World View: A Philosophical and Theological Perspective

The world of today has emerged as a global village with diversity of culture, faith, religion, ideology and belief. The difference of point of view and intolerance are still left to be taken into account by the intellectuals of the world seriously with other multiple universal problems. In the present scenario, there is a need to rationalize the human existence on the face of Earth in terms of the sole objectives of human life. This study is an attempt to present a world view to the humanity through a philosophical and theological approach. Multiple questions have been raised and then answered with reference to Islamic religious philosophy of human life. It is an attempt to strengthen harmony among the world citizens.

Sufi Literature As a Source of Social History: A Study of 14Th Century Text, Siyar Al-Awliya

The historiographical writings produced by the court writers in medieval north India focused on lives of the sultans and their nobles, rebellions, military campaigns, conquests, and administration. This statist discourse represented elite culture and seems silent on the sociocultural, socio-religious, spiritual and intellectual life of the common people. Resultantly, social history of medieval India remained an ignored area of study. Social history is interested in studying long-run trends and structures in society and culture. It focuses on experience rather than events or actions, while identifying patterns from daily life. Keeping this in view, the historiographical gap on social history of medieval India can be adequately filled by sufi literature and its varied genres. It can help construct a more informed view of social history of medieval India, with a particular focus on its ‘Indo-sufi culture’. The present research aims at emphasizing the significance of sufi literature in the historic literary traditions of South Asian history. It explores the formation and functioning of the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century north Indian society by utilizing tadhkirah literature with a particular focus on Siyar al-awliyā [Biographies of the Sufis] authored by Amir Khurd Kirmānī, a Chishtī adept, in 1361-64. Based on Siyar al-awliyā, the present study offers a vivid account of a diverse range of social, cultural, religious, intellectual, spiritual aspects of medieval India ranging from, but not limited to, the development of vernacular languages and dialects, place of women, Muslim education, food culture, dressing trends, building and construction, prevalent diseases, spiritual life, recognition of female spirituality, question of conversion, Hindu-Muslim relations, ‘ulema-sufi and khanqāh-madrassa dichotomies, curricula and scholarship, transmission of knowledge and methods of teaching, production of sufi and non-sufi literature, and issues, principles and writings on samā‘or devotional sufi music. In addition, it offers an overview of varied forms of state-sufi relationship, such as meditational, symbiotic and conflictual, as well as socio-economic profile of medieval India. In a nut shell, the study argues that sufi tadhkirah writings help provide profound insights into minute details of social realities in medieval India. Modern scholars like Richard M. Eaton, Shehzad Bashir, Nile Green along with others also highlight the importance of xi utilizing sufi literature and urge to use these writings to fill the gaps in socio-historical perspective on history. The present study opens a window to our past and serves as corrective to many of the mistaken assumptions regarding Muslim-Hindus divide, absence of female Sufis, and strict segregation of sexes in sufi khanqahs. The study brings to the fore the dire need to shift our focus of research from state-centred court writings to lesser-studied sources of history like sufi tadhkirahs