Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth-Century Sufi Texts - Paperback

by William C. Chittick (Author)

A Note on Dates and Koranic References


Introduction


Part One
Islam in Three Dimensions


Works, Faith, and Perfection


Faith and Knowledge


Ihsan, Ikhlas, and Taqwa


Felicity


Priorities


The Sciences of Unveiling and Practice


Notes


Part Two
Faith


Style and Content


The Three Principles


The Cosmology of Tawhid


Notes


The Rising Places of Faith


Opening


I. Faith in God


1. The Essence


2. The Attributes


3. The Acts


II. Faith in Prophecy


1. The Wonders of Prophecy


2. The Prophet Muhammad


III. Faith In The Last Day


1. Human Subsistence


2. The Barzakh and the Other Stages of the Next World


Conclusion


Clarifications for Beginners and Reminders for the Advanced


Introduction


I. The Creator


1. The Essence


2. The Attributes


3. The Acts


II. Friendship And Prophecy


1. Friendship


Supplement


2. Prophecy


III. This World And The Next World


1. Benefits And Dangers Of This World


2. The Next World And Its Stages


Conclusion


Part Three
Practice


Notes


The Easy Roads of Sayf Al-Din


Introduction: Perfecting Character


A Preliminary Remark


I. The Science Of Faith


1. The Essence


2. The Attributes


3. The Acts


4. Prophecy


5. The Next World


II. Ablutions And Purity


1. The Excellence Of Purity


2. Relieving Oneself


3. The Minor Ablution


An Allusion


4. The Major Ablution


5. The Tayammum


III. The Ritual Prayer


1. Its Excellence


2. The Number Of Cycles


3. How To Perform The Prayer


A Hint


4. The Inward Dimensions


IV. Fasting


1. Its Excellence


2. Its Secret And Its Degrees


3. Its Obligations


V. Remembrance And Supplication


1. Imparting Remembrance


2. Transmitted Supplications


3. Supplications For Every Situation


Conclusion: The Journey


Part Four
Sufism And Islam


Orthodox Islam


Mysticism And Discipline


Toward A Narrower Definition Of Sufism


Notes


Annotations


The Rising Places Of Faith


Clarifications For Beginners


The Easy Roads Of Sayf Al-Din


Appendixes


1. The Author


2. Corrections To The Printed Texts


Bibliography


Index of Koranic Verses


Index of Hadiths and Sayings


Index of Names and Terms

Back Jacket

As stated in the introduction, two of the three texts translated in this book focus on the contents of Islamic faith, while the third concentrates on the details of practice--that is, the works that Muslims should perform in order to observe the Shariah.

Author Biography

William C. Chittick is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at State University of New York, Stony Brook. His other books include A Shi'ite Anthrology; The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination; and The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, all published by SUNY Press.