Ibn 'Arabi and the Contemporary West - Beshara and the Ibn 'Arabi Society - Isobel Jeffery-Street
BULENT RAUF
Ibn 'Arabi and the Contemporary West - Beshara and the Ibn 'Arabi Society - Isobel Jeffery-Street
Isobel Jeffery-Street [+]
Independent Scholar
Isobel Jeffery-Street studied for a BA Honours degree in Theological Studies and a doctorate in Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. She has tutored in Islamic Studies for the University’s distance learning course as well as being co-ordinator of the Exeter Inter-Faith Group.
Description
The Beshara Trust was established in 1971 around the central gure of Bulent Rauf. Rauf was ‘consultant’ to the Trust and its school from this time until his death in 1987. He was also instrumental in the founding of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society in 1977. Bulent Rauf was a highly educated scion of an aristocratic Ottoman family, who before becoming ‘consultant’ to the Beshara School had lived a life that moved between extremes of wealth and grinding poverty. These extremes of experience prepared him well for his later spiritual life, and allowed him to work effectively and closely with a broad spectrum of Beshara students.