Islamic symbols and Sufi rituals for protection and healing: Religion and magic in the writings of Ahmad ibn Ali al-Buni (d. 622/1225)

The writings attributed to Ahmad ibn Ali al-Buni represent the earliest surviving collection of "Islamic magic"---efforts to influence the world through the manipulation of Islamic symbols. A representative selection of these texts, including Shams al-maarif (al-Buni's most famous and influential work) are examined in terms of Islamic intellectual history (particularly occult literature) and Western scholarship on the relationship among "magic," "religion," and "science." In chapter one, debates among Western scholars about how to discuss and distinguish among these categories---and whether it is wise to do so---are evaluated. Similarly, Islamic perspectives on magic up through al-Buni's lifetime are addressed in the following chapter. The history of Arabic magical literature before al-Buni is summarized in chapter three. In chapter four, al-Buni's biography and works are presented, as well as the unresolved questions surrounding them. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the primary sources consulted. In the last four chapters instructions for using Islamic symbols for protection and for healing (broadly defined) in these sources are examined. In chapter five, the various forms and methods used throughout al-Buni's corpus for manipulating these symbols are introduced. These include Sufi devotions (e.g., recitation or solitary retreat), written forms (e.g., magic squares in amulets and talismans), and the picture of the spirit world in the corpus. [Stud8] Innovations and continuity with previous magical literature in these elements are pointed out. The application of different Islamic symbols for protection and healing is discussed in detail in the last three chapters. The uses prescribed for Arabic letters, the Names of God, and verses and phrases taken from the Qur'an are each addressed in turn. It is demonstrated that the intellectualist approach provides a useful model for the study of magic in Islamic societies and that the explicitly Islamic nature of the magic in al-Buni's corpus changed the way that magic was understood and practiced. It is concluded that protective and defensive magic was increasingly (though not exclusively) emphasized, as opposed to offensive magic, and even the idea of what needed to be healed or protected against was conditioned by the Qur'an and Islamic tradition.