Western Research On Islamic Sufism Through The Work Of Annemarie Schimmel
Keywords:
Equity, Germans, Heritage, Orientalism, SchimmelAbstract
Islamic Sufism is among the branches of Islamic knowledge that have exerted a profound influence on European intellectuals and Orientalist scholars, owing to the elevated spiritual values it embodies. As one of the most significant Islamic traditions, Sufism attracted sustained attention in Orientalist studies because of the intellectual role it has played in the historical development of Islam. Many Western scholars were influenced by prominent Sufi figures within Arab and Islamic mysticism, engaging with their thought through research and translation. The German scholar Annemarie Schimmel represents an important figure within this scholarly tradition due to her extensive engagement with Islamic mysticism and Sufi poetry. She has drawn considerable academic interest and may be regarded as a genuine exemplar of an Orientalist scholarship that attempts to reflect Islamic values and Muslim ethics. Therefore, this research aims to investigate how Western thinkers, particularly German Orientalists, have approached Islamic Sufism, and to examine the extent of Schimmel’s interaction with Sufi mysticism and Arabic Sufi poetry. To do so, the study adopts a critical textual and interpretive approach based on Orientalist scholarship and selected Sufi poetic texts as mediated through Schimmel’s readings. The analysis focuses on identifying the interpretive framework underlying her engagement with Sufi poetry of Ibn ʿArabī, Rūmī, and Ibn al-Fāriḍ. The findings reveal that Annemarie Schimmel’s scholarship is characterized by a strong emphasis on symbolic, objective and aesthetic interpretation, privileging experiential and metaphorical dimensions of Sufi poetry, while engaging less extensively with doctrinal and exegetical contexts within classical Islamic tradition
References
Abbaz, R. (2025). Islamic Sufism between Concept and Historical Development [al- Taṣawwuf al-Islāmī bayna al-Mafhūm wa-al-Taṭawwur al-Tārīkhī]. Journal of Studies, Vol. 16, Issue 01, Algeria.
Abduh, K. M. (2016). Orientalists and Islamic Sufism [al-Mustashriqūn wa-al-Taṣawwuf alIslāmī]. Al-Mahrousa Publishing, Cairo. Al-Aqiqi, N. (1964). The Orientalists [al-Mustashriqūn]. Dar Al-Ma‘arif, Cairo,
Al-Haidari, Z. Y. (2010). The Ef orts of Orientalists in the Study of the History of Sufism [Juhūd al-mustashriqīn fī dirāsat tārīkh al-taṣawwuf]. Uruk Journal for Humanistic Research, Al-Qadisiyah University.
Al-Namlah, A. b. (2018). German Orientalism between Distinction and Bias [al-Istishrāqal-Almānī bayna al-tamayyuz wa-al-taḥayyuz]. Bisan Publishing, Beirut.
Amal Shanna, M. N.-D. (2024). The concept of human in Islamic Sufism according to Hassan Hanafi [Mafhum al-Insan fi al-Tasawwuf al-Islami ‘inda Hassan Hanafi]. Majalat Rawafid lil-Dirasat wal-Abhath al-Ilmiya, 8(1), 9. Ain Temouchent, Algeria.
Andrae, T. (2003). Islamic Sufism [al-Taṣawwuf al-Islāmī]. translated by Adnan Abbas Ali, Dar Al-Jamal.
Badawi, A. R. (1964). Anxious Figures in Islam [Shakhṣiyyāt Qaliqa fī al-Islām]. Arab Renaissance Publishing House, Cairo, 2nd ed.
Bouabida, K. (2023). Sufi poetry and the poetics of Sufism: Conceptual approaches [Al-shi‘ral-sufi wa al-shi‘riya al-sufiya: Muqarabat mafahimiya]. Journal Al-Mi‘yar, 02(14), Tissemsilt, Algeria.
Hanafi, H. (2009). From annihilation to permanence [Min al-Fana’ ila al-Baqa’]. Tripoli, Libya: Dar Al-Madar Al-Islami.
Hassan, H. M. (2020). Sufism between Acceptance and Rejection [al-Taṣawwuf baynaal-Qabūl wa-al-Rafḍ]. Journal of Creedal Studies, Constantine.
Idrissi, A. A.-K. (2010). The Phenomenon of Islamic Sufism in the Modern West. Hawliyat al-Turath Journal, University of Mostaganem.
Kaouane, M. (2010). Interpretation, Discourse, and Symbol [al-Taʾwīl wa-al-Khiṭābwa-al-Ramz]. Modern World of Books, Jordan.
Massignon, L. (2004). The Passion of Al-Hallaj. translated by Al-Hussein Mustafa Al-Hallaj, Qadmus Publishing, Beirut.
Mouqari, F. (2025). Sufism and Environmental Thought: A Dialogue between Spirit andNature – Jalal al-Din Rumi as a Model. Al-Sirat Journal.
Muaamar, Q. (2022). Love in Islamic Sufism and the Question of Human Will [Al-Mahabbafi al-Tasawwuf al-Islami wa Su'al al-Irada al-Insaniya]. Majallat al-Buhooth waal-Dirasat, Issue 19, El Oued, Algeria.
Schimmel, A. ( 2007). The Mystical Dimensions of Islam and the History of Sufism[al-Ab‘ādal-ṣūfiyya fī al-islām wa-tārīkh al-taṣawwuf]. translated by Muhammad Ismail Al-Sayyid and Reda Hamid Qutb, Dar Al-Jamal, Cairo.
Schimmel, A. (1998). A Radiant Model of Orientalism [Namūdhaj Mushriq lil-Istishrāq]. translated by Thabit Eid, Dar Al-Rashad, Cairo.
Wali, N. (2025). The Influence of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s Sufism on the Sufismof the Central Maghreb [Ta’thīr taṣawwuf Abī Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī fī taṣawwuf al-Maghrib al-Awsaṭ]. Al-Sirat Journal, Vol. 27, Issue 02, Algeria.
Zadadka, S. (2008). The truth and the mirage: A reading of the Sufi dimension in Adonis [Al-Haqiqa wa al-Sarab: Qira’a fi al-Ba‘d al-Sufi ‘inda Adonis]. Al-Ikhtilaf Publications, Algeria.
