Reinterpreting classical thought in a manner that brings it into conversation with contemporary issues and challenges can only take place by first understanding it. Every effort that fails to achieve such a grasp of the legacy of intellectual thought inevitably results in being incapable of dealing with the most critical problems of our age.
The present work by Ömer Türker presents a comprehensive yet concise understanding of the great Islamic intellectual traditions of theology, philosophy, and Sufism, covering the areas of existence and ontology, the universe and cosmology, knowledge and epistemology, the nature of the human subject, and the relation between God and the universe. It explores the foundational principles of each of these traditions, undertakes a critical evaluation of their legacies, and presents the opportunities that they offer to humanity in our contemporary times.
This impressive and practical handbook provides a synthetic understanding of the Islamic theological, philosophical, and Sufi traditions. These three are historically and intellectually posited, embodying each a particular "language" by which to express a unitive view of Reality. Such synthesis is certainly only made possible by the author's thorough understanding of the underlying order of the sciences anchored in metaphysics. The ability to simultaneously address the intelligent and interested reader, as well as the specialist, is one of the remarkable achievements that this work presents.
Dr. Karim Lahham
Senior Research Fellow, Tabah Foundation