Questo testo, scritto dall'iraniano Seyyed Hossein Nasr - il più importante dottrinario islamico sciita del nostro tempo - contiene un'analisi profonda sul senso della sacralità del conoscere. In Oriente, la conoscenza è stata associata al sacro e alla perfezione spirituale. Conoscere significava essere trasformati dal processo stesso di apprendimento, come anche la tradizione occidentale ha affermato per secoli, prima di venire eclissata dalla secolarizzazione e dall'umanesimo post-medievale che imposero la divisione tra sapere ed essere e tra intelligenza e sacro. Con il presente studio, Nasr si propone di ribaltare questo distacco e di riaffermare la qualità sacra della dottrina e dell'autentica tradizione dell'Occidente con l'aiuto di quelle tradizioni ancora vive in Oriente, dove la conoscenza non è mai stata distaccata dal sacro. A causa della perdita del senso del sacro, l'uomo moderno ha perso anche quello dello stupore, al punto da non rendersi più conto di quanto sia prodigioso il mistero dell'intelligenza. L'opera si compone del testo che è servito da base per le prestigiose Conferenze Gifford tenute da Nasr a Edimburgo e di esaurienti note in calce che integrano il testo stesso e guidano per ulteriori ricerche quei lettori che siano attratti dai temi e dalle tesi presentati. Il punto di vista di Nasr è quello della Tradizione ed è diverso dalle tematiche affrontate nel corso del tempo dalla maggior parte degli altri conferenzieri. Prefazione di Giovanni Monastra.

An accessible and accurate translation of the Quran that offers a rigorous analysis of its theological, metaphysical, historical, and geographical teachings and backgrounds, and includes extensive study notes, special introductions by experts in the field, and is edited by a top modern Islamic scholar, respected in both the West and the Islamic world.

Drawn from a wide range of traditional Islamic commentaries, including Sunni and Shia sources, and from legal, theological, and mystical texts,The Study Quran conveys the enduring spiritual power of the Quran and offers a thorough scholarly understanding of this holy text.

Beautifully packaged with a rich, attractive two-color layout, this magnificent volume includes essays by 15 contributors, maps, useful notes and annotations in an easy-to-read two-column format, a timeline of historical events, and helpful indices. WithThe Study Quran, both scholars and lay readers can explore the deeper spiritual meaning of the Quran, examine the grammar of difficult sections, and explore legal and ritual teachings, ethics, theology, sacred history, and the importance of various passages in Muslim life.

With an introduction by its general editor, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, here is a nearly 2,000-page, continuous discussion of the entire Quran that provides a comprehensive picture of how this sacred work has been read by Muslims for over 1,400 years.

Da un punto di vista rigorosamente tradizionale, ma con un linguaggio semplice e accessibile, 'Ideali e realtà dell'Islam' consente al lettore occidentale di immergersi, dall'interno, nella spiritualità islamica, nel suo complesso e sfaccettato universo di sensibilità e specificità. Pensiero e rivelazione, istituzioni giuridiche, ricerca intellettuale, impegno esistenziale e vie esoteriche si intrecciano, diventando il simbolo di quella testimonianza dell'unità divina che è il cuore della fede islamica. Seyyed Hossein Nasr propone in questo libro sei lezioni contro ogni pregiudizio, svela gli elementi universali della fede islamica e mette in luce le molteplici corrispondenze con le categorie filosofiche e religiose dell'occidente cristiano.

Love in the Holy Qur'an treats in a simple and accessible style not only of love of God and love of the neighbour, but also of family love; friendship; the stages of falling in love; sexual love; extra-marital love; beauty; taste and much more, all based entirely on the Holy Qur'an.

During the season of Ramadan, when the first revelation of the Qur'an is commemorated, more than a million visitors journey to Mecca's Great Mosque. Despite Islam's position as a powerful religion, boasting one quarter of the world's population as its followers, many aspects of Muslim thought and belief remain an enigma to non-Muslims—until now.

While the cities of Mecca and Medina are restricted to Muslims, and photographing the sites requires special—and rarely given—permission from the Saudi Arabian authorities, Mecca the Blessed, Medina the Radiant is an unprecedented exploration of Islam's most holy cities and the great pilgrimage, mostly presented in full-color, never-before-seen photographs. A remarkable achievement, Japanese photographer Ali Kazuyoshi Namachi garnered the full support of the Saudi Arabian authorities to capture over 140 stunning and dynamic images, providing an opening to the mystical places and scenes of Islam. From breathtaking aerial photographs of the Arabian terrain, to vistas of teeming crowds of worshippers surrounding the Kacbah, Mecca's sacred center and the fulcrum toward which they face in prayer five times daily, to intense portraits of faithful Muslims in prayer, to the magnificent architecture reflecting the faith of the believers, this book allows both Muslims and those unfamiliar with the Islamic faith complete access to the holiest sites of one of the world's major religions. A selection of archival illustrations are also included to supplement the photographs.

Also featured is an essay about the spiritual and historical signficance of both Mecca and Medina as well as a discussion of the meaning and symbolic content of the hajj—the Muslim annual pilgrimage to Mecca—by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the most highly regarded scholars of Islam.

Lavishly illustrated by award-winning illustrator, Demi, this magical and inspiring story of the adventures of a flock of wayfaring birds in search of their king will delight children with its tales of overcoming fear, physical hardship, and inner limitations. Based on an 800 year old classical parable, and retold by mother of three, Alexis York Lumbard, it will provide parents with a unique opportunity to teach moral and spiritual development to their children.

As Muslims grow in numbers, and as Islam's role in world affairs becomes larger, we've begun to see the breakdown of unity among believers. The misunderstandings and friction between Islamic civilization and the modern West continue, but even within Islam, Iran's clerics are split, militant fundamentalists clash with students from Islamic universities, and moderate Muslim-Americans think nothing like Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia. Islam seems to be at war with itself. Extremist factions whose angry rhetoric currently shapes our fears and prejudices have attempted to co-opt the Islamic faith. In Islam in the Modern World, one of the foremost Islamic scholars in the United States takes that faith back, describing and defending traditional Islam against all critics?without and within the faith.

This book deals with the hot-button issues of concern to the West:

• holy wars
• women's roles in Islam
• the rise of fundamentalism
• the future of Shi?ism in Iran

Additionally, the author explores lesser-known controversies within Islam, such as the challenge of modern science to religious belief, controversial art and architecture in Islamic cities, the role of the madrassas in education, and urban conditions and challenges in the Islamic world. Islam in the Modern World offers an inside look at this increasingly factious religion with increasing global relevance.

Se il rapporto tra uomo e natura, in tutte le sue forme, si presenta oggi come sopraffazione e dominio, la responsabilità grava sul mondo occidentale e sulla cultura che, come ne ha determinato la leadership, ne minaccia ora la sopravvivenza: tra i capostipiti filosofici Francesco Bacone, teorico del primato del pensiero scientifico; e Cartesio, che ponendo il 'cogito' al centro della metodologia, ha reso onnipotente la soggettività umana. A partire da questi presupposti filosofici, muove l'autore di questo saggio per sviluppare una critica della civiltà occidentale moderna, che oggi rischia drammaticamente la propria autodistruzione: l'inquinamento, l'invenzione di armi chimiche e batteriologiche sempre più potenti, l'imporsi di forme estreme di manipolazione genetica delle risorse alimentari, sono gli effetti dell'abuso che l'uomo occidentale ha fatto e continua a fare delle proprie capacità e un segnale che impone un cambio di direzione rapido e radicale. Nasr, di religione musulmana ma anche studioso della tradizione cristiana, indica la via per ritrovare la sacralità della natura e 'comprendere pienamente il significato simbolico delle forme, dei colori e dell'aspetto delle cose che ci circondano'. In sostituzione di una 'filosofia della natura' che l'attuale visione scientifica del mondo fisico ha cancellato, occorre ritrovare una 'teologia della natura' che eviti le derive mistiche e razionaliste e riscopra le basi della gnosi. Prefazione di Martino Doni.

In his fascinating new book, Bosnian academic and former statesman, Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, explores how men and women traditionally ordered their communities, architecture, and habits of life to reflect the divine order, and how this order is coming under attack in an increasingly secularized modern world. In reflecting on how his own hometown of Stolac, Bosnia, has been destroyed and then rebuilt in the aftermath of the tragic Bosnia war, he offers explanations as to how different religious communities can live peacefully together in the future.

This collection of essays by one of the best known contemporary Muslim scholars writing in English covers many facets of Islamic life and thought. The author has brought together studies dealing with the practical as well as intellectual aspects of Islam in both their historical and contemporary reality. The contemporary significance of themes such as religion and secularism, the meaning of freedom, and the tradition of Islamic science and philosophy is given particular attention.

An opponent of religious fundamentalism as well as modernist relativism in all their forms, Seyyed Hossein Nasr promulgates a philosophy rooted in a traditional Muslim understanding of the world that respects both nature and human dignity in light of God's sovereignty. His life has been a quest for the sacred and his religious vision has been rooted in the 'transcendent unity of religions;' his work an organic whole that covers a plurality of dimensions.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is one of the preeminent philosophers writing today. Sure to be a key resource for decades to come, In Search of the Sacred: A Conversation with Seyyed Hossein Nasr on His Life and Thought illuminates Nasr's experiences and shares his insights on topics from religion and philosophy to science and the arts.

Based on a series of interviews, the book combines traditional autobiography with an exploration of the intellectual and spiritual trajectories of the author's thought during key periods of his life. In doing so, it presents a fascinating panorama, not only of the life and ideas of one man, but also of major events ranging from intellectual life in Iran during the Pahlavi period and the Iranian Revolution to some of the major religious and intellectual debates between Islam and modernism. Nasr writes that his 'whole life has been a quest for the sacred.' This work connects that quest with some of the most important issues of the day in encounters between Islam and the West.

This fully revised edition of the critically acclaimed book contains a series of essays that explain the misconceptions that lie at the heart of Western attitudes towards Islam. Including a new essay on the role of women in Islam, an updated chapter containing insights into the concept of Jihad, and three fully revised chapters that bring the discussion up-to-date with the current global situation, this book is a must read for anyone interested in Islam and its relation to the West.

Known as an expert on Islam, Sufism, and Islamic arts & crafts, Burckhardt presents in-depth analyses of seminal examples of Islamic architecture, from Spain and Morocco to Persia and India. He examines Koranic calligraphy and illumination, arabesque, carpets and rugs, Persian miniatures, and much more while making illuminating comparisons with Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist art. Beautifully illustrated in color, this masterpiece is presented in a revised, commemorative edition containing 285 new illustrations and a new Introduction.

Liu Zhi (ca. 1670–1724) was one of the most important scholars of Islam in traditional China. His Tianfang xingli (Nature and Principle in Islam), the Chinese-language text translated here, focuses on the roots or principles of Islam. It was heavily influenced by several classic texts in the Sufi tradition. Liu’s approach, however, is distinguished from that of other Muslim scholars in that he addressed the basic articles of Islamic thought with Neo-Confucian terminology and categories. Besides its innate metaphysical and philosophical value, the text is invaluable for understanding how the masters of Chinese Islam straddled religious and civilizational frontiers and created harmony between two different intellectual worlds.

The introductory chapters explore both the Chinese and the Islamic intellectual traditions behind Liu’s work and locate the arguments of Tianfang xingli within those systems of thought. The copious annotations to the translation explain Liu’s text and draw attention to parallels in Chinese-, Arabic-, and Persian-language works as well as differences.

The headlines are filled with the politics of Islam, but there is another side to the world's fastest-growing religion. Sufism is the poetry and mysticism of Islam. This mystical movement from the early ninth century rejects worship motivated by the desire for heavenly reward or the fear of punishment, insisting rather on the love of God as the only valid form of adoration. Sufism has made significant contributions to Islamic civilization in music and philosophy, dance and literature. The Sufi poet Rumi is the bestselling poet in America. But in recent centuries Sufism has been a target for some extremist Islamic movements as well as many modernists. The Garden of Truth presents the beliefs and vision of the mystical heart of Islam, along with a history of Sufi saints and schools of thought.

In a world threatened by religious wars, depleting natural resources, a crumbling ecosystem, and alienation and isolation, what has happened to our humanity? Who are we and what are we doing here? The Sufi path offers a journey toward truth, to a knowledge that transcends our mundane concerns, selfish desires, and fears. In Sufism we find a wisdom that brings peace and a relationship with God that nurtures the best in us and in others.

Noted scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr helps you learn the secret wisdom tradition of Islam and enter what the ancient mystics call the 'garden of truth.' Here, liberate your mind, experience peace, discover your purpose, fall in love with the Divine, and find your true, best self.