“Others-in-Law”: Legalism in the Economy of Religious Differences

Religious legalism encompasses a wide range of attitudes that assign religious meaning to legal content or to legal compliance. The phenomenology of religious legalism is assuming a significant role in various contemporary debates about legal pluralism, accommodation of religious minorities, religious freedom, and so forth. This article revises this conception and the commonplace equation of Judaism and legalism. It suggests that we ought to regard both as part of the economy of religious differences by which religious identities are expressed and defined as alternatives. The common ascription of religious legalism to Judaism (and Islam) is criticized here through a historical analysis of the law-religion-identity matrix in three cultural settings: late ancient Judeo-Hellenic, medieval Judeo–Arabic, and post-Reformation Europe

Study of Abū Tālib al-Makkī

The aims of this thesis are to evaluate the present status of scholarship on Abū Tālib al-Makkī (d. 386/996) and to expand the basis of further research on him by analysing him in a multi-dimensional way. This study challenges the conventional view that al-Makkī’s Qūt al-qulūb (‘The Nourishment of Hearts’) is a Sufi work. Part 1 introduces modern scholarship on al-Makkī. It also demonstrates several issues which are tackled in this thesis. The present study focuses on a metaphorical image of the heart, which is also shared in various cultures. By looking at this common idea, Part 2 first attempts to explore the nature of the Qūt within the context of Sufism and religion in general. This part provides a summarised translation of part of the Qūt, where the author elucidates his view of the heart. The intention of this annotated translation is to provide easy access to the key thought of al-Makkī in the Qūt, for the first time in English, on the basis of a critical edition of this book. Lastly Part 2 discusses the authenticity of al-Makkī’s alleged work, Ilm al-qulūb (‘The Knowledge of Hearts’). Part 3 analyses the influence of al-Makkī within and beyond Islam. Considering the limited area of the study of al-Makkī , this part first examines numerous works in various fields from his time until the twelfth/eighteenth century. This is to evaluate how he was perceived in Muslim scholarship and to explore areas which have not been discussed thoroughly before. Finally this thesis looks at the Andalusian Jewish scholar, Ibn Bāqūdā(d. some time after 472/1080) and his book al-Hidāya ilā farā'id al-qulūb (‘The Right Guidance to the Religious Duties of Hearts’). A possible link between the two authors has been sometimes pointed out; however, it has not been studied exhaustively. Through exploring various aspects of al-Makkī and his writing, the present thesis attempts to open up the study of the Qūt beyond Sufism and to offer an opportunity to give further thought on the essential features of the mystical dimensions of Islam

Lamp, lamps (Islam)

No abstract available

Classes of beings

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Scrupulous devotion: the influence of Ibn Hanbal on al-Makki

No abstract available

Classes of beings

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La chronique japonaise de Nicolas Bouvier

Récit d’un vagabond émerveillé sur les routes japonaises, mais aussi vaste fresque du Japon développée à travers la lanterne magique de l’histoire, Chronique japonaise affronte la question de l’altérité culturelle avec humour et une connaissance profonde de la civilisation japonaise. Tout en questionnant la place de l’étranger au Japon, Nicolas Bouvier ne cessera de réécrire ce livre au fil de ses rééditions, parvenant enfin à sa forme définitive, dans un merveilleux équilibre entre le récit personnel, l’érudition, l’acuité psychologique et l’art du conteur. Le Japon sera la terre d’élection de Bouvier, qui lui empruntera entre autres le goût de la frugalité, son exercice de disparition, son attention inquiète pour les êtres et les choses, bref: une certaine façon d’être au monde