- Nuh Ha Mim Keller
-
Islamic scholar
Nuh Ha Mim KellerTitle Sheikh Born 1954 (age 56–57)
United StatesEthnicity American Region Jordan Maddhab Shafi'i School tradition Sunni (Sufism) Main interests Sharia, Hadith, Tafsir, Sufism Nuh Ha Mim Keller (born 1954) is an American Muslim translator of Islamic books[1] and a specialist in Islamic law, as well as being authorised by Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri as a sheikh in sufism in the Shadhili Order.[2] He is one of the foremost Muslim theologians and experts on Sufism in the West.[3]
Contents
Early life, education and religious conversion
Keller was born in 1954 in the Northwestern United States.[citation needed]
He studied philosophy and Arabic at the American University of Chicago, located in Chicago, Illinois, and the American University of California, Los Angeles, located in Los Angeles, California. Keller converted to Islam from Christianity in 1977.[4]
Books
His English translation of Umdat al-Salik, Reliance of the Traveller, (Sunna Books, 1991) is a Shafi'i manual of Shariah.[5] It is the first Islamic legal work in a European language to receive the certification of Al-Azhar University.[6] This translation has led to this work becoming influential among Western Muslims.[7]
Nuh Ha Mim Keller possesses ijazas, or "certificates of authorisation", in Islamic jurisprudence from sheikhs in Syria and Jordan.[citation needed]
His other works include:
- Sea Without Shore: A Manual of the Sufi Path, an extensive treatment of the science of tasawwuf. It is an expansion of an earlier work entitled Tariqa Notes (of which it has replaced), which comprises the second part of the book. In addition, this work includes biographies of five accomplished Sufis that the author met, along with a series of articles in question/answer format providing answers to contemporary philosophical problems.[8]
- Al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi's Manual of Islam, a translation of a concise manual of Shafi'i fiqh.[9][10]
- Evolution Theory in Islam.[citation needed]
- A Port in the Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America, a detailed study of the most sound position on which direction North American Muslims should face to pray.[11]
- The Sunni Path: A Handbook of Islamic Belief.[9]
In addition to the above, he has produced the following books in Arabic:
- Awrad al-Tariqa al-Shadhiliyya, which is primarily a collection of the most frequently recited litanies in the Shadhili Sufi order, done in a hand-written calligraphic script of which two editions have been published. It also has been produced into a bi-lingual translation entitled "Invocations of the Shadhili Order", which Nuh Keller has himself translated.
- Dala'il al-Khayrat, a classic collection of prayers upon the Prophet Muhammad (known as commonly as durood) originally compiled by Muhammad al-Jazuli, which through the comparison of ninety-five different manuscripts, is the most authenticated copy that has been produced in the modern world.[12] It has also been done in a hand-written calligraphy.
He has also written numerous articles and is a regular contributor to Islamica Magazine and the website masud.co.uk.[13]
Personal life
He lives in Amman, Jordan.[14]
See also
- Ahmad al-Alawi
- List of University of California, Los Angeles people
- List of University of Chicago alumni
- Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi
- Paul Ricœur
- Shadhili
References
- ^ Hewer, C. T. R. (2006). Understanding Islam – The First Ten Steps. SCM Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-0-334-04032-3.
- ^ Pandey, Vraj Kumar (2007). Encyclopaedia of Indian Philosophy, Volume 2. Anmol Publications. p. 115. ISBN 978-8-126-13112-9.
- ^[clarification needed] "Kur mot ekstremisme" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. November 2, 2009. http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/article3351588.ece. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ "Interview: Tahir Haqq, YMCA Oouth and Community Worker". Church Times. November 14, 2008. http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=66129. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ Reliance of the Traveller at Amazon.com
- ^ "Why Muslims Like Hitler, But Not Mozart". Global Politician. June 12, 2009. http://globalpolitician.com/25683-islam-hitler-mozart. Retrieved March 15, 2010.
- ^ Brandon, James; Hafez, Salam (2008). Crimes of the Community: Honour-Based Violence in the UK. Centre for Social Cohesion. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-903-38664-4.
- ^ "Sea Without Shore – A Manual of the Sufi Path". Sunna Books. http://sunnabooks.com/sea-without-shore/. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ a b SunniPath Online Islamic Academy
- ^ Al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi's Manual of Islam at Amazon.com
- ^ A Port in the Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America at Amazon.com
- ^ Keller, Nuh Ha Mim. "A New Dala'il al-Khayrat". http://www.dalail.co.uk/this.htm. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Brown, Derek (November 1, 2001). "A Different Perspective: Muslim Websites in Britain – Britain's Muslim Community Is Well Served by Websites Offering News, Opinion, and Religious Interpretation of the West's Response to the Terrorist Attacks on the US, as Derek Brown Explains". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/01/september11.uk. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
- ^ Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck; Senzai, Farid; Smith, Jane I. (2009). Educating the Muslims of America. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-195-37520-6.
External links
Writings and speeches
Translations and commentaries on `AIbn ta'illah's aphorisms
Categories:- 1954 births
- 20th-century American people
- 20th-century men
- 20th-century scholars
- 21st-century American people
- 21st-century men
- 21st-century scholars
- American Sufis
- American Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
- American translators
- Converts to Islam from Christianity
- Expatriates in Jordan
- Islamic studies scholars
- Living people
- Shadhili order
- People from Amman
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
- University of Chicago alumni
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