The Symposium
Each year the Society organizes Symposia in the UK and the USA on an aspect of Ibn 'Arabi's work.
These international gatherings bring together people from many different fields and traditions, and include scholars, students, and anyone interested in what Ibn 'Arabi has to say. These events provide a unique opportunity for both speakers and listeners, specialists and non-specialists, to enrich their understanding of the Shaykh's teachings and their relevance today. The Society also encourages public seminars and lectures and can provide speakers on request.
Society events
Annual General Meeting and Talk
28th October 2017, 2.00 pm. Oxford, UK
The UK Society's Annual General Meeting for 2017 will be held at the Friends Meeting House, 43 St. Giles, Oxford at 2.00 pm on Saturday 28th October. All are welcome. It would be helpful if you could let us know if you hope to attend. How to get there.
We are delighted to welcome Samer Dajani as a speaker this year. Samer is a Research Fellow at Cambridge Muslim College, UK. He received his BA in Arab & Islamic Civilizations from the American University in Cairo, followed by an MA and PhD in the field of Islamic Studies from SOAS, University of London. He is author of Reassurance for the Seeker: A Biography and Translation of Salih al-Ja'fari's al-Fawa'id al-Ja'fariyya, a Commentary on Forty Prophetic Traditions (2013). He has recently contributed to Vol. 61 of the Society's Journal. His talk will be entitled:
The Path of Mercy: Ibn Arabi on the Nature and Purpose of the Shariah
"The Shari'ah literally means the path to water (i.e. that which brings life), and is meant to be the path to that which brings life to the hearts and connects one to the Living, the One. However, this path quickly turned into something difficult, complicated and culture-specific through cultural accretions, the ossification of different schools of law, and the overuse of weak hadiths and conservatism by self-appointed guardians of orthodoxy. Ibn Arabi and a number of fellow Sufis felt that the mercy, simplicity and flexibility of this path was being taken away from people. They therefore came up with a number of very basic and simple principles to return the path to its original simplicity and flexibility, and to give people back the expansive space for freedom of choice and that the original Shari'ah had intended, so that it remained fitting for all people, all times, and all places".
Agenda
2.00 pm Meeting
3.30 pm Tea
4.15 pm Talk by Samer Dajani, followed by discussion
This Vast Earth : Ibn 'Arabi's Ecology of Consciousness
November 10-11, 2017, UC Santa Barbara, California, USA
The 2017 Annual Conference of the Ibn 'Arabi Society in the USA will be held on the seaside campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara.
| Friday, November 10, 2017 Founders Room, Carillo Recreation Center 100 East Carillo Street Santa Barbara, CA., 93101 Location |
7:00pm Welcome 7:10pm Keynote Speech: Michael Sells 7:45pm Selected Readings from the poetry of Ibn ‘Arabi 8:00pm Performance by musicians from UCSB Middle East Ensemble |
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Saturday, November 11, 2017 McCune Room 6020 Humanities and Social Sciences Building El Colegio Rd UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106-7100 Directions |
9:00am Welcome 9:15am Hany Ibrahim 9:55am Angela Jaffray 10:35am Break 10:50am Eric Winkel 11:30am Atif Khalil 12:10pm Lunch 1:30pm Seminars 1 3:00pm Seminars 2 4:30pm Panel Discussion 5:00pm End |
Limited hotel rooms available at conference rates. Contact the Secretary before September 23.
Link to Eventbrite booking form
Other events
‘Seven Days of the Heart’ Study Retreat, Melbourne, Australia
An intensive, non-residential study retreat, led by Stephen Hirtenstein: September 30 – 7 October, 2017
This study retreat is open to anyone who has previously studied Ibn 'Arabi. All material is in English or in transliteration; no special Arabic knowledge is assumed or required. Participants will need to have a copy of the ‘Seven Days of the Heart’, the translation into English by Pablo Beneito and Stephen Hirtenstein of the Awrad al-usbu or Wird. There are fourteen prayers, one for each day and night of the week. They include not only the most astounding expressions of contemplation and devotion to God, but also an unparalleled depth of knowledge of Union (tawhid). It will also be necessary to complete a questionnaire prior to participating. For more details, see beshara.org
Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia : October 2017
Stephen Hirtenstein will be speaking at a symposium in Adelaide, and giving lectures in Sydney and Melbourne based on his latest book, The Alchemy of Human Happiness. He is a senior editor for the Encyclopaedia Islamica, editor of the Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi Society, author and co-owner of Anqa Publishing dedicated to the publication in English of works by Ibn ‘Arabi and his school. He directs the MIAS Archiving Project which has been compiling a database and digital copies of Ibn Arabi’s historic manuscripts from libraries around the world. This is his first visit to Australia.
Adelaide, 10 October - 'When my Beloved appears, with what eye do I see Him? – human looking, divine gaze', as part of a one-day symposium on "Nazar: ways of seeing in Islamic cultures" at the Centre for Asian and Middle Eastern Architecture (CAMEA), The University of Adelaide. Event and Booking information
Sydney, 19 October - 'Selfies and Sufis: the alchemy of human happiness according to Ibn 'Arabi', at Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA), Pitt St, Sydney, 6.30pm. More information
Melbourne, 26 October - 'The Heart of the Matter: the mirror of the self in the Sufism of Ibn 'Arabi', at the Islamic Museum of Australia, Thornbury, Melbourne, 6.00pm. More information
Melbourne, 27 October - 'Selfies and Sufis: the alchemy of human happiness according to Ibn 'Arabi', by Stephen Hirtenstein, at The Asia Institute, the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, 11.00am. More information