Sufi Master and Qur'an Scholar: Abū'l-Qasim al-Qushayrī and the Latā'if al-Ishārāt (Book report)
The title is a book by Martin Nguyen about Abū'l-Qasim al-Qushayrī and the Latā'if al-Ishārāt, the Sufi Master and Qur'an Scholar published by Oxford University Press and the Institute of Ismaili Studies as one of the Qur'anic Studies Series.[1]
Overview
• Provides the first extensive study of the Latā'if al-Ishārāt, introducing the historical significance of this work
• Provides the first detailed biography of al-Qushayrī
• Includes a map of important authors and works for the Nishapuri school of Qur'anic exegesis
• Shows Sufism in dialogue of other intellectual traditions within Sunnism and beyond
Description
This book is the first extensive examination of the medieval Qur'an commentary known as the Latāif al-Ishārāt and the first critical biography of its author, the famous spiritual master Abū'l-Qasim al-Qushayrī. Written in 5th/11th century Nishapur, an intellectual and cultural crossroads of the Muslim world, the Latā'if al-Ishārāt has endured down through the centuries as an important work of Sufi exegesis. A mystical vision of reality is taught through its line-by-line treatment of the Qur'an as its author was writing as both a Sufi teacher and scholar. This study fully investigates al-Qushayrī's life and historical horizon and carefully analyses the structure and method of the commentary. The primary aim of the book is to draw greater attention to the other traditions of exegesis that inform the Sufi approach of the Latā'if al-Ishārāt, an understudied feature of many Sufi commentaries in general. In the case of this commentary, scholarly and pedagogical concerns for language, prophetic sayings, law and theology are interwoven into al-Qushayrī's overarching mystical exegesis. Other important aspects of the author's intellectual identity and education clearly influenced the formation of al-Qushayrī's Sufi worldview and as a consequence his interpretation of God's word. By delineating these other traditions of exegesis mentioned in al-Qushayrī's biography and embedded in his Latā'if al-Ishārāt, we can better appreciate how he and his commentary were part of a wider Sunni historical heritage in addition to the developing Sufi tradition.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1:The Life of al-Qushayrī
2:Sufi Pedagogy
3:The Exegete
4:Structure and Style
5:Attributions and Exegetical Reports
6:Tracing the Traditions of Exegesis
7:Legal Matters
8:Ash'arī Concerns
9:Spiritual Hierarchies
Conclusion
Appendix A : The Biographical Records of al-Qushayrī
Author Information
Martin Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Islamic Religious Traditions, Fairfield University, CT
Reviews and Awards
"The detailed analyses and the vast cumulative data presented in Nguyen's work have produced a fresh, original, thorough and well-articulated book. It has the potential to become one of the main textbooks in the study of Sufism as well as, more generally, in the fields of hermeneutics and medieval Muslim culture." - Sara Sviri, Department of Arabic and Department of Comparative Religions, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"Clearly written and well-annotated throughout, this timely study brings to light some important and hitherto unexplored aspects of the celebrated Sufi theologian Nishapur." - Annabel Keeler, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge