In the Hands of Love: Rumi and the Tradition of Ecstatic Sufi Poetry

When

Thursday May 9, 2019: 7:00pm to 8:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Description

Who was Rumi? What did he preach and why does he still captivate hearts today?

Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273) remains one of the most widely translated international poets in the West. Known among Sufis as Mevlana, or Master, this celebrated Sufi guide has become a symbol of an exotic and rarefied vision of Islam. From the whirling dervishes to the captivating sound of the Ney, the universal teachings of Rumi reveal an ancient but mostly forgotten face of Islam.

Ali Hussain has a PhD in Islamic studies from the University of Michigan, Department of Middle Eastern Studies. His research focuses on the sacred body of Jesus in the thought and writings of the 12th/13th century Muslim mystic Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-ʿArabi (d. 1240). He is also interested in sacred bodies as tools for mythic storytelling in Sufism. This focus also shapes his interest in contemporary spiritual and intellectual crises facing Muslims and religious subjects in general. Dr. Hussain is invested in reviving the ancient spiritual heritage, known as mystical theosophy, as represented auspiciously by Ibn al-ʿArabi, Rumi and others, among Muslims living in the West; in order to help them forge new myths and stories about their search for truth in the age of globalization.