Gabbin' With God
October 24, 2015 3:29 AM Subscribe
Someone close to me has converted to Sufi Islam, and I'd like to get a better understanding of the Sufi concept of God. Meanwhile, I'm trying to see what I think of God myself.
I've recently been exploring my own complicated relationship with religion (I'm not personally religious in the least, but I'd really like to test that). I'm most culturally aligned with Christianity (I don't know if that's the best way to put that), so I started there. I've been reading Karen Armstrong, Paul Tillich, and I keep meaning to look into Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis. So I'm mostly reading about the concept of God from a Christian perspective. This doesn't need to be the case - my heritage is Jewish, and I'd like to get a better sense of Jewish theology as well.
However, now that someone close to me has become a Muslim, I'd like to take this opportunity to try and explore some of the basic theological questions of that faith. My friend and I have talked about why they found the Sufi concept of God to be more engaging, but I got the sense that I was missing some key concepts. I'd like to know more. This is a genuine interest in the faith, not just anthropological curiosity.
So...
- Could anyone recommend books that explore Muslim or Sufi theology in depth?
- Any recommendations for books or authors to add to my God-curious reading list?
Thanks!
I've recently been exploring my own complicated relationship with religion (I'm not personally religious in the least, but I'd really like to test that). I'm most culturally aligned with Christianity (I don't know if that's the best way to put that), so I started there. I've been reading Karen Armstrong, Paul Tillich, and I keep meaning to look into Thomas Merton and C.S. Lewis. So I'm mostly reading about the concept of God from a Christian perspective. This doesn't need to be the case - my heritage is Jewish, and I'd like to get a better sense of Jewish theology as well.
However, now that someone close to me has become a Muslim, I'd like to take this opportunity to try and explore some of the basic theological questions of that faith. My friend and I have talked about why they found the Sufi concept of God to be more engaging, but I got the sense that I was missing some key concepts. I'd like to know more. This is a genuine interest in the faith, not just anthropological curiosity.
So...
- Could anyone recommend books that explore Muslim or Sufi theology in depth?
- Any recommendations for books or authors to add to my God-curious reading list?
Thanks!
Sufi theology, as you probably know from your conversations with your friend, is a much more mystical branch of Islam. I'm a Sunni Muslim, and my experience of Islam is that it is a very practical religion with a lot of direction about how you live your day to day life.
Sufism has more of a focus on ascetism and trying to make a connection with God on a personal level. That's just my understanding anyway. Have you seen the further reading lists on the wikipedia entry? That could be somewhere to start.
posted by Ziggy500 at 4:19 AM on October 24, 2015
Sufism has more of a focus on ascetism and trying to make a connection with God on a personal level. That's just my understanding anyway. Have you seen the further reading lists on the wikipedia entry? That could be somewhere to start.
posted by Ziggy500 at 4:19 AM on October 24, 2015
As far as books on Judaism go, I really can't recommend Abraham Joshua Heschel enough. The Sabbath is a good place to start.
posted by thetortoise at 5:31 AM on October 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by thetortoise at 5:31 AM on October 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'd recommend Islam and the Destiny of Man by Charles Le Gai Eaton. Deeply sufi in outlook, written by and for westerners.
posted by BinGregory at 7:21 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by BinGregory at 7:21 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
You might be interested in hesychasm, a Christian (Orthodox) meditative practice that most likely had some cross-pollination with Sufism.
posted by vogon_poet at 8:27 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by vogon_poet at 8:27 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Sufi Book of Life does a good job of covering the multi-dimensional nature of God from a Sufi perspective. Its aligned more towards meditative practice then explicit theological discussion, but it goes into detail on all of the things God is or can be to a Sufi.
posted by MFZ at 10:08 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by MFZ at 10:08 AM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
As probably know, Judaism includes a really wide range of answers to questions as to what is God (and these answers have only a minimal connection to the old man in the sky image that so many of us learned as children). For a quick introduction to the breadth of answers that can all be considered legitimately Jewish, I suggest Finding God: Selected Responses.
Note that Abraham Joshua Hershel is one of the Jewish theologians highlighted in this book - reading this would give you an overview of his perspective as well as a chance to compare and contrast with the others.
posted by metahawk at 5:35 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Note that Abraham Joshua Hershel is one of the Jewish theologians highlighted in this book - reading this would give you an overview of his perspective as well as a chance to compare and contrast with the others.
posted by metahawk at 5:35 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
Light-hearted yet not insubstantial reading: Sacred Laughter of the Sufis
posted by falsedmitri at 6:55 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by falsedmitri at 6:55 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Deciding what to read next is to decide what you feel on the inside about who God is to you.
posted by BarcelonaRed at 4:09 AM on October 24, 2015