Islam from inside podcast

The subject of this lecture by William Chittick is love in the Qur'anic worldview and is based on material Chittick has collected for a new book he is working on.

The lecture centers around a ubiquitously well known verse in the Qur'an, a verse described by Sam'ani as a "body-melting, heart-burning" verse: "He loves them, and they love Him." It's a verse which Chittick has touched upon again and again in his many works and which he turns to with a more focused intent in this particular lecture. Chittick's lectures are a delight to attend as he weaves beautifully insightful tapestries of traditional Islamic thought in a very expressive manner. He also has a wonderful sense of humor that comes through in his physical expressiveness and his turn of phrase.

Note : At this particular lecture, his microphone was not working well and so the audio volume is very low and the background sounds are quite loud - I've tried to boost the audio to compensate but it may be necessary for listeners to turn up the volume considerably to clearly hear the lecture.

I approached him for permission after the lecture to make this available online and he graciously granted it. The lecture is also available as a podcast. You can listen to it here or here or subscribe/listen to it as a podcast in iTunes .

The recording of the lecture was made by a good friend (Adill Hissan). Many thanks to him for making it available for this podcast.

Several years ago William Chittick gave a lecture at our local university on Ahmad Sam'ani's view of Adam's fall as elaborated in Sam'ani's work, "The Ease of Spirits in Explaining the Names of the All-Conquering King" ("Rawh al-arwah fi sharh asma' al-malik al-fattah").

It's a fascinating and beautiful lecture (reflective of the excellence of Chittick's work in general) and I have wanted for some time to make it available online but did not feel right doing so without first obtaining Chittick's permission. I was recently put in contact with him and he has very graciously, granted permission. The lecture is now available as a podcast. You can listen to the first part or it here or at islamfrominside.com (or click the title of this post to link to the audio) or subscribe/listen to it as a podcast in iTunes or any other podcast aggregrator. Due to file size, I've divided the audio into three parts. The other two parts will follow.

The theme of the lecture is God's Mercy and is elucidated through a beautifully detailed and nuanced exposition of Sam'ani's commentary on the fall of Adam. Sam'ani's audience were Muslims who followed and reflected the values of a society where the practical and legal injunctions of Islam were routinely and regularly observed - where the external aspects of the faith were well established and evident in the lives of the people and society in general. While the external, shariah/fiqhi aspect of the religion highlight God's commanding, kingly and legislative qualities, Sam'ani's work had the purpose of illuminating the internal, more esoteric aspects of the faith - focusing especially on the precedence of God's mercy over His wrath, illuminating for his readers aspects of the religion that are often veiled by the more visible external form.

Note: A revised/updated version of this lecture is available in written form in chapter 9 of Chittick's book "Sufism: A Short Introduction".

- Irshaad Hussain