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During the second half of the 9th/15th century Ahmad Zarrug al-fasi lived, a jurist and a Sufi. As an intellectual and the founder of a Aufi Order, his impact was felt in the realm of literature and among the masses. He is considered to be one of the Orthodox Sufi masters whose concern was largely directed towards alleviating the misunderstanding which has occurred is Islamic thought between Juris-prudence and Sufism. This thesis deals with Zarruq’s activities and his influence as a Sufi. It is composed of an introduction and five chapters. The introduction explains the historical, social and academic circumstances in his native city, Fez, in which Zarruq passes his early years, of which he was part. The first chapter is concerned with his life, his education, travels and his contact with Sufism, until he does in Misurata, far away from his own country. The second chapter contains a catalogue of his works, such as exist in manuscripts or editions, or have been cited. There is also a brief analysis of Zarruq the author and of aspects of his authorship, with a classification of his works and commentaries by others on them; also a table of datesof some of his works. The third traces the Order which founded, his position among the various Sufi Orders, and his relation to the Shadhiliyah. It also contains a historical survey of the Zarruqiyah and its Zawiyahs, its branches, principles and teachingSo The fourth examines the principal Sufi ideas as ZarriSq. interpreted them from a sunnI point of view, in theory and in practice. The fifth chapter is concerned with him as a Sufi critic and some aspects of his criticism in regard to following the Way and the obligations of both the seeker and the master with respect to the sunnI concept of Sufism in belief and action. The thesis contains 10 illustrations.

This comparative theology argues for three epistemological nodes across which the theologies ofIbn 'Arabi and Ramanuja can be accurately related: the Internal, External, and Hidden. The mapping is justified by its derivation from the human being's experience as a body, which distinguishes imagination, sensation, and mystery. This proposed 'Embodied Theological Space' (ETS) is explored and contrasted across two theological systems. Ibn 'Arabi, the Andalusian Sufi, develops a theory of the imagination capable of answering many problems of philosophy because the imagination is God's primary vehicle for revelation, with the world as a sensory field and God's transcendence as the hidden reality behind all that is. The Tamil Vaishnava Ramanuja articulates a triadic layering of reality, the highest degree of which is Brahman, followed by cit (mind) and acit (non-mind, or non-conscious entities), all of which are likened to composites of one body. Examining the way in which cit is related to Brahman, and the role of acit in that relationship, elucidates how Ramanuja's system can be mapped in theological space. The systems ofIbn 'Arabi and Ramanuja are then mapped together in theological space over the embodied nodes Internal, External, and Hidden. With this mapping, differences in detail can be correlated across common dimensions because the categories emerge from embodied human experience. This triadic model is offered as a helpful framework for comparative theology that may be applicable not only in comparative but also in multi disciplinary settings, since it can relate different types and contexts of revelation, religious experience, and doctrine. The comparative theological project ultimately constructs a theological ontology from the triadic epistemology.

The overall aim of this study is to look at the Qūt al-qulūb and the life of its author Abu Talib al-Makki (d.386/996) in light if the social and intellectual developments in of the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries. It focuses on two of the major subjects covered in the Qūt , knowledge and theology, and looks at the way in which the author's discussions can be contextualised against wider discussions on the nature of faith, knowledge, scholarly authority and the articulation of beliefs. Two major questions that will be asked throughout is the connection between Makki and the mystical-theological school known as the Salimiyya, and the degree to which he can be described as a traditionalist. Part I will provide the necessary background information by exploring the social and intellectual context of Makki's life, as well as various aspect of his Qūt. Knowledge is the broad category covered in Part 11, which begins with a survey of the development of the concept of mystical knowledge in the century preceding Makki's lifetime, before discussing in further detail the individual and social dimensions of knowledge as discussed in the work. Part III focuses on theology and theological discourse, looking first at its development among Makki's predecessors, then addressing the question of the extent to which Saliml theology can be found in the Qūt. This will be followed by a summary of Makki's own theological positions.

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This thesis looks at the development of the concept of wilāya within the formative period of Sufism and Shiʿism particularly the period between the 2nd/8th and the 4th/10th centuries. The purpose of this research is to study the similarities and differences in the understanding of wilāya within both Shiʿism and Sufism so as to shed a light on their shared worldviews. The texts considered here deal with the subject of wilāya in a variety of ways. Some deal with this subject in a fragmented manner whereas others provide a systematic understanding of the concept. Whatever the manner of discussion, these texts link wilāya clearly with significant doctrinal aspects such as the idea of authority and communal identity. Within Shiʿism the research starts with Kitāb Sulaym by Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī (d. ca. 145/762 and 160/780) in which wilāya mainly appears as a justification for legitimizing the political authority of ʿAlī (d. ca. 40/661). Kitāb al-Īḍāḥ by Faḍl ibn Shādhān al-Nishābūrī (d. ca. 260/873-4) just like its predecessor, discusses wilāya within the political domain but introduces the idea of knowledge tied up with the concept of wilāya. This link between knowledge and wilāya remains a hallmark for both Shiʿism and Sufism throughout the formative period. The last two Shiʿi texts, Kitāb al-Maḥāsin of Aḥmad al-Barqī (d. 274/888 or 280/894) and al-Kāfī of al-Kulaynī (d. 328/939-40 or 329/940-1) link the concept of wilāya with the aspect of primordial covenant and pre-eternal existence. With al-Kulaynī, the concept of wilāya becomes central to the understanding of the Shiʿi faith and the cosmological understanding of the imām. Within Sufism, al-Kharrāz’s (d. 285/892 or 286/899) Kitāb al-Ṣidq provides the first and the most basic hierarchy of the awliyāʾ. After al- Kharrāz, Sahl al-Tustarī’s (d. 283/896) commentary of the Qur’an, Tafsīr al-Tustarī, treats wilāya in a fragmented manner yet linking the concept with the idea of emanation and primordial covenant in much the same manner as al-Barqī’s Kitāb al-Maḥāsin. With Sīrat al-Awliyāʾ of al-Tirmidhī (d. 318/936 or 320/938), wilāya eventually becomes systematically established within early Sufism, initiating a controversial dimension of wilāya vis-à-vis prophecy. All these texts within Shiʿism and Sufism are eventually compared within the aspects of wilāya, which are political authority, religious duty, love and faith, spiritual inheritance, knowledge, elect community, primordial covenant, creation and emanation and spiritual hierarchy.

The present thesis is an attempt to understand Abd Al-Karim Al-Jili’s thought and to illustrate his original contribution to the development of medieval Islamic mysticism. In particular, it maintains that far from being an obscure disciple of Ibn Arabi, Al-Jili was able to overcome the apparent contradiction between the doctrinal assumption of a transcendent God and the perception of divine immanence intrinsic in God’s relational stance vis-à-vis the created world. To achieve this, this thesis places Al-Jili historically and culturally within the Sufi context of eighth-ninth/fourteenth-fifteenth centuries Persia, describing the world in which he lived and the influence of theological and philosophical traditions on his writings, both from within and without the Islamic world. A whole chapter is dedicated to the definition of the controversies that afflicted Islamic theology and philosophy over the issue of anthropomorphic representations of God and the relevance that this had on the subject of divine immanence and transcendence. Al-Jili’s original contribution to this discussion, summarised in the concept of the Perfect Human Being, is illustrated with the editing and translation of one of Al-Jili’s works, The Cave and the Inscription, followed by annotations to the book.

In the early ninth century Muslim renunciants developed the metaphor of devotion to God is a path to teach their disciples how to cultivate virtues that would enable them to escape attachment to the world. Alongside these virtues were ascetic practices, sometimes extreme, that demonstrated their commitment to God. The earliest example of this renunciant path is the ascetic manual Adab al-'ibadat attributed to Shaqiq al-Balkhi (d. 198/809-10). Al-Harith al-Muhasibi (d. 243/857-8) took exception to exaggerated practices of Shaqiq's path and insisted that religious devotion must adhere to the commands God gave in the Quran and in the Sunna. Unique in the ninth century, Muhasibi also insisted that God's commands were not limited to exterior actions, but included specific expectations of the interior dimension of religious devotion. Abu Sa'id al-Kharraz (d. 277/890-91 or 286/899) expanded the renunciant path of Saqiq's followers, but also responded to Muhasibi's censure and softened the more extreme practices of the renunciant path. He was firmly committed to the interior dimension of religious devotion, but gave no indication that he accepted Muhasibi's insistence that these virtues were incumbent. Rather, he argues that the noblest expression of these virtues exists only among God's friends, whose religious devotion has its origin in the excellence of their primordial condition. This thesis will introduce a conceptual hierarchy of religious devotion that facilitates the analysis and comparison of each of these authors. Current discussions of ninth-century Islamic piety are limited by inadequate definitions of asceticism and mysticism. A holistic approach to their religious devotion will provide tangible indicators of the ascetic or mystical orientation of their piety. This provides better parameters for discussing the relationship between asceticism and mysticism in the ninth century.

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Les orientalistes interprètent Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān de Muḥammad Ibn Ṭufayl (av. 1110-1185) comme un « roman philosophique » et ne saisissent pas la dimension gnostique et soufie de l’œuvre. Le récit retrace pourtant sans détour l’ascension de Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān qui découvre Dieu dans un premier temps par la méditation philosophique et qui acquiert la connaissance de Dieu dans un second temps par la méditation spirituelle. Toutefois, la philosophie masque en réalité des éléments doctrinaux du soufisme. L’œuvre est en elle-même une parabole sur la sainteté et touche aux questions de la concorde de la philosophie avec la religion, mais aussi de la double dimension spirituelle du saint, exotérique et ésotérique. Elle met surtout en lumière le caractère essentiellement théosophique du soufisme andalou. / Orientalists interpret Hayy Ibn Yaqẓān by Muḥammad Ibn Ṭufayl (ca. 1110-1185) as a “philosophical novel” without grasping the Gnostic and Sufi dimension of his work. Yet, the text clearly narrates the steps of Hayy Ibn Yaqẓān’s Ascension. He first discovers God by practising philosophical meditation. Then, he gains the knowledge of God thanks to spiritual meditation. However, behind the philosophical elements we can perceive the doctrinal elements of Sufism. His work is a parable about holiness. It deals with issues of agreement between Philosophy and Religion, and with the dual spiritual dimension of the Saint, which is both exoteric and esoteric. But above all, this text sheds light upon the predominantly theosophical nature of Andalusian Sufism.