British Society for Middle Eastern Studies

Abdullah Ansari of Herat: An Early Sufi Master by A. G. Ravan Farhadi; The Concept of
Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism by B. Radtke; J. O'Kane
Review by: Oliver Leaman
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Nov., 1997), pp. 301-302
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/195801 .
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 REVIEWS:GENERAL

reason to scriptureand also as an invaluableexample of Qur'anexegesisfrom the period

of greatest Mu tazilTintellectualinfluence.
The editor has established the text (pp. 48-144) on the basis of five manuscripts
which he suggests (pp. 44-47) represent three families. He also provides an English
translation (pp. 49-145 facing the Arabic) which, if somewhat clumsy in places and
occasionally misleading (e.g. 'for it is an attribution of a copartner to God' for li-anna
dhalikashirk, pp. 114-115), gives a helpful guide to the intricaciesof the Arabic.
The edition contains an introduction with a brief history of arguments against
anthropomorphismfrom ancient times to classical Islam and summary of the Epistle's
contents (pp. 1-18), a survey of al-Qasim's attitude towards the Qur'an from his
surviving writings (pp. 19-29), and a discussion of his interpretativemethods in this
work (pp. 30-43). Much helpful material is included, though the edition lacks any
information about al-Qasimhimself or his works, and any indication of how the Epistle
may have been influencedby and in turn have influenced other works. Its place in the
tradition to which al-Qasim made this distinctive contribution is left to be resolved by
others.

SELLY OAK COLLEGES, DAVID THOMAS

BIRMINGHAM

ABDULLAH ANSARI OF HERAT: AN EARLY SUFI MASTER. By A. G. RAVAN

FARHADI. (Curzon Sufi Series). Richmond, Curzon, 1996. xvi, 158 pp. 2 illustrations, 1
map. ?12.99.
THE CONCEPT OF SAINTHOOD IN EARLY ISLAMIC MYSTICISM. By B.
RADTKEand J. O'KANE. (Curzon Sufi Series). Richmond, Curzon, 1996. xi, 282
pp. ?14.99.
These books are both very useful additions to the existing literature on Sufism, and
continue the enterprising series on Sufi studies which Curzon has initiated. What is
particularlyuseful about this series is that it makes available in English, often for the
first time, works by important Sufi thinkers. These are thinkers who are often well
known in the Islamic world, and who are significantfor the Sufi thinkerswhose works
have become popular in English, and so it is doubly necessaryto have some account of
them availablefor anyone interestedin the area of Islamic mysticism.
Abdullah Ansarnlived in the tenth century CE, was born in Herat into a Sufi family
and had a typically tumultuous career during which he went in and out of favour with
the authorities and his peers largely as a result of his antagonism to what he took to be
the anthropomorphismof the Ash'arites. He is best known as a staunch defender of
HanbalTIslam, and his works resound with the argumentthat the Qur'an is pre-eternal
and uncreated.Despite his Hanbalism, though, Ansari was also a Sufi, albeit certainly
not the variety of Sufism which has since Ibn al-'Arabi become so well known, and
remains popular in both the Shi'i and Sunni worlds. In fact, he is today far better
known in the Shi'i community than in the Sunni, perhaps because it is far neater to see
Hanbalism as an antagonist of Sufism. We should rememberthat there is a branch of
Sufism which opposes ecstatic mysticism, and Ansar is a representative of such a
branch. His writings display a consistent suspicion of ecstatic mysticism, an attitude in

301

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REVIEWS:GENERAL

which he was joined by Ibn Taymiyya later in the fourteenth century CE. Farhadi is
surely mistaken in suggesting that the latter was critical of Sufism;like Ansari, he was
only critical of a particulartype of Sufism, the ecstatic version. After a brief but very
clear introductionto the life of Ansarl, Farhadipresents translationsof selections from
the major writings. Many of these will be unfamiliar,since they exist originally in Dari-
Persian, and do give something of the flavour of his writings. We should remember,of
course, that what we have as his writings are mainly the notes of his students, but there
is a remarkableconsistency none the less between the differentworks we can read here,
whether on theology or serving as Sufi training texts. It is certainlydifficultto reconcile
the hostility which he felt for ecstatic Sufism with his Munajat(Intimate Invocations),
which continue to be very popular with all kinds of Sufis.
Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhiwas a very different kind of mystic. A much earlier thinker,
born in the ninth century CE, he was enthusiasticallytaken up by Ibn al-'ArabT,but is
little mentioned in the intervening centuries. The authors argue plausibly that al-
TirmidhTis representativeof a type of theosophy which existed before the introduction
of the formal falsafah tradition within the Islamic world. On the contrary, his works
are full of references to the Gnostics and the Neoplatonists, Shi'i as well as Sunni
theories, mystical experience,cosmology and the whole range of Islamic theology. The
translations of his works, which constitute most of the text, are careful and clear, and
give something of the flavour of his thought. His autobiographyis interestingboth for
being the earliest such text in Arabic, and for its inclusion of dreams in appropriate
mystical style as a genuine source of knowledge. The authors are well-advisedto stress
his writings on the notion of being a friend of God, since this is perhapsthe only aspect
of al-Tirmidhi'sthought which has survived.The text has a disputationalstructure,and
one imagines that it was written during a protractedcontroversyconcerningthe precise
definition of what the criteria for a friend of God are. He explains here how turning
one's back on the world can lead to spiritual growth, to being confirmed in one's
spiritualrank by God leading to the appropriatedescriptionas the friend of God. There
are obviously many errors one can make on the way, since the text is replete with
warnings and accounts of how easy it is to go awry, which is also interesting, as it
shows that even at this comparatively early period there must have been a lot of
argumentsabout the precise nature of the friend of God.
The only reservationI have with the book is the title. Is the friend of God really a
saint? The notion of 'saint' is such a Christian one that its application to an Islamic
concept is always likely to be questionable, and it certainly is here. The friend of God
has a special relationshipwith God, he has reached a high spirituallevel and as a result
of this and what God will do for him he can acquire great understanding, and the
ability to interpretthe direction and nature of reality. Describing this person as holy is
roughlyacceptable,but making the furtherclaim that sainthood is involvedis misleading.
Fortunately,it is not a misunderstandingwhich in any way is allowed to intrude in the
clear account of al-Tirmidhi'sviews in the book.

LIVERPOOLJOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY OLIVER LEAMAN

THE ISLAMIC INTELLECTUAL TRADITION IN PERSIA. By SEYYEDHOSSEIN

NASR. Edited by MEHDIAMINRAZAVI.Richmond, Curzon, 1996. xv, 375 pp. ?45.00.

302

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