Thesis (M.A.)--Brandeis University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 29, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität zu Bonn, 1985. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The Naqshbandi-Haqqaniyya are one of the most well known and researched tariqas in the West. Until May 2014 the leader of the tariqa was Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Qubrusi al-Haqqani (1922-1914) who somewhat unusually among modern Sunni Sufi shaykhs taught consistently that the world is in its last days and approaching a global apocalyptic change. It is these apocalyptic teachings, primarily articulated by Shaykh Nazim, that are the focus of this thesis. While an element of Shaykh Nazim’s teachings that has been noted by a number of scholars, there has been little in the way of comprehensive research on the apocalyptic teachings past the year 2000 or on how Shaykh Nazim’s apocalypse compares to those found either in wider Islamic thought or other religious traditions. By utilising sources produced until Shaykh Nazim’s death in 2014 this thesis thus aims to make a distinct contribution to the knowledge by identifying what characterises the apocalypticism of Shaykh Nazim and the Naqshbandi-Haqqaniyya, how this compares to other Muslim apocalypses, whether its form can be accounted for, and how murids in one branch of the tariqa interpret teachings in the post-millennial period. This thesis argues that it is important we come to a better understanding of Shaykh Nazim’s apocalypse not just to further our understanding the Naqshbandiyya, but to address an imbalance in contemporary apocalyptic studies on how Islamic apocalyptic belief is presented. The thesis presents a new phenomenological dimensional approach to apocalyptic belief which forms the structure of the investigation. It begins by outlining broad trends in Islamic apocalyptic thought in order to provide a comparative base for the rest of the work. This is followed by an examination of where Shaykh Nazim’s apocalypse converges and diverges from these broad trends. The following chapters seek to account for the distinctive form of Shaykh Nazim’s apocalypse by discussing firstly whether they might be presented to appeal to Westerners, whether they might be seen as a way of addressing modernity, and if they act as a theodicy. These chapters are then followed by a discussion on authorities used to legitimise the apocalyptic teachings and how they are interpreted by a small group of murids in the Glastonbury branch of the tariqa. This thesis concludes by arguing Shaykh Nazim’s apocalypse is distinctive in many respects, particularly in regards his absolute millenarian vision. Ultimately this millenarian vision is made necessary by a need to cleanse the world of satanic influence in a way not possible by reform. It also argues the apocalyptic teachings remained an important part of Shaykh Nazim’s teachings post the millennium and that there are a number of strategies employed by murids to make sense of living in the end of times. It argues future research should monitor changes in apocalyptic emphasis given the new leadership of the tariqa and wider attention be paid to apocalyptic belief in Islam in general.

Based on four years of ethnographic and archival research, this dissertation examines the pedagogical role of Sufi poetry (ilahi) in a transnational Sufi order, the Qadiri Rifa'i Tariqa (QRT). Extensive interviews in the United States, Mauritius, and South Africa (2008) are augmented by Skype, email, and telephone discussions conducted in Great Britain, France, Bosnia, Mexico, and Canada. Analysis of nearly twenty years of audio taped Sufi discourse and performance reveals how Sufi poetry enacted in ritual gatherings permeates everyday life. The study opens with a close examination of a poetic couplet from Yunus Emre (d. 1320), demonstrating that poetry is not merely a secondary aesthetic aspect of Sufism - as has often been argued - but is a critical component in the embodied transmission of Sufi knowledge. Chapter One presents Fredrik Barth's separation of knowledge into three dynamic faces - ideas and assertions, media representation, and social distribution - as the theoretical basis for analysis of the particular QRT understanding of the role of Sufi poetry. Chapter Two presents the evolution of the QRT from its roots in Turkey into a transnational order. It also takes a closer look at the Shaykh's singing of two ilahis in South Africa triggered by local tensions both in and outside the order. The transnational character of QRT dislocates this poetic repertoire from its Turkish origins, thereby broadening the logocentric scope of previous scholarly analyses. Chapter Three describes the formation of the current QRT poetic corpus, drawing from Mikhail Bakhtin's writings on translation, heteroglossia, internally persuasive and authoritative discourse, and intertextuality. Chapters Four and Five outline the epistemological, ontological, and cosmological assertions of the poetry. They focus on the specific experiential and embodied appropriation and production of spiritual enlightenment (marifet) by revealing how poetry enters the bodies of QRT members as philosophy, sound, and rhythm in conversation and companionship (sohbet) and in ecstatic ritual (zikr). In conclusion, the Shaykh is shown to be a poetic corpus - an expressive and creative body of Sufi knowledge - responding to particular socio-historical contexts. It is this state of knowledge that the murid (disciple), through love, is asked to assimilate (fana').

This thesis examines the role of tradition and discursive knowledge transmission on the formation of the ‘ulamā’, the learned scholarly class in Islam, and their approach to the articulation of the Islamic disciplines. The basis of this examination is the twelfth/eighteenth century scholar, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Dardīr, an Egyptian Azharī who wrote highly influential treatises in the disciplines of creedal theology, Mālikī jurisprudence, and taṣawwuf (Sufism). Additionally, he occupied a prominent role in the urban life of Cairo, accredited with several incidents of intercession with the rulers on behalf of the Cairo populace. This thesis argues that a useful framework for evaluating the intellectual contributions of post-classical scholars such as al-Dardīr involves the concept of an Islamic discursive tradition, where al-Dardīr’s specific contributions were aimed towards preserving, upholding, and maintaining the Islamic tradition, including the intellectual “sub-traditions” that came to define it. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to al-Dardīr, the social and intellectual climate of his era, and an overview of his writings. Chapter 2 analyses the educational paradigm that preceded al-Dardīr, and affected his approach to the Islamic disciplines. We then focus our attention to al-Dardīr’s contribution to the Islamic educational paradigm, in the form of taḥqīq (verification). Chapter 3 analyses al-Dardīr’s methodology in the synthesis of the rational and mystical approaches to knowledge located within the Islamic disciplines of creedal theology and Sufism. Chapter 4 analyses al-Dardīr’s to the Mālikī fiqh tradition, specifically his methodology of tarjīḥ (weighing of juristic evidence between different narrations). Chapter 5 examines his societal roles, and the influence of tradition on his relationships with the ruling elite, the ‘ulamā’ class, and the masses. The thesis ends with a conclusion that summarises the results of all of the above.

Throughout the history of music, the dialogue of cultures in the West-East discourse has produced various Orientalism models. Introducing a fashion for oriental decorations in Europe, using new instruments, borrowing modes of musical expression, as well as alluding to signs and symbols of oriental religions and philosophies gave rise to reshaping European musical aesthetics as early as the 18th century. At that time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his work were undoubtedly pivotal for the art. One can retrospectively observe that Turkish Janissary musical traditions significantly freshened and enriched the composer’s instrumental thinking. This can be seen most in the orchestration of Mozart’s oriental operas – namely, his singspiels Zaide and The Abduction from the Seraglio (Die Entführung aus dem Serail). Being a synthetic genre by its nature, opera is primarily related to literary activity; therefore, its oriental colour and imagery need to be immersed in the philosophical world of oriental narratives and storylines that were very popular in baroque and classicism art. Moreover, on the example of The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte), Mozart’s last opera, we can observe how the semiosis of Sufi texts explicitly present in this singspiel libretto gives the work new – Romantic – features. These new characteristics are not limited to the surface aesthetic level of decorations. As an opera reformer, Mozart reshapes the aesthetics of musical language, concurrently refining the ethical component of the genre. Thus, when analysing some instrumental, especially opera pieces by Mozart – namely, Zaide, The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Magic Flute singspiels, one can affirm that the synergy between all orientalism features in the composer’s works and established traditions of the European musical art resulted in the Viennese master creating a new ethical and aesthetic style model, which became seminal for the upcoming epochs.

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This dissertation endeavors to address a gap in current academic discourse by initiating a dialogue on existential/ontological virtues and the establishment of a virtue ontology. Despite the enrichment of virtue theory through the lens of virtue ethics and virtue epistemology, as well as the scrutiny of ethical and intellectual virtues within ethical and epistemological paradigms, there remains little said about existential/ontological virtues. Moreover, while moral and epistemic excellence have been extensively researched, the exploration of ontological/existential excellence has not.To address this gap, I propose initiating a discourse centered on existential virtues. These virtues, when cultivated, enhance our ability to appreciate life and exist “more.” I thus investigate the concept of experiencing varying degrees of existence, influenced by one’s existential stance, which illuminates states of life as varied as near-death to those characterized by profound fulfillment and vitality. Existential virtues, or “virtues of the heart,” enhance our engagement with Being, the self, and others. A central inquiry of this study concerns the influence of individuals’ metaphysical beliefs on their vitality. I also consider whether existential virtues can be nurtured through a cognitive shift in one’s perception of ontological reality. To this purpose, I analyze three philosophical perspectives—Stoicism, Sufism, and Neuroexistentialism—and elucidate the resulting attitudes of Stoic Serene Acceptance, Sufi Ecstatic Love, and Neuroexistential Angst. An overarching objective of this study is to examine how differing ontological perspectives shape the cultivation of existential virtues and influence one’s art of living. To illustrate this interplay, I conduct an analysis of Sufism, highlighting the corresponding existential virtues of existential joy, existential self-worth, and existential reverence within the ontological domains of Being, the self, and others. This study advocates for an expansion of scholarly inquiry into existential virtues, fostering a discourse on virtue ontology that would bridge ethics and ontology. Through an exploration of existential virtues as the foundation for a virtue ontology, this dissertation aims to deepen our understanding of virtuous human existence and the potential for existential excellence. Ultimately, it seeks to illuminate pathways toward a more inspired mode of existence and the possibility of a progression through varying degrees of being.

<p>This study is a theoretical research concerning Ibn Arabi's Sufi experience and his philosophy of the &quot / unity of being&quot / (also his poetical talent). I therefore adopted the historical and analytical methodologies to analyse and reply on the questions and suggestions I have raised in this paper. Both of the methodologies reveal the actual status of the Sufism of Ibn Arabi who came with a challenging sufi doctrine. Also, in the theoretical methodology I attempt to define Sufism by giving a panoramic history of it. I have also researched Ibn Arabi's status amongst his contemporaries for example, Al-Hallaj and Ibn Al Farid, and how they influenced him as a Sufi thinker during this time.</p> <p><br /> In the analytical study I explore the poems &quot / Tarjuman al Ashwaq&quot / of Ibn Arabi, of which I have selected some poems to study analytically. Through this I discovered Ibn Arabi's Sufi inclinations and the criticisms of various literary scholars, theologians, philosophers and also sufi thinkers, both from the East and the West. In this analysis I have also focused on the artistic value of the poetry which he utilized to promote his own doctrine &quot / the unity of being.&quot / </p>