Nader Saiedi

"The Four Valleys and the Seven Valleys....". Begins with background of Islamic Sufism and then launches into both real and rational, and mystical meanings. "For the Sufis it is through love and mystical intuition that the truth of the holy Quran and the inner core of reality can be attained." [18]

Among the different interpretations and approaches to the Islamic revelation,
three schools of thought have been particularly influential. In
the legal and literal approach to Islam, institutionalized in the corporate
group of professional 'ularna or religious jurist-scholars, the religion
or' God is understood primarily in terms of legal precepts and
juridical commandments. This approach normally takes the literal
meaning of the Word of God to be the real meaning and rejects rational
speculation and mystical interpretation. The second approach to
Islam, institutionalized in the philosophical schools and traditions, uses a
rational orientation: the real meaning behind the literal text is assumed
to be captured through reason and philosophy. Finally, there is the
r7
18 LOGOS AND CIVILIZATION
mystic. al ch to Islam which has been institutionalized in Sufi approa, ., .
orders and rituals. This approach shares the rationalists belief that the
al . gs of the Word are obscure while it rejects the adequacy re mearun 1 ••
of reason to understand those true meanings. For the Sufis It IS through
love and mystical intuition that the truth of the holy Qur'an and the
inner core of reality can be attained.'
Of course this basic description represents three ideal types of
Islamic discourse. Ideal types, however, as Max Weber argued, are not
concrete descriptions of reality but clear and exaggerated categories
which may not exist in reality in their pure forms.' While the history
or Islamic culture has been primarily one of conflict and discord
among these three approaches, it is equally true that many Muslim
scholars have variously combined elements of these traditions in their
cultural and spiritual practice. Similarly, alternative approaches within
the three major traditions have created differential tendencies within
each category. The basic form of Islamic mysticism, however, has
been Sufism.… (plus d'informations)