On Monday I presented at the Australian Early Medieval Association's annual conference. The abstract:
When al-Ghazali wrote his works on purification of the
soul he drew especially on the 3rd/9th century works of
al-Muhasibi. Al-Muhasibi developed a rich terminology of inner spiritual battle
and soul purification which he considered was 90% of jihad. Smith, Schoonover,
Renard and Picken have described his works but not analysed the metaphors and
concepts involved. This paper analyses key aspects of al-Muhasibi’s approach to
combatting the soul, and briefly compares this with Isaac of Nineveh’s roughly
contemporary writings, demonstrating significant similarities and differences
between them. This analysis informs the current debate over the meaning and
methods of jihad.
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