Medieval Sufism in Yemen: The case of Ah&dotbelow;mad b. `Alwân.

Abstract

This is the first comprehensive study of late medieval Yemeni mysticism (Sufism) in Western scholarship. It examines the life and works of perhaps the greatest religious and mystical thinker of pre-modern Yemen, Ah&dotbelow;mad b. 'Alwân (Ibn 'Alwân). Although he died seven and half centuries ago, his tomb remains the object of a colorful annual pilgrimage and his works continue to be studied by both Yemeni and Muslim scholars up to this day. These facts alone serve as the best testimony of his continual relevance to the lives and aspirations of his fellow countrymen from the illiterate peasant in the countryside to the refined intellectual in the capital city. My dissertation will focus on the aspects that have so far been neglected by academics in Yemen and other Arab and Muslim countries, especially Ibn 'Alwân's religious and social convictions and their impact on the religious and intellectual life of Yemen in the subsequent centuries. In addition, I will demonstrate the ways in which Ibn 'Alwân's semi-legendary image has been appropriated, imagined, and used by representatives of various political, religious and intellectual trends in modern Yemeni society, from Islamists to secular nationalists.