Islamic Life and Thought brings together a broad span of Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s scholarship in a single volume that represents Islam from its own perspective while remaining conversant with modern Western and Eastern traditions. The essays collectively sketch what can be called the “integral Islamic tradition” across several interrelated domains. It opens with law and society, contrasting the timeless doctrines of sacred law, authority, freedom, and education with the corrosive effects of modern ideologies. The author then moves to culture and intellectual life, surveying Islam’s geographic and ethnic expanse alongside its inner terrain of theology, literature, and art, The next section addresses the natural sciences and cosmology, showing how cosmology, alchemy, and natural history echo the Quranic vision of a living universe. Following this is a foray into philosophy, where Nasr answers contemporary critiques and explores Mullā Ṣadrā’s transcendent theosophy. Then comes a treatment of Sufism, illuminating both its metaphysical foundations and its devotional practice. The book concludes with a postscript of brief reflections on the enduring debates between modernists and traditionalists.

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