#Islamic theology

[loneberry]

Ibn ʿArabi on water and divine lowness

Commentary on Ibn ʿArabi's The Bezels of Wisdom

I guess I just love this because I've been thinking about the directionality of the divine lately, feeling a bit of an aversion to the privileging of the heavenward direction above all else—which I associate with hierarchy, ascension, Plotinus. I've been thinking against Simone Weil's conception of grace as that which enables ascent against the force of gravity, a hoisting upward, which is often a kind of turning away from the created world, a disavowal of earthy existence. What can I say. I love the earth. I'll keep on loving the earth. I want to think with the low, the mineral, with water, which always finds the lowest point. Water is that which supports life from beneath.

How did I find my way to Islamic mysticism? In the Abrahamic traditions, it really does offer the most affirming view of creation. We're all the breath of God.

What would it mean to find God below?

If you let a rope fall down, it will fall on God.

As I wrote in my review of the experimental film Last Things by Deborah Stratman:

Why not found a religion based on fear and respect of the mineral kingdom? Death is not ascent but descent, a return to our mineral form, as Mallo and Cixous know. 

From Agustín Fernández Mallo's The Book of All Loves: “The fact that teeth and bones are all that remains of us after death is proof that our ultimate identity is mineral. We do not ascend, we are not on some track towards that which the ancients formulated as spiritual; on the contrary, we sink down into the most durable physical matter. A kind of periodic table of elements is what we are; more of the earth even than earth itself.”

From Hélène Cixous’s Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing: “There is passage through the animal state, then through the vegetal state, and so we move away from humankind; from the vegetal we descend into the earth, by the stem, by the root, until we reach what doesn’t concern us, although it exists and inscribes itself, which is of the mineral order, although it doesn’t hold together since we are aiming toward disassembly, toward decomposition.”

*

Ibn ‘Arabī, speaking of divine intention, writes in the Futūhāt:

"It is like water. Its station is that it descends or flows on the earth."

[teenageascetic]

“Take my shirt and lay it over my father's face: he will recover his sight. Then bring your whole family back to me.”

Surah Yusuf verse 93.

In different eras and places among Muslims talismanic shirts were worn under the regular robes of people to offer protection from Nazar and Sihr. It is believed that this tradition dates back to the prophet Yusuf (Joseph). One of the more famous practitioners of this tradition are the Ottomans, sultans such as Cem Sultan and Süleyman-ı Evvel wore them. This Quran verse is what inspired this.

[givemearmstopraywith]

Bruce B. Lawrence "Introduction to Performative Dimensions of Islamic Spirituality" in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Islamic Spirituality

[maaruin]

So, I have a question to Muslims. Maybe someone knowledgeable will read this post and can answer. This is something about Islamic teaching that I am wondering.

I have heard that many/most Muslims belief that the original Quran is eternal and with God in heaven. And that the Quran in heaven is identical in words to the Quran that was revealed to Muhammed and that he preached and that was passed on and written down. Is that right so far?

Now, Islam also says that God has revealed the same message he revealed to Muhammed before to other prophets. Like the Torah/Taurat to Moses and the Gospel/Injil to Jesus. Now, Islam says the current versions of these are corrupted. But Islam posits that there were original version of them that were true divine revelation.

But Quran, original Torah, and original Gospel are not verbally identical. Many verses in the Quran refer to specific situations that Muhammed found himself in. And we would expect the original Torah to refer to specific situations Moses found himself in and the original Gospel refer to specific situation Jesus found himself in. Yet they are also divine revelation.

So here is my question: Are there an eternal Torah and an eternal Gospel and eternal versions of all the other revelations God gave before revealing the Quran to Muhammed metaphorically sitting next to the eternal Quran?

(Please tell me if I have completely misunderstood those teachings.)

Edit: I googled it, and the answer seems to be yes - https://islamqa.info/en/answers/197537/are-the-torah-gospel-and-zabur-truly-the-words-of-allah

[awakefor48hours]

I saw a post about this so now I'm curious

New poll with more options if you want there

please consider reblogging for a larger sample size unless you're planning to say something that's anti-theistic

[canisalbus]

Imagine if Machete was Muslim instead of Catholic. His name would be something like Saif سيف, and Vasco would probably be something like Dhahabi ذَهَبِيّ

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[transtheology]

from @.them on Instagram, ft. @.natamazan (she/her) and @.moe_ak (he/him)

[psalmlover]

this is gli

gli was born in the hagia sophia mosque in istanbul, turkey, where she was adored by all patrons, even being pet by us president barack obama when he visited

gli passed away at age sixteen and was buried in the hagia sophia garden

turkey’s presidential spokesman was quoted saying “that cat will be there, and all cats are welcome to our mosques.”

[magnetothemagnificent]

when they say “Jewish people, Muslims, and Christian’s all worship the same god” is that true? can you tell me more about the god in Judaism and how it’s different or similar however? what is unique? thank u

It's not true.

According to Judaism, Jews and Muslims worship the same G-d, but Christians don't. This is why Halakhically it's okay for a Jew to pray in a Mosque if they have to, but not a Church. Muslims fall under the category of those who aren't Jewish, but are God-fearing, and as such different laws apply.

According to Jewish law, Christianity is idolatry, and thus the god they worship is an idolatrous god. Christianity isn't considered to be truly monotheistic according to Judaism. The concept of the Trinity is considered Shittuf (pseudo-idolatry), and the assertion of Jesus, a human, as divine, is considered blasphemous.

Now, this doesn't mean that as Jews we shouldn't interact with Christians (or any other idolatrous people) at all. Interfaith discussions and allyship is intergral to fighting antisemitism and other forms of bigotry. It just means that as Jews we don't consider Christians to be monotheistic and to worship the same G-d we do, and thus we don't pray in a Church and are careful not to engage with Christian iconography.

Sources:

Is Christianity considered Avoda Zarah?

Avoda Zara

Visiting a Church or a Mosque

Introduction to Masechet Avodah Zarah and 2a-5b

[aynl]

Gehenna, the greek name for the Valley of Himmon, is a valley surrounding Jerusalem and is often referred to as a place of divine punishment.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Joshua states in 28:3 that King Azah “burnt incense and children in the valley.” 33:6 mentions that his grandson continued this ritual. The children were sacrificed to the god Moloch. In 7:31Jeremiah(prophet) says to end the practice and all the shrines for it. So King Josiah answers this call and destroys the shrines to prevent the sacrifices. Important to add that this was never proven in any sense. The name Moloch only appears 8 times in the hebrew bible, so its not 100 percent confirmed that its even a god. A lot of theologists think that this ritual wasn’t actually a sacrifice but more like a rite of passage for a child. Plus that its actually just anti-pagan propaganda of that time.

In Aramaic translations of the hebrew bible, Gehenna is used for verses about resurrection, judgement and fate of the wicked.

In the christian Bible, Jesus refers to it as a dump where the habitants burn their trash and criminals. He calls it the pit of eternal fire which never burns out. Jesus uses Gehenna to symbolise the eternal suffering of the second death(The second death here refers to the punishment of sinners after death.). Its not the same as the eternal lake of fire as in the Book of Revelation but it corresponds to it. So gehenna is not Hell itself but more a symbol of it.

The reason why a lot of people call it hell is because 16th century translaters translated hades and gehenna both as hell. In Islam, the islamic name for hell, Jahannam derives from the word Gehenna!

So originally, Gehenna was just a valley but then became a place of sacrifice BUT this may be misinformation and it actually was used for rite of passages. It then became a dumping place, where the wicked were burned. It was never referred to as Hell but became synonymous with it after 16th century translations and the concept being analogous to the eternal lake of fire in BoR. The word Gehenna itself is referred to in verses about resurrection.

But how does this correspond to The summer Hikaru died?

A lot of those points fit the story very well! Like how they sacrificed their own people to a pagan god and how the village sacrificed heads to Unuki-sama. Im not entirely sure about this one point about the misinformation aspect. We know that the village believes that Nounuki-sama is some inherently evil spirit. But it’s not actually true, it’s more a man made thing. The villagers came to Nounuki-Sama. Like how Gehenna wasn’t inherently associated with hell but more so over the years. It also fits How Gehenna is often used in verses about resurrection, which kind of is what happened to Hikaru after being taken over by Nounuki-sama. AND how Josiah abolished the shrines and therefore the rituals may be what will happen in the story, how Yoshiki (and Hikaru) will overcome the village tradition and kind of put an end to what the elders and everyone before them have been doing. Maybe maybe idk these r just my thoughts would love more thoughts on this

[teenageascetic]

"What Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib (a) Said on the Occasion of the Burial of the Supreme Lady, Fatima (a), While Addressing the Holy Prophet (s) at His Grave: O Prophet of Allah (s)! Peace be upon you from me and from your daughter who has come to you and who has hastened to meet you. O Prophet of Allah (s), my patience about your chosen (daughter) has been exhausted and my power of endurance has weakened, except that I have ground for consolation in having endured the great hardship and heartrending event of your separation.

"I laid you down in your grave when you breathed your last (as your head was) between my neck and chest. "Verily we are Allah's and verily to Him shall we return" (Holy Quran, 2: 156).

Now, the trust has been returned, and what had been given has been taken back. As to my grief, it knows no bounds, and as to my nights, they will remain sleepless till Allah chooses for me the house in which you are now residing.

Certainly, your daughter will apprise you of the joining together of your umma (people) for the aim of oppressing her. Ask her for the details and get all the news. This has happened only a short period of time had elapsed, yet your remembrance has already disappeared... My Salam be to you both, the Salam of a grief-stricken one, nor a disgusted nor a hateful one. If I go away, it is not because I am weary (of you), and if I stay, it is not due to lack of belief in what Allah has promised those who endure."

-Sermon 202 of Nahj al-balagha.

[destroyingangelneveragod]

people who are completely anti-religion/theology/spirituality need to unpack a lot; destruction of religion can be an sact of cultural genocide. divorcing religion and/or spirituality from culture is nearly impossible and would strip elements of a culture inherently

[noosphe-re]

Motto of the Emirate of Granada (Nasrid Kingdom of Granada): Wala ghaliba illa Allah (Arabic: ولا غالب إلا الله, lit. 'There is no victor but God')

[irhabiya]

Hi! Please feel free to ignore this if you're not comfortable answering. Your posts made me interested in learning about Qur'anism and I was wondering if you have any book recommendations to learn about this sect? Thank you!

the Quran

[muhibuallah]

Salaam and Hello friends!

I co-run a discord server called For God's Sake (pun absolutely intended). In relation to it's name, this server is for all people and religions/spiritualities and welcomes both casual conversations and light debate.

We use a mixture of forums/threads, text chats, and voice chats as well as a multitude of roles to choose from (and custom roles if none of them fit you).

Most importantly, we are an LGBTQAI+, plural systems, and alterhuman friendly space, with plenty of room for everyone of all ages (within Discord Terms of Service).

We would love to welcome more people into our space so please join us! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to message me directly or send in an ask!

(List of our channels under the cut)

Theology+ (Category)

#general-theology

#scripture-study

#gnostics-heresies

#liberation-queer

#mysticism

#orthodoxy

#occult

etc...

Community Center (Category)

#general-chat

#arts-music-writing

#health-lifestyle

#animals-n-more

#lgbtqia2

#alterhuman

#politics

etc...

[aerial-jace]

If you are agnostic of any kind (doesn't claim/believe it's possible to have certain knowledge of their position) select the position you're agnostic about.

For example: I'd fall into agnostic atheist because while I do not believe in any deity I remain open minded that a strong enough personal experience may convince me otherwise in future. I hold my belief to be only provisional. Meanwhile, someone who believes in a monotheistic God but does not think it's possible to know for sure would fall into agnostic monotheist.