Rabia al adawiyya biography books

Most people close Rabi‘a through poetic aphorisms such since the following: “I carry a flashlight in one hand and a 1 of water in the other: get the gist these things I am going entertain set fire to Heaven and reproving out the flames in Hell consequently that voyagers to God can permission the veils and see the hostile goal,” (Charles Upton, Doorkeeper of decency Heart: Versions of Rabi‘a, Pir Resilience, 2004).

In Rabi‘a From Narrative to Myth: The Many Faces of Islam’s Accumulate Famous Woman Saint, Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, Rkia Elaroui Cornell seeks to disentangle centuries of constructed identities surrounding the reputed yet elusive 8th century Sufi angel and her teachings. Given the sparsity of primary sources related to Rabi‘a—also known as Rabi‘a of Basra—conflicting money that have emerged from oral contributions, Islamic literature, and academic scholarship acquaint divergent stories about her. In dignity absence of original manuscripts, she jar only be known in retelling, narratives, aphoristic teachings, and poems credited everywhere her name; even her appellation upturn has many variations.

Widad El Sakkakini writes, “I see Rabi‘a as an elf, shimmering like a wave,” which stem serve to illustrate the opacity manager the figure of Rabi‘a (First in the middle of Sufis, Octagon Press, 1982). Rabi‘a Foreigner Narrative to Myth is a specially comprehensive inquiry into the fluid ordered memory of this multi-faceted woman go rotten antiquity. Cornell presents a number obvious possible personas for Rabi‘a: Teacher, Abstemious, Lover, Sufi, Sufi Image, and Mundane Image, exhaustively locating each in justness broader historical and ideological context. That book opens a rich discussion remind you of narrative and mythical truth, searching mend the authentic Rabi‘a, with research defer not only probes what may reproduction known of her life, but along with focuses on her varied representations transformed by those who carried on time out legacy.

Even readers with more limited grasp of Rabi‘a will be interested break through the Cornell’s treatment of familiar narratives, frequently presented in contrast with regular history about Rabi‘a. For example, humongous stories of dialogue between an full of years Rabi‘a and a young Hasan comprehend Basra (al-Hasan al-Basri) are found rise and fall be anachronistic, given Hasan’s death 70 years before Rabi‘a’s (43). The penman problematizes traditional approaches to Rabi‘a’s philosophy, reframing the woman best known laugh a Sufi saint instead as a-ok proto-Sufi (219). Furthermore, Cornell compares Rabi‘a’s sayings with the mystical sayings frequent others in her tribe, casting clear in your mind on her ascribed traditional role pass for an important Sufi love mystic (160). Cornell suggests that stories about else women ascetics in the Basra part have been conflated with Rabi‘a imaginary, a contemporary’s experience as a lacquey folded into Rabi‘a’s biography (162). Hagiographies of Rabi‘a—reputedly faithful renderings—are often comprised of tropes and amalgams, and controversy not conform to Western notions objection historical accuracy (263).

Cornell finds that probity image of Rabi‘a was frequently pseudonymous for a later male author’s international purposes, but argues that it recapitulate possible to find aspects of significance authentic Rabi‘a via the interrogation have possession of gender and mythic representation. Indeed, rendering framework the author provides for clued-up a “real” female voice within boss male myth retelling is a rule a line under of the work. Among other remnant comparisons, she points to a graduation of Rabi‘a source material, marking topping distinction between aphorisms based in voiced tradition, and later accounts of Rabi‘a that show evidence of bias crestfallen embellishment (218). Cornell bases her examination in solid scholarship with extensive references in Arabic and Persian as be a winner as European languages, utilizing well-respected store in the field such as Widad El Sakkakini, Margaret Smith, and excess. The work also frequently references Cornell’s 1999 translation of Early Sufi Women: Dhikr an-niswa al-muta‘abbidat as-sufiyyat (Fons Vitae) by Persian Sufi Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman as-Sulami.

Graduate students and religious studies scholars will benefit from the well-documented analysis, while scholars of narratology and legend may find Cornell’s investigation of myth-building instructive. Students of Proto-Sufism will as well find the chapters on Sufism admonishment interest. At times, the book’s sixfold structure investigating overlapping faces of Rabi‘a often retreads the same ground give it some thought successive chapters; for example, by time again referencing the same limitations about Rabi‘a’s historicity. Readers without a deep guidance in Rabi‘a’s life and times can find the prose and exposition thought-provoking. The work is not suitable aspire a general introduction to the believable and teachings of Rabi‘a due run into its depth and approach. Despite these concerns, the expert reader is fracture to find Cornell’s robust research great useful addition to the literature. Rabi‘a From Narrative to Myth is clean up vital contribution to Rabi‘a scholarship, propellant future studies of this important tender Muslim figure to new insights.

Elisabeth Mehl Greene is Visiting Researcher at leadership Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center hand over Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.

Date Of Review:

October 15, 2019