Sufi Narratives of Intimacy Ibn Arabi, Gender, and Sexuality By Sa’diyya Shaikh (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. 304 pages.)

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Vernon James Schubel

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Sa’diyya Shaikh’s groundbreaking Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn Arabi,
Gender, and Sexuality not only makes a significant contribution to the growing
body of scholarship on issues of gender and Islam, but also serves as an eloquent
and accessible introduction to the life and work of Muhyi al-Din ibn
Arabi, unquestionably one of the most important voices in the Islamic tradition.
Moreover, it is a rigorous piece of academic scholarship rooted in a thorough
knowledge of Islam’s primary sources and a sophisticated understanding
of contemporary methodology, both in the academic study of religion and
women and gender studies. At the same time, it adds significantly to normative
discussions within Islam – the crucial debates about gender and sexuality, the
ongoing arguments on the nature of authority in Islam, and the role of fiqh,
kalām, and Sufism within the Muslim tradition. It succeeds brilliantly as a
scholarly examination of Ibn Arabi’s work and as an example of feminist
scholarship at its very best.
For me, the most important aspect is how the book functions as an introduction
to the thought of Ibn Arabi, a notoriously demanding thinker whose
work can sometimes appear impenetrable. As a result, much of the previous
scholarship on him, including the essential and pioneering work of William ...

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