Philosophical Encyclopedia in a Mystical Fatwā: The Sufi Readers of the "Brethren of Purity" (Ihwan al-Safā) in Sixteenth-Century Cairo under Ottoman Rule

Abstract

Cairene Sufis 'Abd al-Wahhāb al-Šar'ānī (d. 973/1565) and his master 'Alī l-Hawwās (d. 939/1532) formulated an original mystical-legal theory that linked the existence of the religious obligation (taklīf) as well as the origins of Islamic law to the myth of Adam's Fall. Expressed in the form of a fatwā, the theory synthesized numerous Islamic legal, theological, and Sufi sources, including the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity (Rasāil Ihwān al-Safā'), which is widely regarded as the first Islamic philosophical encyclopedia. This article sheds light on the remarkable parallels between the Epistles and the Sufi theory, demonstrating that al-awwā and his disciple utilized the Epistles ideas to articulate their teaching on Islamic law, the human deficiency, and self-reform, and to reinforce the spiritual authority of the local Sufi šayhs. The convergence of social crisis and eschatological expectations during the times of the Brethren in the fourth/tenth century and the Cairene Sufis in the tenth/sixteenth century brought forth the enduring relevance of the Epistle's Adamic narratives in the late medieval period. This article delves into the Sufis engagement with the Epistles within the wider scope of how the contentious works of the Brethren were received among Ottoman mystics and jurists in Cairo.