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Rumi's Spiritual Shi'ism. Edited by Seyed Ghahreman Safavi. London: London Academy of Iranian Studies: 2008. Pp. 86.
Rumi's Spiritual Shi' ism, edited by Seyed Ghahreman Safavi, gathers together five essays with each author addressing the task of establishing a common thesis: the mystic poet Rumi was a "spiritual Shi'a." By virtue of being a "spiritual Shi'a" Rumi was also a true Shia - this despite Rumi having been a Sunni in both jurisprudence and dialectical theology. The five essays are "Shi'ism and Sufism" by Seyyed Hossein Nasr; "Shi'ism, Sufism and Gnosticism ('Irfan)" by Hajj Nor Ali Tabandeh; "Spiritual Walayah or Love in the Mathnavi Mawlawi" by Sharam Pazouki; "Rumi's View of Imam Husayn" by William C. Chittick; and "Rumi's Spiritual Shi'ism" by Seyed Ghahreman Safavi.
Throughout these five essays, Rumi's Spiritual Shi'ism makes the rather daring claim that one need not follow the Jafari school of Islamic law and theology to be a true Shia. The true Shia accordingly is the "spiritual Shi'a" - one who accepts Imam 'Ali's spiritual mission regardless of one's theological school (madhab). This is likely to ruffle some feathers in sectarian and conservative Shi'a circles. How many more feathers would this same thesis ruffle if the authors had framed the question around "spiritual Muslims" who follow other religious traditions (or perhaps only a natural theology)? Yet this is the very question triggered by this book. While it explores ecumenical dialogue and pluralism from a mystical standpoint, the philosophy of religion developed by al Farabi and Ibn Sina suggests a parallel model for addressing the question at an interfaith level. Such a model manages to walk a tightrope between perennialist theories of religious pluralism on the one hand and the non-reductive religious pluralism that Mutahhari's writings inspired Legenhausen to develop on the other.
In his contribution to this volume, Nasr outlines the historical interplay between Shi'ism and Sufism. According to him, there is a record of rich cross-pollination. Be that as it may, much of the point of Nasr's essay is to oppose any sort of reductionism - whether it be the reducing of Shi'ism to Sufism or vice versa. He is careful to consider Sunni Sufism as having its own historical role. Nasr speaks of Shi'a-Sunni differences as divinely prescribed...