The Requirements of the Sufi Path: A Defense of the Mystical Tradition

by Ibn Khaldun, Carolyn Baugh (Translator), Jesús R. Velasco (Foreword by)

Overview

Sufism through the eyes of a legal scholar

In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn Khaldūn applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldūn is widely known for his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in particular for the Muqaddimah, the introduction to his massive universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes up the the question of the need for a guide along that path. In doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars, including al-Qushayrī, al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb. Even as Ibn Khaldūn warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go—including practicing magic—his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa, asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path.

The Requirements of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism’s greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldūn’s own insights, acquired through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis.

An English-only edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479834198
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Series:	Library of Arabic Literature , #103
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ibn Khaldūn (d. 808/1406) was a Tunisian-born scholar, jurist, sociologist, and historian, best known for his influential work on history, The Book of Lessons (Kitāb al-ʿIbar), and the prolegomenon to that work, the Muqaddimah.

Carolyn Baugh is Associate Professor of History and Arabic at Gannon Universityin Erie, Pennsylvania, where she teaches courses in Middle East and world history and also directs the Women’s Studies program.

Jesús R. Velasco is Professor of Spanish & Portuguese and Comparative Literature at Yale University. His books include Dead Voice: Law, Philosophy, and Fiction in the Iberian Middle Ages and Order and Chivalry: Knighthood and Citizenship in Late Medieval Castile.

Table of Contents

Letter from the General Editor iii

Abbreviations x

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xii

Map: The Geography of Ibn Khaldün's Lifetime xxiv

Note on the Text xxv

Notes to the Introduction xxxiii

The Requirements of the Sufi Path 1

1 An Accurate Definition of the Sufi Path and How It Differs from the Paths Associated with the Divine Law; What the Term "Sufi" Meant to Members of the Early Muslim Community 6

2 Discussion of the Spiritual Struggles into Which the Sufis Were Led by Their Ardor, What Motivated These Struggles, and Why "Sufism" Had Originally Meant the First Spiritual Struggle but Came to Mean All of Them; an Accurate Definition of this Path 26

3 Discussion of the Spiritual Struggles, Their Divisions, and Their Prerequisites: Based on Our Study of Their Ideas and Perusal of Their Opinions, the Sufis Have Three Distinct Levels of Spiritual Struggle in a Fixed Hierarchy 54

4 Discussing-and Refuting-How Modern Sufis Have Manipulated the Term "Sufism" 86

5 When Is a Teacher Required, Recommended, or Unnecessary in the Spiritual Struggle? 114

6 Presentation of the Two Sides of the Debate, of What Is Correct, and of My Verdict 128

Notes 183

Glossary of Names and Terms 190

Bibliography 205

Further Reading 209

Index 211

About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 221

About the Typefaces 222

Titles Published by the Library of Arabic Literature 223

About the Editor-Translator 228