James Winston Morris

The aim of this essay is simply to point to certain guiding concerns and perspectives that are shared by both these artists, perspectives which are happily subsumed in the multifaceted Arabic technical term tahqīq or “realization” that was particularly favored by Ibn ‘Arabi and the long line of his later interpreters, or muhaqqiqūn.  And in examining this subject, we can hopefully suggest something of the unique comprehensiveness and proven effectiveness of Rumi’s and Ibn ‘Arabi’s writings in supporting that wider human task of realization. Read More »

In this interview Maher Hathout offers a very humane understanding of Shariah. He outlines the 5 principles upon which Shariah is based: preservation of life; preservation and freedom of religion; preservation of mind and intellect, including freedom of conscience and thought; preservation of lineage and family; preservation of ownership.

The fear and revulsion that some people feel toward Sharia law is due to the perception that the penalties for certain crimes seem barbaric and cruel. The over emphasis of certain aspects of the Penal Code, both in the media and in the hands of some jurists, has led to the overshadowing of the moral principles which comprise true Shariah. There is a confusion between Shariah, the path that leads to happiness, justice, and well-being, and Fiqh which is the application of shariah principles  to specific societal circumstances–applications formulated mostly by middle-aged men in the context of a patriarchal society. Fiqh is man-made not Divinely revealed. Sometimes in the quagmire of details, the essential purpose of the Law is forgotten. A fundamental principle of Sharia is the law that controls all laws:  namely, that no harm or hardship should come from the application of these laws. Read More »

Few people writing in America today have as deep a grasp of  metaphysics as Charles Upton. We commend his new book to anyone interested in spiritual psychology, Sufism, and Islam. It is a well-written in depth study of the spiritual psychology inherent in traditional Sufi practice.

The spiritual life must obviously take psychology into account; if we want to do good and know truth, we will have to understand what in us supports this intent, and what stands in the way of it. But after Jungian Psychology, Humanistic Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, and Ken Wilber’s Integral Psychology, the reader may wonder what remains to be said vis-à-vis psychology and the Spiritual Path. In the author’s opinion, what remains is to present a psychology rooted in traditional metaphysics, one that he has termed “Principial Psychology”. This psychology is not essentially new; elements of it are to be found in every traditional path; but it has rarely been so explicitly defined. Read More »