Intellectual Life in the Ḥijāz before Wahhabism: Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī’s (d. 1101/1690) Theology of Sufism

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In Intellectual Life in the Ḥijāz before Wahhabism, Naser Dumairieh argues that, as a result of changing global conditions facilitating the movement of scholars and texts, the seventeenth-century Ḥijāz was one of the most important intellectual centers of the Islamic world, acting as a hub between its different parts. Positioning Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī (d. 1101/1690) as representative of the intellectual activities of the pre-Wahhabism Ḥijāz, Dumairieh argues that his coherent philosophical system represents a synthesis of several major post-classical traditions of Islamic thought, namely kalām and Akbarian appropriations of Avicennian metaphysics. Al-Kūrānī’s work is the culmination of the philosophized Akbarian tradition; with his reconciliation of Ibn ʿArabī’s ideas with Ashʿarī theology, Ibn ʿArabī’s ideas became Islamic theology. ‎Contents ‎Acknowledgements ‎Introduction. When All Roads Led to the Ḥijāz ‎Chapter 1. The Seventeenth-Century Ḥijāz in Its Global and Local Context ‎1. The Seventeenth-Century Ḥijāz in Its Global Context ‎1.1. European Navies in the Indian Ocean ‎1.2. Iran’s Conversion to Shīʿism ‎1.3. The Mughal Empire’s Generous Donations to the Ḥijāz ‎1.4. Ottomans and the Ḥijāz ‎2. The Seventeenth-Century Ḥijāz in Its Local Context ‎3. Conclusion ‎Chapter 2. Intellectual Life in the Ḥijāz in the Seventeenth Century ‎1. Educational Institutions in the Ḥijāz in the Seventeenth Century ‎1.1. Madrasas, Ribāṭs, and Zāwiyas ‎1.2. Libraries, Book-Binders, and Book Scribes in Medina ‎1.3. Theoretical and Practical Sciences in the Ḥijāz ‎1.3.1. Medicine ‎1.3.2. Agriculture (ʿIlm al-filāḥa) ‎1.3.3. Astronomy ‎1.3.4. Chemistry (Ṣanʿat al-kīmiyāʾ) ‎1.3.5. Music Theory and Practice ‎2. Rational Sciences in the Ḥijāz ‎3. Isnād as a Source for Intellectual Life in the Seventeenth-Century Ḥijāz ‎3.1. The Isnād of Intellectual Texts ‎4. How the Rational Sciences Reached the Ḥijāz ‎4.1. Al-Taftāzānī’s (d. 793/1390) Works ‎4.2. Al-Sharīf al-Jurjānī’s (d. 816/1413) Works ‎4.3. Al-Ījī’s (d. 756/1355) Works ‎4.4. Al-Dawānī’s (d. 908/1502) Works ‎5. Conclusion ‎Chapter 3. Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī’s Life, Education, Teachers, and Students ‎1. Al-Kūrānī’s Life ‎1.1. Al-Kūrānī’s Early Life and Studies in His Homeland ‎1.2. Al-Kūrānī in Baghdad ‎1.3. Al-Kūrānī in Damascus ‎1.4. Through Cairo to the Ḥijāz ‎2. Al-Kūrānī’s Education ‎3. Al-Kūrānī’s Teachers ‎4. Al-Kūrānī’s Contacts with Other Scholars of His Time ‎5. Al-Kūrānī’s Students ‎6. Al-Kūrānī’s Affiliation to Sufi Orders ‎7. Conclusion ‎Chapter 4. Al-Kūrānī’s Works ‎1. Al-Kūrānī’s Works (Examined) ‎2. Al-Kūrānī’s Works (Inaccessible) ‎3. Works Misattributed to al-Kūrānī ‎4. Conclusion ‎Chapter 5. Al-Kūrānī’s Metaphysical and Cosmological Thought ‎1. God is Absolute Existence (al-wujūd al-muṭlaq or al-wujūd al-maḥḍ) ‎2. God’s Attributes and Allegorical Interpretation (taʾwīl) ‎3. God’s Manifestations in Sensible and Conceivable Forms ‎4. Nafs al-amr in al-Kūrānī’s Thought ‎5. Ashʿarites and Mental Existence ‎6. Realities: Uncreated Nonexistent Quiddities ‎6.1. Classifications of Nonexistents ‎6.2. The Description of Nonexistent and the Concept of “Thing” (shayʾ) ‎7. God’s Knowledge of Particulars ‎8. Creation ‎9. Unity and Multiplicity ‎10. Destiny and Predetermination ‎11. Kasb: Free Will and Predestination ‎11.1. Good and Bad According to the Intellect (al-ḥusn wa-l-qubḥ al-ʿaqliyyayn) ‎11.2. Legal Responsibility (al-taklīf) ‎12. The Unity of the Attributes (waḥdat al-ṣifāt) ‎13. Waḥdat al-Wujūd ‎14. Conclusion ‎Chapter 6. Al-Kūrānī’s Other Theological and Sufi Thought ‎1. The Faith of Pharaoh ‎2. The Precedence of God’s Mercy and the Vanishing of the Hellfire (fanāʾ al-nār) ‎3. Satanic Verses ‎4. Preference for the Reality of the Kaʿba or for the Muḥammadan Reality ‎5. God’s Speech (kalām Allāh) ‎6. Conclusion ‎Conclusion ‎Appendix 1. Al-Kūrānī’s Teachers, Additional to Those Mentioned in the Text ‎Appendix 2. Al-Kūrānī’s Students, Additional to Those Mentioned in the Text ‎Appendix 3. Al-Kūrānī’s Works Ordered Alphabetically ‎Bibliography ‎Index