Mystical Dimensions of Morality in the Selected Short Stories of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī

Authors

  • Dr Homam IIUM
  • Muhammad Naqib bin Othman

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/ijrcs.v5i2.253

Keywords:

Rūmī, Mathnawi, Morality, Mysticism, Short Stories

Abstract

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s works are famous for educating readers regarding morality. They have been read and quoted by various people from different backgrounds. However, it is easy to misinterpret the messages in his works, especially his short stories, as they appeal to a wider audience. This study examines the mystical dimension of morality in Rūmī’s short stories. The study was conducted using a critical moral approach, which analyses the moral messages that are present in five selected short stories found in Rūmī’s Mathnawi. The moral messages in the selected short stories are analysed based on several examples of moral characteristics that are defined by al-Qushayrī, using textual analysis. The analysis shows that Rūmī’s moral messages in his short stories are related to the journey of a Sufi on the path. The moral messages can be connected to the characteristics of a good Sufi that are described by al-Qushayrī. Additionally, this study found that the characteristics of Sufi morality described by Rūmī show its superiority against other moral theories.

References

Bilqies, S. (2014). Understanding the concept of Islamic Sufism. Journal of Education & Social Policy, 1(1), 55–72. https://jespnet.com/journals/Vol_1_No_1_June_2014/9.pdf.

Burckhardt, T. (2008). Introduction to Sufi doctrine. World Wisdom.

Chittick, W. (2005). Sufi doctrine of Rūmī. World Wisdom Books.

Chittick, W. C. (1983). The Sufi path of love: The spiritual teachings of Rūmī. State University of New York Press Albany.

Choo, S. (2021). Teaching ethics through literature: The significance of ethical criticism in a global age. Routledge.

Davis, F. H. (1912). The Persian mystics: Jalálu’d-Dín rúmí. John Murray.

Farhadi, A. G. R. (2010). The human beloved and the divine beloved in the poetry of Mawlānā Rūmī. Mawlana Rūmī Review, 1, 100–107. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26810287

Frey, L., Botan, C., & Kreps, G. (1999). Investigating communication: An introduction to research methods. (2nd ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Geoffroy, E., & Gaetani, R. (2010). Introduction to Sufism: The inner path of Islam. World Wisdom.

Hawkins, J.M. (2017). Textual analysis. In M. Allen, The SAGE encyclopedia of communication research methods. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483381411.n623

Heathwood, C. (2006). Desire satisfactionism and hedonism. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, 128(3), 539–563. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4321735

Heck, P. L. (2006). Mysticism as morality: The Case of Sufism. The Journal of Religious Ethics, 34(2), 253–286. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40022682

Ibn ʻAṭāʼ Allāh, A. M. & Wafy, M. N. (2010). The book of aphorisms: Being a translation of Kitāb al-Ḥikam. Islamic Book Trust.

Iqbal, A. (1991). Life and work of Jalāluddin Rūmī (6th ed.). Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

Kamranian, S. (2017). The concept of spiritual pleasure in Rūmī’s lyric poetry. Mawlana Rūmī Review, 8, 136–150. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26804791

Lumbard, J. E. (2021). Love and beauty in Sufism. In L. Ridgeon (Ed.), Routledge handbook on Sufism (pp. 172–186). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315175348-14

Mckee, A. (2001). Textual analysis: A beginner’s guide. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27470712_Textual_Analysis_A_Beginner’s_Guide

Masroori, C. (2010). An Islamic language of toleration: Rūmī’s criticism of religious persecution. Political Research Quarterly, 63(2), 243–256. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20721487

Mojaddedi, J. A. (2012). Beyond dogma: Rūmī’s teachings on friendship with God and early Sufi theories. Oxford University Press.

Nicholson, R. A. (1925). The Mathnawi of Jalálud́dín Rūmī. Printed by the Cambridge University Press, for the Trustees of the “E.J.W. Gibb memorial” and published by Messrs. Luzac & Co.

Pazouky, S. (2014). The revival of the spiritual dimension of the Sunna in Rūmī’s Mathnawi. In L. Lewisohn (Ed.), The philosophy of ecstasy: Rūmī and the Sufi tradition (pp. 177–186). World Wisdom.

Piazza, J. & Landy, J. F. (2013). Morality founded on divine authority scale. Judgment and Decision Making, 8(6), 639–661. https://doi.org/10.1037/t28311-000

Al-Qushayri, A.’l-Q. (2007). Al-Qushayri’s epistle on Sufism. Garnet Publishing.

Rahim, H., & Rahiem, M. D. (2012). The use of stories as moral education for young children. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 2(6), 454–458. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijssh.2012.v2.145

Rorty, A. (2012). The use and abuse of morality. The Journal of Ethics, 16(1), 1–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41486943

Sameh, A. (2020). Slaying the ego: Moral education of the self in Sufism and its relations to virtue ethics [Unpublished master thesis]. American University in Cairo. https://fount.aucegypt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2459&context=etds.

Schimmel, A. (1975). Mystical dimensions of Islam. University of North Carolina Press.

Schimmel, A. (2014). Rūmī: Makers of Islamic civilization. Oxford University Press.

Schimmel, A. (2021, December 13). Rūmī. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rūmī

Weightman, S. (2016). Literary form in the “Mathnawī” of Mawlānā Rūmī: The question of rhetorical structure. Mawlana Rūmī Review, 7, 128–158. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45236373

Zarrabi-Zadeh, S. (2014). Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s mysticism of love-based annihilation. Mawlana Rūmī Review, 5, 26–72. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26810330

Zekrgoo, A. H., & Tajer, L. H. (2016). Leading a moderate life: Guidelines from Rūmīʾs “Mathnawī.” Mawlana Rūmī Review, 7, 161–174. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45236375

Downloads

Published

2022-12-30

How to Cite

Homam, D., & Muhammad Naqib bin Othman. (2022). Mystical Dimensions of Morality in the Selected Short Stories of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. IIUM Journal of Religion and Civilisational Studies, 5(2), 117–142. https://doi.org/10.31436/ijrcs.v5i2.253