Paradise Found: 平Ayn al-Qu畍t on Quranic Origins
Ayn al-Qu畍t Hamadn朝 (d. 525/1131) was a mystic, philosopher, theologian, and judge who was born in the western Iranian city of Hamadan. He was the student of A畍mad al-Ghazl朝 (d. 520/1126), and is best known as a maverick-like figure who was put to death by the Seljuq government at the tender age of thirty-four, ostensibly on charges of heresy. Looking beyond the causes surrounding his state-sponsored execution and to his writings, 平Ayn al-Qu畍t emerges as a first-rate thinker who was thoroughly conversant in the Islamic intellectual and spiritual sciences, along with Arabic and Persian poetry.
For all of 平Ayn al-Qu畍ts importance, there is relatively little scholarship on him that is entirely reliable, and there are major features of his thought which remain unexamined. His engagement with theQuranis one glaring example. In this lecture I outline the main features of 平Ayn al-Qu畍ts Quranic vision by focusing on the importance he places upon the Qurans all-encompassing nature on the one hand, and his notion of cultivating worthiness (ahliyya) in order to understand theQuranon the other. This will then set the stage for an exposition of 平Ayn al-Qu畍ts unique perspective on the Quranic detached letters (al-畍ur笛f al-muqa畊畊a平a), through which he presents us with his theory of the Qurans true origins. Book your place here.
Speaker
Mohammed Rustom
Mohammed Rustom is an internationally recognized expert on Sufism, Islamic philosophy, and Quranic hermeneutics, he is the author ofThe Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mull 畊adr,co-editor ofThe Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary, and translator ofAb笛 畍つmid al-Ghazl朝, The Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration.
