Abstract
This dissertation studies the life and works of ʿImād al-Dīn Aḥmad al-Wāsiṭī (d. 711/1311), a little-known Ḥanbalī Sufi from the circle of Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328). It is divided into two parts. Part I focuses on the journey that al-Wāsiṭī made from his hometown, Wāsiṭ, to Baghdad,
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Alexandria, Cairo, and finally Damascus. In each of these respective locations he encountered Sufi groups that had gained a position of prominence, such as the Rifāʿiyya, the Shādhiliyya, and the Akbarian school of Ibn ʿArabī. For that reason, his autobiographic statements on his experiences among these groups provide several interesting insights into the developments of some of the most important manifestations of Sufism from the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century. It is not surprising that his journey through the Muslim world greatly influenced his own subsequent formulation of Sufism around which part II of this study revolves. In that sense Part I provides the context against which we may understand several of the particularities of his own Sufi doctrine that are studied in Part II. This dissertation thus argues, for instance, that al-Wāsiṭī’s dislike of the prominent role he found many Sufis of his time allot to their shaykhs influenced his development of the concept of ‘the Muḥammadan way’ (al-ṭarīqa al-Muḥammadiyya), according to which the Sufi aspirant should instead seek to make the Prophet Muḥammad his or her spiritual guide. Moreover, the distinct presence of traditionalist Ḥanbalī views on theology in his Sufi doctrine was certainly greatly influenced by the Ḥanbalī environment wherein he lived during the last ten years of his life. Finally, a few of the theological concepts he uses are even clearly taken from his master, Ibn Taymiyya. Besides providing a fresh and much needed analysis of the kind of Sufism that was accepted and practiced among the Ḥanbalīs of early Mamluk Damascus, this dissertation also provides new insights into the circle of Ibn Taymiyya. It shows, for instance, that as opposed to what some scholars in the field have theorized, Ibn Taymiyya in all likelihood never functioned as a Sufi shaykh for his followers; Instead it is argued that this specific role was reserved for al-Wāsiṭī, whose Sufism was clearly approved of by Ibn Taymiyya. This dissertation hopes to be a valuable contribution in several ways: first, to the field of Sufism in general; second, to our knowledge of the particular trend of Sufism that was practiced among the medieval Ḥanbalīs of Damascus, a field that has hitherto been mostly neglected; and third, to the field of Taymiyyan studies, wherein the role of Sufism in the Ibn Taymiyya’s circle still requires much clarification.
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