Papers by NORZAKIAH SAPARMIN
Deleted Journal, Jul 7, 2023
Abū Naṣr ʻAbd Allāh b. ʻAlī al-Sarrāj al-Ṭūsī was born in Ṭūs in Khurāsān in the middle of 10 th ... more Abū Naṣr ʻAbd Allāh b. ʻAlī al-Sarrāj al-Ṭūsī was born in Ṭūs in Khurāsān in the middle of 10 th century CE and died in the same place in 988 CE. He was honored with the title "the peacock of the poor" (ṭāwūs al-fuqarā'). In his book Kitāb al-Lumaʻ, Abū Naṣr al-Sarrāj explains on the definition of Sufism, the origin of the name, on its principles and practices and these have their roots in the sayings and practices of the beloved Prophet Muḥammad (pbuh), the blessed Companions, and the pious Muslims. For our purpose here, we are only going to focus on the part of the ādāb of the religious rituals, particularly on the ādāb of the ritual prayer. How do the Ṣūfīs define ādāb? What is it that makes it differ from the external requirement of the Sharīʻah? What are the ādāb of prayer? How do the Prophet (pbuh), the blessed Companions and the Ṣūfīs exemplify the best ādāb of ritual prayer, and what we can learn and imitate from these par excellent Servants of Allah Taʻālā. These are some of the questions that we will try to deal with in this paper. The methodology is a literature review, and we will also refer to the works of other scholars, of which, primarily, are the works of Ḥujjat al-Islām, Abū Ḥamid Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (d. 450/1111).
Deleted Journal, Jul 7, 2023
This paper focuses on the life and scholarship of Quṭb ad-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311 CE), a Muslim P... more This paper focuses on the life and scholarship of Quṭb ad-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (d. 1311 CE), a Muslim Persian polymath, who has contributed in many fields such as philosophy, astronomy and medicine. A talented and precocious student, and was tutored by his own father, the young man of Quṭb ad-Dīn al-Shīrāzī was already appointed as a physician even during his teenage years. Eventually the quest for knowledge led him to leave his hometown of Shīrāz and visit several scholars before he eventually settled in Marāghah. Here he learned and collaborated with many other great scholars such as Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī (d. 1274 CE) and Mu'ayyad al-Dīn al-'Urḍī (d. 1266 CE) in the field of observational astronomy. They set up and worked in the famous Marāghah observatory, and Quṭb ad-Dīn al-Shīrāzī collaborated in the production of Zīj-l Ilkhānī or the Ilkhānī Tables, which was one of the most important astronomical tables being produced from the Marāghah observatory. Other than his contribution in astronomy, we would also briefly mention his contribution in other fields such as philosophy and medicine. The methodology is a literature review, which we used both the secondary sources and the primary source. The primary source is the astronomical text of Quṭb ad-Dīn al-Shīrāzī which is called Nihāyat al-Idrāk, and it is in the form of a manuscript, which had been acquired from the British Library.
Albert the Great (d.1280 CE) or Albertus Magnus was the founder of Christian Aristotelianism, the... more Albert the Great (d.1280 CE) or Albertus Magnus was the founder of Christian Aristotelianism, the medieval scholastic venture which reached its culmination in the teachings of his student, Thomas Aquinas (d.1274 CE). His writings reflect his effort in synthesizing Aristotelian philosophy with Christian teachings, and for this paper we would focus on chapter eighth of his work of De sensu et sensato (Sense and Sensibilia), which is entitled “A Digression to Destroy this Error by Considering the Consequences of Their Statements.” The whole treatise of De sensu delineates Albert’s refutation against extramission theory of vision in his task of introducing and establishing Aristotelian intromission theory in the medieval scholastic scholarship. Thus the chapter eighth focuses on Albert’s claim on the absurdities of the extramission theory by refuting on the extramision theory of reflection. We will delineate further what does this theory mean, and the arguments brought forward by Albert...
Futuwwa or a brotherhood is one of the important social institutions in the Islamic civilization.... more Futuwwa or a brotherhood is one of the important social institutions in the Islamic civilization. Although many historians assumed that it has originated from the Persian military organization, it was later known that many of the characteristics of being a part of futuwwa such as generosity, truthfulness, self-sacrificing, hospitality, hardworking had all its roots in the Qurʼān and Sunnah of Prophet Mohammad (SAW) and his beloved Companions. We will delineate briefly a background history of the connection of futuwwa with its Persian roots, and later it was developed and systematized further to be part of the Sūfī institution, and functioned as an influential social institution either in the education and training of acquiring various skills and craftsmanship and contributing towards a thriving local economy, or as an outgoing and influential Sūfī institution in defending and propagating Islam. Keyword: Futuwwa, Sufism, Islamic Guilds, Islamic Social Institutions
Albert the Great (d.1280 CE) or Albertus Magnus was the founder of Christian Aristotelianism, the... more Albert the Great (d.1280 CE) or Albertus Magnus was the founder of Christian Aristotelianism, the medieval scholastic venture which reached its culmination in the teachings of his student, Thomas Aquinas (d.1274 CE). His writings reflect his effort in synthesizing Aristotelian philosophy with Christian teachings, and for this paper we would focus on chapter eighth of his work of De sensu et sensato (Sense and Sensibilia), which is entitled “A Digression to Destroy this Error by Considering the Consequences of Their Statements.” The whole treatise of De sensu delineates Albert’s refutation against extramission theory of vision in his task of introducing and establishing Aristotelian intromission theory in the medieval scholastic scholarship. Thus the chapter eighth focuses on Albert’s claim on the absurdities of the extramission theory by refuting on the extramision theory of reflection. We will delineate further what does this theory mean, and the arguments brought forward by Albert...
Scientific activities are done with the assumption that the natural world is ordered through syst... more Scientific activities are done with the assumption that the natural world is ordered through systematic laws that can be discovered by the human mind. Nature can be known in certainty apart from the perspective of the observer, and only then can science proceed. This dualistic vision of nature is widely accepted by the Western philosophy of science, but however, not without any objection. The first half of this paper then would delineate of how Descartes, and how it then later emerged as an epistemological problem and brought into a new insight by Kant. Many other philosophers then, especially the Romantics and the Existentialists such as Goethe, Hegel, Heidegger and the depth psychoanalyst Jung with his archetypal psychology tried to give a more integrated epistemology than the simple mathematical and dualistic vision that had been proposed by Descartes. All these attempts have a common belief that ultimately the relationship of man with nature, epistemologically, is participatory,...
Two of the most important principles in Postmodernism are embracing total relativism and to doubt... more Two of the most important principles in Postmodernism are embracing total relativism and to doubt everything. Both principles advocate skepticism and question the possibility of acquiring knowledge as a true and certain knowledge. The first half of this paper would delineate how the door of skepticism was opened anew by Descartes, and how skepticism later emerged as an epistemological problem and formulated anew by Kant and gave rise to the birth of Postmodernism. The paper would delineate as an example in the era of Postmodernism an attempt in depth psychology of how knowledge can be acquired. But Postmodernism in itself is a paradox. It does not only advocate skepticism and total relativism, but it also works the opposite by strengthening other existing dominant ideologies in the West such as Secularism and Materialism. In the second half of the paper, we would delineate the meaning of knowledge in Islam, and its epistemological framework, since in Islam, knowledge is not a ...
International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences
Living in the desert with an open space and a clear night sky, the Arabs had always depended on t... more Living in the desert with an open space and a clear night sky, the Arabs had always depended on the stars to guide them on their travels, to determine the progression of time and the changes of seasons and weather, which were important for their agricultural and trading needs. These dependencies on the stars, however, did not stop at these physical phenomena only, but extended also into divination such as astrology and geomancy, which continued even after the coming of Islām. Although Islām clearly rejects astrology, this paper attempts to show that astrology-which somehow includes also some knowledge of astronomy, since during the medieval period, a practicing astrologer is also a skillful astronomer-continued to be practiced widely and openly by the Muslims, in the market place, on ships, at deathbeds and even in the caliph's court. This paper, however, will only touch one area where astrology seems to have some good reputation, which is in the field of medicine. Although astrology had its own opponents, especially among the religious scholars, it was welcomed in the caliph's court and was practiced openly by some of the physicians. We will delineate how and to what extent astrology and astronomy contributed into their field of medicine. The methodology of the paper is a literature review in the history of astrology and astronomy in the Islamic civilization.
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Papers by NORZAKIAH SAPARMIN