Quote:
Anderson said
You used to be my hero 
No I'm not making a point or forcing a debate rather I want to understand the relationship between Sufism and Islamic legalistic externalism and whether the Orientalist's dichotomy between Sufism and 'Literalists' can be justified. Your last paragraph was useful, i'll read up. 
I need links, hot links cos the exam is soon but I'll read any books you recommend for next semester. |
haha, i guess i should've been more clear and used the term 'the' premise and not 'your' premise.
If the way your exam is structured is between "Sufis" v. "literalists" than this is also a false dichotomy. "Literalism" has never really been the "norm" in Islamic law. Literalism cannot exist because there are not always literal interpretations of texts. Each text must be placed within the proper context. Literalism, as an interpretative movement, is more of a 20th century by product of interaction with Western ideologies than an innate Islamic inteprretation.
Remember, there are various strains of Sufism: syncretic and reformist.
I'd start by definining each of these terms.