Ibn 'Arabi and the Contemporary West: Beshara and the Ibn 'Arabi Society (Comparative Islamic Studies) - Hardcover

Jeffery-Street, Isobel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845536703 ISBN 13: 9781845536701

Publisher: Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2019

Synopsis

The influence of Ibn Arabi, the 12th century Andalusian mystic philosopher extended beyond the Muslim world from Spain, to China, to Indonesia. Interest in Ibn Arabi in the west has grown over the last century. Ibn Arabi and the Contemporary West examines Arabi s teachings through the work of the Beshara Trust and the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society. The study investigates how the Beshara School has used Ibn Arabi s teachings in assisting a range of students from around the world towards personal, spiritual development and how the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Society has evolved into an international organisation with increasing influence in both the West and the Muslim world.

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Review:

'Ibn Arabi and the Contemporary West tells several remarkable and intertwined stories. In the context of Islamic Studies, it recounts the recent transmission of universal spiritual teachings that were once central to the spread of Islam as a world religion and civilization, but then were lost and often rejected in the aftermath of colonialism, to the UK and the wider English-speaking world; and it concludes with the unexpected ways that spiritual heritage is now being rediscovered by new generations across the Muslim world. In that new, global setting, this study also sketches the background of the multi-faceted, increasingly global adaptation of Ibn Arabi s teachings which for centuries had helped integrate and inspire the burgeoning creative expressions of the Islamic humanities and spirituality across Asia and Africa by contemporary artists and thinkers working in many of those same fields today: including philosophy, ecology, architecture, psychology, spirituality, and religious thought. And on a more human, immediate level, this is the story of the lasting inspiration and personal influences of a single quiet spiritual teacher and those he inspired, detailing the formation, teachings, and expanding development and outreach of the Beshara movement.' --Professor J. W. Morris, Boston College

About the Author:

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. She has a particular interest in religious experience relative to religious pluralism as a contribution to Inter-Faith Dialogue. She is soon to embark upon research for a study in an aspect of contemporary paganism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Equinox Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1845536703
• ISBN 13: 9781845536701
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 298