Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya

Al-Qushayri's goal was to show the compatibility between mystical teaching and mainstream Sunni Islam. The purpose of authoring the book was to provide a solid structure for Sufism, along with its terminology and principles, and to demonstrate the conformity of Sufi beliefs and practices with the norms of the Shari'a, and to show that the creed of the Sufis was identical to that of the Ahl al-Sunna (in its Ash'ari formulation).^[1]

The work is considered as an indispensable reference book for those who study and specialize in Islamic mysticism, since it combines the two genres of biographical hagiography and technical manual – a feature that no other text from the period displays.

The work may be divided as follows:^[3]

• Part one is 'On the Shaykhs of This Way. How Their Lives and Teachings Show Their Regard for the Divine Law', enumerated 83 Sufi saints who had "guarded and helped Islam with proofs of religion".
• Part two is an explanation of 28 expressions in use among the Sufis 'with a clarification of what is obscure in them'.
• Part three of al-Qushayri's epistle describes 40 stations and states, the penultimate of which is Sufism and the last of which is model behaviour (adab), the conduct and discipline of the Sufi in relation to his shaykh and associate Sufis.

Al-Qushayri took it as axiomatic that the beliefs of the Sufi shaykhs were "in agreement with Sunni teaching on questions of the fundamentals of faith (Usul al-Din)".^[3] In discussing a plethora of Sufi technical terms, unique to their spiritual vernacular, al-Qushayri also dedicates a section to a lucid and detailed account of mujahada (spiritual striving or jihad). Fittingly, al-Qushayri begins this entry by quoting the Qur'anic verse: "As for those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths; and verily Allah is with the good."^{[Quran 29:69 (Translated by Nurettin Uzunoğlu)]} and following it with the hadith: 'A man asked, "What is the best form of jihad?" to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad replied, "To speak the truth in front of an oppressive ruler"'.

Al-Qushayri goes on to interweave a variety of pious dicta from a number of early spiritual authorities such as Ibrahim ibn Adham (d. 777), Abu Sulayman al-Darani (d. 830), Abu Yazid al-Bistami (d. 848), Dhu al-Nun al-Misri (d. 860), Sari al-Saqati (d. 867), Abu Hafs al-Haddad (d. between 869 and 874) and Abu al-Qasim al-Junayd (d. 910), as well as quotations from his own Sufi mentors, Abu 'Ali al-Daqqaq (d. 1015) and Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (d. 1021). Among the most concise and telling quotations is that of Abu 'Uthman al-Maghribi (d. 983), who is quoted as saying, "Whoever thinks that some aspect of the [spiritual] path (tariqa) will be opened to him or some facet of it revealed to him without spiritual struggle (mujahada), he is sadly mistaken".^[4]

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Hagiography

Hagiography

A hagiography is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might consist of a biography or vita, a description of the saint's deeds or miracles, an account of the saint's martyrdom, or be a combination of these.

Adab (Islam)

Adab (Islam)

Adab in the context of behavior, refers to prescribed Islamic etiquette: "refinement, good manners, morals, decorum, decency, humaneness". Al-Adab has been defined as "decency, morals".

Al-Qushayri

Al-Qushayri

'Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawazin Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī al-Naysābūrī was an Arab Muslim scholar and theologian known for his works on Sufism. He was born in Nishapur which is in Khorasan Province in Iran. This region was widely known as a center of Islamic civilization up to the 13th Century CE. He was the grandfather of the scholar Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi, a contemporary of Al Ghazali.

Jihad

Jihad

Jihad is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God's guidance, such as struggle against one's evil inclinations, proselytizing, or efforts toward the moral betterment of the Muslim community (Ummah), though it is most frequently associated with war. In classical Islamic law (sharia), the term refers to armed struggle against unbelievers, while modernist Islamic scholars generally equate military jihad with defensive warfare. In Sufi circles, spiritual and moral jihad has been traditionally emphasized under the name of greater jihad. The term has gained additional attention in recent decades through its use by various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideology is based on the Islamic notion of jihad.

Quran

Quran

The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

Quran translations

Quran translations

Translations of the Qurʻan are considered interpretations of the scripture of Islam in languages other than Arabic. The Qurʻan was originally written in the Arabic language and has been translated into most major African, Asian and European languages.

Muhammad

Muhammad

Muhammad was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief.

Ibrahim ibn Adham

Ibrahim ibn Adham

Ibrahim ibn Adham also called Ibrahim Balkhi ; c. 718 – c. 782 / AH c. 100 – c. 165 is one of the most prominent of the early ascetic Sufi saints.

Sari al-Saqati

Sari al-Saqati

Abū al-Ḥasan Sarī (al-Sirrī) b. al-Mughallis al-Saqaṭī (867CE) also known as Sirri Saqti was one of the early Muslim Sufi saints of Baghdad. He was one of the most influential students of Maruf Karkhi and one of the first to present Sufism in a systematic way. He was also a friend of Bishr al-Hafi. He was the maternal uncle and spiritual master of Junayd of Baghdad.

Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami

Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami

Abū ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ḥabīb ibn Rabī‘ah al-Sulamī was a blind ḥadīth narrator and qāriʾ born during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muḥammad. His father, Ḥabīb ibn Rabī‘ah As-Sulamī, was a companion of Muḥammad. Abū ‘Abdir-Raḥmān As-Sulamī is thought to have died in either AH 73 (692/693 CE) or AH 74 (693/694 CE), in Bishr ibn Marwān province in Al-Kūfah.

• Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari (d. 926/1520) authored a commentary on al-Qushayri's treatise, entitled Ahkam al-Dalala 'ala Tahrir al-Risala.^[5]
• The Hanafi scholar Mulla 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014/1606) have written a commentary on al-Qushayri's treatise in two volumes, according to 'Umar Rida Kahhala in his Mu'jam al-Muallifin.^[6]

English edition

The book has been translated in English and published under the title:^[7]

• "Principles of Sufism", translated by Barbara R. von Schlegell with an introduction by Hamid Algar. First published in 1990.
• "Sufi Book of Spiritual Ascent" (Abridged Edition), translated by Rabia Harris, edited by Laleh Bakhtiar, published in 1997. The second edition of this book was published in 2001 under the title "The Risalah: Principles of Sufism".
• "Al-Qushayri's Epistle on Sufism", translated by Alexander D. Knysh, edited by Muhammad Eissa. First published in 2007.

German edition

The first German translation was by Richard Gramlich [de] with introduction and commentary, and was printed at Franz Steiner Verlag in 1989 under the title "Das Sendschreiben al-Qusayris über das Sufitum."^[8]

French edition

The first French translation was by André Fontenay, and it was printed and published in 2016 under the title "Épître sur la science du soufisme."^[9]

Urdu edition

The first Urdu translation was by Maulana Mohammad Irfan Beg Noori, and it was printed and published in 2000 under the title "Ruh-e-Tassawwuf" available at Darul Irfan, Aligarh, UP, India.

The work has garnered numerous plaudits. Alexander Knysh suggests that al-Qushayri is famous principally because of this mystical treatise and that it was "probably the most popular Sufi manual ever". Annemarie Schimmel concurs, holding that it "is probably the most widely read summary of early Sufism" and stressing that "it was analyzed in the West prior to most other books on Sufism". Heinz Halm, in his Encyclopaedia of Islam article, cherishes al-Qushayri's Risala as "a most important compendium of the principles and terminology of Sufism", where, in this work as elsewhere, al-Qushayri attempts to reconcile Sufi practices, held as suspect by so many of the 'ulama' (scholars of the religious and legal sciences), with the dictates of Islamic law.^[10]

Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370) in his book Mu'id al-Ni'am wa Mubid al-Niqam (Arabic: معيد النعم ومبيد النقم, lit. 'Restorer of Graces and Annihilator of Misfortunes') praised the creed of al-Qushayri, who mentioned it in his epistle, and considered it as one of the most important classical Sunni creeds held by the Ash'aris, along with al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya by the Hanafi scholar Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi (d. 321/933), and al-'Aqida al-Murshida [ar] by Ibn Tumart (d. 524/1130), the founder of the Almohad Empire in North Africa and al-Andalus, who was a student of al-Ghazali.^[11]

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Annemarie Schimmel

Annemarie Schimmel

Annemarie Schimmel was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992.

Heinz Halm

Heinz Halm

Heinz Halm is a German scholar of Islamic Studies, with a particular expertise on early Shia history, the Ismailites and other Shia sects.

Ulama

Ulama

In Islam, the ulama are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam, including Islamic doctrine and law.

Taj al-Din al-Subki

Taj al-Din al-Subki

Abū Naṣr Tāj al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAlī ibn ʻAbd al-Kāfī al-Subkī, or Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī or simply Ibn al-Subki (1327-1370) was a leading Islamic scholar, a faqīh, a muḥaddith and a historian from the celebrated al-Subkī family of Shāfiʿī ʿulamā, during the Mamluk era.

Literal translation

Literal translation

Literal translation, direct translation or word-for-word translation, is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately, without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence.

Al-Qushayri

Al-Qushayri

'Abd al-Karīm ibn Hawazin Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī al-Naysābūrī was an Arab Muslim scholar and theologian known for his works on Sufism. He was born in Nishapur which is in Khorasan Province in Iran. This region was widely known as a center of Islamic civilization up to the 13th Century CE. He was the grandfather of the scholar Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi, a contemporary of Al Ghazali.

Ibn Tumart

Ibn Tumart

Abu Abd Allah Amghar Ibn Tumart was a Muslim Berber religious scholar, teacher and political leader, from the Sous in southern present-day Morocco. He founded and served as the spiritual and first military leader of the Almohad movement, a puritanical reform movement launched among the Masmuda Berbers of the Atlas Mountains. Ibn Tumart launched an open revolt against the ruling Almoravids during the 1120s. After his death his followers, the Almohads, went on to conquer much of North Africa and part of Spain.

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus

Al-Andalus was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The term is used by modern historians for the former Islamic states in modern Spain and Portugal. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most of the peninsula and a part of present-day southern France, Septimania. For nearly 100 years, from the 9th century to the 10th, al-Andalus extended its presence from Fraxinetum into the Alps with a series of organized raids. The name describes the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. These boundaries changed constantly as the Christian Reconquista progressed, eventually shrinking to the south and finally to the Emirate of Granada.

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali

Al-Ghazali, full name Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad aṭ-Ṭūsiyy al-Ġazzālīy, and known in Persian-speaking countries as Imam Muhammad-i Ghazali or in Medieval Europe by the Latinized as Algazelus or Algazel, was a Sunni Muslim Persian polymath. He is known as one of the most prominent and influential jurisconsults, legal theorists, muftis, philosophers, theologians, logicians and mystics of the Islamic Golden Age.