all those who, according to Sifis, does not open up their heart for divine knowledge (maʿrifah). Chosen ones, whose hearts have been enlightened with the Light and who are able to understand the secret language of the Almighty, are responsible for the internal dimension.

Analyzing the principles of Sahl al-Tustari’s (818–896) hermeneutics, the authors point out that the Persian mystic emphasizes the infiniteness and inex- haustibility of the Book’s meanings. Tustari too is convinced of the existence of the Qur’an’s internal and external dimensions, with the first one intended for most people, and the second one designated for the elite. The distinction be- tween the bulk of the believers and the elite is metaphysical, for it is ordained by God in the time when the Covenant was concluded. The elite’s access to the inner meaning of the revelation is possible due to their connection with the eter- nal Light of Muhammad. The Prophet is the bearer of both external and inter- nal dimensions of the Qur’an. He embodies the Qur’an in its totality, represent- ing the ‘living Qur’an’. Thus, the motif in the mystical hermeneutics of Tustari is the question of the Light.

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111) conceptualized the early tradition of the interpretation of the Qur’an.Al-Ghazali’s characteristic feature is an attempt to overcome a formal and purely external approach to the Qur’an. According to him, the Qur’an is not only a set of crystallized orders and prohibitions; rath- er, it is always actualized in the present, addressed directly to the believer, and, being an attribute of the Almighty, has an immeasurable depth. The Qur’an is the endless ocean of knowledge, only those are able to immerse in it fully, who could open their hearts to God’s Light. People, who could not reach it, dwell somewhere on the periphery of the Qur’an or, to use Ghazali’s metaphor, walk along the seashore unready to dive into it. At a later period, Ghazali clearly as- serts the admissibility of the Scripture’s esoteric reading. However, in his attempt

of purely scholastic substantiation of such interpretations, he does not always demonstrate consistency, which is mentioned by his later critics from among rigorists.

One of the most prominent representatives of philosophical Sufism, Muhy- iddin Ibn Arabi (1165–1240), developed a special hermeneutic methodology. IbnArabi notes that divine knowledge is presented in the Qur’an in a synthetic form, and it is addressed to two main types of human cognition: ‘reason’(ʿaql) and ‘imagination’(khayāl); imaginative form is dominating due to the very na- ture of the revelation, which by definition involves descending of the meaning to the sphere of the imaginary and sensual. The basic principle of Ibn Arabi’s hermeneutics is the contextualization of Quranic meanings in Divine Knowl- edge. This Islamic thinker recognizes the importance of the external sense of the Qur’an, the correlation between it and particular historical events. However, according to Ibn Arabi, the literal meaning only represents a place to immerse in the abyss of the eternal Word. The genuine Quranic context is the totality of God’s knowledge, thus all beings find in the Qur’an what they want.An import- ant consequence of this approach is the idea of the admissibility of any under- standing of the Qur’an, if it takes into account the external sense. It is shown to the one, who has gnosis, sees the comprehensiveness of the Quranic Words and thus, according to him, each interpretation that allows for the external sense, is correct. IbnArabi explicates direct and figurative meanings, integrated into the Arabic text, through hermeneutic procedures, which actualize almost inexhaust- ible grammatical and etymological potential of theAlmighty’s Word.

G. V. Valiev

Henry Corbin: Hermeneutics of Scripture

This article considers the works of the French philosopher and Islamicist Henry Corbin (1903–1978). The article analyzes the foundation of the philos- opher’s ideas, his views on theAbrahamic religions in general and on Islam in particular. The article also consider the influence of hermeneutic phenomenol- ogy on the making of Corbin’s thought, especially that of the German philoso- pher Martin Heidegger.

Corbin saw the true essence of the Abrahamic religions in the hermeneu- tics of Scripture, which is the Word of God. His hermeneutic concept is based on two key notions, found in elaborately detailed Islamic philosophy, particu- larly in Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra, IbnArabi and others: ẓahir and bāṭin, ‘mani- fest’and ‘hidden’, ‘external’and ‘internal’; according to Corbin, these concepts reflect ‘historical’and ‘hidden’meanings of Scripture. The task of an interpret- er is to see through the external, lawgiving, historical the inexhaustible Logos,

sent down by God in the form of Revelation. The inexhaustibility of the Word entails the concept of ‘permanent hermeneutics’proposed by Corbin.

Drawing on the writings of Shia and Sufi thinkers, Corbin concluded that im- perishable wisdom is contained not only in the Qur’an, but also in other sourc- es: Greek philosophy, ancient Persian tradition, Christianity and Judaism. From this, Corbin concludes that an authentic comprehension of the Abrahamic re- ligions should lead to integral vision, rather than discord. Thus, the concept of Corbin can be characterized as a particular version of ‘integral traditionalism’.

The article also examines in detail the views of Corbin on the history of Is- lamic thought and its different traditions (Ismailism, Sufism, Ishraqism, Kalam, Falsafa etc.) Particular attention is given to Mulla Sadra, whose works Cobin considered to be at the top of Islamic thought, seeing them as the incarnation of ‘existential hermeneutics’. That is exactly the philosophy of Mulla Sadra, accord- ing to Corbin, which is the ‘point of contact’between Western phenomenologi- cal hermeneutics and Persian mysticism.

One separate section examines the concept of ‘the world Imagination’, Mun- dus Imaginalis, which occupied an important place in Corbin’s thought. The ar- ticle describes the origins of this concept in the philosophy of Plato on the one hand, and in the philosophy of Martin Heidegger on the other.

The article provides a critical analysis of the philosophy of Corbin. The analyses of the propositions put forward by the philosopher, related to both his understanding of the history of Islamic thought and the philosophy, is offered throughout the narrative. The key conclusion here is that, despite his outstand- ing achievements in Islamic studies, Corbin’s philosophical pretensions to com- bine Islamic mysticism and German phenomenology are problematic, for they entail falling into eclecticism.

L. A. Markova

Science and Islam: their interaction through similarity or through cohesion of opposites

The article examines the contemporary debate on the issue of Islam-science correlation. An analysis of a number of recent works published in the Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective is presented. The author notes that the main field, where the discussion unfolds, is the attitude towards the ‘new generation’ definition in Islam. I.e., there is a community of scholars and reli- gious figures being formed in Islam. They study the convergence between Is- lam and science, considering this process actually occurring and demanding an explanation. The participants of the discussion firstly understand Islam as a factor capable of forming a basis for science (Islamization of science), and

secondly — ​as a factor determining people’s daily lives.Analyzing the work of T. Parray, E. Azadegan, D. Howard, A. Hamza, F. Piraino etc., the author con- cludes that the contemporary debate indicates a rather significant shift in the in- terest of the representatives of Islam towards the search of such characteristics of science and religion that would allow them to talk about a possibility of mu- tual understanding and dialogue.

For a better interpretation of the context of the discussion, in the second part of the article the author turns to A. V. Smirnov’s theory on a special ‘procedur- al’dominant inArab thinking. Drawing on this theory, the author concludes that two types of relations between classical Islam and science are possible: firstly, Islam and classical science of modern era, and secondly, Islam and non-classical science of the late 20th — early​ 21st centuries.Atough confrontation between the two types of outlook (either — ​or) is observed in the first case. This confronta- tion is maintained through different foundations, which provide understanding of the relationship of material origin on the one hand, and spiritual, ideal — ​on the other. In the second case, ideal origin in the form of ideational, concealed from classical logic of a scholar’s activity, begins to play a pivotal role in the formation of scientific knowledge. Such properties of science become obvious which facilitate its cohesion with religion. In both cases, creative processes in a scholar’s head as well as a religious person’s faith can be understood as a way out to the sphere of the spiritual, which is implemented through the process of establishing the cohesion of the spiritual (ideal) and material. However, this co- hesion is only possible, provided that the parties are different from one another: they cannot be identical, but at the same time, one cannot exist without the other.

V. V. Zolotukhin

Between nomadism and the throne: political philosophy of Ibn Khaldun

The article considers and explicates the key ideas of Ibn Khaldun’s social and political thought. The author focuses on the teaching on the cohesion inside tribal communities: ʽaṣabiyyah. Drawing on the original text of al-Muqaddimah, the article shows the role ʽaṣabiyyah plays in the lives of urban and non-urban communities, and the way it conditions their system transformation process. Outside the city, cohesion manifests itself as inner unity and outward-direct- ed aggression of a tribe’s members, through which it is able to conquer a city and establish its own state. In the city, as a result of a different way of life and a number of economic and psychological factors, cohesion gradually starts to decompose. Tribal collegiality and egalitarianism are replaced by despotism of the sole ruler, asceticism and militancy — a​ disposition towards pleasure and

entertainment.After a short period of prosperity, the state degrades and decom- poses to die eventually under the blows of an incoming tribe. The story starts anew. The scheme worked out by Ibn Khaldun is a good illustration of medie- val NorthAfrican political realities and it is one of the most important achieve- ments ofArab Muslim thought.

D. Rubin

Muslimness in Russian and British religio-philosophical space: from otherness to convergence

This article traces the role played by Islam and Judaism in 19–20th century Russian and English Christian philosophical thought. Christians in these cultures used Islam and Judaism both as an Other against which they defined themselves, but also as an Other which could enrich their own self-identities and contribute to the modernist critique of native Christian culture or its expansion into a more universalist worldview. Jews and Muslims in turn responded to the dominant culture’s analysis of their own religions. They used Christian writings on Islam and Judaism as an additional tool to enter into the Christian-dominated majori- ty culture, absorbing the favorable perceptions into their own identities, and cri- tiquing other aspects. The result is a convergence between aspects of Christianand non-Christian philosophies which enriches both sides and creates a broader shared culture. The author also examines why certain interreligious analogies were chosen for convergence by thinkers from different traditions, showing that the different communities’social and political positions influenced what was at- tractive and useful in the Other’s culture. There can be synchronic convergence, where a Christian and non-Christian thinker influence each other directly; and there can be asynchronic convergence, where it is only retrospectively that in- terests align sufficiently for borrowing and influence to take place. Pre-revolu- tionary thinkers examined in the article who engage in synchronic convergence include the Christian or “Christian-culture” Soloviev, Rozanov and Tolstoy; the Muslims, Faizkhanov and Gasprinsky; and the Jewish thinkers, Steinberg, and Gershenzon.Asection is then devoted to the writings of D. Muhetdinov, a con- temporary Russian Muslim thinker, who from the current perspective engages in asynchronic convergence both with his own jadid heritage and Russian Silver Age philosophy. In the final part of the article, the author examines convergence in the British context: the British Muslim thinker, Abdul Hakim Murad (Timo- thy Winter), has written and spoken of how British Islam can be seen as fitting onto the spectrum of historical British Christianities, specifically the low-church Reformed Unitarian options explored since the 17th century. This British case of Islamo-Christian convergence raises the question of a typology of European