Imamate and Love: The Discourse of the Divine in Islamic Mysticism
Author: Carney, ‘Abd al-Hakeem
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 73, Number 3, September 2005 , pp. 705-730(26)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
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Abstract:
In the Christian tradition, Charles Williams championed the idea of a “romantic theology,” where romantic love becomes a means of understanding and gaining knowledge of God. Dante was the main inspiration for this work, for whom the figure of Beatrice became a theophany and vision of God. The idea of a romantic theology is not new to the Islamic tradition, with thinkers such as Ibn ‘Arab
exploring the meaning of love in the context of an overall theology of Divine love. This article seeks to explore the way that some Islamic mystics (particularly the theosophists Ibn ‘Arabi and Shaykh Ahmad al-’Ahs
’) have grappled with this question, and how in the Shi’a context the theophanic function of beauty becomes a means of approach to the Hidden Imm.
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfi076
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