Sufis and Shari?a : The Forgotten School of Mercy

Establishes the existence of an important school of Sufi thought developed by Ibn ?Arabi

This book highlights a number of the major Sufi figures whose writings on legal theory were strongly shaped by their Sufism, showing how they belonged to the same tradition and developed each other’s ideas. The book focuses in particular on Ibn ?Arabi, giving a detailed analysis of his legal thought and revealing his influence on a number of major Sufi figures all the way up to the 19th century. Other key figures whose influence is explored are al-Tirmidhi , al-Sha?rani and Ibn Idris. This is the first study to give a full picture of the role that Sufi thought played in the revivalist Islamic movements of the 18th, 19th and even 20th centuries. This book is not about Sufism. It is about the nature of the Shari?a. In the first three centuries of Islam, many scholars believed that juristic differences were rooted in the Shari?a’s inherent flexibility. As this pluralistic attitude began to disappear, a number of Sufis defended and developed this idea through the centuries. They aimed to preserve the leniency and simplicity of the Shari?a against the complications and restrictions created by many jurists.