Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #walāya
Most recents (3)
There is little doubt that the Andalusian Sufi Ibn ʿArabī (1165-1240), born in Murcia, who settled and died in Damascus where his tomb lies on the foothills of Qasiyūn is one of the most exciting and controversial figures in #IslamicIntellectualHistory - a 🧵
Much ink has been spilled on him and his work - a useful introduction to his thought from an insider perspective is Chittick and another insider Sufi approach to his life is Addas 2/ 
His relationship to the philosophical tradition is much debated - was he a philosopher? A #Sufi metaphysician? Was he an exclusivist or a universal pluralist committed to #apocotastasis ? Rosenthal, Chittick and most recently Lipton have engaged these questions 3/
One of the genres of writing that emerged in #Safavid Iran was triumphalist #Shii history and biographies that imagined a past connected to the sacred time of the Prophet and the Imams as continuous chains of notables figures who made contributions to #Islamic culture 1/
An addition to #AkbarianStudies and #KashaniStudies (I wish people who stop Arabising his name) who has been broadly neglected since #Izutsu 1/
The argument for #Kashani Sunnism is somewhat odd completely ignoring the question of #walaya and the debate on #SealofSaints - generally the life is not well presented 2/
Similarly on works, Pablo Beneito isn’t the only one who questions the ascription of Lata’if al-i’lam to #Kashani - the works need to be more careful considered 3/
