Abstract
Islamic Gnosticism does not consider itself a sect or a religion; it is in a spiritual sense the yearning (eshtiagh) of the soul to reunite with its origin. Just like a flute that plays the music of the one who is playing it, the words spoken by Rumi and other mystics are in a way the echo of an inner (and, at the same time, outer) source, hence his likening himself to a reed. It is a discourse of love and knowledge, riches and poverty, mortality and immortality, drunkenness and sobriety, consciousness and unconsciousness, desire, restraint and selflessness, temporality and spirituality, peace and war, detachment and ascension, and, of course, humility and sacrifice. In this discourse there are no schools of thought that claim to offer comprehensive and all-inclusive manifestos for the structuring of human communities, nor does Islamic Gnosticism aspire to assume the political leadership of Muslims or even of its own followers. Yet there are important tenets in this narrative that should be studied and assessed in terms of their utility and applicability in today’s egocentric and state-centred international relations. Concepts of love, selflessness, freedom and empowerment are all enshrined and embedded in the Gnostic theology of Islam.
Hearken to this reed forlorn
Breathing ever since ‘twas torn
From its rushy bed a strain
Of impassioned love and pain.
Rumi, Masnavi, Book I, lines 1–2
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Notes
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© 2012 S. M. Farid Mirbagheri
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Mirbagheri, S.M.F. (2012). Contextualising Islam or Islamicising Context: Debates on the Role of Islam in Politics. In: War and Peace in Islam. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137001313_3
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