Perspectives on Early Islamic Mysticism : The World of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and his Contemporaries (Paperback)

Introduction: Sweetness and Inner Struggle Part IAsceticism and Mysticism (zuhd and ta¿awwuf) 1. ‘Sufism’: Reconsidering terms, definitions and processes. 2. Zuhd in Islamic Mysticism: Conduct and Attitude. 3. "Wa-rahbaniyyatan ibtada¿uha": Monasticism and Asceticism False and Sincere. Part IISchools and Teachers 4. Al-¿akim al-Tirmidhi and the Malamatis of Nishapur. 5. Teachers and Disciples in Baghdad and Nishapur. 6. Facing Hostility in Transoxiana: Al-¿akim al-Tirmidhi and Mu¿ammad ibn al-Fa¿l. Appendix: The Letters Letters of Abu ¿Abd Allah al-Tirmidhi to Mu¿ammad ibn al-Fa¿l Part III Polarity 7. "Between Fear and Hope": Coincidence of Opposites in Islamic Mysticism Appendix 8. The Self (nafs) and Her Transformation. 9. Faces of al-¿aqq: The Name and the Named. Part IV The Spiritual Hierarchy 10. Wilaya: Contemplating Friendship with God. 11. Myrtle and Holy Men: Echoes of Ancient Traditions in a Woman’s Dream. Part V Language and Hermeneutics 12. The Power of Words: Mystical Linguistics in al-¿akim al-Tirmidhi. 13. "The Countless Faces of Understanding": Istinba¿, Listening and Exegesis. Bibliography