Wilayat and the Bayan : Examining the bases for the authority of revelatory discourses in Mystical Islam

ISBN-13: 9783639126532 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 352 str.

David E. Singh

Opis

Prophecy in Islam is the authoritative mode ofrevelation and prophets are the messengers of thatrevelation. As islam grew, parts of the communityfelt the need for continuing guidance. This led tothe various forms of knowledge-seeking. Mystics(Sufis and Saints) in Islam emphasised the role ofthe ''heart'' as the faculty where imagination (khayal)directly reflects the knowledge of/from God. Mysticsexpress this knowledge through the revelatoryDiscourse (Bayan). Mystics see themselves as beingpart of mainstream Islam and hence the centralproblem they deal with in relation to Bayan is theauthority of their discourse. This book examines this problem in a Mysticaltradition of Islam and shows how based on thistradition''s classical sources the support for theauthority of the Bayan is provided at threefundamental levels: in relation to the Qur''an, inrelation to the Prophets and Prophecy and in relationto God. The book shows the powerful role played byImagination in religious discourses in Islamic Mysticism.

O autorze

Dr David Emmanuel Singh is Research Tutor at the Oxford Centre
for Mission Studies, UK. He also Edits the Journal,
Transformation, published by Sage Publications, UK.

He has published over 35 academic papers on Interfaith issues,
Islam and Islamic Mysticism. His recently edited books are: Jesus
and the Cross and Christianity and Culture.