Journal of Seven Heavens

Journal of Seven Heavens

A Review of Sufism and Taoism

Document Type : Original Article

Author
M. A. Rostamian
Assistant Professor, University of Religions and Denominations.
Abstract
Toshihiko Izutsu's Sufism and Taoism may be regarded as one of the remarkable books concerned with comparative religion; it is, in fact, a comparative study of Islamic and Taoist mysticisms. Two great merits make the book worth reading: first, the author's considerable familiarity with these two mysticisms; second, the division of the discussions into two parts: the first part is concerned with the introduction and the second part is concerned with the comparative study of these mystical traditions. However, the book is defective in some respects: first, Izutsu fails to set forth the key elements of Ibn Arabi's mysticism, causing a confusion between the issues concerned with the theoretical mysticism and those associated with the practical mysticism; second, he takes no cognizance of the various interpretations of the Taoist 
mysticism; third, only a very small portion of the book deals with its central issue, that is, the comparative study of Sufism and Taoist mysticism. Furthermore, the methodology he employs in his study is defective in several
respects: a little attention is paid to the differences, for example he overlooks the theoretical nature of Ibn Arabi's mysticism and the practical nature of Taoist mysticism; he also sometimes uses inappropriate equivalents; and finally, he imposes Ibn Arabi's mysticism upon that of Taoism.
Keywords
Izutsu
Sufism and Taoism
Islamic mysticism
Taoist mysticism
Ibn Arabi
ایزوتسو، توشیهیکو (1382)، سخنگوی شرق و غرب، تهران: دانشگاه تهران، مؤسسة تحقیقاتی و توسعه علوم انسانی.
ــــــــــ (1378)، صوفیسم و تائویسم، ترجمه محمدجواد گوهری، تهران: روزنه.
پازوکی، شهرام (1382)، «گفت‌وگوی فراتاریخی و فراگفت‌وگو در اندیشه ایزوتسو»، در سخنگوی شرق و غرب (مجموعه مقالات همایش بزرگداشت پروفسور توشیهیکو ایزوتسو)، تهران: دانشگاه تهران، مؤسسه تحقیقاتی و توسعه علوم انسانی.
قیصری رومی، محمدداوود (1375)، شرح فصوص الحکم، تدوین استاد جلال‌الدین آشتیانی، تهران: شرکت انتشارات علمی و فرهنگی.
یو لان، فانگ (1380)، تاریخ فلسفه چین، ترجمه فرید جواهرکلام، تهران: نشر و پژوهش فروزان روز.
Izutsu, Toshihiko (1983), Sufism and Taoism, Clifornia: university of California press.
 

  • Receive Date 30 March 2010
  • Revise Date 31 May 2010
  • Accept Date 01 August 2010