Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
Light and luminous being in Islamic theology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3867978 |
|---|---|
| Authors | C Lange (0000-0002-4605-1052, Utrecht University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 142-156 |
| Publication date | 2021-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Research on Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2050-3032 • E-ISSN: 2050-3040 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/2050303220986975 |
| OpenAlex | W3124897250 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 18 |
For theologians, to conceive of God in terms of light has some undeniable advantages, allowing a middle-of-the road position between the two extremes of thinking about God in terms of a purely disembodied, unfathomable, unsensible being, and of crediting Him with a body, possibly even a human(oid) body. This paper first reviews the reasons why God, in early medieval Islam, was never fully theorized in terms of light. It then proceeds to discuss light-related narratives in two major, late-medieval compilations of hadiths about the afterlife, by al-Suyuti (Ash'ari, Egypt, d. 1505) and al-Majlisi (Persia, d. 1699), suggesting that eschatology was the area in which God's light continued to shine in Islam, and the backdoor through which a theology of light, in the thought of al-Suhrawardi (Syria, d. 1191) and his followers, made a triumphant re-entry into Islamic thought
Afterlife · Art · Eschatology · Islam · Literature · Narrative · Theology · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Philosophy
Jalâl Al-Dîn Al-Mahallî and Jalâl Al-Dîn Al-Suyutîs’ Interpretation Method of the Mutasyâbihât Verse in Tafsîr Jalâlayn
“Set the Gaze on Fire”
Guiding the Pious Self
Abu Ya’la ibn al-Farra’ (990-1066 CE) and the influence of his ideas on the formation of the views of Ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328 CE)
Nearness to God
When silence is "yeelen" (light)
Enlightening religion
| Citations per year | 1.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2024 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |