| Summary: | Islamic education and existential learning is directed at purifying the self (nafs) and the cultivation of certitude (yaqîn). A central aspiration in the learning process is to become an intimate friend of Allah (a walî), who embodies the prophetic presence (istihdâr al-nûr almuhammadiyya) and who by that presence directs other people to Islam. This article uncovers life and learning in a leading Islamic institution of learning and analyzes the processes of selftransformation and education that constitute the foundation for the rise of a walî. It is based on my work on the Bâ´Alawî tradition, one of the most influential Islamic traditions of learning and self-cultivation in the present age, since 2006 and in particular on my visit to the Islamic university Dar al-Mustafa in Yemen during the summer and the fall of 2011. The paradoxical tension between Sufism’s ideal of ascetic seclusion on one hand, and the extremely hectic and much courted social lifestyle of leading Sufis on the other, is discussed. It is suggested that the cultivation of a prophetic will to direct others to Islam is the key to understanding this tension.
|
|---|