Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn

Rābi'a al-'Adawiyya and Dhū'n-Nūn are among the founding saints in the Ṣūfītradition; however, these figures are more legend than fact. Their narratives in Western scholarship have been constructed from numerous sources, a process which has stripped them of their original contexts....

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cook, Rachel Nelle
Other Authors: Lucas, Scott
Language:en_US
Published: The University of Arizona. 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10150/560831
http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/560831
id ndltd-arizona.edu-oai-arizona.openrepository.com-10150-560831
record_format oai_dc
spelling ndltd-arizona.edu-oai-arizona.openrepository.com-10150-5608312017-01-15T03:00:39Z Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn Cook, Rachel Nelle Cook, Rachel Nelle Lucas, Scott Darling, Linda Noorani, Yaseen Gender Rabi'a al-Adawiyya Sufism Middle Eastern & North African Studies Dhu'n-Nun Rābi'a al-'Adawiyya and Dhū'n-Nūn are among the founding saints in the Ṣūfītradition; however, these figures are more legend than fact. Their narratives in Western scholarship have been constructed from numerous sources, a process which has stripped them of their original contexts. This work addresses this issue by examining these characters' stories in the context of three of the major works containing collections of their stories: Sulamī's Dhikr and Ṭabaqāt, Qushayrī's Risala, and 'Aṭṭār's Tadhkirat, in order to see which themes the original compilers of these stories emphasized. This approach will demonstrate that these authors were primarily focused on two issues in these works: the role of gender in the practitioner's relationship with God, and the problem of how to discuss advanced states along the Ṣūfīpath such that they do not distract novice Ṣūfīs lacking the spiritual maturity to handle these stages. Recontextualizing these stories in this way opens the door to further questions regarding the way that Western scholars approach the stories of other Ṣūfīsaints and the history of early Sufism as a whole. 2015 text Electronic Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10150/560831 http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/560831 en_US Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. The University of Arizona.
collection NDLTD
language en_US
sources NDLTD
topic Gender
Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
Sufism
Middle Eastern & North African Studies
Dhu'n-Nun
spellingShingle Gender
Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
Sufism
Middle Eastern & North African Studies
Dhu'n-Nun
Cook, Rachel Nelle
Cook, Rachel Nelle
Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn
description Rābi'a al-'Adawiyya and Dhū'n-Nūn are among the founding saints in the Ṣūfītradition; however, these figures are more legend than fact. Their narratives in Western scholarship have been constructed from numerous sources, a process which has stripped them of their original contexts. This work addresses this issue by examining these characters' stories in the context of three of the major works containing collections of their stories: Sulamī's Dhikr and Ṭabaqāt, Qushayrī's Risala, and 'Aṭṭār's Tadhkirat, in order to see which themes the original compilers of these stories emphasized. This approach will demonstrate that these authors were primarily focused on two issues in these works: the role of gender in the practitioner's relationship with God, and the problem of how to discuss advanced states along the Ṣūfīpath such that they do not distract novice Ṣūfīs lacking the spiritual maturity to handle these stages. Recontextualizing these stories in this way opens the door to further questions regarding the way that Western scholars approach the stories of other Ṣūfīsaints and the history of early Sufism as a whole.
author2 Lucas, Scott
author_facet Lucas, Scott
Cook, Rachel Nelle
Cook, Rachel Nelle
author Cook, Rachel Nelle
Cook, Rachel Nelle
author_sort Cook, Rachel Nelle
title Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn
title_short Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn
title_full Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn
title_fullStr Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn
title_full_unstemmed Recontextualizing Early Ṣūfī Figures: Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and Dhū’n-Nūn
title_sort recontextualizing early ṣūfī figures: rābi‘a al-‘adawiyya and dhū’n-nūn
publisher The University of Arizona.
publishDate 2015
url http://hdl.handle.net/10150/560831
http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/560831
work_keys_str_mv AT cookrachelnelle recontextualizingearlysufifiguresrabiaaladawiyyaanddhunnun
AT cookrachelnelle recontextualizingearlysufifiguresrabiaaladawiyyaanddhunnun
_version_ 1718408505928450048