M uhyiddin Ibn `A rabi Society

Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society
Thirty-first Annual Symposium
St Anne’s College, Oxford
May 24th-25th, 2014
Jesus and Mary –
A Mystical Perspective
Symposium Programme
The Speakers
Jane Baun is Lecturer in Theology at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and Research Lecturer in Eastern Church History for the Oxford University Theology Faculty and at St. Benet’s Hall. An Anglican priest, she also serves as a Curate in the parish of Abingdon-on-Thames. Before moving
to England, she was Assistant Professor of History and Hellenic Studies at New York University.
Publications include Tales from Another Byzantium: Celestial Journey and Local Community in
the Medieval Greek Apocrypha (Cambridge, 2007), and numerous articles probing the interface
of ‘unofficial’ and ‘official’ belief and practice in medieval Eastern Orthodox religious culture.
Jaume Flaquer is a Jesuit priest and Professor of Interreligious Dialogue in the Faculty of
Theology of Catalonia in Barcelona. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the Sorbonne; his
thesis was on Jesus according to the Sufi mystic Ibn ‘Arabi. Publications include Christianity
and Fundamentalism (1997) and Travelling Lives (2007). He gave a paper at the Second International Symposium of the MIAS-Latina in 2013 on The Spiritual Qualities of Jesus according to
Ibn ‘Arabi.
Denis Gril is a leading figure in the field of Akbarian studies. He is now Professor Emeritus at
Aix-Marseille University where he continues to oversee some doctoral students on Sufism and is
a member of IREMAM (Institut de Recherches et d’Études sur le Monde Arabe et Musulman).
He has devoted himself to the study of the work of Ibn ‘Arabi, and the study of sainthood within
Islam. His other research interests include Islamic spirituality and its scriptural foundations. His
many published works include chapters from the Futuhat in Meccan Revelations, Le Livre de
l’Arbre et des Quatre Oiseaux, Le Dévoilement des Effets du Voyage, and the Kitab al-inbah of
‘Abdallah Badr al-Habashi.
Stephen Hirtenstein has been editor of the Society’s Journal for 30 years. He is co-founder and
director of Anqa Publishing and author of The Unlimited Mercifier, a spiritual biography of Ibn
‘Arabi. He has translated the Mishkat al-Anwar, Ibn ‘Arabi’s collection of hadith qudsi, and
three of Ibn ‘Arabi’s shorter treatises including The Four Pillars of Spiritual Transformation
(2008). He has lectured around the world and leads courses at the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education. He was awarded the first Tarjuman Prize by MIAS-Latina in
2012 (along with Maurice Gloton).
Zahra’ Langhi is a scholar and researcher in Islamic history, metaphysics, mysticism, and
female spirituality in comparative religions. She has an MA from the American University in
Cairo, and is co-founder of the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, a socio-political movement
which aims at empowering women as well as youth in Libya. Her MA thesis on Sitt ‘Ajam, A
Muslim Woman Gnostic of the Middle Ages, is to be published by Fons Vitae.
Michael Sells is Professor of Islamic History and Literature at the University of Chicago. He
teaches courses on the Qur’an, Islamic love poetry, comparative mystical literature, Arabic Sufi
poetry, Arabic religious texts, and Ibn ‘Arabi. His publications include: Approaching the Quran:
the Early Revelations (2007) and Mystical Languages of Unsaying (1994). He is also wellknown for his translations of Arabic poetry including Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes
(1989) and Stations of Desire – Love Elegies from Ibn ‘Arabi And New Poems. (2000).
Laura Soureli is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge.
She focuses on cross-cultural dialogue between the Abrahamic religions, with particular interests in hermeneutics, patristics, charisma and power, and mysticism. Her PhD thesis attempts to
provide a new reading of the prayer of the heart and examines the concept of deification in the
Philokalia, the eighteenth-century patristic anthology on the practice of contemplative prayer.
Provisional Programme
Saturday, May 24th
8.30 am
Doors open for Registration
9.15 Welcome and introduction
9.30 Stephen Hirtenstein: Reviving the dead : Ibn ‘Arabi as the Heir to Jesus.
10.30 Coffee
11.00
Jane Baun and Laura Soureli: Mary and Jesus and the Way of the Heart
in Rumi and the Philokalia.
12.00 Jaume Flaquer: The akbarian Jesus: the paradigm of a pilgrim in God.
1.00 pm
Lunch
3.30
Tea
4.00
Seminars until 5.15 pm
5.30
Discussion. The day’s proceedings will end at around 6.00 pm
8.15
Concert. (Booking on the day. There will be a small extra charge.)
Sunday, May 25th
8:30
Doors open
9.15 Introduction
9.30 Zahra’ Langhi: Virgin Maryam in the Akbarian Perspective.
10.30
Coffee
11.00
Michael Sells: Life in Ibn ‘Arabi’s “Ringsetting of Prophecy
in the Word of Jesus”.
12.00 pm
Denis Gril: Jesus, Mary and the Book (according to Ibn al-‘Arabî).
1.00
Lunch
3.00
Seminars until 4.15 pm
4.30
Plenary session 5.00
Tea. Symposium ends
Please see the notes overleaf.
Any changes to this programme will be updated on the website.
Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society
Thirty-first Annual Symposium
St Anne’s College, Oxford
May 24th-25th, 2014
Travel
St Anne’s College is within easy walking distance of both coach and
rail stations. Car parking is very restricted in the vicinity of the College and those coming by car should allow time to leave their cars in
the “Park and Ride” facilities available on each of the major routes
into the city. Buses leave these parking areas for the city centre frequently.
St Anne’s College
From the Porter’s Lodge please follow signs to the Tsuzuki Lecture
Theatre where all symposium proceedings will take place.
Meals
Buffet lunches at St. Anne’s will be held in a marquee on the lawn for
those who have booked.
Otherwise, the centre of Oxford offers a wide variety of places to eat
within a five-minute walk of St Anne’s College. For Friday or Saturday evening, booking is advisable.
Books
A selection of books will be on sale during the weekend.
Concert
The concert will be held in the Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre, St. Anne’s
College. Tickets will be available at the registration desk. If you would
like to reserve a place, send a text to Samantha Webb +44 (0) 7595 747
764. More details about the concert will be posted online.
Time-keeping
Please be sure to be seated by the time papers are due to begin. It may
not be possible to enter the Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre once a paper is in
progress.
Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society
P.O. Box 892
Oxford, OX2 7XL
Tel: (01865) 511963
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ibnarabisociety.org