A Ṣūfī Apologist of Nīshāpūr ;The Life and Thought of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī; S.Z. Chowdhury

S.Z. Chowdhury [+–]

Independent Scholar

S.Z. Chowdhury, PhD is an examiner and school teacher in History, World Religions as well as Theory of Knowledge and his research areas include Metaphysics, Sufism, Qur’ānic Studies and Islamic Law. He lives and works in London.

Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Sulamī (d. 412/1021 AH/CE) was born and raised in Nīshāpūr, one of the most renowned cities in the Islamic world. He was part of a line of earlier Ṣūfī figures who attempted to defend the cardinal tenets of Sufism from accusations of heresy. However, al-Sulamī surpassed his predecessors by amassing a corpus of antecedent mystical dicta from the architects of Islamic mysticism and substantiating them with transmission channels (isnāds) or grounding them in a core teaching of the Prophet Muḥammad.

This study demonstrates that al-Sulamī was an accomplished mystic. It outlines his life and times, and surveys in full all his works as far as they can be identified. Moreover, the important sources that shaped the development and impression of his thinking and modality of transforming the ego-self (nafs) are presented in detail, bringing together earlier and current academic scholarship on this important figure of the third and fourth centuries of Islam (ninth and tenth centuries CE).

Series: Monographs in Arabic and Islamic Studies

Preliminaries

List of Figures [+–] vii

Abū cAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Sulamī (d.412/1021) lived in the 3rd and 4th century AH / 9th and 10th century CE. He was born in the city of Nīshāpūr, one of the most renowned cities in the Islamic world. He was part of a line of earlier Ṣūfī figures who attempted to defend the cardinal tenets of Sufism from accusations of heresy. However al-Sulamī’s surpassed his predecessors by amassing a corpus of antecedent mystical dicta from the architects of Islamic mysticism and substantiating them with transmission channels (isnad) or grounding them in a core teaching of the Prophet Muḥammad. This study demonstrates that al-Sulamī was an accomplished mystic. It outlines his life and times and surveys in full all his works as far as they can be identified. Moreover, the important sources that shaped the development and impression of his thinking and modality of transforming the ego-self (nafs) are presented in detail bringing together earlier and current academic scholarship on him.

Acknowledgements [+–] ix

Introduction [+–] 1-3

Chapter 1

Reviewing the Literature on al-Sulamī [+–] 4-21

Chapter One constitutes a short literature review of key works regarding studies on al-Sulamī as well as those that yield important information and data on one or more facets of his thought and practice where this is useful for fortifying subsequent research on him but nevertheless reveal an existing lacunae in that regard.

Chapter 2

Geography and Environment [+–] 22-54

Chapter Two attempts to distil from a survey of the social, political, and intellectual trends within the city of Nishāpūr those factors and events that have a direct or indirect bearing on al-Sulamī’s formative years as well as the broad contours of his exposition of Sufism. It will also include general analyses of the historical developments and evolution of Sufism from its ascetical origins through to a mystical elaboration by al-Sulamī’s time and his role in the apologetic phase of that evolution.

Chapter 3

Khurāsānian Protégés: Examining al-Sulamī’s Main Influences [+–] 55-86

Chapter Three specifically focuses on the important circle of individuals and movements that were strong sources in influencing al-Sulamī’s intellectual and mystical outlook by examining Arabic primary source texts from key biographical references as well as historical studies from contemporary scholars.

Chapter 4

Vita Sulamii [+–] 87-108

Chapter Four outlines the biographical data on al-Sulamī, highlighting amongst other aspects his teachers, students and lineage. It will also include evaluative material assessing al-Sulamī’s influences upon later Ṣūfī practitioners and masters of the discipline in addition to both positive and negative remarks made by subsequent Muslim scholars regarding his integrity as a theoretician and Ḥadīth expert.

Chapter 5

Textual Terrain and Taxonomy: The Oeuvre of Abū c Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī [+–] 109-143

Chapter Five forms a taxonomy of all of al-Sulamī’s extant works with a view to presenting brief outlines on their contents as well as ascertaining where possible the provenance of the original manuscripts.

Chapter 6

“Words along the Way”: Surveying alSulamī’s Mystical Lexicon… [+–] 144-180

Chapter Six explores the major concepts that underpin al-Sulamī’s mystical thought

Chapter 7

“Mystical Interiority: al-Sulamī’s Method of Self-Transformation” [+–] 181-192

This chapter assesses and extracts the methodology of al-Sulamī’s transformation the ego-self (nafs).

Chapter 8

Conclusions: An Apologetics for a Ṣūfī Orthodoxy [+–] 193-198

Chapter Eight forms the concluding chapter of the book with a view to summarising not only the findings, but al-Sulamī’s overall apologetic scheme as well as delineating new and further avenues of research including some that are given little or no focus in the present book

End Matter

References [+–] 199-223

Index [+–] 225-228

Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Sulamī (d.412/1021) lived in the 3rd and 4th century AH / 9th and 10th century CE. He was born in the city of Nīshāpūr, one of the most renowned cities in the Islamic world. He was part of a line of earlier Ṣūfī figures who attempted to defend the cardinal tenets of Sufism from accusations of heresy. However, al-Sulamī surpassed his predecessors by amassing a corpus of antecedent mystical dicta from the architects of Islamic mysticism and substantiating them with transmission channels ( isnad ) or grounding them in a core teaching of the Prophet Muḥammad. This study demonstrates that al-Sulamī was an accomplished mystic. It outlines his life and times, and surveys in full all his works as far as they can be identified. Moreover, the important sources that shaped the development and impression of his thinking and modality of transforming the ego-self ( nafs ) are presented in detail, bringing together earlier and current academic scholarship on him.

Reviews

A Sufi Apologist of Nishapur is an original and valuable study, skilfully researched and written, of a major Sufi author and thinker. It deserves the attention of anyone interested in the development of methodology in 'ilm al-tasawwuf and/or that of the classic treatises composed in its defence.
The Muslim World Book Review

The author engages all of the key scholars writing in European languages about this period and has integrated their insights well.
In conclusion, one should note Chowdhury’s choice of a primary descriptor for al-Sulamī: apologist. References to al-Sulamī’s apologetic intent permeate the volume and are presented in summary synthesis in the brief final chap- ter, “Conclusions: An Apologetics for a Ṣūfī Orthodoxy.” … his choice, like many others in this much-appreciated monograph, is defensible.
Arabica

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A Ṣūfī Apologist of Nīshāpūr

The Life and Thought of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī

S.Z. Chowdhury [+–]

Independent Scholar

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