Metaphors of the Ineffable: ‘Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani & The Phenomenology of Religion Open Access

Abstract

Within the history of the Western philosophical tradition, the branch of philosophy known as phenomenology—beginning with the German School and Edmund Husserl—has largely been concerned with the question of religion insofar as it relates to the scholarship of the Christian tradition. While phenomenology in religious studies of Islam and the mystical branch referred to as Sufism have been taken up rigorously by the works of scholars such as Henry Corbin, Richard Jones, and Nelson Pike, there remains a gap in scholarship of Sufism to synthesize both the Western school of Phenomenology and the critical study of Sufi mysticism. In this paper, I provide a phenomenological account of metaphor in the works of the Persian mystic ‘Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani first by tracing ‘Ayn al-Qudat’s discussion of metaphor in his text “The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism” through the German School of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger to defend the Sufi metaphor against a purely phenomenological or existential reading. Then, I take up the contributions of the historical turn in phenomenology known as the phenomenology of religion to provide insights on the broader study of Islam. Specifically, I incorporate the research of Jean-Luc Marion and Anthony Steinbock to account for ‘Ayn al-Qudat’s emphasis on metaphorical language as a deliberate strategy to confront the excess of the Divine. I argue that ‘Ayn al-Qudat’s discussion of the Mirror and the Sun function as a site of ontological collapse where the “scale of reason” breaks under the weight of intuition of the infinite. In characterizing a synthesis between these frameworks, I show that the Sufi “Path” is a vertical reception of the Real that necessitates an annihilation (fana’) of the transcendental ego. Thus, my research posits resonances between Jean-Luc Marion’s “Icons” and ‘Ayn al-Qudat’s metaphors of the ineffable insofar as both shift the seeker from the constituting subject to a witness who is constituted by the Divine. This novel reading seeks to bridge the rigorous investigations of the Sufi tradition and contemporary continental phenomenology to provide new frameworks for inquiring into religious experience.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents:

Introduction...1

The History of Islamic Theology and Philosophy...2

Phenomenology in Islam: Insights from Corbin, Jones, and Pike...5

The Question of Metaphor: Martin Heidegger...10

The Question of Metaphor: 'Ayn al-Qudat & The Essence of Reality...16

Beyond-Husserl, The Phenomenology of Religion, and Excess...28

Phenomenology of Religion: Contributions of Jean-Luc Marion & Anthony Steinbock...32

Bibliography...43

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Philosophy
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Regional Studies Philosophy
Keyword	Phenomenology of Religion Phenomenology 'Ayn al-Qudat
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Ernesto Blanes-Martinez, Emory University
Committee Members	Vincent Cornell, Emory University Dilek Huseyinzadegan, Emory University

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