Volume One
The Luminous Virtues of the Sages of Islam
Pre-orders of the 9-Volume Boxset ship at the end of June
For orders from UK please contact photos@petersanders.com
The Luminous Virtues of the Sages of Islam is a fascinating, richly detailed journey into the world of sainthood in Islam. This is a clear and penetrating exploration of a subject that is mystifying to many Muslims today and makes a strong case that the friends of God—the saints—are, and have always been, the true Muslim role models and explains why these role models seem to have disappeared in modern times whereas, in fact, they are hiding in plain sight. Series editor and author Michael Sugich describes the attributes, human and spiritual, of a saint in Islam; the nature of spiritual authority; and ways of identifying a truly qualified spiritual guide in Islam. This volume also addresses the question of why women sages and saints seem so few and far between, whereas in reality there are as many women saints in the world at any given time as there are men.
“We have never before been so in need of spiritual exemplars—role models who can inspire us and guide us through their wisdom, purity, beautiful qualities of character, sublime actions, deep insight and right guidance in these confusing and troubled times. In earlier ages, these men and women were fixtures of Muslim life. The village sage could have been a local imam, a jurist, a saintly woman, a shoemaker, tailor or tanner, or a wealthy merchant. In the cities there were sages that were well-known and sometimes celebrated, scholar-saints with many thousands of disciples, and there were those altogether hidden, except to a few. Many had great formal knowledge and others were illiterate but illuminated from within. They populated the mosques and madrasahs. They took to the roads, traveling from town to town and country to country. They were master craftsmen who led the guilds. They were manual labourers, traders, shopkeepers, and schoolteachers. They were grandmothers who taught the Holy Qur’an. They were trusted, revered, loved, and sometimes feared for their truthfulness and penetrating insight. They gave hope to their communities and sometimes stern guidance.
“There was also something subtle, almost imperceptible, something rare and precious. It was the absence of ego. In its place, luminous knowledge, humility, generosity, selflessness, kindness, wisdom, and love. What distinguished these enlightened souls was their sincere and unshakable adherence to the Book of God and the Sunna of the Messenger of God. They were the living proof of Islam, the spiritual and psychological anchor of the society, the fulcrum of sanity, and a source of solace for the people.”
