“Qur’anic Exegesis and Mystical Experience: Sufis and the Qur’an”

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Already during the first two centuries of Islam Muslim ascetics-mystics (Sufis) used  Qur’anic recitation as a means to extract its exoteric, allegorical senses. This exoteric reading of the Scripture would often result in a drastic transformation of the self of the exegete in what can be described as a fateful encounter between the Qur’anic matrix of ideas and his or her personal experiences and convictions. The presentation examines such exoteric-experiential uses of the Qur’an by Sufis by placing them in historical and comparative perspectives.

Alexander Knysh is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan and Principal Investigator of a research project on Islamic Studies at the St. Petersburg State University, Russia. His research interests include Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), Qur’anic Studies, the history of Muslim theological, philosophical and juridical thought and Islamic/Islamist movements in comparative perspective. He has numerous academic publications on these subjects, including nine books. Since 2006, he has served as section editor for “Sufism” on the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of Islam, Third Edition (E. J. Brill, Leiden and Boston). He is also Executive Editor of the Encyclopedia of Islamic Mysticism and the Handbook Series of Sufi Studies published by E.J. Brill, Leiden and Boston.

http://www.uvacontemplation.org/content/speaker-series-quranic-exegesis-and-mystical-experience-sufis-and-quran-0