Logos (Islam): Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Concept in Islamic philosophy}} |
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The concept of the '''''logos''''' exists in [[Islam]], where it was definitively articulated primarily in the writings of the classical [[Sunni]] [[Sufism|mystics]] and [[Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosophers]], as well as by certain [[Shi'a]] thinkers, during the [[Islamic Golden Age]].<ref>Gardet, L., "Kalām", in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. </ref><ref name="EoI">Boer, Tj. de and Rahman, F., "ʿAḳl", in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> In [[Sunni Islam]], the concept of the ''logos'' has been given many different names by the denomination's [[w:Metaphysics#Islamic metaphysics|metaphysician]]s, mystics, and philosophers, including [[Tawassul|''wasilah'']], ''ʿaql'' ("Intellect"), ''al-insān al-kāmil'' ("Universal Man"), ''kalimat Allāh'' ("Word of God"), ''haqīqa muḥammadiyya'' ("The Muhammadan Reality"), and ''nūr muḥammadī'' ("The Muhammadan Light"). Throughout [[Islamic history]], there have existed several different metaphysical concepts that have been understood to correspond "in many respects" to the [[Logos (Christianity)|logos Christology]] of [[Christianity and Islam|Christianity]] and to the use of the term ''[[logos]]'' in late [[Greek philosophy]].<ref name="auto">Boer, Tj. de and Rahman, F., “ʿAḳl”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> The concept has been documented as early as the 8th-9th century.<ref>Hoffman, Valerie J. "Annihilation in the Messenger of God: the development of a Sufi practice." International Journal of Middle East Studies 31.3 (1999): 351-369.</ref> |
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==Muhammad== |
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Throughout Islamic history, there have existed several different metaphysical concepts that have been understood to correspond "in many respects" to the [[Logos (Christianity)|logos Christology]] of [[Christianity]] and to the use of the phrase in late [[Greek philosophy]].<ref>Boer, Tj. de and Rahman, F., “ʿAḳl”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> In the writings of many of the most prominent [[Sunni Islam]]ic metaphysicians, [[Islamic philosophy|philosophers]], and [[Sufism|mystics]] of the [[Islamic Golden Age]], [[Muhammad]], who is given the title of "[[Khatam an-Nabiyyin|Seal of the Prophets]]" in the [[Quran]],<ref>Qur'an 33:40.</ref> was understood to be "both a manifestation of the Logos and the Logos itself, both the beginning of the prophetic cycle and its end, and, being its end and seal," as one who contained "from an essential and inward point of view the whole prophetic function within himself."<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr'', ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 63</ref> This classical identification of Muhammad with the ''logos'' emerged from particular interpretations of specific [[Quran]]ic verses, [[hadith|sayings of the prophet]], and through the writings of [[Sufism|the early mystics of Islam]].<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr'', ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 63</ref> At the same time, the ''logos'' concept was also intimately tied in the works of the same authors to other important [[Islamic cosmology|Islamic cosmological]] concepts, such as the ideas of ''ʿaql'' ("Intellect"), which "resembled the late Greek doctrine of the ''logos''" and represented an Arabic equivalent to the Neoplatonic ''νοῦς'' ("Intellect"),<ref>Boer, Tj. de and Rahman, F., “ʿAḳl”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> ''lawḥ maḥfūẓ'' ("Guarded Tablet," in Quran 85:22),<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''Ideals and Realities of Islam'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966), p. 42</ref> ''ḳalam'' ("Divine Pen"),<ref>Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''Ideals and Realities of Islam'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966), p. 42</ref> ''[[Heavenly Quran|umm al-kitāb]]'' ("Mother of the Book," in Quran 3:7, 13:39, 43:4),<ref>Wensinck, A. J., “Lawḥ”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition'' (1913-1936), Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, T.W. Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann.</ref> and, perhaps most famously, the Muhammad-related ideas of ''al-insān al-kāmil'' ("Perfect Man" or "Universal Man"), ''nūr muḥammadī'' ("Muhammadan Light"),<ref>Rubin, U., “Nūr Muḥammadī”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> and ''al-ḥaqīqa al-muḥammadiyya'' ("Muhammadan Reality").<ref>Rubin, U., “Nūr Muḥammadī”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> The ''logos'' was often presented as "created" in Islamic doctrine, and thus was more akin to [[Philo]]'s understanding of the phrase than [[Nicene Christianity]]. |
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{{Main|Muhammad in Islam}} |
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In the writings of many of the most prominent [[Sunni Islam]]ic metaphysicians, [[Islamic philosophy|philosophers]], and [[Sufism|mystics]] of the [[Islamic Golden Age]], [[Muhammad]], who is given the title of "[[Khatam an-Nabiyyin|Seal of the Prophets]]" in the [[Quran]],<ref>Qur'an 33:40.</ref> was understood to be "both a manifestation of the Logos and the Logos itself, he was also very kind and had prayed for his people every night, and was always very worried about his people.<ref name="auto1">Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr'', ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 63.</ref> This classical identification of Muhammad with the ''logos'' emerged from particular interpretations of specific [[Quranic verses]], [[hadith]], and through the writings of [[Sufism|the early mystics of Islam]].<ref name="auto1"/> |
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==Cosmological concepts== |
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At the same time, the ''logos'' concept was also intimately tied in the works of the same authors to other important [[Islamic cosmology|Islamic cosmological]] concepts, such as ''ʿaql'' ("Intellect"), which "resembled the late Greek doctrine of the ''logos''" and represented an Arabic equivalent to the Neoplatonic ''νοῦς'' ("Intellect").<ref name="auto"/> Other important Islamic concepts related to the ''logos'' include the ''lawḥ maḥfūẓ'' ({{Interlanguage link multi|Preserved Tablet|ar|اللوح_المحفوظ}}, in Quran 85:22),<ref name="auto2">Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''Ideals and Realities of Islam'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966), p. 42.</ref> ''ḳalam'' ("Divine Pen"),<ref name="auto2"/> ''[[Heavenly Quran|umm al-kitāb]]'' ("Mother of the Book," in Quran 3:7, 13:39, 43:4),<ref>Wensinck, A. J., “Lawḥ”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition'' (1913-1936), Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, [[T.W. Arnold]], R. Basset, R. Hartmann.</ref> and the Muhammad-related ideas of ''al-insān al-kāmil'' ("Perfect Man" or "Universal Man"), ''nūr muḥammadī'' ("Muhammadan Light"),<ref name="auto3">Rubin, U., “Nūr Muḥammadī”, in: ''Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.</ref> and ''al-ḥaqīqa al-muḥammadiyya'' ("Muhammadan Reality").<ref name="auto3"/> The ''logos'' was often presented as "created" in Islamic doctrine, and thus was more akin to [[Philo]]'s understanding of the phrase than [[Nicene Christianity]]. |
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===''ʿAql''=== |
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{{Main article|'Aql}} |
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One of the names given to a concept very much like the Christian Logos by the [[Islamic Golden Age|classical]] [[Muslim]] [[metaphysicians]] is ''ʿaql'', which is the "Arabic equivalent to the Greek {{lang|grc|[[nous|νοῦς]]}} (intellect)."<ref name="EoI"/> In the writings of the Islamic [[Neoplatonist]] philosophers, such as [[al-Farabi]] ({{Circa|872|950 AD}}) and [[Avicenna]] (d. 1037),<ref name="EoI"/> the idea of the ''ʿaql'' was presented in a manner that both resembled "the late Greek doctrine" and, likewise, "corresponded in many respects to the Logos Christology."<ref name="EoI"/> |
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The concept of ''logos'' in Sufism is used to relate the "Uncreated" ([[God in Islam|God]]) to the "Created" (humanity). In Sufism, for the Deist, no contact between man and God can be possible without the ''logos''. The ''logos'' is everywhere and always the same, but its personification is "unique" within each region. [[Jesus in Islam|Jesus]] and [[Muhammad]] are seen as the personifications of the ''logos'', and this is what enables them to speak in such absolute terms.<ref>''Sufism: love & wisdom'' Jean-Louis Michon, Roger Gaetani 2006 {{ISBN|0-941532-75-5}} p. 242. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UVt-EvXnEC4C&dq=Sufism+logos&pg=PA243]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BMNQNOHXKOMC&dq=Sufism+logos&pg=PA148 ''Sufi essays''] Seyyed Hossein Nasr 1973 {{ISBN|0-87395-233-2}} p. 148.</ref> |
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One of the boldest and most radical attempts to reformulate the Neoplatonic concepts into Sufism arose with the philosopher [[Ibn Arabi]], who traveled widely in Spain and North Africa. His concepts were expressed in two major works ''The Ringstones of Wisdom'' (''Fusus al-Hikam'') and ''The Meccan Illuminations'' (''Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya''). To Ibn Arabi, every prophet corresponds to a reality which he called a ''logos'' (''[[Kalimah]]''), as an aspect of the unique divine being. In his view the divine being would have for ever remained hidden, had it not been for the prophets, with ''logos'' providing the link between man and divinity.<ref>''Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis'' N. Hanif 2002 {{ISBN|81-7625-266-2}} p. 39. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2bhpr7RTLMAC&dq=Sufism+logos&pg=PA39]</ref> |
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Ibn Arabi seems to have adopted his version of the ''logos'' concept from Neoplatonic and Christian sources,<ref>Charles A. Frazee, "Ibn al-'Arabī and Spanish Mysticism of the Sixteenth Century", ''Numen'' '''14''' (3), Nov 1967, pp. 229–40.</ref> although (writing in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] rather than Greek) he used more than twenty different terms when discussing it.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Little |first=John T. |title=Al-Ins?N Al-K?Mil: The Perfect Man According to Ibn Al-'Arab? |date=January 1987 |journal=The Muslim World |volume=77 |issue=1 |pages=43–54 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1987.tb02785.x |quote="Ibn al-'Arabi uses no less than twenty-two different terms to describe the various aspects under which this single Logos may be viewed."}}</ref> For Ibn Arabi, the ''logos'' or "Universal Man" was a mediating link between individual human beings and the divine essence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dobie |first=Robert J. |date=17 November 2009 |title=Logos and Revelation: Ibn 'Arabi, Meister Eckhart, and Mystical Hermeneutics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rWVwT3UpthUC&pg=PA225 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=The Catholic University of America Press |page=225 |isbn= 978-0813216775 |quote="For Ibn Arabi, the Logos or "Universal Man" was a mediating link between individual human beings and the divine essence."}}</ref> |
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Other Sufi writers also show the influence of the Neoplatonic ''logos''.<ref>[[Edward Henry Whinfield]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=l0vHUo0wnlgC&pg=PR25 Masnavi I Ma'navi: The spiritual couplets of Maulána Jalálu-'d-Dín Muhammad Rúmí]'', Routledge, 2001 (originally published 1898), {{ISBN|0-415-24531-1}}, p. xxv.</ref> In the 15th century [[Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī]] introduced the ''Doctrine of Logos and the Perfect Man''. For al-Jīlī, the "perfect man" (associated with the ''logos'' or Muhammad himself) has the power to assume different forms at different times and to appear in different guises.<ref>''Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis'' N. Hanif 2002 {{ISBN|81-7625-266-2}} p. 98.[https://books.google.com/books?id=2bhpr7RTLMAC&q=logos+jili&pg=PA39]</ref> |
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In [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Sufism, Şeyh Gâlib (d. 1799) articulates Sühan (''logos''-''Kalima'') in his ''Hüsn ü Aşk'' (''Beauty and Love'') in parallel to Ibn Arabi's Kalima. In the romance, ''Sühan'' appears as an embodiment of Kalima as a reference to the Word of God, the Perfect Man, and the Reality of Muhammad.<ref>Betül Avcı, "Character of ''Sühan'' in Şeyh Gâlib’s Romance, ''Hüsn ü Aşk'' (''Beauty and Love'')" ''Archivum Ottomanicum'', 32 (2015).</ref>{{Relevance inline|date=March 2018}}{{huh|date=November 2021}} |
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==See also== |
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* [[Be, and it is]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Latest revision as of 18:22, 17 August 2024
The concept of the logos exists in Islam, where it was definitively articulated primarily in the writings of the classical Sunni mystics and Islamic philosophers, as well as by certain Shi'a thinkers, during the Islamic Golden Age.[1][2] In Sunni Islam, the concept of the logos has been given many different names by the denomination's metaphysicians, mystics, and philosophers, including wasilah, ʿaql ("Intellect"), al-insān al-kāmil ("Universal Man"), kalimat Allāh ("Word of God"), haqīqa muḥammadiyya ("The Muhammadan Reality"), and nūr muḥammadī ("The Muhammadan Light"). Throughout Islamic history, there have existed several different metaphysical concepts that have been understood to correspond "in many respects" to the logos Christology of Christianity and to the use of the term logos in late Greek philosophy.[3] The concept has been documented as early as the 8th-9th century.[4]
Muhammad
[edit]In the writings of many of the most prominent Sunni Islamic metaphysicians, philosophers, and mystics of the Islamic Golden Age, Muhammad, who is given the title of "Seal of the Prophets" in the Quran,[5] was understood to be "both a manifestation of the Logos and the Logos itself, he was also very kind and had prayed for his people every night, and was always very worried about his people.[6] This classical identification of Muhammad with the logos emerged from particular interpretations of specific Quranic verses, hadith, and through the writings of the early mystics of Islam.[6]
Cosmological concepts
[edit]At the same time, the logos concept was also intimately tied in the works of the same authors to other important Islamic cosmological concepts, such as ʿaql ("Intellect"), which "resembled the late Greek doctrine of the logos" and represented an Arabic equivalent to the Neoplatonic νοῦς ("Intellect").[3] Other important Islamic concepts related to the logos include the lawḥ maḥfūẓ (Preserved Tablet, in Quran 85:22),[7] ḳalam ("Divine Pen"),[7] umm al-kitāb ("Mother of the Book," in Quran 3:7, 13:39, 43:4),[8] and the Muhammad-related ideas of al-insān al-kāmil ("Perfect Man" or "Universal Man"), nūr muḥammadī ("Muhammadan Light"),[9] and al-ḥaqīqa al-muḥammadiyya ("Muhammadan Reality").[9] The logos was often presented as "created" in Islamic doctrine, and thus was more akin to Philo's understanding of the phrase than Nicene Christianity.
ʿAql
[edit]One of the names given to a concept very much like the Christian Logos by the classical Muslim metaphysicians is ʿaql, which is the "Arabic equivalent to the Greek νοῦς (intellect)."[2] In the writings of the Islamic Neoplatonist philosophers, such as al-Farabi (c. 872 – c. 950 AD) and Avicenna (d. 1037),[2] the idea of the ʿaql was presented in a manner that both resembled "the late Greek doctrine" and, likewise, "corresponded in many respects to the Logos Christology."[2]
The concept of logos in Sufism is used to relate the "Uncreated" (God) to the "Created" (humanity). In Sufism, for the Deist, no contact between man and God can be possible without the logos. The logos is everywhere and always the same, but its personification is "unique" within each region. Jesus and Muhammad are seen as the personifications of the logos, and this is what enables them to speak in such absolute terms.[10][11]
One of the boldest and most radical attempts to reformulate the Neoplatonic concepts into Sufism arose with the philosopher Ibn Arabi, who traveled widely in Spain and North Africa. His concepts were expressed in two major works The Ringstones of Wisdom (Fusus al-Hikam) and The Meccan Illuminations (Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya). To Ibn Arabi, every prophet corresponds to a reality which he called a logos (Kalimah), as an aspect of the unique divine being. In his view the divine being would have for ever remained hidden, had it not been for the prophets, with logos providing the link between man and divinity.[12]
Ibn Arabi seems to have adopted his version of the logos concept from Neoplatonic and Christian sources,[13] although (writing in Arabic rather than Greek) he used more than twenty different terms when discussing it.[14] For Ibn Arabi, the logos or "Universal Man" was a mediating link between individual human beings and the divine essence.[15]
Other Sufi writers also show the influence of the Neoplatonic logos.[16] In the 15th century Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī introduced the Doctrine of Logos and the Perfect Man. For al-Jīlī, the "perfect man" (associated with the logos or Muhammad himself) has the power to assume different forms at different times and to appear in different guises.[17]
In Ottoman Sufism, Şeyh Gâlib (d. 1799) articulates Sühan (logos-Kalima) in his Hüsn ü Aşk (Beauty and Love) in parallel to Ibn Arabi's Kalima. In the romance, Sühan appears as an embodiment of Kalima as a reference to the Word of God, the Perfect Man, and the Reality of Muhammad.[18][relevant?][clarification needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Gardet, L., "Kalām", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
- ^ a b c d Boer, Tj. de and Rahman, F., "ʿAḳl", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
- ^ a b Boer, Tj. de and Rahman, F., “ʿAḳl”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
- ^ Hoffman, Valerie J. "Annihilation in the Messenger of God: the development of a Sufi practice." International Journal of Middle East Studies 31.3 (1999): 351-369.
- ^ Qur'an 33:40.
- ^ a b Seyyed Hossein Nasr, The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ed. William C. Chittick (Bloomington: World Wisdom, 2007), p. 63.
- ^ a b Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ideals and Realities of Islam (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1966), p. 42.
- ^ Wensinck, A. J., “Lawḥ”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, First Edition (1913-1936), Edited by M. Th. Houtsma, T.W. Arnold, R. Basset, R. Hartmann.
- ^ a b Rubin, U., “Nūr Muḥammadī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs.
- ^ Sufism: love & wisdom Jean-Louis Michon, Roger Gaetani 2006 ISBN 0-941532-75-5 p. 242. [1]
- ^ Sufi essays Seyyed Hossein Nasr 1973 ISBN 0-87395-233-2 p. 148.
- ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis N. Hanif 2002 ISBN 81-7625-266-2 p. 39. [2]
- ^ Charles A. Frazee, "Ibn al-'Arabī and Spanish Mysticism of the Sixteenth Century", Numen 14 (3), Nov 1967, pp. 229–40.
- ^ Little, John T. (January 1987). "Al-Ins?N Al-K?Mil: The Perfect Man According to Ibn Al-'Arab?". The Muslim World. 77 (1): 43–54. doi:10.1111/j.1478-1913.1987.tb02785.x.
Ibn al-'Arabi uses no less than twenty-two different terms to describe the various aspects under which this single Logos may be viewed.
- ^ Dobie, Robert J. (17 November 2009). Logos and Revelation: Ibn 'Arabi, Meister Eckhart, and Mystical Hermeneutics. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0813216775.
For Ibn Arabi, the Logos or "Universal Man" was a mediating link between individual human beings and the divine essence.
- ^ Edward Henry Whinfield, Masnavi I Ma'navi: The spiritual couplets of Maulána Jalálu-'d-Dín Muhammad Rúmí, Routledge, 2001 (originally published 1898), ISBN 0-415-24531-1, p. xxv.
- ^ Biographical encyclopaedia of Sufis N. Hanif 2002 ISBN 81-7625-266-2 p. 98.[3]
- ^ Betül Avcı, "Character of Sühan in Şeyh Gâlib’s Romance, Hüsn ü Aşk (Beauty and Love)" Archivum Ottomanicum, 32 (2015).