Emir Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi and the legacy of Ibn Arabi in Ottoman Damascus
Table of contents
Share
QR
Metrics
Emir Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi and the legacy of Ibn Arabi in Ottoman Damascus
Annotation
PII
S207987840028762-7-1
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Dmitry Zhantiev 
Affiliation: Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Abstract

The article analyzes the late period of the life of the hero of the anti-French struggle in Algeria, Emir Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi (1808—1883) in Ottoman Damascus in 1855—1883. Refusing to continue the fight against the French colonialists after being released from captivity and moving to Ottoman possessions, Abd al-Qadir devoted his later life to charity and teaching the mystical teachings of Muhyi al-Din Ibn Arabi (1165—1240). The activities of Abd al-Qadir in Ottoman Damascus were inscribed in the moral, religious and political context of his era, when the Ottoman Empire was subjected to increasing pressure from the European powers. Abd al-Qadir sought to find an Islamic response to this external challenge through spiritual perfection based on the teachings of Ibn Arabi. Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi from a young age belonged to the followers of Ibn Arabi and therefore perceived his life in Damascus not as an exile, but as a way of approaching the comprehension of the mystical insights of Ibn Arabi, who at one time also lived for many years in Damascus where he was buried. In Damascus, Abd al-Qadir enjoyed great spiritual authority and provided patronage to his countrymen — immigrants from Algeria and other countries of the Maghreb. The circle of his chosen disciples was also replenished with local Syrian ulama. Under the influence of Abd al-Qadir, close relations were established between immigrants from Algeria and local Sufis on the basis of Islamic mysticism. The intellectual activity of the circle of followers of Abd al-Qadir in Damascus contributed to the strengthening of the position of Sufism in Ottoman Syria on the basis of the spiritual convergence of the beliefs of the followers of various Islamic mystical teachings.

Keywords
Islam, Sufism, Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi, Ottoman Empire, Damascus, Syria
Received
30.08.2023
Publication date
20.11.2023
Number of characters
36937
Number of purchasers
12
Views
140
Readers community rating
0.0 (0 votes)
Cite Download pdf 200 RUB / 1.0 SU

To download PDF you should pay the subscribtion

Full text is available to subscribers only
Subscribe right now
Only article and additional services
Whole issue and additional services
All issues and additional services for 2023

References

1. Al-Bitar, Mukhammad Bakhdzhat. Tardzhamat ash-shajkh Abd ar-Razzak al-Bitar (Zhizneopisanie shejkha Abd ar-Razzaka al-Bitara) // Al-Manar, 21. 1919. S. 317—319.

2. Al-Dzhazairi, Abd al-Kadir. Kitab al-mavakif fi-l-vaaz va-l-irshad (Kniga ostanovok dlya propovedi i rukovodstva). Ch. 1—3. Kair: Matbaat ash-shabab.

3. Ash-Shatti, Mukhammad Dzhamil'. Aajan dimashk fi-l'-karn as-salisa ashar va nysf al-karn ar-rabia ashara (Ayany Damaska v trinadtsatom veke i pervoj polovine chetyrnadtsatogo veka). Damask: Dar al-bashair, 1994.

4. Kirillina S. A., Safronova A. L., Orlov V. V. Ideya khalifata v musul'manskom mire (konets XIX — nachalo XX v.): vyzovy i regional'nye otkliki // Islam v sovremennom mire: vnutrigosudarstvennyj i mezhdunarodno-politicheskij aspekty. 2018. T. 14. № 3. S. 133—149.

5. Pskhu R. V. «Kitab al-mavakif» an-Niffari kak rukovodstvo po sufijskoj terminologii. Ponyatie «ma‘arifa» v tekstakh al-Kushajri, al-Khudzhviri i an-Niffari // Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Filosofiya. 2019. T. 23. № 3. S. 265—272.

6. [Al-Aqiqi, Antun Danir]. Lebanon in the last years of Feudalism, 1840—1868. A contemporary account by Antun Dahir al-Aqiqi and other documents translated with notes and commentary by Malcolm H. Kerr. Beirut: Catholic Press, 1959.

7. [Churchill Ch. H.]. The Life of Abdel Kader, ex-Sultan of the Arabs of Algeria, written from his own dictation, and compiled from other authentic sources by Colonel Churchill. L.: Chapman and Hall, 1867.

8. Commins D. Wahhabis, Sufis and Salafis in early twentieth century Damascus // Guardians of Faith in Modern Times: Ulama in the Middle East. Leiden: Brill, 2008. P. 231—246.

9. Intellectuals in the Modern Islamic World. Transmission, transformation, communication. Ed. by Stephane A. Dudoignon, Komatsu Hisao and Kosugi Yasushi. L.; N. Y.: Routledge, 2006.

10. The spiritual writings of Amir Abd al-Kader / trans. by M. Chodkiewicz. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.

11. Weismann I. Taste of Modernity: Sufism, Salafiyya, and Arabism in Late Ottoman Damascus. Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, 2000.

12. Woerner-Powell T. Another Road to Damascus: An Integrative Approach to 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri (1808—1883), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017.

Comments

No posts found

Write a review
Translate