Professor Carmela Baffioni presented a lecture on Prophecy, Imamat and Sapiential Rule in the Ikhwan al-Safa’ at the Institute on February 23rd. As part of its programmatic endeavours, the Institute sponsors seminars, conferences and public lectures that examine various facets of Islamic studies and themes of relevance to contemporary Muslim societies.
A specialist on the Ikhwan al-Safa鈥 and a Professor of History of Muslim Philosophy at the Universit脿 degli Studi di Napoli 鈥淟鈥橭rientale鈥 in Naples, Italy, Professor Baffioni spoke about the content of several epistles of the Ikhwan al-Safa鈥 (The Brethren of Purity, ca. 10th century Iraq), a collective of scholars and thinkers who produced a compendium of knowledge of their time. These 52 epistles, known as the Rasa鈥檌l, include treatises on mathematics, the natural sciences, and the intellectual and theological sciences.
Professor Baffioni noted the Ikhwan鈥檚 emphasis, in their 31st epistle, on the miracle of the Prophet鈥檚 ability to teach his message in an eloquent language that could be understood by different people according to their intellects and situations, an intrinsic part of his Prophecy. She also analysed the Ikhwan鈥檚 attitude to leadership, as discussed in epistle 42, 鈥極n opinions and sects鈥. Written several centuries after the Prophet, the Ikhwan exhorted temporal rulers to act with justice and good administration, to repress iniquity in order to create the 鈥榯he excellent city鈥 known as al-madina al-fadila. Professor Baffioni pointed out that the target of the Ikhwan鈥檚 political critique was the excesses of the 鈥楢bbasid Caliphate of their time.
The Institute鈥檚 Department of Academic Research and Publications is working towards publishing a complete critical edition and annotated English translation of the Rasa鈥檌l Ikhwan al-Safa鈥. The series will provide the first comprehensive study in English of the 9th/10th century corpus and its authors.
The Rasa鈥檌l Ikhwan al-Safa鈥 Series is coordinated by Managing Editor, Nader El-Bizri, and supported by an Advisory Board consisting of: Carmella Baffioni, Patricia Crone, Farhad Daftary, Lenn E. Goodman, Abbas Hamdani, Hermann Landolt, Wilferd Madelung, Yves Marquet, Yahya Michot, James Montgomery, Azim Nanji, Ian Richard Netton, Ismail K. Poonawala and Roshdi Rashed.
The following scholars are also involved in the series as editors, translators and annotators: Omar Al铆-de-Unzaga, Carmela Baffioni, Godefroid de Callata每, Nader El-Bizri, Lenn E. Goodman, Abbas Hamdani, Faquir Hunzai, Muhammad Reza Jozi, Nouha Khalife, Arzina Lalani, Hermann Landolt, Richard McGregor, Yahya Michot, James Montgomery, Ian R. Netton, Ismail K. Poonawala, F. Jamil Ragep, Wendy Robinson, David Simonowitz, Reza Shah-Kazemi and Samer Traboulsi.
The gallery of the Rasa鈥檌l Ikhwan al-Safa鈥 contains manuscript images and information on various editions and translations of the Rasa鈥檌l in the Institute鈥檚 Collection.
The article by Godefroid de Callata每 entitled, The Classification of the Sciences according to the Rasa鈥檌l Ikhwan al-Safa鈥 is based on a paper delivered at 久久久福利国产 on May 22, 2003 as part of the Department of Academic Research and Publications Seminar Series.
