Ranks of the Divine Seekers

Ovamir Anjum, Ph.D. (2008), University of Wisconsin-Madison, is Professor and Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Toledo. His publications include numerous articles and a monograph Politics, Law, and Community in Islamic Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2012).

Acknowledgements

Translation Notes



Translator’s Introduction

 1 Madārij and Its Author

 2 The Formation of Sufism

 3 Sufism and Antinomianism

 4 Sufism and Mysticism

 5 Defining Sufism

 6 Al-Harawī and Manāzil

 7 Madārij’s Reverential Critique of Manāzil

 8 The Problem of Ontology: Annihilation (fanāʾ)

 9 Causality and Ethics

 10 The Problem of Epistemology

 11 An Egalitarian and Accessible Path

 12 Conclusion



Selected Bibliography

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, Madārij al-Sālikīn: Text and Translation



Prolegomenon

 1 Merits of the First Chapter of the Qurʾan, The Opening

 2 The Opening Affirms All the Three Types of Divine Unicity

 3 The Five Pivotal Names of God Affirm His Attributes

 4 Ten Levels of Divine Guidance

 5 The Opening Heals Hearts as well as Bodies

 6 Refutation of Heresies

 7 Exegesis of “You we worship and You we supplicate for help”



1 The Stations of the Journey

 1 The Station of Awakening

 2 The Station of Insight

 3 The Station of Purpose

 4 The Station of Resolve

 5 Interlude: On the Ordering of the Stations



2 The Station of Reflection

 1 Interlude: The Station of Annihilation

 2 Three Types of Annihilation

 3 The Causes of Experiential Annihilation

 4 The Essence of Experiential Annihilation

 5 The Dangers on the Path of Annihilation: Antinomianism

 6 Volitional Annihilation: The True Goal of the Righteous



3 The Station of Self-Reckoning

 1 The First Pillar

 2 The Second Pillar

 3 The Third Pillar



4 The Station of Repentance

 1 Repentance and The Opening

 2 The Conditions and Realities of Repentance

 3 Legitimate and Illegitimate Excuses for Sins

 4 The Inner Realities of Repentance

 5 The Finer Points of the Inner Realities of Repentance

 8 Interlude: Affirmation of the Ethical Value of Acts and Causality

 9 Levels of Repentance: The Commoners

 10 Some Rulings Concerning Repentance

 11 The Full Meaning of Repentance

 12 Sins: The Object of Repentance

 13 Twelve Kinds of Sins in the Qurʾan

 14 Perspectives on the Nature of Sin and Repentance



Index