ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY
By Seyyed Hossein Nasr

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY(Volume-I/II) Foundations/ManifestationsENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY] Volume-I: Foundations tJ Seyyed Hossein Nasr The first volume on Islamic spirituality is devoted to Foundations, not simply the historical foundations but the essential foundations as the principle and source of the multiform Manifestations of Islamic Spirituality (Volume II) in history and in various Islamic cultural zones. The first part of the work is concerned with “The Roots of the Islamic Tradition and Spirituality which include the Qur'an as the central theophany of Islam, the Prophet who received the Word of God and the rites namely, daily prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and jihad. Chapters in this section are devoted to the Qur'an, to the traditional esoteric commentaries on the Qur'an, to the life, traditions, and sayings of the Prophet and the inner or spiritual “Substance of the Prophet. Second part then takes up the major segments or divisions of the Islamic community with their distinctive pieties and emphases. Female spirituality is also considered here. Next, the whole of Part three is devoted to Sufism, Islamic Spirituality in its inner dimension; the nature and origin of Sufism, its early development, its various spiritual practices, and its science of the soul, or “psychotherapy. Finally, the fourth part of the volume is devoted to “Knowledge of Reality, specifically, the knowledge of God, of the Angels, of the cosmos and the natural order, of man, and of the last things. The volume includes a glossary, an extensive bibliography, subject and name indexes, and numerous illustrations.ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ISLAMIC SPIRITUALITY Volume-II: Manifestations This second volume deals with Islamic spirituality as it has developed and manifested itself in various periods of history and in diverse areas of the Islamic world. Chief among the manifestations of Islamic spirituality in history has been Sufism; which has had an immense impact on art and thought as well as the social, economic, and political life of Muslims from Nigeria to the Philippines and from China to Albania. A large part of this volume is therefore devoted to Sufism and the teachings, practices, writings, and impact of the Sufi orders throughout the Islamic world. The second part of the volume is devoted to literature as a mirror of Islamic spirituality. The major literary traditions- Arabic, Persian, Turkish, the literatures of the Indian subcontinent, Malay and the literatures of Africa- are treated to the extent to which they reflect the deepest yearnings of the Muslim's soul for God and the spiritual world. Finally, the last part of the volume deals with Islamic thought and art: with philosophy and theology and the so-called hidden sciences, especially the science of letters, and with music, sacred dance, and the plastic arts. Throughout the volume the focus upon the various regions of the Islamic world brings out the local ethnic, social, and cultural factors that have coloured the manifestations of Islamic spirituality over the ages.