The Social and Theoretical Dimensions of Sainthood in Early Islam: Al-Tirmidhi's Gnoseology and the Foundations of Sufi Social Praxis
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Aiyub Palmer
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Knysh, Alexander
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
University of Michigan
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2015
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
373
GENERAL NOTES
Text of Note
Committee members: Ahbel-Rappe, Sara; Babayan, Kathryn; Eliav, Yaron Z.; Jackson, Sherman A.; Ohlander, Erik S.
NOTES PERTAINING TO PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC.
Text of Note
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-03975-6
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Discipline of degree
Near Eastern Studies
Body granting the degree
University of Michigan
Text preceding or following the note
2015
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This dissertation offers new perspectives on al-Tirmidhī's contribution to the Sūfī doctrine of sainthood and to the development of early Islamic mysticism. Included in this study is codicological work that presents al-Tirmidhī's Kitāb al-Hikma for the first time in print. The first chapter introduces al-Tirmidhī's social and political context and how this context played an important factor in shaping al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood. Al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood casts the Sunnī 'ulamā' as the true representatives of Islamic religious authority, as embodied in the saints who are counted as coming from their ranks. Al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood also incorporates aspects of various discourse streams within his learned context. The discourse streams addressed in this study are: Hellenism, early Hanafī/Murji'ī theology and Islamic mysticism. Within Hellenism we find that al-Tirmidhī focuses on Pythagorean wisdom as one aspect of his gnoseology that serves to frame the non-dual quality of saintly knowledge. Al-Tirmidhī's Hanafī theological background leads him to expand sainthood to all Muslims while restricting it in practice to the scholarly class of 'ulamā '. Islamic mysticism is a discourse stream that also informs al-Tirmidhī's gnoseology and doctrine of sainthood through al-Muhasibī's 'asceticism of the soul', an approach adopted by al-Tirmidhī and applied to his process of mystical development. Al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood played a pivotal role in providing a Khurāsānian structure to Islamic mysticism in the later form that Sufism would take. The seal of sainthood and the idea that there will always be a constant presence of saints in the world are aspects of al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood that provide an optimistic alternative to the world outlook of Tradionalists. Ibn Arabī further refines and develops al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood in his Fusūs al-Hikam . Other mystics such as the eponyms of the Shādhilī Tarīqa developed al-Tirmidhī's concept of wisdom as a practical tool for the education of aspirants upon the Sūfī path. This dissertation presents al-Tirmidhī's doctrine of sainthood in light of new methodological approaches and textual research that has important implications for how we understand early Islamic mysticism.
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
Religion; Philosophy; Social psychology; Near Eastern Studies
UNCONTROLLED SUBJECT TERMS
Subject Term
Philosophy, religion and theology;Social sciences;Psychology;Al-tirmidhi;Authority;Islam;Mysticism;Saints;Sufism